Well stated! So well stated, in fact, I've added your quote to my drills resource page (under "why do drills").
Regards,
Dave
If Drills are so important
- Thread starter pooljunkie4ever
- Start date
Regards,
Dave
Sure, everyone misses and everyone loses...
However, pool is all about percentages and knowing your percentages. If I am 99.99% to make a shot, then I feel real comfortable... sure I could miss it, since I am not 100% to make any shot ever. Aside from this, I am at a point where I feel >95% on the majority of shots...
I know what my percentages are for every aspect of the game and I rely on them to make informed decisions during gameplay. If I ever miss a ball, I evaluate it and see if it was a mental error or something else and if I determine that I am not entirely comfortable with the shot, I may go practice it a bit.
Very cool.
I haven't had my second cup of espresso yet, but it appears there is an extra "want" in the paragraph that starts off "Second" that could be edited out. I just changed it above.
Lou Figueroa
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I know how to shoot free throws but without practice I won't shoot 90% from the line.
I know how to shoot a rail shot but without practice I won't hit any consistantly.
I know how to shoot bank shots but without practice I won't them when needed, I'll get close but that doesn't keep you at the table.
If I want to draw the a known distance to a 5" or 10" target area it won't happen without practice.
If I want to shoot a shot and go 3 rails and get to a 10" target it won't happen without practice.
I could go on but I hope you get the point. I don't know your level of play, but I'm sure that your game could improve. That's not a shot at you because it can be said about anyone's game.
I've studied with the "Pro Book" and The Advanced Pro Book" and the accomping DVD's and the whole series is about "Drilling".
I don't go and Practice or Drill Daily but when I do go to shoot I definately start out with a Drill Routine to warm up, then I'll shoot 1 or 2 racks to see how the table is rolling and banking. After that I'm ready to play. Beginners definately need to Drill because it teaches fundamentals that are need.
How mant times have you shot the concentration drill and hit all 10 of your shots the length of the table 5 in each corner pocktet. If your not shooting 90% you need work because your stroke's off. Never a reason to miss a ball in hand shoot even if it is the length of the table. Only shooting that over and over is going to develope the hand and eye cordination needed to be able to make the shot on demand when needed. Playing the Ghost doesn't give you that same result.
Just my .02, but think about it.
Black Cat
I know how to shoot a rail shot but without practice I won't hit any consistantly.
I know how to shoot bank shots but without practice I won't them when needed, I'll get close but that doesn't keep you at the table.
If I want to draw the a known distance to a 5" or 10" target area it won't happen without practice.
If I want to shoot a shot and go 3 rails and get to a 10" target it won't happen without practice.
I could go on but I hope you get the point. I don't know your level of play, but I'm sure that your game could improve. That's not a shot at you because it can be said about anyone's game.
I've studied with the "Pro Book" and The Advanced Pro Book" and the accomping DVD's and the whole series is about "Drilling".
I don't go and Practice or Drill Daily but when I do go to shoot I definately start out with a Drill Routine to warm up, then I'll shoot 1 or 2 racks to see how the table is rolling and banking. After that I'm ready to play. Beginners definately need to Drill because it teaches fundamentals that are need.
How mant times have you shot the concentration drill and hit all 10 of your shots the length of the table 5 in each corner pocktet. If your not shooting 90% you need work because your stroke's off. Never a reason to miss a ball in hand shoot even if it is the length of the table. Only shooting that over and over is going to develope the hand and eye cordination needed to be able to make the shot on demand when needed. Playing the Ghost doesn't give you that same result.
Just my .02, but think about it.
Black Cat
Drills have very little to do with winning.......consistently.
It has taken a bit, for me, to understand this since I practice alot and do really good, to down right excellent in structured drills and free form drills.
When it come to tourney time, I have a really rough time in performing and it has nothing to do with the amount of time I practice or the drills I practiced.
Winning consistently requires you to lose enough that you get tired of losing and there is no drill for this.
Knowing how to make a shot has nothing to do with knowing what shot to make and when. Good, sound strategy will win out over someone that just knows how to make shots. This is how seemingly lesser skill players win. They just have a better understanding of the whole game and not just one part.
You want to win consistently, keep losing until you had enough. Long time ago, some player told me after I asked why I don't win more. His answer was "I'll start winning when you get tired of losing." For some reason, I had forgotten this until recently.
FWIW
It has taken a bit, for me, to understand this since I practice alot and do really good, to down right excellent in structured drills and free form drills.
When it come to tourney time, I have a really rough time in performing and it has nothing to do with the amount of time I practice or the drills I practiced.
