Great champion level players who said that they never did any drills?

[Chili Palmer]

I don't know... that seems a bit of a stretch. By this argument you could say any break&run in a competitive match is a drill. Regardless of difficulty....

If 'I' had to define a drill. I would say any repeditive activity that involved predetermined ball locations.

Breaking = drill
Dealing with a random scattering of balls after a break, (ghost or not) = not drill.

Most of the time at home I just throw 9 balls out on the table and shoot, essentially ghost ball but I don't break. I consider that a drill in my opinion. I have two drills I use whenever I do drills but they get boring and in reality, I'm at a stage where my pocketing abilities really should result in more B&R's but for whatever reason they don't. So, by throwing those balls on the table and just trying to run through them I am, in fact, working on weakest part of my game - running racks. Consistency comes with sound fundamentals and repetition. My fundamentals aren't perfect by a long stretch so I will work on the mighty X drill and another random 15 ball drill to work on rebounds (rail action depending on how far the OB is from the rail) and angle of departure (in relation to the table I'm shooting on. i.e. if I'm cutting a ball on the rail and hitting it at 45deg can I draw the CB back out of there at 60deg or only 30deg, those are the things that help me when in a game) when shooting balls on the rail, then, I'll go right back to trying to run racks.

Someone said drills can have diminishing returns and I think they were spot on. Yes, if I find an issue I will work on it a bit but, in general, I'm not going to sit there for hours practicing a particular shot and would rather work on patterns and shoot balls

In short - a drill is what you make of it

 

[ShootingArts]

There was this guy who hung out out my home town pool room, back in the 90's, and for awhile, it did not seem like he took the game seriously, but he just liked to shoot for fun.

This guy had zero natural ability, and was just a banger.

Then he started getting really serious about playing, and started coming in every night, getting a table, and doing drills for like 6 hours a day.

I never personally knew a player who worked so hard on their game.

This guy went from like a level 2, to a pretty strong 7, with a super nice stroke in the end.

It took a lot of work though, but he seemed to love the game so much, and really wanted to become a better player.

All those 6 hour nights of doing drills, every day, really paid off for him.

The seventy-five cent question is where would he have been had he spent the same time shooting straight pool or practicing other games?

I believe a certain amount of drills are good, especially if you are targeting a specific issue. However, I have also seen drill monsters that get beaten regularly by pretty weak competition. There is a story about a man that stuttered badly so the speech therapist worked with him for six months on the "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers" drill. Got to where he was letter perfect even at high speed. After so long the man asked, "Ca ca ca could ya ya ya you ta ta ta teach me ee ee some tha tha thing else? Ha har hard ta ta to work tha tha that in ta ta to ah ah a ca ca con va va va sa tion."

Hu

 

[Cornerman]

I’m not a pro. But I do have a few amateur titles. Very amateur. There is definitely semantics, but I am not a drill person. As others have said, I don’t have the patience for it. I do have some setup shots that I shoot to get an idea of the table, and I show those shots to students to practice, but I think those aren’t drills in my book. But they could be used as drills. These L drill, and building the X, and four balls in the side pocket... I don’t do those. But then again, I’m not trying to reach any higher levels either.

 

[RacerX750]

I assume that most, if not all Pro pool players do drills, but I do not know.

I wonder if there have been many champion level players who either said that they never did any drills, or who were known to never do any drills.

I only know of 1 player who stated that he never did any drills, and I heard that he said that it was because it was a waste of strokes, or something like that, and his name is Keith McCready.

Do you believe that a player can increase their level of play, just by playing stronger players and tough competition, if they have enough talent and natural ability, or do you think that all players really need to do drills, in order to get better?

I'm only an amateur. Until I started doing drills that focused on stroke (Mark Wilson's 'Play Great Pool') my play was erratic and inconsistent. After a few months of 2 hour a day drills and several more months of play and less drills the epiphany finally hit me and my level of play advanced quite a bit. That was because I started analyzing every aspect of the stroke, and it continues to evolve. Now I try new drills and some are indeed boring and don't help because of that. But others reveal weakness that I then focus on. Drills are a tool, you have to find the right tool for the job.

 

[chas1022]

My own opinion on this is from my own experience, but I have completely bought into the concepts in Mark Wilson's "Play Great Pool" book- The greatest emphasis in practicing should be on proper alignment to each shot, the straightness of the stroke itself, the proper delivery of the stroke, and stroke completion. To this end, to me, the self video and constant review of your videos and striving to get all about the stroke correct is number one in my book - whatever one chooses to play solo when video taping is their choice - it can be drills, the Ghost, or your game of preference or any combination.

