8-ball Training and Rating Method - Includes 10min Video

[Colin Colenso]

I recorded this drill yesterday, which I use for the majority of my 8-ball training in preparation for a tourney. It also can be used as a way to rate your 8-ball ability.

The Method
Break the balls, whether you make one or not doesn't matter. That part's a luck fest anyway. Just play from where the CB finishes as open table. If you scratch, put the CB a few inches from the pocket where it entered and start from there.

Naturally the first aim is to run the rack from after the break shot. The aim should be to beat 50% for this. On a generous table for a pro level player they should do this 80%+ when in stroke. But beating the 8-ball ghost 50% is a sign of a decent player in form.

In the real world of pool, a player often misses on the black or with a couple of balls to go, and in that situation the usual strategy is to try to clean up. So after I pot the 8-ball I replace it its rack position and continue to pot out the second set. I don't deliberately play to set up for this second set, I just pot the 8-ball as I would in a match.

A top player should run the second set 90%+ as it is an open table situation. But adding this to the ghost challenge makes it extra challenging. So beating the ghost at running both sets (16 balls) provides a more difficult challenge.

You could rate yourself by your ability to beat the ghost by potting out both sets as an average out of 10. A good pro should be over 7/10 v ghost.

Another way is to play 10 racks and count your misses. A pro in stroke should have 5 misses or less. But if you can make the 10 sets with 10-15 misses you are playing pretty strong. It depends a bit on the pocket sizes. My table as seen in the video is pretty tight with 4.3" pockets and a slow cloth and currently I give the ghost a good run at this method and miss between 5 and 20 times for 10 full racks depending on how well I'm playing and how the balls come out. (Average 12 I'd guess....gotta pick that up a bit to match the big boys!!).

Anyway, check the video. It's not great quality and I had to cut some bits near the start to fit it inside 10mins, but it should give you some idea. Apologies for the video quality. Done on my mobile so hard to make out the balls. I pot 24 balls in this sequence.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miQYCXDID6E

Colin

 

[bsmutz]

Thanks for the post, Colin. I'm thinking it's a good thing the quality wasn't that good. I was mesmerized by your carpet enough as it was. That's the very definition of psychedelic, lol.

 

[Colin Colenso]

Thanks for the post, Colin. I'm thinking it's a good thing the quality wasn't that good. I was mesmerized by your carpet enough as it was. That's the very definition of psychedelic, lol.

Yeah, the flooring is disgusting, but I try not to look at it too much. Damned if I know where to buy carpet in China. I bought about 40 packs of kiddie playroom foam tiles to cover the floor just so that when the balls went off the table it dampens the noise. I can't afford to have complaints about practicing from the neighbors

The things we do
Colin

 

[sixpack]

I recorded this drill yesterday, which I use for the majority of my 8-ball training in preparation for a tourney. It also can be used as a way to rate your 8-ball ability.

The Method
Break the balls, whether you make one or not doesn't matter. That part's a luck fest anyway. Just play from where the CB finishes as open table. If you scratch, put the CB a few inches from the pocket where it entered and start from there.

Naturally the first aim is to run the rack from after the break shot. The aim should be to beat 50% for this. On a generous table for a pro level player they should do this 80%+ when in stroke. But beating the 8-ball ghost 50% is a sign of a decent player in form.

In the real world of pool, a player often misses on the black or with a couple of balls to go, and in that situation the usual strategy is to try to clean up. So after I pot the 8-ball I replace it its rack position and continue to pot out the second set. I don't deliberately play to set up for this second set, I just pot the 8-ball as I would in a match.

A top player should run the second set 90%+ as it is an open table situation. But adding this to the ghost challenge makes it extra challenging. So beating the ghost at running both sets (16 balls) provides a more difficult challenge.

You could rate yourself by your ability to beat the ghost by potting out both sets as an average out of 10. A good pro should be over 7/10 v ghost.

Another way is to play 10 racks and count your misses. A pro in stroke should have 5 misses or less. But if you can make the 10 sets with 10-15 misses you are playing pretty strong. It depends a bit on the pocket sizes. My table as seen in the video is pretty tight with 4.3" pockets and a slow cloth and currently I give the ghost a good run at this method and miss between 5 and 20 times for 10 full racks depending on how well I'm playing and how the balls come out. (Average 12 I'd guess....gotta pick that up a bit to match the big boys!!).

Anyway, check the video. It's not great quality and I had to cut some bits near the start to fit it inside 10mins, but it should give you some idea. Apologies for the video quality. Done on my mobile so hard to make out the balls. I pot 24 balls in this sequence.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miQYCXDID6E

Colin

Hi Colin!

