Your Recommended Practice Drills for 9ft Table

[DeadStick]

Appleton has another drill where he sets a ball on the foot spot and one on the head spot and goes back and forth, shooting them into the corner pockets.

Thanks, gonna give that one a try. I imagine that staying in shape back and forth is going to be a real challenge - get too close to a side rail and straight and likely game over. Will have to really move the CB on almost every shot. Should help the 9-ball game as it comes up so frequently when template racking.

I like these simple setup drills where the goal is a high run. They really put the pressure on.

 

[pt109]

Play straight pool …..keep trying to break your high run.

 

[DeadStick]

Play straight pool …..keep trying to break your high run.

That makes my brain hurt lol.

But seriously, good point. It’s a great game of course. If it had a few more long stroke shots on a regular basis, it’d be perfect.

 

[Callaghan]

Play straight pool …..keep trying to break your high run.

This is uncharted territory. Always viewed 14.1 as a game for real players with a higher skill baseline than I currently possess. That said, a few more months of these X and Centerfield drills and maybe I'll be ready to take that plunge.

 

[Bob Jewett]

... Always viewed 14.1 as a game for real players with a higher skill baseline than I currently possess. T...

Where I learned, 14.1 was the preferred game of the lower players. Many easier shots to choose from. It will take a while to learn rack transitions, but that will come. 14.1 is much better suited to beginners than 9 ball.

As for practice routines, the Billiard University has several "exams" that are a wide variety of scored drills that will allow you to track your progress. Here are the exams:

Playing Ability Exams - Billiard University (BU)

Purpose The BU Exams (available for free below) provide a complete, structured, well designed, and challenging “pool workout” you can use to develop and improve your game to reach the next level. They also provide an accurate assessment and rating of overall pool-playing ability. More...

billiarduniversity.org

And here is a video of SVB doing the first level of exams:

 

[Bob Jewett]

But the drills/exercises/practices that you should be spending time on are those that cover your weaknesses and problem shots. What shots do you have trouble with?

(I asked this of a student yesterday and he put the cue ball frozen to the end rail and the object ball about half way down the table. His real problem was playing bad position, not the shot that some pros would duck. Self-analysis is hard.)

 

[Callaghan]

But the drills/exercises/practices that you should be spending time on are those that cover your weaknesses and problem shots. What shots do you have trouble with?

(I asked this of a student yesterday and he put the cue ball frozen to the end rail and the object ball about half way down the table. His real problem was playing bad position, not the shot that some pros would duck. Self-analysis is hard.)

Thank you for this perspective; the rack transitions and breaking in 14.1 are intimidating. I believe this may have to do with the fact that the only 14.1 I've been exposed to is in Accu Stats videos of the highest level players; I don't think I've ever actually watched an in-person game of straight pool played by amateurs. Comparatively, I've watched thousands of bad 8 and 9 ball games, so the intimidation factor there is quite low.

At this time my weaknesses seem to be rooted in my lack of decent stroke mechanics. The move to the 9' table really brought this out. Lots of misses on long/cut shots and a general feeling of "what game is this?" prompted me to start this thread. Controlling the cue ball with intent has also become a point of interest. I've run many a rack on the old 7' Valley tables at the local alley, but only intermediate mastery of cue control seems to be required for that; lines have a way of "coming together" on the small table, that is if you can make some shots. On the 9', however, it seems that if you can't get yourself setup, you are floundering.

I spent last night working on the X drill and others mentioned in this thread; it was illuminating. I can see myself improving quickly with dedication to these areas of more focused practice. That said, I'm certainly open to any and all suggestions and inputs at this time.

 

[7stud]

I've searched the forum here and have a few good ideas, but I wanted to get some fresh input on good practice drills for 9ft table play. I've just come back to pool after a lot of years away. Spent all my time in the past on 7ft and 8ft boxes. Recently made the bucket list GC1 9ft purchase and now find myself basically playing what feels like a new game. Looking for good drill/practice ideas to groove stroke mechanics as well as drills that will help with cue ball placement (seems like every leave is now on a rail). Thank you all for the time!

