Position Drills VS Just Playing

CGM

CGM

It'd be a lot cooler if you did.
Silver Member
So Ive been trying to concentrate on doing a lot of the Zero-X position drills and I cant help but wonder to myself, "why not just play?". Explain to me how setting up the same position drill over and over is more beneficial than trying to figure out the pattern post break and running it out. Im not trying to start an argument on which is better, I just see my mind leaning more toward the logic of figuring out random paterns post break seems more conducive to becoming better than to figuring out a set pattern that I will probably never see again.
 
You don't need to know how the microwave works to use it...just do it.

There are specific developments that occur from both exercises. Drills get to the heart of execution, while game play puts those skills to work and adds decision making and replicates competition more closely.

Given just one, yeah, game play would be better, but you can have both.
 
The pattern drills will likely show you some positioning and shot techniques that you may have not thought of and will therefore learn. The drills are also good if you have a table but may not have ready access to a pool room with people to play. The pattern puzzles
also force you to be more exacting in your CB positioning. I like them a lot but drills may not be for everyone.
 
CGM said:
So Ive been trying to concentrate on doing a lot of the Zero-X position drills and I cant help but wonder to myself, "why not just play?". Explain to me how setting up the same position drill over and over is more beneficial than trying to figure out the pattern post break and running it out. Im not trying to start an argument on which is better, I just see my mind leaning more toward the logic of figuring out random paterns post break seems more conducive to becoming better than to figuring out a set pattern that I will probably never see again.
Click to expand...

I'll bet every top PRO on the planet does some sort of drills. Heck, Darren Appleton creates his own drills, and they are KILLER hard. Why, because he wants to push himself, he wants that muscle memory, he wants to know when he see's that shot, it's nothing, because he's done it 1000 times before.

But hey, what does he know, I mean, hall of fame and all ;)
 
Repetition

For me it's repetition - if I throw the balls out and run them, I may get that one tough shot every few racks, whereas drills I can repeat the same shot until I have it right...

b
 
In the end, you need both play and practice drills.

The drills do a much better job of identifying and highlighting areas requiring development, and allow you to zero in on aspects of your game that need improvement, which enables you to modify your practices constructively.

It's also worth noting that while playing, you'll tend to play to your strengths and shy away from areas of weakness, while drills will force you to practice and play all the shots.
 
CGM said:
So Ive been trying to concentrate on doing a lot of the Zero-X position drills and I cant help but wonder to myself, "why not just play?". Explain to me how setting up the same position drill over and over is more beneficial than trying to figure out the pattern post break and running it out. Im not trying to start an argument on which is better, I just see my mind leaning more toward the logic of figuring out random paterns post break seems more conducive to becoming better than to figuring out a set pattern that I will probably never see again.
Click to expand...

A drill is not only good to learn something but also to find out WHAT you need to learn. Something may seen easy in a game may be hard in a drill because you are trying to gain that same exact position 6 times in a row. In a game you may get it right, but can you get it right 6 shots in a row? If not, that can cause you to lose a match.
 
sjm said:
It's also worth noting that while playing, you'll tend to play to your strengths and shy away from areas of weakness, while drills will force you to practice and play all the shots.
Click to expand...

^^^That is the perfect explanation. Right or wrong what I do is practice running racks but when I come across a shot that I am weak on I stop running racks and set the shot up and work on it. I dont worry about marking the table for the shot, I just set up the general shot, long thin cut down the rail or maybe a back cut etc... Sometimes its an easy shot but I practice getting the cue ball around the table or to 1 spot in particular.
 
You all are making pretty good points for continuing with the drills. This game is so crazy. Sometimes it feels like Im not improving because its such a marathon of learning and the improvement seems to come in small increments.
 
WillyCornbread said:
For me it's repetition - if I throw the balls out and run them, I may get that one tough shot every few racks, whereas drills I can repeat the same shot until I have it right...

b
Click to expand...

Same observation, different perspective. I have owned a home table for >35 years. IMO, solo play has been a disadvantage to my game. When I shoot alone and miss, I can retry the shot until I make it repeatedly. But usually in a game, when I come to the table, my opponent has put me in a really difficult position and often I have not been at the table for a while. I only get one chance to make that shot. If I fail, I am sitting again. For me, that level of intensity is difficult to simulate when practicing drills or trying to run racks alone.
 