Winning consistently requires you to lose enough that you get tired of losing and there is no drill for this.
Knowing how to make a shot has nothing to do with knowing what shot to make and when. Good, sound strategy will win out over someone that just knows how to make shots. This is how seemingly lesser skill players win. They just have a better understanding of the whole game and not just one part.
You want to win consistently, keep losing until you had enough. Long time ago, some player told me after I asked why I don't win more. His answer was "I'll start winning when you get tired of losing." For some reason, I had forgotten this until recently.
FWIW
If you are at 99.99 why bother with practice? And why drill? It's not the same as being in the box ever.
I guess its all a matter of what makes a persons game go. I don't drill ever and I'm sure I'll never need to. I just toss balls out and bang em until I get it right.
Basically if you know every diamond, you won't need to drill position....and so on. Its really that simple. Why work the other way around?
To be Honest, I am a "Ghost Guy". This is how I practice just about everyday.
Like most have stated, time on the table will make you improve if you are doing it effectively. From what I have read, some do a combination of both which is great. Now that I have taken a step back and reviewed my practice time, I do drills as well, just not your common layout drills.
My drill is just shooting one ball the length of the table and concentrating on
my back stroke, pause, contact point and follow thru. I will do this to warm up.
I am guessing this is a drill.
I really appreciate everyone's opinion about this. :thumbup:
Like most have stated, time on the table will make you improve if you are doing it effectively. From what I have read, some do a combination of both which is great. Now that I have taken a step back and reviewed my practice time, I do drills as well, just not your common layout drills.
My drill is just shooting one ball the length of the table and concentrating on
my back stroke, pause, contact point and follow thru. I will do this to warm up.
I am guessing this is a drill.
I really appreciate everyone's opinion about this. :thumbup:
Good post Neil. FYI, I've added it along with Lou's here.Doing fundamental drills will "groove" your stroke. Without a repeatable, straight stroke, all else is nothing more than a crap shoot.
Doing pocketing drills will increase your confidence and ability in making balls. It will also show you will shots are low percentage for you.
Doing pocketing drills combined with positional drills will increase your confidence and abilities in pocketing and positional play.
Playing the ghost will enable you to take your individual skills and combine them. It will teach you pressure. It will teach you how shots tie in together. It will teach you the best routes to take to make things as simple as possible.
Doing drills will enable you to set up the same shot, and see exactly where you had a problem with it. Is it a shot that you feel you should make most of the time, but in reality you actually make less than 50% and didn't even realize it?
In any case, drills, or playing the ghost, will do you little good if your goal is just to perform the drill a set number of times. The drills are to reinforce your muscles and your subconscious on how exactly to perform it. So that under pressure, you will perform as you trained. During drills, you should be paying very close attention to details. ALL the details, so you can actually learn something and improve.
To those that think drills are a waste of time- good luck with that. Don't be surprised when in 10 years you find out you aren't much better than you are now.
Regards,
Dave
Secaucus Fats
Banned
Yes, and that is why that huge percentage of players will never advance to high level playing ability. There are tons of players who have been playing for years and have never gone beyond a mediocre level of ability. I'm talking about guys who have been playing for years and never get beyond a C level.
What drills allow a player to do is to work on a specific set of skills which he, or she, has identified as a weak area in his game. What drills a player works on depends on his current level of ability.
Of course before taking on any drills it is necessary to have a dependable, repeatable stroke and that is where a good instructor can help. My stroke and consistency improved tremendously after Scott Lee helped me out and I still practice the SPF mother drills to this day.
I had been a ghost guy for a long time... My practice consisted of playing the ghost or tossing the balls onto the table and running out....
The drills bored me to tears. But they only bored me because I was not looking at them the right way. I used them as a learning tool... Not as a reinforcement tool. The old adage of the amateur shooting a shot until he makes it kinda rings pretty true... As soon as I could make a couple in a row of a given shot I was off and running to something else......
About 3 years ago I had a light go off... I was practicing straight pool which I never ever do and I was shooting decent but I kept missing easy shots and blowing easy racks for no reason.. These were shots that I would have bet on any day of the week but I was dogging it.... It might have been the first rack, a break shot, or a semi hanger in the 3rd rack....
I started thinking about what 8ball and 9/10ball was about... I could execute 8-9-10 shots in a row and run out but was there really true precision in it? I could run packages but was that even close to the same as far as the precision required to run 100 in straights???
If I could execute a perfect stroke 18 times in a row I could run 2 packs in 9ball all day long but I would never be able to run 100 in straight pool.....
The rotation games are great for building certain skill sets but 100% accuracy/precision is not worked on because some shots are just too tough with the engish and cueball movement required.
