The Struggle: Practicing The Shots You Hate To Take

K

ktrepal85

Banned
I can't stand practicing the shots I'm not any good at. And it's a huge problem. It's much more fun to try to master the shots I'm already good at rather than figure out how to strengthen my weaknesses.

Although I know my weaknesses and plan on practicing them I always put it off and just run balls to keep things interesting.

Lately I've mastered my back cuts that I used to struggle with and my game instantly took a huge jump forward. With this new motivation I decided to buckle down and master these kick shots that I often miss.

Does anyone have any kicking games that make it somewhat interesting to practice? I've just been playing nine ball and trying to kick at every shot. It gets boring fast but I suppose it will help.

I've also been considering creating a compilation of 10 different kick shots that are all completely different that together comprise most of the shots that come up. I'll shoot each shot over and over again from the same spot until it's mastered. From there when I'm in a match and a kick comes up and I can use one of the 10 shot's as a reference point to adjust from.

How do you guys practice your kicks?
 
ktrepal85 said:
I can't stand practicing the shots I'm not any good at. And it's a huge problem. It's much more fun to try to master the shots I'm already good at rather than figure out how to strengthen my weaknesses.

Although I know my weaknesses and plan on practicing them I always put it off and just run balls to keep things interesting.

Lately I've mastered my back cuts that I used to struggle with and my game instantly took a huge jump forward. With this new motivation I decided to buckle down and master these kick shots that I often miss.

Does anyone have any kicking games that make it somewhat interesting to practice? I've just been playing nine ball and trying to kick at every shot. It gets boring fast but I suppose it will help.

I've also been considering creating a compilation of 10 different kick shots that are all completely different that together comprise most of the shots that come up. I'll shoot each shot over and over again from the same spot until it's mastered. From there when I'm in a match and a kick comes up and I can use one of the 10 shot's as a reference point to adjust from.

How do you guys practice your kicks?
Click to expand...

Try playing a little 3 cushion. No game will improve your knowledge of geometry ie. triangles better than 3 cushion. Kicks are all about the triangles on the table.
 
Here's a kicking game for you. Rack up 9 ball or 10 ball. Break and spot any balls down (you can roll them and not spot them). Aim for a one rail kick on the one. If you hit it, aim for a two and then three rail kick. If you make a good hit drop the one and head for the two.

If you miss a two rail/3 rail you start back at one rail.

Another game I'd play is to kick safe. The shot counts if you can't see a sliver. On the 9 I do the 1, 2 3 rail kick
 
When you practice, adjust the rules so that you are always allowed to shoot the hardest shot on the table that has a chance of being made. This way, you have to work extra hard.
 
Something I still do is practice kicks and safes simultaneously. Though, I now play this game mostly to practice safety play but!

Break open a rack of balls (I usually choose 10 ball) and only play safeties. The goal, is to try and kick your way out of them or pocket your object ball. I've been using the Zero X kicking system for so long that I hardly ever miss a hit on an object ball (mostly because of this game).

It really does help you to learn to kick at balls quite proficiently.
 
ktrepal85 said:
I know the systems and occasionally use them as a starting point but i'm about 95% kicking off feel. Too many factors are overlooked with the kicking systems so you can't rely on them imo.
Click to expand...

the games people are suggesting are great
i only asked because if you use feel primarily you will have to practice longer to get and maintain your feel
if you use systems i beleive it takes less time to develop and maintain feel
because you already have a path from the system to get close to the hit
then you can feel if you need an adjustment
you dont have to feel the path
icbw and dont want to hijack or derail the main purpose of your thread
im happy to discuss this via pm
 
Practicing those shots you miss too often is one good key to improving your game. Only players that are satisfied with the level of there game don't practice them. As soon as I got good enough to make money on the game I mostly quit practicing. Johnnyt
 
When you guys are kicking, for example at a ball you are unlikely to pocket but you don't want to give up BIH, and you have a choice of a 1 rail or multi-rail kick which do you choose? What factors do you take into consideration for your choice?
For some reason it seems like it is easier for me to kick at a ball 2 or more rails rather than a single rail kick, whats the deal with that? Is it a geometry thing or am I just just a putz??? Be honest, its OK if I am just a putz, I wont cry...:embarrassed2:
 
fastone371 said:
When you guys are kicking, for example at a ball you are unlikely to pocket but you don't want to give up BIH, and you have a choice of a 1 rail or multi-rail kick which do you choose? What factors do you take into consideration for your choice?
For some reason it seems like it is easier for me to kick at a ball 2 or more rails rather than a single rail kick, whats the deal with that? Is it a geometry thing or am I just just a putz??? Be honest, its OK if I am just a putz, I wont cry...:embarrassed2:
Click to expand...

Whichever shot is easier to execute and produces the best results is the shot that will be selected. In most cases the 1 rail kick is easiest.
 
fastone371 said:
When you guys are kicking, for example at a ball you are unlikely to pocket but you don't want to give up BIH, and you have a choice of a 1 rail or multi-rail kick which do you choose? What factors do you take into consideration for your choice?
For some reason it seems like it is easier for me to kick at a ball 2 or more rails rather than a single rail kick, whats the deal with that? Is it a geometry thing or am I just just a putz??? Be honest, its OK if I am just a putz, I wont cry...:embarrassed2:
Click to expand...

Speed off the CB is the most important thing on a kick, other than the correct angle. I try to hit the object ball on a kick with the speed that will leave the CB in a spot that will leave my opponent with a tough shot be it on a rail with a long shot or in a cluster.
 
fastone371 said:
When you guys are kicking, for example at a ball you are unlikely to pocket but you don't want to give up BIH, and you have a choice of a 1 rail or multi-rail kick which do you choose? What factors do you take into consideration for your choice?
For some reason it seems like it is easier for me to kick at a ball 2 or more rails rather than a single rail kick, whats the deal with that? Is it a geometry thing or am I just just a putz??? Be honest, its OK if I am just a putz, I wont cry...:embarrassed2:
Click to expand...

I used to think this.

For me it was because of a few factors:

I learned 2 and 3-rail kicks and practiced them a lot, often showing off to newbs with them.

I always shot multi-rail kicks with english. I found out that I wasn't actually hitting center ball on many shots, even when trying to.

What changed is that I kept thinking of an article from BD in '98 or so, I believe it was Bob Jewett (maybe George Fels?) who wrote an article on the consistency of kicking 1-rail with reverse english. I started to kick one-rails with reverse english and my skills increased.

Now I rarely miss contact on 1-rail kicks and have a lot of success pocketing or playing safe.
 
ElCorazonFrio said:
I used to think this.

For me it was because of a few factors:

I learned 2 and 3-rail kicks and practiced them a lot, often showing off to newbs with them.

I always shot multi-rail kicks with english. I found out that I wasn't actually hitting center ball on many shots, even when trying to.

What changed is that I kept thinking of an article from BD in '98 or so, I believe it was Bob Jewett (maybe George Fels?) who wrote an article on the consistency of kicking 1-rail with reverse english. I started to kick one-rails with reverse english and my skills increased.

Now I rarely miss contact on 1-rail kicks and have a lot of success pocketing or playing safe.
Click to expand...

Are you using the reverse english to rebound straight off of the rail so you just need to aim at corresponding point on the rail to contact object ball?
 
Make sure to determine what specifically is causing your issues. Just shooting the shots over and over may not do much other than make you feel a bit more comfortable and confident. This can help, but it doesn't completely alleviate the problem. A solution can be as simple as the realization that your stance in relation to the table was throwing you out of alignment.
 
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