I just had this discussion last night with a friend who is an experienced player. He showed me how the finer details are missed when trying to just run racks and play for position. For example the difference between hitting a half tip above or below center and how it changes the cue ball’s direction coming off the rail. Your game will also be stuck in the mud if you don’t change your practice routine. Hope this helps
 
CGM said:
So Ive been trying to concentrate on doing a lot of the Zero-X position drills and I cant help but wonder to myself, "why not just play?". Explain to me how setting up the same position drill over and over is more beneficial than trying to figure out the pattern post break and running it out. Im not trying to start an argument on which is better, I just see my mind leaning more toward the logic of figuring out random paterns post break seems more conducive to becoming better than to figuring out a set pattern that I will probably never see again.
Click to expand...
Once the drills become automatic, they provide a reference that can be called upon, even unconsciously. Generally drill position shots are taken from studies of the most common shots that show up for particular games. Once you have master the drill, you now have a reference for in game situations to call upon the basic same shot, however, a different position end over the same path or line of shape. SOrry this is wordy, but, it's how I've explained it to others... hope it helps.
 
I am not crazy about drilling for hours on end, so I have to make myself do them. The thing that has helped me the most is keeping a "missed shot log" with a rough sketch of ball positions. Every time I practice against the ghost, or just practice run outs, I quickly jot down every shot I miss, and my perceived reason for missing. Afterwards, I look at the shots I missed and practice them until I feel comfortable with them...
 
CGM said:
So Ive been trying to concentrate on doing a lot of the Zero-X position drills and I cant help but wonder to myself, "why not just play?". Explain to me how setting up the same position drill over and over is more beneficial than trying to figure out the pattern post break and running it out. Im not trying to start an argument on which is better, I just see my mind leaning more toward the logic of figuring out random paterns post break seems more conducive to becoming better than to figuring out a set pattern that I will probably never see again.
Click to expand...

It depends on the drill. If the drill does not challenge you and encourage/force you to improve your technique, it can be a waste of time. Shooting identical shots over and over is probably not useful. Good drills vary the shot.
 
I was always gambling at pool when I was young , I thought only suckers and idiots played for fun or practiced drills.
What an idiot I was.
As Mr. Jewett already said , if it isn't challenging or teaching you anything , it's not very valuable but if you start doing something like Joe Tuckers workouts or the Tor Lowry stuff or Dr Daves drills. All are great !
You will play better and you will be more confident .
To me, confidence is what wins, when it's a tough rack or an important match.
We all know how to make balls and play position, it just gets harder the more pressure is on it .
Also the drills will show you little faults in your mechanics on certain shots, that don't show up often enough to recognise in regular play.
Grady told me something once I never will forget.
He said "anybody can win when they are playing good and getting some rolls, but it takes a champion to win when they are aren't."
 
Last edited:
Sealegs50 said:
Same observation, different perspective. I have owned a home table for >35 years. IMO, solo play has been a disadvantage to my game. When I shoot alone and miss, I can retry the shot until I make it repeatedly. But usually in a game, when I come to the table, my opponent has put me in a really difficult position and often I have not been at the table for a while. I only get one chance to make that shot. If I fail, I am sitting again. For me, that level of intensity is difficult to simulate when practicing drills or trying to run racks alone.
Click to expand...

There should be two parts to any drill.

1. Where you learn how to do the drill. Where you pay close attention to what does what.

2. Where you challenge yourself once you have completed part one. This can be to simply state that you have to successfully complete the drill 5 times in a row. If you fail to do so, you start over. Or, keep a score that you need to improve upon.

Too many people do not do part two and thereby don't get the full benefits of drills.
 
I started out just playing games. Never learned a lot from that - as others have said I always enjoyed the easy shots and excused myself missing the harder ones. Then I started to use Dr Dave's exam for practice, making my own Excel file to record a few more statistics than provided with the DrDave one. This makes it a lot more fun to drill - because you can see progress over time.

After doing about 60-70% drills in my free time I play a few games to relax. Where I try to apply stuff I learned in the drills.

Since I have been doing drills my game improved a lot - although I am still at a relatively low level. But I can see improvements (statistically verified) each month. Even the practice games are recorded in self-created Excel sheets - errors, scratches and so on.

I would say that I now make 3 times as many balls as I did a year ago - when I still was an utterly lousy hobby player.
 
Thier is no right answer. Drills teach you faster and make it become 2nd nature to perform. Competition is the way you guage whether the work your putting in is making you better. You need both
 
I'm not sure I can add a lot to this conversation. Most of the salient points have already been made by some of the most knowledgeable members of this forum, but I can add my perspective based on my personal experience. For me drills and repetition are the best way that I learn. When I'm just playing or shooting around shots would come up that I wanted to learn to execute, but they came up randomly and usually involved multiple variables for position based on the table layout. I couldn't key them in my mind to come back to them. When I started doing drills I picked drills that isolated techniques, shots, or positions that I needed to work on. When I was able to key in on those items specifically and focus on learning that one technique, shot, or method of execution I could recognize it when it came up in a game.

Apart from that doing stroke drills by themselves helped straighten out my cue path considerably and made me more consistent overall since I was just focused on making a good stroke and not pocketing a ball, using english, or getting position.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top