For grooving stroke mechanics, I like to practice diagonal corner-corner shots where the cb->ob and ob->pocket distances are equal. Place the ob as far away from the pocket as you can while still giving yourself room to place your bridge hand on the table with the proper bridge length to the cb. Use a laser or piece of string to mark the shot line from the pocket to a chair beyond the pocket you are shooting from. Place stickies for the cb and ob on the shot line. Use blue painters tape to mark the shot line on the floor. The blue tape is for positioning your feet. Practice straddling the blue painters tape on the floor and looking at the shot, then step in so that your feet land where you want them relative to the tape, then do your practice swings. Finally, make your final stroke. Practice stop shots, as well as following the CB into the pocket after the OB, and draw shots. If your draw gets really good, you may be able to draw the CB back into the corner pocket occasionally.

Now, if you want a detailed description on where your feet should be relative to the blue painters tape on the floor, as well as how to hold your cue with your bridge hand, how to hold your cue in your rear hand, where you should grip your cue, how long your bridge should be, what your eyes should be doing on your practice strokes, how to make a proper backstroke, how to make a proper forward stroke, where you should be looking when you strike the cue ball....then get the book "Play Great Pool" by Mark Wilson.

You might also want to explore where your "vision center" is and use that to help line up where you should be sighting relative to your cue. Dr. Dave has materials on how to find your vision center.

I'm a right handed player, and my vision center is directly under my left eye....I guess my right eye doesn't work as well as it should. That means I need to get my left eye over the cue. I can't do that with the stance recommended by Mark Wilson, so I have to stand closer to the cue, which means my feet are "across" the shot line. So read what Mark Wilson has to say, then if needed adjust according to your particular physical requirements or anything else that appeals to your sensibilities.

cb = cue ball
ob = object ball

 

[Justaneng]

A Dewalt cordless power drill is your best bet, as if you have the full 5’ of clearance around a 9’ table you’ll be pretty far from a usable outlet. You’ll have to get a hardened bit to get through the slate though.

 

[Bob Jewett]

A Dewalt cordless power drill is your best bet, as if you have the full 5’ of clearance around a 9’ table you’ll be pretty far from a usable outlet. You’ll have to get a hardened bit to get through the slate though.

That's just stupid talk. There is no cordless drill powerful enough to bore a ball-sized hole through the slate. Jeezus.

 

[JolietJames]

Oh yes…..these drills are already making a difference. I’m laughing because I’ve come across some long tables with the large faint chalk Xs in the middle and wondered what’s up with it. Thanks again.

All my tables had the X worn into the cloth. My new Diamond is not being subjected to that drill. I marked different straight lines to practice the same shots. After a while, I change the angle and fan out a few degrees to not use the same spots on the table. I no longer use clear donuts for ball positions either, in favor of a white seamstress' pen. The marks stay for a few days and wear off on their own. That's a good time to pick different shot lines for the drill.

 

[DeadStick]

I no longer use clear donuts for ball positions either, in favor of a white seamstress' pen. The marks stay for a few days and wear off on their own.

That's a chalk pencil? Since getting new cloth and using only Taom chalk on my table, I think I'm too anal to deal with the thought of using a chalk pencil and having the balls track it into and around the table, lol.

 

[JolietJames]

That's a chalk pencil? Since getting new cloth and using only Taom chalk on my table, I think I'm too anal to deal with the thought of using a chalk pencil and having the balls track it into and around the table, lol.

Amazon.com

I did not like the residue some donuts left on my table so I switched to this. I basically draw this shape where the CB and OB sit: | + | No lines, no tape, no mess -ball goes on the dot between the lines.
Due to the heavy draw on the mighty X, I used to put clear tape on the table to protect the cloth from the CB to maybe 4" past for where the tip follows through on the cloth.
I suppose using the Taom these days will make the mess minimal. The wear from the follow through and occasional miscues still put the cloth in danger without the tape. Bert always has thick clear packaging tape on his table he used for lessons. I guess his wrist waggle isn't the only thing I picked up from him.

