Good Kicking practice drills

tigerallenyim

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Although I have been getting much better at kicking, there's always room for improvement or get a fresh persepctive.

So need ya'll opinions on:
1 Rail kicks
2 Rail kicks
3 Rail kicks

Btw, im purty solid on 1 rail kicks...

Thanks.
 
I practice 9ball safeties and kicks together by just breaking a rack and then shooting only safeties (and then kicking if successful). I find it to be excellent practice for both, as you'll end up shooting all sorts of kicks (and safeties!).
 
tigerallenyim said:
Although I have been getting much better at kicking, there's always room for improvement or get a fresh persepctive.

So need ya'll opinions on:
1 Rail kicks
2 Rail kicks
3 Rail kicks

Btw, im purty solid on 1 rail kicks...

Thanks.
Here's one that works for all of those. Put a ball on the spot. Put the cue ball where you like. See how many shots it takes you to kick the ball in a selected pocket. Play only one-rail kicks or only 2-rail kicks, etc. For a harder drill, don't take cue ball in hand for each shot.
 
I practice entire racks of 9 ball where all shots are kicks. On any individual shot I will try to pot the ball if reasonable, try to kick to a safe position if that seems the better option, or try to just hit the darned thing when it is a very difficult kick. In my sessions it works out that a couple of kicking racks can take 20 minutes, enough time to improve considerably over a few months.

Note that when I'm playing kick-9ball I do chose 'practice' shots a fair bit, rather than the shot I might pick in a match. I feel that it is important to know that you are selecting a shot to take for different reasons.

Dave
 
Not to sound like a salesman, but buy Joe Villapondos videos, he has a banner ad here on AZ, they helped me, i'm still working on them, kicking has awalys been a weak part of my game.
 
I do this for one pocket but it would work for any game....break the balls, then pick up the cb and put it in the nastiest place you can find on the table, then try to ge out of the trap. It's even more fun to do this with a real sadistic friend!:D and have them put you in jail.

After doing this a while...a players "good" safety will look like a joke to get out of.

Gerry
 
Thanks guys! These will help! My kicking is purty good, but i want it to best as good as my regular playing... :D
 
Some of these suggestions would work on REALLY hard safties, but you don't often run into that. There a 100 diamond systems out there. Look them up on the web or in a book, or simply ask a local Player that you think kicks well to show you a thing or two. Judgement is a large part of kicks, but a solid diamond system to base a judgement on is almost essential.
 
Gerry said:
I do this for one pocket but it would work for any game....break the balls, then pick up the cb and put it in the nastiest place you can find on the table, then try to ge out of the trap. It's even more fun to do this with a real sadistic friend!:D and have them put you in jail.

After doing this a while...a players "good" safety will look like a joke to get out of.

Gerry
Effectively returning a safety means more than just hitting the OB. I think you should be practicing "kicking safe" on the average safeties you're likely to see in action rather than just "getting out of" lockup safeties you may never see.

pj
chgo
 
just trying to randomly kick at a ball wont help much like the spot that was recommended earlier.

What you should try to do is understand it. Understand kicking with center english and where the ball travels and at what speeds. Then kick with draw and see how it curves down and kick with top to see how it spins up more. Then kick and hit a ball with those englishes and watch.

When you understand exactly how it's going to move and at what speeds then it doesnt matter where it is.

Then when you figure out how the ball travels you can work on 2 rails and 3 rails much easier because you know what the cue ball is going to do precisely and where it'll end up.

my 2cp
 
i have somehting if you wanna know.....i can show you 1 2 and 3 rails kicks....if you dont make em you ll be close...its not a diamiond system either..pm me
 
Can someone tell Efren that he owe's me $50.00 for the kicking lesson..

Thanks,

Christian
 
tigerallenyim said:
Although I have been getting much better at kicking, there's always room for improvement or get a fresh persepctive.

So need ya'll opinions on:
1 Rail kicks
2 Rail kicks
3 Rail kicks

Btw, im purty solid on 1 rail kicks...

Thanks.

Hi
For natural 3 rail kicks, you might want to check out these links we have. This is to help you find your own system. Then you can do many things such as the drill Bob suggested.

http://pl.cuetable.com/showthread.php?t=27
http://pl.cuetable.com/showthread.php?t=1106

and also this 3 cushion primer..
http://pl.cuetable.com/showthread.php?t=125

CueTable Help

 
Last edited:
trackking said:
i have to agree... i do a lot of judgement calls, but my personality type leans things towards more concrete/rock-solid execution.

Again, just feel uncomfortable when it comes to judgement calls. Moreover, how do i explain to someone how i kicked at it, if i simply say, 'it's just the way i see it?'
 
cubc said:
just trying to randomly kick at a ball wont help much like the spot that was recommended earlier.

What you should try to do is understand it. Understand kicking with center english and where the ball travels and at what speeds. Then kick with draw and see how it curves down and kick with top to see how it spins up more. Then kick and hit a ball with those englishes and watch.

When you understand exactly how it's going to move and at what speeds then it doesnt matter where it is.

Then when you figure out how the ball travels you can work on 2 rails and 3 rails much easier because you know what the cue ball is going to do precisely and where it'll end up.

my 2cp
that's how i started with kicking. I was very fustrated when kicking and getting no results. Then i referred to a book and explained that to attempt kicking first with center and normal speed. Eventually, i got much better at it. When I do miss a kick, it's mainly due to speed and english, which can confuse me a bit when applying both.
 
niimush said:
i have somehting if you wanna know.....i can show you 1 2 and 3 rails kicks....if you dont make em you ll be close...its not a diamiond system either..pm me
PM sent.... thanks in advance!
 
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