I have learned so much about my own game now that I have the time to use the video, review it, and refer to the best teachings out there to make solid improvements.

I also believe strongly that solid solo practice, combined with stiff competition on a regular basis brings the best results.

I also took a lesson with Mark. The best lesson I ever received. I also bought his book which is great and easily one of the top 3 books I currently own. I think you are correct about the stroke no matter what u practice drills, games, playing against the ghost you have to work on your fundamentals stroke, stance, grip , bridges, . I love doing the Steve Davis drill but I first started to use that years ago when I read Ray Martins book 99 critical shots in pool. I will do very simple center ball drills follow draw and striking the center but I concentrate on my stroke mostly no matter what drill I do. I want to repeat my stroke the same every time, same set up and same mental outlook. Great thread by the way.

 

[mikemosconi]

Was it Duke Ellington? "Ain't mean a thing if you ain't got that swing ( stroke) -- golf/billiards

 

[robo]

I usually play the ghost and sometimes may practice a shot I've missed during a match.

 

[robo]

If the ghost is a drill what would be an example of practice?

I don't agree that playing the ghost is a drill. To me it's a match against a professional level player. IMO it helps you stay focused, practice breaks, and will improve your game. To often people practice banging balls around and that can actually worsen your game.

 

[gregcantrall]

I prefer a structured practice routine over drills. The difference is similar to the Modular Home Community over a Trailer Park.
I agree that banging balls and calling it practice is not productive and can reinforce bad habits. Bad habits can be exponentially harder to break after extended reinforcements.

 

[eg9327]

I knew a guy like this , super nice guy had kids wife mortgage didn't gamble because he couldn't afford to lose . He actually got to a low A level completely under most peoples radar.
One of the neighboring small town hustlers kept coming over and sniping weaker players and had not booked a loser for about 2 years , playing about once a week here. He kept badgering this guy to play for money and just yada yadaed him to death. Finally another guy who had been watching him improve offered to back him , the guy was reluctant but this guy had really had him steaming a couple of times and he could use the extra money.
Hustler guy then wants to bet it up and the backers hesitant so the kid takes the whole bet himself and they play and sure enough he beats the hustler, but he made the mistake of not posting and he went to the bathroom after it was obvious the hustler guy couldn't win and so he ran out the door ,while he was in the bathroom.
To my knowledge he has never played the game he used to love again!
Welcome to pool children. Plus , Anyone can learn something from drills , it just depends how much effort you are willing , or need to put in , at your level.

Yes, and that, boys, is probably the major thing wrong with this sport. Too many hustlers see it as an opportunity to steal through someone else's willful or otherwise ignorance. My brother was in a small place in Virginia where he had several hours of success. After a while the barkeep told him if he didnt leave soon he would probably get a good a** beating in the parking lot. Guys want to take money from others through hook or crook. Basically stealing. Tournaments are fine. Hustling is just another way of stealing.

 

[gregcantrall]

Tournaments are fine. Hustling is just another way of stealing.

We are playing a single game single elimination tournament with a $10 entry. When this one is done we will play another.

That is what I told the person that said we could get the house in a lot of trouble for gambling.

 

[sjm]

I don't agree that playing the ghost is a drill. To me it's a match against a professional level player. IMO it helps you stay focused, practice breaks, and will improve your game. To often people practice banging balls around and that can actually worsen your game.

No, it's a match against a player that will let you keep shooting even when you don't make a ball on the break. It's a match against a player that let's you start every rack with ball in hand. It's a match against a player whom you can't play safe on and against whom you can't gain from two way shots. Such a player has little in common with a pro in my view, and if the pros you play against allow all that, you'd be better off practicing against amateurs.

 

[Protractor]

No, it's a match against a player that will let you keep shooting even when you don't make a ball on the break. It's a match against a player that let's you start every rack with ball in hand. It's a match against a player whom you can't play safe on and against whom you can't gain from two way shots. Such a player has little in common with a pro in my view, and if the pros you play against allow all that, you'd be better off practicing against amateurs.

All if which is why I don't bother playing the Ghost game. Playing the Doppelganger is what I use for match simulation... description at the link below.

AzBilliards Forums

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In answer to the OP, I do not know any champion level players so I don't know if they use drills or not but FWIW I use one to warm up my stroke and only use others to address problem areas or weaknesses that come up.

 

[straightline]

From what I know about acquiring skills and competence, accomplished practitioners who do the technical work have a better chance at better looking pool. This won't preclude low life greats from robbing 'em but such is the jungle.