Different Practice technique: Repeated ghost layout

Thanks for sharing your video's.
I practice like this almost everyday now that I have the Projection Pro Billiards System. It is fantastic for this exact type of practice. Quickly recall layouts and run them over and over again until you want to move on to another one. I can't say enough good things about this system for this exact type of practice.
 
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uwate said:
You play position to shoot the 7 in the corner. Maybe the camera angle is deceptive, but it looks like you could be playing it into the side. you have more margin of error for position playing it in the side and its an easier shot to get position on the 8 instead of the way you punch the 7 into the corner and take whitey side to side.
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That's how I'd play it every time. It's interesting to watch or read how others play it.
 
Bob Jewett said:
The quarter-inch ones seem to come with all the needed colors, but you need to use some color other than yellow for the nine. At the price quoted including shipping, it's 1.5 cents per layout.
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A little black sharpie diagonal line will make the 9....:wink:

Now, if someone would just come out with colored donuts, that would be slick.



I've always just taken and overhead pic of my layouts, then when I have a problem, I'll go back and redo with stickers, until I can get through it. It's a great way to get through those problem areas, that seem to pop up, about every 2 to 3 racks...lol.
 
I think a picture and standard Avery labels are good enough. If I replay a pattern in stickers, I do it 10+ times. After 2 or 3 attempts I’ve memorized what ball goes where. Perhaps for teaching, the colored stickers could represent cueball position for a shot.

Blue = where you want to be for the 2
Red = where you want to be for the 3
...
Yellow = where you want to be for the 9


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
The problem I have with these drills is because you put the balls in the exact same spot is you are always getting the same "look" at the pocket. Many moons ago when I used to do drills I would use dollar bills/playing cards. When I would replace the balls I would not put the numbered balls exactly in the same place but more in the general area.

Keeps the drill fresh and keeps your head in the game. Then you can work the the specific shots that give you the most problems.
 
It would be curious to see a layout of your most difficult pattern and practice that one.
 
Nick B said:
The problem I have with these drills is because you put the balls in the exact same spot is you are always getting the same "look" at the pocket. Many moons ago when I used to do drills I would use dollar bills/playing cards. When I would replace the balls I would not put the numbered balls exactly in the same place but more in the general area.

Keeps the drill fresh and keeps your head in the game. Then you can work the the specific shots that give you the most problems.
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I agree with the idea of variation from drill to drill, but I also think that it is good to get through one setup completely one time with all the balls back identically each try. But then, move on.
 
Bob Jewett said:
I agree with the idea of variation from drill to drill, but I also think that it is good to get through one setup completely one time with all the balls back identically each try. But then, move on.
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That's what I thinking. You get zoned in on the angle and thus it becomes less effective. When I was young I always included a jawed ball that I needed to make and get tough position shape for. Knowing how to navigate around the pocket on a deep ball has been an invaluable tool over the years.
 
jrctherake said:
I do this a lot. It helps me as well.

What I do is:

1. Rack balls with magic rack.
2. Break with my normal break speed etc...
3. Put donuts under all the balls that didn't go on break, including cue ball.
4. Run this drill over and over until I can average 7 - 2 or better.
5. Start a ghost race a try to leave that pattern as best as possible.

Again, good practice. It really should help you score better in your ghost races. Especially if you decide to get the pro-ghost percentage in your favor.

To me, that is the best way to do it. It has got me to the point where it is now no challenge to play the ghost with ball in hand.

I wish I had been doing these drills all along instead of all the others that most instructors suggest.

To me, this is far better than any drill any instructor can give. Very simple, very effective.

Rake
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Thanks for the feedback. What is the difference between your #4 and #5?
 
frankncali said:
...snip...

Did you plan the same route each time did your wanted leaves change as you were going? In other words did you change any thoughts from the first rack through the last?
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I tried different routes (with BIH) from some of the key balls to the next shot. In other words, I worked on small parts of the runout individually and from CB variations of 1" increments, so I could find the best route depending where the CB ended up. Then, I tried the whole run together. I didn't do this with all the positions, because some were already automatic (to me). But I did try this many times for the more trickier balls.
 
