I feel like practicing most of the time, but I also cave in when people ask me to play sometimes. During the game I usually can't concentrate because my mind wants to go back to practice mode. The end result is I usually don't enjoy the game AND I lost out on practice time. In the future I'm going to more upfront about practicing so I suggest you do too.
Dumb question on practice vs play
- Thread starter scottjen26
- Start date
I always distinguish between practice and play. Practice is when I go to the table to work on a specific part of my game, with a specific goal to accomplish.
Play is when I forget about practice, and compete.
You can not do both at the same time, and if you try, you will do poorly at both.
Steve
Steve, although that seems like it would make sense and it is what almost everyone advocates I don't entirely agree with you. If you are trying to fix any fundamental errors in your game, practice has to be 100% of the time until that error is fixed and a new muscle memory pathway is created. As soon as you go back to playing another person, for money, tournament or fun for that 20% of the time you slip back into your bad habits and undo any progress made.
After ten years of trying to practice and incorporate it into gambling with better players, etc I was getting nowhere and was an average player. 6 months of nothing but drills and I returned to playing as one of the top players in the area. I made $7,000 gambling and in tournaments the first month back from my training break and from then on I was one of the top players wherever I moved to. There is no faster way that I can think of to become a great player. The other method may keep the majority of people interested in the game, but it will take 10 times as long to improve.
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Sometimes teaching someone else is a good way to make you reinforce the basics in your own mind, as well. So I don't think you lost out time-wise this week, especially since you have more time to work on your drills...
Agreed, when I'm making some changes to my mechanics I take time away from any form of competition. I will sometimes play a friend who is a D player because it's a low stress way of testing my new stroke out since I will get lots of easy opportunities.
Jesse...there are very few people who could spend 6 months just doing drills without playing some games here and there during that time.
It's also difficult for most people to maintain the level of intensity necessary for real productive practice for any extended length of time. So my suggestion would still be for most people, if you spent two hours seriously practicing, then go ahead and take 30 minutes to play a couple of games. After all, that is the reason most of us practice, so we can do better when we play.
Steve
It's also difficult for most people to maintain the level of intensity necessary for real productive practice for any extended length of time. So my suggestion would still be for most people, if you spent two hours seriously practicing, then go ahead and take 30 minutes to play a couple of games. After all, that is the reason most of us practice, so we can do better when we play.
Steve
You obviously have mental capacity far beyond that of anyone I have ever met
Very few people can perform well at a game like pool if they are thinking about everything they are doing while they are playing.
There is an old saying in the south...if you try to chase two rabbits, they will both get away.
Steve
Steve, unfortunately you are right, most people don't have the desire to practice that intensely for quick improvement. Since I would like to teach in the future I'll have to realize that slow improvement is sometimes better for the average fan of the game. It still aggravates me when I see people I have known for 15 years and they've actually gotten worse because they would rather have fun competing with their friends. It's a strange catch-22, they constantly say how much they wish they were at a higher level, but they're not willing to do the drills and put up with the game being a chore instead of fun for a while.
I am about to enter another 6 month restricted practice regiment in which I force myself to play only one-handed in all the tournaments, money games and practice sessions. I consider it as a way to shock my system into becoming as good one-handed as I am with two. I did the same thing opposite handed a couple years ago and I just enjoy the tough challenge of that kind of brutal improvement.
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Jesse,
As an instructor, I tend to naturally direct most of my comments toward the average players. Pros, and I include serious gamblers in that group, have a different mentality. I know several pros who will spend 6 to 8 hours a day on focused practice sessions. That is no different than a casual player who spends 8 hours a day doing their job. For the pros, this IS their job!
During the off season, pro football players still go to training camps. They aren't playing the game, they are practicing. And even during the season, they spend 50 hours a week practicing for the opportunity to play for 3 hours on a Sunday afternoon.
You have a goal, and you understand what needs to be done to reach that goal. And, more importantly, you are willing to do what is necessary to achieve your goal. That makes you an exception. If someone's goal is to become a 7 in the APA, then the advice I gave them would be appropriate. And that is probably the great majority of players.
But thank you for pointing out that the mentality to be playing at the highest levels is quite different from that of the greater majority.
Good luck over the next few months. Let us know how it works out for you.
Steve
As an instructor, I tend to naturally direct most of my comments toward the average players. Pros, and I include serious gamblers in that group, have a different mentality. I know several pros who will spend 6 to 8 hours a day on focused practice sessions. That is no different than a casual player who spends 8 hours a day doing their job. For the pros, this IS their job!
During the off season, pro football players still go to training camps. They aren't playing the game, they are practicing. And even during the season, they spend 50 hours a week practicing for the opportunity to play for 3 hours on a Sunday afternoon.
You have a goal, and you understand what needs to be done to reach that goal. And, more importantly, you are willing to do what is necessary to achieve your goal. That makes you an exception. If someone's goal is to become a 7 in the APA, then the advice I gave them would be appropriate. And that is probably the great majority of players.
But thank you for pointing out that the mentality to be playing at the highest levels is quite different from that of the greater majority.
Good luck over the next few months. Let us know how it works out for you.
Steve