Drills versus focused competition.

[mnorwood]

I am a relative new comer to pool. I picked up a cue for the first time five years ago. I began to take pool seriously 2 1/2 years ago. In books, videos, in pool halls and on this forum I have heard varying arguments on the quickest way to improve.

My question to all of you with many more years of experience is this? What's the better way to improve? Structured, drill based practice or challenging competition where something is at stake?

I have seen numerous webcites and practice systems. I am posting this thread in an attempt to fish around for new ideas.

In the end I do realize hunger and time spent playing is the foundation of any approach.

 

[Guru]

Both

No matter how good you get at drills or playing in a basement, when you're under pressure it becomes a whole new game. Not to mention the exposure to different playing techniques and styles that you can only find when you start to step up and play the better players, which makes your tourney entry fee like a cheap, close-up lesson/exhibition.

 

[TheConArtist]

I think to get better is by losing alot, and having that experience in pressure games thats what helped me through the years i have been playing, but i love to do drills, thats all i do when i practice, till i am almost crying at the table. No one likes to lose, but when it does happen you learn alot from it right, but playing for money all the time really did help my game improve, oh and learning from others that had more experience then me helped too, shaved a couple years off my game. Cole.

 

[Billy_Bob]

At first I think it is important to do drills, drills, drills. Especially shots you have difficulty with.

If you can be heard saying "I hate these shots", then those are the shots you should be practicing daily.

So whatever shots your not good at, practice those. Practice shots from the book "99 Critical Shots".

Then after you get fairly good at various types of shots, then transition and spread your practice out to 3 different areas...

1. Specific shot practice/drills.

2. Running 3 balls in a row. Throw 3 balls out at random and run them in. Leave cue ball in good position to make each shot. When good at this, add a 4th ball. For Position play, get the following DVDs...

Dr. Dave...
http://www.engr.colostate.edu/~dga/pool/dvd_description.html

Jimmy Reid...
http://www.freepoollessons.com/video/index.shtml

3. Competitive play/practice - Join a league, several leagues, and/or play in local money tournaments. Hint: Practice those shots you have been learning at money tournaments, does not matter if you lose at first, got to tryout these shots somewhere....

 

[sjm]

Good thread, and some solid advice to this point. To me, solo practice and competition are indispenable and, ultimately inseparable.

Remember when you were a high school student? You could do all the homework and give a maximum effort, but that was never enough to establish that you had mastered the subject matter. Your teacher wouldn't be convinced of your comprehension of a subject until you demonstrated that you could apply your knowledge by succeeding on a test.

When it comes to pool, drills and all solo practice are your homework. Competition, that's your test. Just like in high school, you need to do your homework to prepare yourself for the big test, but unless you do well on that test, your mastery of the subject matter will remain in doubt. Of course, as you'll ultimately be judged on how you do on your tests, take your homework seriously.

 

[chefjeff]

Favorite game: 9 ball
Cue: Mcdermott m14b
Hours of play per week: 5 .

If speed is what you're interested in, if you can, take one whole calendar month and play 5-12 hours per day for 30 days. Go everywhere and play anyone for whatever you can afford. When no one wants to play, practice. By the end of the month, you'll have improved a lot more than if you just keep playing 5 hours per week. This focused, intense effort is like cramming for a test....you learn a lot really quickly. The greatest have done this for 10+ years in a row, but even one month makes a quick spurt in growth.

Depending on your lifestyle, you may have to take job vacation, make some deals with your wife and family, and budget the whole thing carefully.

Oh yeah, play other games besides 9-ball, too.

Jeff Livingston

 

[playablue]

Good thread, and some solid advice to this point. To me, solo practice and competition are indispenable and, ultimately inseparable.

Remember when you were a high school student? You could do all the homework and give a maximum effort, but that was never enough to establish that you had mastered the subject matter. Your teacher wouldn't be convinced of your comprehension of a subject until you demonstrated that you could apply your knowledge by succeeding on a test.

When it comes to pool, drills and all solo practice are your homework. Competition, that's your test. Just like in high school, you need to do your homework to prepare yourself for the big test, but unless you do well on that test, your mastery of the subject matter will remain in doubt. Of course, as you'll ultimately be judged on how you do on your tests, take your homework seriously.

nice way to put it

 

[Williebetmore]

Depending on your lifestyle, you may have to take job vacation, make some deals with your wife and family, and budget the whole thing carefully.

Jeff Livingston

Chef-man,
What Crappy Advice!!! What a wimp. Quit your job, divorce your wife, put the kids up for adoption, and then rob a bank. Are you serious about pool or not???

 

[Hal]

At first I think it is important to do drills, drills, drills.
2. Running 3 balls in a row. Throw 3 balls out at random and run them in. Leave cue ball in good position to make each shot. When good at this, add a 4th ball. For Position play, get the following DVDs...

I strongly agree with this. Rack 3 balls. Break. Spot any made balls. Take ball in hand and run them. When you get comfortable, go to 4 balls, then 5 etc. Keep a 3 ball rotation in your head. "How can I make the 1 in order to get on the 2 so I can make the 3." Once the 1 is made, pick up the 4 in the 3 ball rotation. After a while, you'll start to see patterns of previous runouts and ways to get position that you've used before.

 

[ceebee]

My question to all of you with many more years of experience is this? What's the better way to improve? Structured, drill based practice or challenging competition where something is at stake?

Look around... every sport that uses a ball, has to be practiced, in order to compete well. The competition is the test, like SJM said.

Do the "L" Drill, do the Longstring Drill, do the Mighty X, get yourself a TARGET POOL book & complete that once a week (that alone will take you a year). If you will practice with discipline & structure, you will learn something. If you practice sloppy habits, you will play sloppy, because that is what you practiced. Watch videos to learn "pattern Play" (there are books out there for that purpose too (Ray Martin's 99 Critical Shots).

There is an old phrase, "you can't learn to play Golf, competing on the Golf Course".

I would suggest to players, that really want to rise in Skill Level fairly quick... Get yourself a coach, do the drills, read the books, watch the videos & get used to playing for money & in big tournaments (you have to get used to the pressure). You can do this & get somewhere in a year. Or you can learn via osmosis over 20 years & maybe never learn to play that well.

Good Luck