Need advise

[Leigh]

Forgive the misspelling of advice. My “talk to text” likes to make corrections and I didn’t catch it in time.
How would you spend your time if you could practice 1.5 hours or so every day during the week and 3+ hours on the weekend? Also, and probably related, how do you get yourself unstuck?
Since March I spend 99% of my time practicing. My form is better, my fundamentals are getting better and more consistent, in August I noticed that my game improved, but now... nothing. Still missing some stupid shots. Last night’s practice ended with me in a white hot ball of frustration.
Thanks.

 

[DrCue'sProtege]

Join the Frustration Club Leigh!

I'd spend the 1.5 hours each day during the week working on routine shots, mechanics, speed control, and shots/position you have messed up, etc, etc.

I'd spend the 3+ hours on the weekend breaking racks and seeing if you have improved. Not sure which game you play but if its 9B do you notice yourself getting out more? And things you mess up on the weekend you might consider diagramming and practicing during the week.

Just my $.02. And be advised posters on here will probably bash and trash what I just said, tell you its wrong. But just so you will know, one of the greatest players of all time told me that was a smart way to practice.

r/DCP

 

[Leigh]

Thanks!

 

[Leigh]

I had a come to Jesus with myself and realize that I am not working hard enough on my weakness which is consistency with my stroke. I thought I was working hard because I was making baby steps with my position play, but it does me no good if I cannot repeat a perfect stroke over and over.
I am making a commitment to only do straight in follow shots, stop shots and draw for the next three weeks. Perfectly straight. I am going to log my practice (I made X out of 20 shots) and watch my progress to see if I can truly nail my preshot routine and straight in shot.
You guys just became my accountability partners...
- Leigh

 

[DrCue'sProtege]

Nick Varner told me one of the best ways to identify stroke errors are the straight-in shots. In other words, dont just look to see if you made the shot but rather watch and see what that CB does. Does it veer a hair to the right or left on follow/draw shots? Does it wobble to the right or left on stop shots?

Remember the old saying.........."Whitey Doesnt Lie.."

r/DCP

 

[Leigh]

Yep! That’s what I’m doing. Follow shots need to follow in the pocket. Stop shots need to be exact without the slightest roll or spin. Draw has to be back to where I started with no deviation off the straight line.
Each day I’m logging my shots and figure out the percentages... 30% today. That’s sooooo pathetically low.( I made all the shots... it’s the cue ball that also has to be perfect.) I’m looking forward to doing this experiment over the next three weeks and monitoring my progress.
I’m doing at least twenty follow, twenty stop and twenty draw, FYI. (minimum)
At least I have an answer to my original post and the answer is stop being an asshole and work on my weaknesses. No more avoiding them by running patterns, playing the ghost and other fun stuff.

 

[goettlicher]

How would you spend your time if you could practice 1.5 hours or so every day during the week and 3+ hours on the weekend? Also, and probably related, how do you get yourself unstuck?
Since March I spend 99% of my time practicing. My form is better, my fundamentals are getting better and more consistent, in August I noticed that my game improved, but now... nothing. Still missing some stupid shots. Last night’s practice ended with me in a white hot ball of frustration.
Thanks.

Sorry to hear this. You have tried to put in the time to get better.
We can miss a shot in two different ways:
1. Poor mechanics
2. Poor aim

Have you had a Certified Instructor look at your game? This might be a big start.

randyg

 

[Leigh]

Hi Randy. I had a lesson with Jerry B about six months ago. It was fantastic and I learned a lot. Also, Scott Lee was nice enough to help me out, sight unseen, just over the phone. The tips he gave me really helped me improve and I go back his tips again and again. (I was so impressed with his generosity and knowledge... I wish I lived in Florida so I could have a real lesson.)
After putting what I learned into place, my game shot up... but now I am realizing I’m not practicing the right things. I need to be dead on, rock solid, however you want to put it, with my basics and I lack consistency. Maybe I just needed to put it in writing to realize that I had been avoiding truly practicing my weaknesses.

 

[Patrick Johnson]

Yep! That’s what I’m doing. Follow shots need to follow in the pocket. Stop shots need to be exact without the slightest roll or spin. Draw has to be back to where I started with no deviation off the straight line.

A refinement for this is to use a striped ball as your "cue ball" with the stripe turned so it's vertical and aligned carefully with the shot. Any slight deviation of your tip off of vertical center ball is instantly, maddeningly visible.

