Best speed controll drills.
- Thread starter Kim Bye
- Start date
Lag the ball and hit it hard to soft.
Then put a ball in the jaws and lag the ball to it, hitting it at various speeds.
This will more or less get you used to the table speed.
Speed control is in the arm, not drills.
Play 1 pocket for practice, you'll be surprised how much speed is a factor.
I would be happy to hear of some good speed drills as well. Particularly those which would involve one or two rails. However not just position, but namely speed control. I cannot think of a drill like this myself.
I agree with Renegade, try some one pocket and you'll see how crucial speed becomes.
How tight is your grip on a scale of 1 - 10? You will have better speed control with a light grip. Think of cradling the cue.
In fact I've played quite a lot 1pocket recently, and mainly sucked with speed control in that (when cushion hits are involved).
That's why I would be happy to hear of some speed drills.
Not to hijack Kim Bye's thread, I think we're looking for the same thing.
That's why I would be happy to hear of some speed drills.
Not to hijack Kim Bye's thread, I think we're looking for the same thing.
I`d rate it at a 4 right now, so no more death grip :grin: Even when shooting power draw shots.
speed and feel
Just practice hitting a ball at 2 MPH, then 5MPH, the 30 MPH.
Just kidding. Speed control is not something with a formula. It has more to do with muscle memory than an explainable conscious plan. It comes with experience and attentiveness (body awareness).
In recent years, I've incorporated shooting with your eyes closed into practice techniques. It's pretty simple. Shoot any particular shot until you've hit a few with the desired speed. Then on the next attempt, close your eyes just before the "business" stroke. Do this till you come close to the desired speed. By closing your eyes, you take some of the extraneous thinking out of the process and rely on "muscle memory".
This method seems to speed up the learning process when it comes to speed control, and for other parts of the game as well...there's a "feel" to a well-executed draw, stun, follow or whatever you're trying to accomplish.
I actually learned this technique fifty years ago as an aspiring bowler, and once rolled a 234 game with my eyes closed...keeping them open only to line myself up on the approach. Theoretically at least, one can do the same with pool.
Just practice hitting a ball at 2 MPH, then 5MPH, the 30 MPH.
Just kidding. Speed control is not something with a formula. It has more to do with muscle memory than an explainable conscious plan. It comes with experience and attentiveness (body awareness).
In recent years, I've incorporated shooting with your eyes closed into practice techniques. It's pretty simple. Shoot any particular shot until you've hit a few with the desired speed. Then on the next attempt, close your eyes just before the "business" stroke. Do this till you come close to the desired speed. By closing your eyes, you take some of the extraneous thinking out of the process and rely on "muscle memory".
This method seems to speed up the learning process when it comes to speed control, and for other parts of the game as well...there's a "feel" to a well-executed draw, stun, follow or whatever you're trying to accomplish.
I actually learned this technique fifty years ago as an aspiring bowler, and once rolled a 234 game with my eyes closed...keeping them open only to line myself up on the approach. Theoretically at least, one can do the same with pool.
Here's a couple...I think these are from Bert Kinnister.
Place an ob at center table. Place cb adjacent to ob that allows you to shoot unimpeded at the second diamond on the long rail. With some running english, shoot the speed that brings cb around 3 rails to barely contact the ob.
Others: More general:
...spread a few ob's (6-10)along the head line...in sequence, hit each a little further than the last one, without hitting end rail. If it gets too easy...add more balls to the lineup. Then try it, with hitting the end rail, and rebounding progressively further on each shot.
And then...same thing, but with bih, hit each ob with cb, sending ob a little further than the last one. Then as above, bounce ob off end rail, progressively further up table until you hit the cb that's still uptable.
Both of these drills include hitting center ball, trying to have cb, or ob travel straight after hitting the back rail.
......
Real soft....put a ball in the jaws of side pocket..hit softly multiple times until pocketed in opposite side pocket. The more strokes, the better.
Varying bridge distances and short, soft strokes of increasing speed and stroke length are immediate feedback. Haven't tried these with eyes closed, but that could be interesting, but since focusing on cb is helpful, might not work.
For 1P..try 3 railers that die after rubbing a ball on the end rail near opponents pocket..hitting ob on the correct side, or no hit, leaving cb on the correct side.