Straight pool is about executing easy shot after easy shot if you play your patterns right... I decided to do a little test to see if I could make any shot 100 times in a row... If I couldn't make a shot of my choosing 100 times in a row I had noooo chance of running 100 playing straights...
This is the shot I chose... It is right out of the ProBook by Bob Henning... Make the 5... Come 2 rails out to the center of the table to a circle about the size of the O where the cueball starts.....
I was very delusional with my precision in accuracy and cueball control... This simple shot knocked me off my high horse and started me taking drills seriously... Pick any drill/shot... If it's easier than a spot shot and you can't execute it 100 times in a row think about whether you truly own it or not.... Think about Willie's 526... Think about how well you like your chances if you run into someone that CAN make that shot 100 in a row.... Make your drills about precision and you Play about fun... You need a healthy balance of both if you want to continue to develop.....
The drills bored me to tears. But they only bored me because I was not looking at them the right way. I used them as a learning tool... Not as a reinforcement tool. The old adage of the amateur shooting a shot until he makes it kinda rings pretty true... As soon as I could make a couple in a row of a given shot I was off and running to something else......
About 3 years ago I had a light go off... I was practicing straight pool which I never ever do and I was shooting decent but I kept missing easy shots and blowing easy racks for no reason.. These were shots that I would have bet on any day of the week but I was dogging it.... It might have been the first rack, a break shot, or a semi hanger in the 3rd rack....
I started thinking about what 8ball and 9/10ball was about... I could execute 8-9-10 shots in a row and run out but was there really true precision in it? I could run packages but was that even close to the same as far as the precision required to run 100 in straights???
If I could execute a perfect stroke 18 times in a row I could run 2 packs in 9ball all day long but I would never be able to run 100 in straight pool.....
The rotation games are great for building certain skill sets but 100% accuracy/precision is not worked on because some shots are just too tough with the engish and cueball movement required.
Straight pool is about executing easy shot after easy shot if you play your patterns right... I decided to do a little test to see if I could make any shot 100 times in a row... If I couldn't make a shot of my choosing 100 times in a row I had noooo chance of running 100 playing straights...
This is the shot I chose... It is right out of the ProBook by Bob Henning... Make the 5... Come 2 rails out to the center of the table to a circle about the size of the O where the cueball starts.....
I was very delusional with my precision in accuracy and cueball control... This simple shot knocked me off my high horse and started me taking drills seriously... Pick any drill/shot... If it's easier than a spot shot and you can't execute it 100 times in a row think about whether you truly own it or not.... Think about Willie's 526... Think about how well you like your chances if you run into someone that CAN make that shot 100 in a row.... Make your drills about precision and you Play about fun... You need a healthy balance of both if you want to continue to develop.....
Correction made. Thanks.Doing fundamental drills will "groove" your stroke. Without a repeatable, straight stroke, all else is nothing more than a crap shoot.
Doing pocketing drills will increase your confidence and ability in making balls. It will also show you which shots are low percentage for you.
Doing pocketing drills combined with positional drills will increase your confidence and abilities in pocketing and positional play.
Playing the ghost will enable you to take your individual skills and combine them. It will teach you pressure. It will teach you how shots tie in together. It will teach you the best routes to take to make things as simple as possible.
Doing drills will enable you to set up the same shot, and see exactly where you had a problem with it. Is it a shot that you feel you should make most of the time, but in reality you actually make less than 50% and didn't even realize it?
In any case, drills, or playing the ghost, will do you little good if your goal is just to perform the drill a set number of times. The drills are to reinforce your muscles and your subconscious on how exactly to perform it. So that under pressure, you will perform as you trained. During drills, you should be paying very close attention to details. ALL the details, so you can actually learn something and improve.
To those that think drills are a waste of time- good luck with that. Don't be surprised when in 10 years you find out you aren't much better than you are now.
Good post Neil. FYI, I've added it along with Lou's here.
Regards,
Dave
No problem. Except, I have the same typing disability Lou has. I had to change the second paragraph. The word "will" to "which". :embarrassed2:
I wasn't born with this inate ability to play pool... I worked at getting better and now I don't do drills. In fact, I haven't done a drill in probably 20 years, except to show someone how to do it. I don't sit around and do all the drills on my One Pocket instructional DVD, but I can do them at will....
I just feel that you need to do all things to get better, from drills (in early development especially), to tournaments, to gambling, to fun playing.. They all help to some degree.
Tell a person under the category "not blessed", that he can't ever be a kobe byrant"....can you do that? Its the same thing with pool.