Trigger Warning: Players with fragile self esteem should only try this drill with an emotional support partner.

pj
chgo

 

[Leigh]

Ha! You must be reading my mind. These drills are humbling to say the least.

 

[FranCrimi]

Leigh, you've probably already developed triggers that will cause you to miss at certain points during a game. You can practice drills all day long but if you don't figure out what those triggers are and when they happen during a game, you'll continue to miss similar shots. By the way, that's natural and part of the learning process.

Here's one example of a trigger that can cause someone to miss: They run 3 balls in a row and didn't realize they were shooting faster and faster for each shot. By the 4th shot, they were off-pace and way too fast. Result: missed shot.

Another trigger example is when you are moving along well and then you suddenly wonder when you're going to miss. Then it happens. Most of the simple misses occur due to psychological triggers that the player has created out of habit.

My suggestion: Put the drills aside for now and address every time you miss. Analyze the miss. Tear it apart, bit by bit. Remember what you were thinking at the time you missed. Where in the game were you? Make mental notes. Practice the shot.

 

[Leigh]

Good advice! Before I posted I was taking video of myself playing… Talk about an act of futility… It was very eye-opening. I thought I had a pre-shot routine. Nope. I have a pre-shot routine for my first shot and then it’s all out the window.

 

[DrCue'sProtege]

Yeah, Leigh, what Fran said. I mean, you dont want to become LAZY with your own personal learning process!

Best wishes and keep this Forum posted. I came within a whisker of running six straight racks of 9B a couple of weeks ago. One missed 5B did me in. However, it wasnt the easiest shot either, sort of a back cut.

r/DCP

 

[bbb]

Yeah, Leigh, what Fran said. I mean, you dont want to become LAZY with your own personal learning process!

Best wishes and keep this Forum posted. I came within a whisker of running six straight racks of 9B a couple of weeks ago. One missed 5B did me in. However, it wasnt the easiest shot either, sort of a back cut.

r/DCP

are you saying you broke and ran 5 racks of 9 balls in a row ?
thats break and run out
or
break ball in hand run out 5 racks in a row?
5 racks in a row ?
be honest

 

[Leigh]

Wow! I have only run out once and I ran around my house acting like I scored a goal during the World Cup. Good job.

 

[DrCue'sProtege]

are you saying you broke and ran 5 racks of 9 balls in a row ?
thats break and run out
or
break ball in hand run out 5 racks in a row?
5 racks in a row ?
be honest

Here's what happened:

Rack 1 - break and runout
Rack 2 - break and runout
Rack 3 - break and runout
Rack 4 - break and hosed up the 5B during the runout
Rack 5 - break and runout
Rack 6 - break and runout

I was just one hosed up shot on the 5B from having six consecutive break and runs. This was quite rare because the balls stayed loyal for awhile, which they normally dont. Oh, and Rack 7 nothing went down.

r/DCP

 

[bbb]

Great shooting
Hard to believe based on your questions

 

[BilliardsAbout]

I had a come to Jesus with myself and realize that I am not working hard enough on my weakness which is consistency with my stroke. I thought I was working hard because I was making baby steps with my position play, but it does me no good if I cannot repeat a perfect stroke over and over.
I am making a commitment to only do straight in follow shots, stop shots and draw for the next three weeks. Perfectly straight. I am going to log my practice (I made X out of 20 shots) and watch my progress to see if I can truly nail my preshot routine and straight in shot.
You guys just became my accountability partners...
- Leigh

What do you mean "consistency with your stroke"? Because you can help groove your stroke without using balls or even a table.

 

[FranCrimi]

Good advice! Before I posted I was taking video of myself playing… Talk about an act of futility… It was very eye-opening. I thought I had a pre-shot routine. Nope. I have a pre-shot routine for my first shot and then it’s all out the window.

Right! That was a great discovery. You'll now be able to fix that issue. You already have a pre-shot routine that works. So now you have to break the habit that you created after your first shot by changing the way you think and removing the trigger. Triggers can be positive or negative things, depending on when they're inserted into your playing routine. I think of the negative ones as blockers that prevent us from moving forward.

 

[FranCrimi]

What do you mean "consistency with your stroke"? Because you can help groove your stroke without using balls or even a table.

I disagree with this, Leigh. You should always practice on a pool table. When players can't get to a pool table, they can learn other things until they can, like watching videos of matches and studying players. Leave the physical stuff for when you have access to the equipment.