JolietJames said:
I believe Bert used to teach a particular layout that required 9 exact shots to get out of the rack.
I've never done it but the idea seems solid.
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Yes, I have one of his tapes where he does that. He picks simple positions, and then more complex. Its good stuff for sure. I do like the randomness of throwing the balls on the table, or breaking, as well.
 
dr_dave said:
If you or others want more practice like this, try the 18 8-ball and 9-ball pattern run-out drills in the Bachelors, Masters, and Doctorate versions of BU Exam II. All of the diagrams are available for free in the Exam II documents on the Billiard University (BU) Playing-Ability Exam resource page. The 18 layouts were carefully designed to test a wide range of important CB control and pattern play skills. If you practice enough to master all 18 layouts to the point of being able to run them out consistently, your game will definitely become more solid.

Enjoy,
Dave
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Randomness might be more beneficial than carefully designed. Who knows;)

I will say, I found setting up the doughnuts to what I did to be significantly easier than precisely copying positions from your diagrams to the table. That is not a dig on your diagrams, as they are good (except the fact they are not on a 9' table...). Its just way easier to pick up a ball that is already in the right place, and stick a doughnut under it. Compared to looking at a picture that is on a screen, then going to the table to try to copy it and line everything up. I have a lot of experience with both ways, and this way is at least the 6 ball easier.
 
BC21 said:
Cool. It was odd how your position play from the 4 ball through the 7 ball got progressively worse after the first few racks. Do you think that maybe you began to take certain shots for granted? Just curious. And I like the Beatles in chipmunk style.:thumbup:
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I probably tried this run 40 racks in total now, and the 7 ball was almost always the bottleneck.

How did you know it was The Beatles? Did you slow it down? I was wondering if anyone would be able to figure it out.
 
Bob Jewett said:
Someone was marketing stickers for exactly this kind of practice. I think they were just round stickers, but they were the right colors for the balls. I suppose a fanatic could get plain round Avery stickers and print numbers and/or colors on them.
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Good idea. When I first placed the doughnuts on the table, I decided to write with a fine tip sharpie the number of the ball on each doughnut. That helped me place the balls faster, especially in the beginning when I did not yet have the whole rack memorized.
 
uwate said:
You play position to shoot the 7 in the corner. Maybe the camera angle is deceptive, but it looks like you could be playing it into the side. you have more margin of error for position playing it in the side and its an easier shot to get position on the 8 instead of the way you punch the 7 into the corner and take whitey side to side.
Click to expand...

The 7 does go in the side. But, it is a very tough angle. Super easy to hit either tit. I tried it that way a bit (with BIH on the 7) and it was so-so. The other complication, was getting to the 7. There were two ways I saw. One was going twice across table zig-zag. The other was going 2 rails out of the corner from the 6 to the 7. Both had their problems when I tried them.

I will work on this more, as the 7 was definitely the bottleneck to this layout. I will see if getting the CB to the other side of the 7 and either playing it in the side, or the corner (I think corner might work better) will give me a better runout success.
 
GodinSession said:
Thanks for sharing your video's.
I practice like this almost everyday now that I have the Projection Pro Billiards System. It is fantastic for this exact type of practice. Quickly recall layouts and run them over and over again until you want to move on to another one. I can't say enough good things about this system for this exact type of practice.
Click to expand...

I'm almost ready to pull the trigger on that projection system. I'm about sick of this layout, and want to try another layout. But I'm reluctant to pull the doughnuts out, because I would love to master this layout, yet its still low percentage to me. With the projector, I could save this layout, try another one, and return to this one at some point in the future.
 
Nick B said:
The problem I have with these drills is because you put the balls in the exact same spot is you are always getting the same "look" at the pocket. Many moons ago when I used to do drills I would use dollar bills/playing cards. When I would replace the balls I would not put the numbered balls exactly in the same place but more in the general area.

Keeps the drill fresh and keeps your head in the game. Then you can work the the specific shots that give you the most problems.
Click to expand...

Intersting. I will say, I played this pattern so many times, that it is completely memorized. I don't even have to look at the next OB ball, I know exactly how to hit the shot at hand depending on where the CB landed. So I'm playing from memory, and not actually planning the shot each time. IDK if that is good or bad? I'm thinking its good if during an actual game I say to myself, "this is exactly like the 2 to the 3 was on my ghost #1 drill". And I'm thinking it might be bad if I don't make that association and that this "memorization" did not turn into "learning".
 
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