This is my usual 8-ball drill that I've been doing for a long time. It is good for rounout strategy and it's what I've been doing the last 6 months or so that I've been focusing more on 8-ball.

One of the reasons that I am frustrated and that I feel like maybe I'm a better practice player is that I runout both groups in the drill the vast majority of the time. I dont' keep stats, but the other day after I made the post about being frustrated I ran both groups the first 5 times in a row. It's not unusual that I practice for an hour or so and only fail to get out both sets a few times.

That being said - It doesn't take much to get me out of my 'high speed' level. The waitress bringing me food, Poker Paul stopping by to talk for a couple of minutes, the World Cup fans going crazy....all can take me out of the zone...which I think is why I don't play as well when I'm playing someone else....the opponent is the distraction

Lately, after warming up for a bit, I've been adding clusters to both groups and taking time on every shot to think about possible safety play.

Anyway, great drill and thank you for posting.

Cheers,
RC

 

[Colin Colenso]

Hi Colin!

This is my usual 8-ball drill that I've been doing for a long time. It is good for rounout strategy and it's what I've been doing the last 6 months or so that I've been focusing more on 8-ball.

One of the reasons that I am frustrated and that I feel like maybe I'm a better practice player is that I runout both groups in the drill the vast majority of the time. I dont' keep stats, but the other day after I made the post about being frustrated I ran both groups the first 5 times in a row. It's not unusual that I practice for an hour or so and only fail to get out both sets a few times.

That being said - It doesn't take much to get me out of my 'high speed' level. The waitress bringing me food, Poker Paul stopping by to talk for a couple of minutes, the World Cup fans going crazy....all can take me out of the zone...which I think is why I don't play as well when I'm playing someone else....the opponent is the distraction

Lately, after warming up for a bit, I've been adding clusters to both groups and taking time on every shot to think about possible safety play.

Anyway, great drill and thank you for posting.

Cheers,
RC

Hi RC,
Thanks for the comments. Good to know you also use this type of drill. It's basically playing the game and that's what's needed to develop the pattern recognition and maybe moreso the confidence in finishing whenever a chance is on.

If you're running 5 packs, back to back like this, you've obviously got a game that can threaten anyone race to 8 or 11 or whatever if the breaks come your way.

I've never been a guy who sets records in practice...I tend to try out shots that can teach me something, rather than always play 100% score focused. As you're aware, matches are a very different thing from practice. The main difference being mental. Competition brings in doubts, distractions and fears that we don't normally experience on the practice table, but it also brings in focus which is sometimes hard to generate when practicing.

Initially competition usually drops a player's game several levels, but after some experience they tend to merge. Some guys that are mediocre on the practice table seem to rise a level or so in competition, mainly due to thinking harder about their shot selection and execution.

I figure that much of the difference between winners and also rans is their mental capacity. There are a ton of A+ level players on the practice tables, but some can lift to A++ in tournies or match ups while others often drop to A level.

Rarely does top level play require extreme shot making, heck, every good player thrills his associates on occassion with amazing shots. The top players are those who do what they know they need to do, with few errors, when the pressure is on.

Knowledge and skill base is important, but let's face it...if you could play to the abilities of your best practice sessions when in tournies or match ups, you'd win a heck of a lot more often. ( I mean you in the general sense, it's relevant to us all).

I've been lucky enough, (if you can call it luck) to have struck the zone a few times in tournaments. Once I went 15 straight games against 5 of Australia's best players to climb through the loser's side of a tourney. Such experiences prove that a player, who maybe doesn't always shine can find their zone and dominate a table under tourney or match up conditions.

My point is, don't limit yourself. don't measure yourself as a 100 player, because their is the capability of a 150+ player withing you. Play with that expectation, becuase the capability is there within you.

The difference between winning and losing most frames is a single shot, and you and I know that we can make that shot perfectly often enough when in the zone. It ain't purely about percentages, it's just about making that shot and that's a mental thing. Make them more often and all of a sudden some of the best players have to fear your game.

Though pool is an everlasting learning experience in many regards, in most games the errors or good shots that determine winning and losing are shots we have achieved many times on the practice table. Hence confidence is crucial, as it allows us to make that occassional difficult shot and hence bridge the gaps that separate good players from great players.

I hope readers don't interpret this as arrogance, but as the thoughts of an ambitious, optimistic and relatively experienced pool player.

Cheers sixpack. Looking forward to bashing some balls around with you someday soon
Colin

 

[jjinfla]

That's the way I play solitaire 8-ball too. Only difference is that I don't make all the shot nice and clean like you do.

Jake