I'm sure there are other, possibly better drills around. These are challenging enough for me...and they seem to help with muscle memory.
Experiment with grip pressures, stoke length, one stroking, especially moving the ball real short distances..
The finesse part of the game is the hardest for me, and 'touch' drills can get frustrating since they are not our normal tempo and stroke speed.
Have fun.
Place an ob at center table. Place cb adjacent to ob that allows you to shoot unimpeded at the second diamond on the long rail. With some running english, shoot the speed that brings cb around 3 rails to barely contact the ob.
Others: More general:
...spread a few ob's (6-10)along the head line...in sequence, hit each a little further than the last one, without hitting end rail. If it gets too easy...add more balls to the lineup. Then try it, with hitting the end rail, and rebounding progressively further on each shot.
And then...same thing, but with bih, hit each ob with cb, sending ob a little further than the last one. Then as above, bounce ob off end rail, progressively further up table until you hit the cb that's still uptable.
Both of these drills include hitting center ball, trying to have cb, or ob travel straight after hitting the back rail.
......
Real soft....put a ball in the jaws of side pocket..hit softly multiple times until pocketed in opposite side pocket. The more strokes, the better.
Varying bridge distances and short, soft strokes of increasing speed and stroke length are immediate feedback. Haven't tried these with eyes closed, but that could be interesting, but since focusing on cb is helpful, might not work.
For 1P..try 3 railers that die after rubbing a ball on the end rail near opponents pocket..hitting ob on the correct side, or no hit, leaving cb on the correct side.
I'm sure there are other, possibly better drills around. These are challenging enough for me...and they seem to help with muscle memory.
Experiment with grip pressures, stoke length, one stroking, especially moving the ball real short distances..
The finesse part of the game is the hardest for me, and 'touch' drills can get frustrating since they are not our normal tempo and stroke speed.
Have fun.
I would say that it would be tough to think of a drill that would help you since every table is different as far as speed. It is alot of muscle memory. Every rail is going to react and grab English a little more or a little less.
I'm working on this too. I found the "no rail drill' . Place all the balls on the intersections of all the diamonds. You make all the balls without letting the cue ball or the object ball touch a rail. I'm sure there is a better explanation in the search. After each miss you have to set the table up again. I'm lucky to get up to 9
I like to try to leave a ball almost hanging in the pocket and try to hit the cue ball so that I make contact with the object ball but don't actually sink it. If you can do that from across the table, you know the speed of the table.
Then, using the 3 cushion drill as mentioned a couple of posts ago, run three cushions and contact the object ball , the only difference is, place the object ball in one of those 3 hole punch reinforcement rings or in a hole at the edge of a magic rack. If you make contact with the object ball but it falls out of the reinforcement ring, you hit it too hard.
These drills will drive you nuts, but when you start hitting them more consistently you will know you have a light touch and perfect speed control.
Then, using the 3 cushion drill as mentioned a couple of posts ago, run three cushions and contact the object ball , the only difference is, place the object ball in one of those 3 hole punch reinforcement rings or in a hole at the edge of a magic rack. If you make contact with the object ball but it falls out of the reinforcement ring, you hit it too hard.
These drills will drive you nuts, but when you start hitting them more consistently you will know you have a light touch and perfect speed control.
Pretty much all of the drills in the BU playing-ability exams require and test accurate speed control with different types of shots. Give them a try to see which ones you think are the most beneficial to you.
Enjoy,
Dave
PS: If you try the complete exams, please consider posting your score (and videos if possible) on the AZB BU thread. Good luck!
One element of speed control that I see a lot of players missing is considering the fat/thin -ness of the hit, i.e. how much speed/energy will the CB transfer to the OB? Players often over-hit a thin cut because they think "I need to get the ball all the way down-table."
I like to set up an easy corner pocket shot that then goes two rails for position to the middle of the table. Vary the cut angle and get experience with the differences.
I like to set up an easy corner pocket shot that then goes two rails for position to the middle of the table. Vary the cut angle and get experience with the differences.
Thanks Dave I`ll practice your drills and post a score and video when i have practiced a bit
Kim
Sounds good.Thanks Dave I`ll practice your drills and post a score and video when i have practiced a bit
Kim
Thanks,
Dave