Practice Sessions - Struggling to Focus

randyg said:

PRACTICE: Short is sweet, long is wrong!

Break your practice routines down into groups aka
Mechanics
Aiming
Set Drills like stop shots and draw shots.

Practice each for about 20 minutes a day, no longer.
Twice a d ay would be ideal.

So many things to practice
randyg

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PoolChump said:

Have to disagree. You need long sessions to improve stamina and improve focus.:thumbup:

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Drop The Rock said:

I agree in terms on playing/practice play. I also agree in general except that you shouldn't practice any one thing for more than 2 hours.

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PoolChump said:

Practice and competitive play are totally different. :thumbup:

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philly said:

I admit that I am a terrible practice player. After an hour I am usually just banging balls. Maybe ADD, I don't know. To me playing is a form of practicing in that competition hones your ability to stay focused in, for lacking a better way to explain it, a competitive atmosphere. It's sort of like the more tournaments you play in or more money games you are involved in, the more you get comfortable with that setting.

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Drop The Rock said:

I agree in terms on playing/practice play. I also agree in general except that you shouldn't practice any one thing for more than 2 hours.

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Flip_dat_Quarta said:

I'm looking for some good practice advice:

I love to play the 7 ball ghost more than anything however I run into some problems:

1. I shoot too fast
2. I don't spend as much time focusing
3. I'll sometimes want to experiment with an alternative way to get shape however I don't b/c I am in the middle of the set.
4. When I'm playing good I only get to shoot a few tough shots per rack b/c of good position.
5. I'll start to slack off

It's hard to give 100% effort against the ghost when you're just playing for fun. Therefore I usually develop bad habits. So that being said, I am trying to stop playing the ghost as much.

I have been changing my practice sessions to focus on one specific aspect of my game. For example, shooting the same shot over and over and over until I master it. This type of practice is really boring but it's obviously the best way to improve.

This type of practice is so boring that it makes me never want to practice. I need to find something that is in-between the two extremes that I've mentioned. I need something that is challenging but not extremely boring. I need something that practices my whole game which I can use to warm up before a match. I need something that I can easily start and stop without going through a whole set or workout.

What kind of practice sessions do you guys like? Do you encounter any of the same problems I've mentioned? Do you have any recommendations? I'd love to start something new...Thanks!

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PoolChump said:

Have to disagree. You need long sessions to improve stamina and improve focus.:thumbup:

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Scott Lee said:

You really are a CHUMP. Disagreeing with one the best instructors out there, along with countless sports psychologists shows how little you actually know about pool...among other things.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

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FranCrimi said:

I used to get bored practicing, too. I realized that unless I set up a challenge for myself, I wasn't going to stay focused.

What worked for me was that I set a prize for myself that I would only win if I met my goal. Many times my prize would be letting myself enter in my local pool room tournament. But first, I had to beat the ghost 'x' number of times out of 10 --- or something like that ---- or I had to make a ball on the break 'x' number of times out of 10, or I had to have position on the one ball after the break, 'x' number of times out of 10. (It was usually all of the above.)

If I didn't meet my goal, I wouldn't enter the tournament that week. I really enjoyed playing in those so I started really focusing when I practiced so I wouldn't make stupid mistakes. When I did play in the tournament, that good habit I developed of staying focused usually came along with me. Worked out pretty well.

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Cameron Smith said:

I'd say in a perfect world if a player was trying to maximize their potential, 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon is ideal. Obviously few people can do this on a daily basis however.

The idea of 20 minute attention span would be implemented via switching up routines every 20 minutes, and taking a 10 minute break on the hour.

Nic Barrow's snooker training app follows this model and it works great. It really keeps you focused over the session.

5-8 hours in a row will result in a lot of unfocused practice.

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Drop The Rock said:

Unless you're SVB who has been known to shoot the same shot for hours and hours in a row lol.

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PoolChump said:

Have to disagree. You need long sessions to improve stamina and improve focus.:thumbup:

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