Speed Control Drills

DrCue'sProtege

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Where can I get a list of Speed Control drills to work on? Seems like I have seen links to something like this before but couldn't find anything.

Any help would be appreciated. Speed Control is what I have been focusing on as of late.

r/DCP
 

Black-Balled

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I don have any pre-fab drills, but what I like to do to get the speed ingrained is 2 rails out of a corner, leaving cb on other end rail...forward and backward, both.
 

Dan_B

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
...that 2 rail carom/lag out of the corners is a very popular and a must-do type of shot to master 4 ball, …


just saying,

that's in my wheel house of top 10 enjoyments of the game.
 

Chili Palmer

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I place both the cue ball and an object ball randomly in the kitchen and bank the object to varying places, i.e. bank it so it crosses the spot, or bank it like a lag and try to park it on a rail - any rail, or bank it so it stops by the third diamond on the left rail then the right rail. I also hit lots of 2 and 3 rail shots trying to make the ball and park it in certain spots, this tests both rail action and speed.
 

jrctherake

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Where can I get a list of Speed Control drills to work on? Seems like I have seen links to something like this before but couldn't find anything.

Any help would be appreciated. Speed Control is what I have been focusing on as of late.

r/DCP

I wouldn't try to get to fancy with someone else's drill set. Instead, play a few ghost sets and record the play. Afterwards, watch and rewatch until find all of the weaknesses in your game and make drills designed for you.

Cookie cutter drills work best in cookie stores......
 

GoldCrown

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
If you have Scott Lee work with you...... speed drills are part of the 4hour course.
 

Bob Jewett

AZB Osmium Member
Staff member
Gold Member
Silver Member
I wouldn't try to get to fancy with someone else's drill set. Instead, play a few ghost sets and record the play. Afterwards, watch and rewatch until find all of the weaknesses in your game and make drills designed for you.

Cookie cutter drills work best in cookie stores......
I think that's true if you have made lots of cookies already. Many beginners have no tools to work with, like shoot a straight in and stop the cue ball. Or draw the cue ball back to the cushion for a straight in shot on a ball on that cushion. For those players, I think standard drills allow them to develop specific, important skills.

The drills have to be well designed, though.
 

ChrisinNC

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Where can I get a list of Speed Control drills to work on? Seems like I have seen links to something like this before but couldn't find anything.

Any help would be appreciated. Speed Control is what I have been focusing on as of late.

r/DCP
If your poolroom utilizes a template rack for their 9-ball tournaments or you use one when matching up 9-ball 1-on-1 in your poolroom, by far the most common and likely the most important shot to have great speed control to be able to play really good position on is from the 2nd to last ball to the 9-ball - which is nearly always located in the same position - either 4 inches below the foot spot or directly on the foot spot, if a high racking position is utilized.

Sounds simple, but randomly placing the 8-ball in various locations all over the table, randomly placing the cue ball with various angles of reasonable shots on that 8-ball, then proceeding to practice pocketing the 8-ball and playing for shape for an easy shot on the 9-ball - either with a controlled draw, follow, or going 1, 2, or 3 rails with the cue ball is critical to playing good 9-ball, and a great drill to practice. You'll be amazed how much this drill will help you once you play in a tournament or a long session of 9-ball, and you are faced with getting this last ball position virtually every game.
 
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babyboy70363

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
One drill that has worked for me is the following.

Along either of the long rails place the cue ball on the first diamond, then an object ball on the second diamond and practice stop shots. Move the object ball one diamond further down the rail as you feel confident that you have the stroke speed down.

Using the same method for practicing follow and draw shots as well. The diamonds help you to gauge how far forward or backward the ball is going to travel based on stroke speed. This drill also will show you inconsistencies in your alignment or stroke as well by observing the cue ball movement after the shot.......

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 

jrctherake

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I think that's true if you have made lots of cookies already. Many beginners have no tools to work with, like shoot a straight in and stop the cue ball. Or draw the cue ball back to the cushion for a straight in shot on a ball on that cushion. For those players, I think standard drills allow them to develop specific, important skills.

The drills have to be well designed, though.

Yes Sir, I agree with the "have made lots of cookies". As well as the well designed part.

However, I had rather have just a few "really good" cookies vs.... a whole store full of run-of-the-mill cookies.

I'm not disagreeing with you in the least.

I understand that BEGINNERS should have extremely easy and basic drills. However, I was under the impression the OP has been playing for years or at least a member since 2004.

I just assumed (uh oh) he was past the newb/intermediate level by now.

BTW:

It seems chit storms follow me around on here. It seems I'm not a people person .... LOL...

Anyways, I meant no disrespect to the OP on the BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE thing.

Rake
 

PoolBoy1

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
If you have it in your head concerning the basics then video will help a lot. I don't believe in a lot of drills and extra practice time. I noticed lately I've been cheating pre shot routine getting lazy on easy shots and missing some. Besides all tables play differently. Getting too locked in on 1 table can make for travel problems. Get to the table early and get the 'feel'.
 

StraightPoolIU

Brent
Silver Member
Check out the ones Dr Dave pointed to on his site. There are also several of the Billiard University drills in exam I that are progressive practice with focus on speed control and position play.

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Bob Jewett

AZB Osmium Member
Staff member
Gold Member
Silver Member
If you have a hard time hitting the cue ball softly, such as on some finesse safeties, here is an oldie. I forget where I saw it first.

Put the cue ball in the jaws of a side pocket. Put the object ball 8-10 inches away straight towards the other side pocket. See how many hits on the OB you can make before you make it in the far side pocket. You leave the cue ball and OB in position each shot. Every hit has to move the OB closer to the target pocket. If you fail to hit the OB at all on a shot, you fail the drill and have to start over.

Four shots should be possible for most people right from the start; can you stretch it out to ten? The usual problem is trying for too much finesse and not hitting the OB at all. Try visualizing exactly how far you will move the OB, such as one ball diameter towards the side pocket.
 

PhilosopherKing

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I think understanding position zones and playing into large zones will make things easier without driving yourself crazy, but I'm not saying to avoid the drills.
 
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