 

[iusedtoberich]

I made this one up myself: Break a rack. Mark all the balls with donuts. Try to run out that same rack for a week straight with BIH on the 1. Try it many different routes. Find what patterns work the best. Etc. You'll get good at the first few balls, but then mess up the middle or end of the rack, since you will have less opportunities at them. So, practice the middle and end of the racks too, separately. Then go back to the full rack from the 1.

 

[DeadStick]

I made this one up myself: Break a rack. Mark all the balls with donuts. Try to run out that same rack for a week straight with BIH on the 1. Try it many different routes. Find what patterns work the best. Etc. You'll get good at the first few balls, but then mess up the middle or end of the rack, since you will have less opportunities at them. So, practice the middle and end of the racks too, separately. Then go back to the full rack from the 1.

Good one. Some company should make donuts in the colors of all 15 balls. S’pose you could write a tiny number on white ones with a fine-point sharpie.

 

[iusedtoberich]

Good one. Some company should make donuts in the colors of all 15 balls. S’pose you could write a tiny number on white ones with a fine-point sharpie.

That's what I did, wrote the number with the ultra fine tip sharpie. After a few rounds they become memorized.

 

[Bob Jewett]

... Some company should make donuts in the colors of all 15 balls. ...

Already done. The stripes are half-colored. The colors are better than in this picture. They are donuts even though the centers look solid here.

 

[Willowbrook Wolfy]

I give 1 vote to drills are almost pointless with ADHD. I quit the ghost sometimes just cause it’s boring. The extent of my drills is this. Just break the rack and play. If it’s 9 ball you are playing and you see a shot out of order you have been missing take it and try to play shape back to the ball you were on. If you’ve been missing a shot just set up that shot over and over on both sides of the table. I find them boring even if they are good to use.

I will throw in a small drill I figured out the other day though. This one kept me occupied for a little while after having to make a few balls past others while I practiced. It’s a perception drill to help people start using the whole pocket. .

Set up a ball in the middle of the table on first diamond straight to the middle of the side 2nd to 3rd diamond over for the CB. Stop the CB perfectly without it moving to the right or left. Not that difficult? Right? We’ve all done that before. Maybe to learn how to draw.

Now set it up straight into the highest part of the pocket makeable with the OB sitting at the 1st diamond but a little below the pocket. Once again straight in with CB at second or third diamond. Hit the stop shot now. If it’s hard to do that’s because you are aiming wrong. The farther you place the CB from the OB the easier to tell if you are hitting it right, but also makes it a harder shot. So place balls accordingly.

A lot of players will tend to aim to the middle of the pocket instinctively rather than shooting the shot straight. Even though they think they are shooting it straight the CB will move to the left or right because of this. They aren’t using the whole pocket. tested this shot with a few people and almost all the lower levels took a few tries to make it correctly. It took me a couple tries too. That’s why it interested me. Only person to make the 2nd shot correctly on the first try was a 625 fargorate.

That’s a small sample size but thought I would throw it out here. I see a lot of players carom a ball and miss because they shoot to the middle of the pocket when needing to shoot to the top or bottom of the pocket.

 

[Willowbrook Wolfy]

Sorry forgot to add you can’t hit it pocket speed but you don’t need to hit it hard either. You just need to hit it enough that the CB will go to the side if you stroke it incorrectly. That’s the key. Pocket speed isn’t really hard enough for the CB to move if hit a little wrong. So maybe a firm hit and remember if the ball goes forward or backwards more than about 1/4 roll it’s a miss also. This is more about playing the pocket, but you also need to make a solid stop shot for it to count.

 

[Bob Jewett]

There seem to be several versions of the Mighty X drill. I think the original by Bert used a cue ball and four object balls and the balls were not replaced until all had been shot off. Another version uses object balls as the cue ball so no cue ball is on the table. Another version requires (or asks) you to scratch on each shot.