Can't argue that.... repeating a drill and tweaking how you take it on exposes how the balls react to your adjustments.
If the main game switched to placement pool then all I'd do is practice repeative drills.
Drills to get rid of draw loving "trick shot" syndrome?
- Thread starter boogieman
- Start date
If the main game switched to placement pool then all I'd do is practice repeative drills.
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I'm not an instructor.
I found an enjoyable drill recommended by an English billiards champion in the early 1900s. You set up approximately as in the diagram (cue ball in hand in the box) and try to make an English billiards break (counting your consecutive scoring shots), where you score for either a pot, carom (hitting both the red and yellow ball), or in-off (pocketing the cue ball). It uses the natural carom angle a lot.
If you sink the cue ball (a scoring shot), you get ball in hand in the marked box for your next shot. If you sink the red, it gets spotted half way between the foot spot and the middle of the short rail. If you sink the yellow, it stays off the table until the end of your break, so try not to do that. If an object ball is behind the headstring, you can't shoot it from ball-in-hand (unless the cue ball leaves the kitchen first), so try not to let an object ball into that area either.
The idea is to start by going in-off into the middle pockets and at the same time banking the red/yellow off the foot rail and back to roughly where they started, so you can take the same shot again. When you lose position for those in-offs, you have to start improvising with other scoring shots.
You use the natural carom angle (with follow or a rolling ball), for both in-offs and caroms, and because you have flexibility in where you put the cue ball (after an in-off), you need to recognize the carom angle when deciding where to put the cue ball.
The drill is comparatively easy on a pool table (English billiards uses a 12ft snooker table with small pockets and balls), but it challenges you to focus on different skills to normal (CB follow paths, the natural angle, OB speed control, and some very delicate short-range caroms), so it teaches you quickly. Worth doing a few times and then maybe discarding, or doing infrequently.
If you find yourself shooting repetitive shots a lot, introduce restrictions, such as no two pots in a row, or max 3 caroms in a row.
I found an enjoyable drill recommended by an English billiards champion in the early 1900s. You set up approximately as in the diagram (cue ball in hand in the box) and try to make an English billiards break (counting your consecutive scoring shots), where you score for either a pot, carom (hitting both the red and yellow ball), or in-off (pocketing the cue ball). It uses the natural carom angle a lot.
If you sink the cue ball (a scoring shot), you get ball in hand in the marked box for your next shot. If you sink the red, it gets spotted half way between the foot spot and the middle of the short rail. If you sink the yellow, it stays off the table until the end of your break, so try not to do that. If an object ball is behind the headstring, you can't shoot it from ball-in-hand (unless the cue ball leaves the kitchen first), so try not to let an object ball into that area either.
The idea is to start by going in-off into the middle pockets and at the same time banking the red/yellow off the foot rail and back to roughly where they started, so you can take the same shot again. When you lose position for those in-offs, you have to start improvising with other scoring shots.
You use the natural carom angle (with follow or a rolling ball), for both in-offs and caroms, and because you have flexibility in where you put the cue ball (after an in-off), you need to recognize the carom angle when deciding where to put the cue ball.
The drill is comparatively easy on a pool table (English billiards uses a 12ft snooker table with small pockets and balls), but it challenges you to focus on different skills to normal (CB follow paths, the natural angle, OB speed control, and some very delicate short-range caroms), so it teaches you quickly. Worth doing a few times and then maybe discarding, or doing infrequently.
If you find yourself shooting repetitive shots a lot, introduce restrictions, such as no two pots in a row, or max 3 caroms in a row.