Advice needed - Getting a little sloppy

42NateBaller

42NateBaller

AKA "Drambuie Dave"
Silver Member
I notice that lately I'm getting a little sloppy on the medium difficult shots. I've been going back to the basics to work on my stroke quality and found that I'm slipping.

By way of backgroud, I track my match and practice sessions, and 6 months ago, I taped several practice sessions. I recently taped a few practice sessions for comparison. I found that I'm steering the cue stick on the follow-through, and I'm jacking the cue stick up to shoot down on the cue ball (I play on 7 ft tables, but practice on my home 8 ft).

I can level out my cue stick at home and stop steering the follow-through, but when I get on the 7 fters, I notice that I slowly go back to the bad habits.

Has anyone been through this?
Do I need more practice to engrain the better technique, or do you approach 7 ft tables differently (minus the steering of the follow-through)?

Any adivce is appreciated!
 
Usually when I get in a slump due to bad habits creeping in I do just as you did and try to iron them out, which usually works. The thing that often happens is that as soon as I start doing things properly and well again, I pick up the pace, lose focus and the bad habits start to creep back in. I constantly have to remind myself to slow down, and give every detail attention. You have to keep yourself sharp with effort, recognizing that if you're slipping you may be on auto pilot and may not be aware of the flaws you are commiting. This happens to me. It is fixable. Good pool to ya.
 
42NateBaller said:
I notice that lately I'm getting a little sloppy on the medium difficult shots. I've been going back to the basics to work on my stroke quality and found that I'm slipping.

By way of backgroud, I track my match and practice sessions, and 6 months ago, I taped several practice sessions. I recently taped a few practice sessions for comparison. I found that I'm steering the cue stick on the follow-through, and I'm jacking the cue stick up to shoot down on the cue ball (I play on 7 ft tables, but practice on my home 8 ft).

I can level out my cue stick at home and stop steering the follow-through, but when I get on the 7 fters, I notice that I slowly go back to the bad habits.

Has anyone been through this?
Do I need more practice to engrain the better technique, or do you approach 7 ft tables differently (minus the steering of the follow-through)?

Any adivce is appreciated!
Click to expand...

You should strive to execute properly regardless of the equipment that you play on. IMHO, what is needed is more practice to perfect and maintain your technique. I want to stress that this is not a short-term thing and should be a regular part of any practice routine. No professonal baseball player or basketball player ever stops taking batting practice or practicing free throws. Keep working on those fundamental stroke practice drills throughout your pool lifetime and you will find that it lays the foundation for continued long-term improvement of your game instead of just plateauing out at a lower level.
 
You're probably doing this already, but I agree with VIProfessor. Maintain your technique and develop better habits.
If you're getting sloppy on your shots, it may stem from your pre-shot routines.... even as simple as how u r approaching a shot.

Hope that helps.
 
Thanks all

Sorry, but work got in the way of my AZB posting. I want to thank you for the advice and encouragement. I'll keep at it.

VIP - I do try to have the same stroke all the time. It's just that on 7fters you shoot from near the rails quite a bit, so I find my self jacking up for center ball and draw shots. Then I find that I slip into a jacking up all the time mode. I do try to keep the cue as close to level to the table as I can (as a general rule).

Anyone have any good drills they like to pass along, I'm open.

Thanks again!

David.
 
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