Has SVB never done drills?

PocketSpeed11

PocketSpeed11

AzB Long Member
Silver Member
Some random commenter on a youtube video posted that SVB stated he has never done drills. I have serious doubts he ever said that. I tried doing a google search and then an azbilliards forum search on this and found nothing corroborating or contradicting what this poster had said.

Does anyone know where SVB stated this, if in fact he ever did? I know he has elite talent, but I have a hard time believing the guy has never done drills.
 
PocketSpeed11 said:
Some random commenter on a youtube video posted that SVB stated he has never done drills. I have serious doubts he ever said that. I tried doing a google search and then an azbilliards forum search on this and found nothing corroborating or contradicting what this poster had said.

Does anyone know where SVB stated this, if in fact he ever did? I know he has elite talent, but I have a hard time believing the guy has never done drills.
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I'm not sure what you mean by drills, but the stories of him working on his break are pretty well known (at least I thought so). He'd work on his break for hours and hours, IIRC, using the breakrak.
 
Shane said this on one of the TAR podcasts where the players just shoot around and talk. Not sure what one it was, but he said he don't do drills and then said that he actually does do one drill from time to time.

He lines the cueball and object ball in a straight line from corner to corner. Almost like a full table length shot, and he hits the cue low and tries to draw straight back into the corner and scratch. Says it helps his stroke.
 
In the TAR interview (SVB and JArcher), Justin asked him what drills an amateur should do. After lots of prodding by Justin, Shane basically admits that he doesn't even know what drill is :grin:

Then he says "Oh yeah, I know a drill." He places an object ball at center table and the CB DEEP in a corner...and says "When I want to work on my draw I hit the OB into the far corner and draw the CB back into this pocket." And proceeds to do it with more ease than I'd hit a stop shot 12 inches from the hole.

But yeah, he says he just breaks and runs all day long.
 
TAR Podcast

PocketSpeed11 said:
Some random commenter on a youtube video posted that SVB stated he has never done drills. I have serious doubts he ever said that. I tried doing a google search and then an azbilliards forum search on this and found nothing corroborating or contradicting what this poster had said.

Does anyone know where SVB stated this, if in fact he ever did? I know he has elite talent, but I have a hard time believing the guy has never done drills.
Click to expand...

In a recent TAR podcast when SVB was set to play Dechaine, Jen Barreta was in the studio with the 2 players being a moderator as she was already there that day to shoot the 1st part of Shane's instructional..she was asking some of the questions from this forum and one of the questions was about how he prepares and drills ect.. he answered that before a match like the Dechaine one he would work on his break and practice for about a week "just playing 10 Ball and running out". He said for a big tournament like the US Open he practices for a month..6 hrs a day..but he doesnt do drills, he just plays 10 ball and works on his break..you can find the podcast on the TAR website.
 
Most top players don't do drills like we know drills. But at some point in their development they probably did some drills just like all of us have in the beginning. Neils Feijen is one pro however who credits drills for a great leap in his game.

I have seen pros work on specific shots over and over or use a specific shot to warm up with. I have seen them set up certain shots to learn how the table runs and once they know it they stop and just run balls.

As dedicated a player is as Shane is I am certain that at some point in his life someone in his pool-playing family put him on some drills. Maybe it was 20 years ago and he hasn't done any since.
 
While Shane may or may not do specific drills there is no doubt he probably practices more than just about anyone including working on nothing but his break for hours. Also, speaking of TAR podcasts Daz was on the one with Shaw and Alcano and said he is a big proponent of drills. He even said that he thought not doing drills enough was one of the biggest differences between amateurs and pros. He then demonstrated one of his favorite drills that looked very difficult, but Ronnie did it on the first try.
 
thubosky said:
Shane said this on one of the TAR podcasts where the players just shoot around and talk. Not sure what one it was, but he said he don't do drills and then said that he actually does do one drill from time to time.

He lines the cueball and object ball in a straight line from corner to corner. Almost like a full table length shot, and he hits the cue low and tries to draw straight back into the corner and scratch. Says it helps his stroke.
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When Johnny Archer would come through Albany, GA as a young teenager he used to spot a pool ball on the 5 spot of a snooker table and bet that he could make the corner to corner sink and scratch. I think he gave himself several tries. I never saw Archer when he came to Albany but many people here repeat this story.
 
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