Another Useful 8-ball Drill

[Colin Colenso]

This drill is very good for developing not only great CB positioning, but more specifically kissing out balls to put them into play.

Let's call it the "Kiss Out Drill".

btw: Is there a specific term for this in the US pool vernacular? Other than carom.

The diagram below shows a basic layout and a typical shot selection.

You must pocket a ball and kiss into another one of the object balls on the table.

I generally start with 7 balls on the table, and pot down to the last ball and then throw balls out onto the table again randomly.

It is not easy to pot the first 6 balls and make kisses on them all. The last couple can become very difficult.

You can adapt it for a scoring challenge to measure your improvement.

Score 1 point for a successful pot, minus 1 for each pot missed. A bonus 2 points for every kiss made with a successful pot. Maximum score for 7 balls is 19. But a bonus point if you complete the drill perfectly scores 20 for a nice round number.

Do 10 racks and total your score. Anything over 100 is very good shooting. Beginners may finish in the negatives.

Just spread the balls out and start ball in hand.

 

[TheBook]

Thanks to sharing. This seems as if it will develop a lot of skills and not get boring.

How do you do the graphic?

 

[jjinfla]

Hey Colin,

You keep giving away all your secrets and you will be very disappointed in January when your opponents start using them against you.

 

[Colin Colenso]

Thanks to sharing. This seems as if it will develop a lot of skills and not get boring.

How do you do the graphic?

It's from a screenshot in the game DDD Pool.

I set up an image I want, press "SHIFT + Prnt Scrn" and paste to paintbrush to add lines.

 

[Colin Colenso]

Hey Colin,

You keep giving away all your secrets and you will be very disappointed in January when your opponents start using them against you.

I figure all the good players are too busy practising to read my meanderings

 

[ryeth]

Hrmmm.... looks like a fun drill. Will have to give that a try

 

[Colin Colenso]

I had a go at scoring the drill today.
11, 11, 11, 10, 13, 13, 13, 13. 95 for 8 tries.

I stopped at 8 to practice the same drill using more follow and inside english to improve my judgement in that area.

When I scratched (3 or 4 times) I deducted a point, and continued ball in hand. I missed a few pots early on but pretty much made all pots for the last 4 drills averaging 3 kisses per drill out of six opportunities. Sometimes there was no kiss chance so I just potted the ball to get better position for the next shot.

btw: The balls were spread around quite evenly but randomly. Start ball in hand. You must select a single OB to kiss into.

I think if anyone can average over 15 on this drill (consistantly) they are probably very dangerous 8-ball players. That will be one of my aims in the next couple of months.

The drill helped a lot with my being able to make shots when attempting non-usual cue ball pathways to make kisses. Playin 8-ball after this I felt more confident moving around the patterns and getting myself back into position when straying.

 

[chefjeff]

Let's call it the "Kiss Out Drill".

btw: Is there a specific term for this in the US pool vernacular? Other than carom.

.

Yes, we here in the states call it the "hit it hard and hope."

I like to call it "redistributing" the balls whether by carom or whatever.

Oh, I just had a thought about your drill. In 8-ball, redistributing balls requires exact speed of hitting the cluster. Is there any way to incorporate that into your drill? Just thinking outloud here.

Jeff Livingston

 

[Colin Colenso]

Yes, we here in the states call it the "hit it hard and hope."

I like to call it "redistributing" the balls whether by carom or whatever.

Oh, I just had a thought about your drill. In 8-ball, redistributing balls requires exact speed of hitting the cluster. Is there any way to incorporate that into your drill? Just thinking outloud here.

Jeff Livingston

I like redistributing as being quite relevant to the meaning, but it's a bit long to catch on. Let me offer a new term, to be hereby inducted into the pool player's lexicon, "Bumping".

Bumping - or to Bump = To carom into a second object ball in order to improve its position.

For getting into clusters successfully, as often required in 8-ball play, I think it's hard to make this drill specific to that, but it comes in very useful. After some practice you can find yourself bumping the balls on the appropriate side and speed to push them where you need them, rather than just hoping to hit them. This touch comes in very useful when opening up balls in an 8-ball run out.

As a more specific drill I suggest to simple play some 8-ball games taking all opportunities to break balls and clusters open. ie. Much more aggressive play than one is likely to attempt in tournament play.

By doing this, you become much more mentaly attuned to spotting good bumping opportunities in matches, and much more capable in executing them well.

 

[chefjeff]

I like redistributing as being quite relevant to the meaning, but it's a bit long to catch on. Let me offer a new term, to be hereby inducted into the pool player's lexicon, "Bumping".

Bumping - or to Bump = To carom into a second object ball in order to improve its position.

.

Oh no, Colin...."bumping" is what one does to the table when there's a reluctant hanger.

OK, here's a way to catagorize balls in 8-ball. When looking over the table, each ball is in one or more of these catagories:

A ball = Available to a pocket(s)
B ball = Blocked by another ball(s)
C ball = Clustered with another ball(s)
D ball = Distributor ball that can be used to redistribute (bump) B or C balls....or A balls, for that matter.

Consciously catagorizing every ball before starting helps in the process of getting out.

Jeff Livingston

 

[lewdo26]

I like redistributing as being quite relevant to the meaning, but it's a bit long to catch on. Let me offer a new term, to be hereby inducted into the pool player's lexicon, "Bumping".

Bumping - or to Bump = To carom into a second object ball in order to improve its position.

Colin,

Love your drill invention... Going to try it soon. BTW, I'd expect it to help with CB control at any game, much like straight pool.

Oh, and "bumping" is far from being new terminology in the U.S. ...lol

"Bumping" or "nudging" is the essence of 8 ball. It will come in handy not only in breaking clusters or moving problem balls; but also in creating problems/clusters for your opponent, and manufacturing key, break, insurance, or lead balls for you.

Thanks for sharing.