What are the best drills?
- Thread starter newcuer
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Everything Zero-X.
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If you cannot yet analyze your own game and figure out where your weaknesses are, then do whatever drill is fun. If you do get to the point of figuring out which shots you have trouble with, then do drills/exercises that improve your performance on those shots or problem areas.
Related to which, we need to know how well you play now to even start to recommend how you should spend your time on the table. Do you know how to draw the cue ball -- put backspin on the cue ball and make it come back towards you after you hit an object ball on a straight-in shot? If the object ball is two feet from the pocket and the cue ball is two feet from the object ball, and there is a little bit of angle on the shot, how many out of 10 tries can you make on average (no draw -- just make the ball)?
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You'll find one of my favorite position play drills in post #7 of the following thread, which is from 2005:
https://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=16353
https://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=16353
Somehow I got lucky and ended up with the Hitachi. It wasn't that much more expensive than the others.:grin:
I'm a big proponent of the wagon wheel drills. The best known is demonstrated here:
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...1B182E6AF7926C6EBCAC1B182E6AF7926C6&FORM=VIRE
This drill is chiefly for stun follow, stun and stun draw. Each shot is executed off a straight shot in the side pocket.
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...1B182E6AF7926C6EBCAC1B182E6AF7926C6&FORM=VIRE
This drill is chiefly for stun follow, stun and stun draw. Each shot is executed off a straight shot in the side pocket.
Here is another video with some additional explanation for the Wagon Wheel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b42018ceoE
Any drill is useless unless it is directly related to "your problem/problems".
When people start running drills at random, well, they are IMO....wasting their time....big time!
The drill/drills you use should be made/used to meet "your" needs.
Be careful not to waste your time with cookie cutter drills.
We only have so much time, don't waste it!
Completely true. But the opposite is just throwing balls out and shooting at them. Or just racking, breaking and trying to run. I joke to my friends, I don’t practice...I train. I get people can improve by immersing themselves in pressure situations. That’s extremely effective but not available to everyone equally. I also support practice that is skill building. I think most people don’t know their weaknesses but a good program (like Zero-X) will put them through a good variety and run their nose in their weaknesses, making them choose to improve or settle.
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Yep, his material is good stuff for sure.
I've been meaning to spend some time in detail with his work.
I borrowed two older discs of his work. I've been planning on purchasing a complete kit of his work.
Is there a "best" way to purchase his complete, most recent work?
I dont know you but, "I" would say, "concentrate on "FUNDAMENTALS"".
Far to often, I hear people talk about drills that work on cutting to the left/right, drills that help draw/follow, left/right spin, stop....stun shots etc...etc... when infact, people should spend more time keeping their stance (feet, shoulders, elbows, head etc..) in check.
I dont care what drill you run, if "any-one" of your fundamentals are off more than slightly, well, your back to wasting your time regardless of the drill.
I have a very good friend that loves to play. He actually has a lot of potential but, he's not gonna realize his full potential simply because he refuses to go back to the basics often .....or at all!
He, like most decent players think that after you get to be a decent player, well, you dont need to work on "the basics"....
I tell him that "whatever gets you there", well.....that's what it will take to "keep you there".
Regardless of how well a person plays, they CANNOT.....overlook fundamentals. If they do, well....lol.... it will not be long before you hear them complaining about hitting a SLUMP!
+1 on the fundamentals. You need to get those straightened out first.
Then I would recommend DrDave's exams
https://billiarduniversity.org/exams.html
If you take the exams part 1 and 2 you will immediately realize where most of your problems are. After that you can concentrate on the drills that you miss the most. At least that is what I am doing and it helps me a great deal.
Then I would recommend DrDave's exams
https://billiarduniversity.org/exams.html
If you take the exams part 1 and 2 you will immediately realize where most of your problems are. After that you can concentrate on the drills that you miss the most. At least that is what I am doing and it helps me a great deal.
Strongly disagreed.
There are huge gains that one can make without improving fundamentals. The most obvious example is speed control oriented drills, with develop touch and finesse.
If you are merely saying that you'll get more out of your practice drills if you also focus on your fundamentals, I'm 100% on board with that.
... but it is mistaken to suggest that, especially when it comes to speed control oriented drills, at any level of mastery or non-mastery of the fundamentals, one cannot make huge gains through drills. I've seen such progress made countless times.
There are 622 official cookie cutter drills that score and are easily duplicated without any
table markings where the object to shoot again the cue ball must always finish in
between any two object balls closest to the center(line) of the table. You will find creative
ways of using Cue Ball Motions in collaboration with the cushions for offense and
defensive outcomes all while only using 4 balls to challenge yourself or others.
Lately however, 2 sets of 4 (doubles) starts out with an inning or 2 of 1 pocket strategy,
then once pocketing your marks you can go after your opponent's,
Making Billiards Great Again... :wink:
table markings where the object to shoot again the cue ball must always finish in
between any two object balls closest to the center(line) of the table. You will find creative
ways of using Cue Ball Motions in collaboration with the cushions for offense and
defensive outcomes all while only using 4 balls to challenge yourself or others.
Lately however, 2 sets of 4 (doubles) starts out with an inning or 2 of 1 pocket strategy,
then once pocketing your marks you can go after your opponent's,
Making Billiards Great Again... :wink:
Craftsman has lifetime warranty on all their tools or at least they used to.
In pool I do zero drills unless running balls is a drill.
With this recommendation I agree 100%.
https://www.zerox-billiards.com/shop
You’d want to decide for yourself whether you want DVDs vs Digital Downloads. I like digital. I’m not sure if I’m allowed to but I upload them as private YouTube videos so I can watch them anywhere.
He has two products that would cover his work...
1) Full Zero-X Collection: This is a 6 DVD set (11 hours) of all his older stuff.
2) 12 Instructional Videos: This is a 2 DVD set (5.5 hours) of brand new content not covered in #1.
I’m also a Tournament Bound-level member of his Patreon. That’s sold out but there is a waiting list and other levels available.
https://www.patreon.com/zeroxbilliards
With that I record sessions on doing his drills, he rates my ability in various categories, provides advice, and assigns drills based on weaknesses. Much of it is the same content as in #1 and #2 except there’s the accountability to actually put in the effort. It’s too easy to watch a video and think you’re absorbing the content vs putting in the work.
The benefit of this content is the high production values, focus on fundamentals, progression of skill-building, and logical approach to it (it unfolds in layers).
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