have you ever seemed to run out of things to practice

5ballcharlie

5ballcharlie

GHOSTBUSTER
Silver Member
I have been playing 8 hours a day on a tight 9 ft table for about a month now just to see if i could raise my level by atleast a half ball. I will practice the first 5 hours on drills and weaknesses i spot in my game and then I will play the ghost races to eleven and find more trouble spots to fix the next day. I have run out of things to practice BY NO MEANS AM I SAYING I HAVE NO WEAKNESSES i feel that the drills i shoot are becoming to routine and boring and i am afraid that i will aimlessly hit the balls without full concentration has this ever happened to you if so what do u do to fix it
 
Honestly yes it does happen.

Back in march and april i was doing some shots that i needed to really work on from the " 60minute workout " and after a about 2 weeks of doing these drills for a hour or two, it became boring. So i wouldnt do them for about a week or so.

But it also depends on your skill level. I would say take a break for a week or so, and when you practice, just play the Ghost.
 
you should never run out of things to practice. practice may get boring, but you should never run out of stuff.

if you're getting bored with your practice, then you should stop when you get bored, or change things up.

good solution............go out and gamble with your rent money.........after that, practice won't be so boring, and you'll never run out of things to practice.

VAP
 
I have never run out of things to practice and never will. I have a large mental list of things I intend to get to someday. Right now my time is better spent practicing on more problematic areas of my game.

Perfection is the cure for practice. Until you can say you mastered the game, you have something to practice.


Practicing is quite a chore. That is why I am good at pool. Not because I have created a "talent" but because most everybody else is to lazy to practice as much as I do... Its a bitter sweet accomplishment, I suppose...



I rarely give out real pool secrets but I'll let this one out:

The best thing I ever did for my pool game was teaching myself how to practice as efficiently as I could. I spent years getting nowhere :( Then it hit me, I was gaining very little for the time I spent at the table. I had a production rate of about ten percent. After ten years of play, I played like a serious first year player. That soon changed and now I average 50% production and am capable of almost 100% if I am left alone...
 
Are you setting up your drills in a way that can be scored? I find that can help to make it interesting and to maintain focus. And to create personal records which make you strive toward higher and higher performances.

It shouldn't be hard to create 30 regular tests with score challenges, some you play once a week, some you might play everyday, such as a set against the ghost.

The fact is the game is repetitious. You just have to keep pushing yourself to turn up and focus. Few people have the dedication of mind (psychosis) to do it.
 
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I never get bored Practicing. I just don't get much better. :D
 
Hooked said:
Practicing is quite a chore. That is why I am good at pool. Not because I have created a "talent" but because most everybody else is to lazy to practice as much as I do... Its a bitter sweet accomplishment, I suppose...
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True words indeed. I think there are very few natural talents who reach high levels without long hours of dedicated work.

I've had hundreds of enthusiasts ask me how to become a top player. I give them a drill and say go do this for 3 hours. They almost never do. They'll try for 10 minutes, get frustrated and go back to playing regular games.

I think that weeds out the many who will probably never have the dedication it takes.
 
I think I get frustrated when practicing which in turn leads to boredom.

It takes a lot of concentration and patience to practice. It just appears to be more fun to shoot in balls at random because the shots are different.
 
5ballcharlie said:
I have been playing 8 hours a day on a tight 9 ft table for about a month now just to see if i could raise my level by atleast a half ball.
i feel that the drills i shoot are becoming to routine and boring and i am afraid that i will aimlessly hit the balls without full concentration
Click to expand...


Maybe you're just putting TOO much time and pressure on yourself without sufficient breaks. Break your time up into shorter more focused sessions and then go relax for a while or do something else.

I do know that NOTHING and I mean NOTHING pisses me off more than to work on a specific drill until blue in the face and nail it 100% of the time...only to play a game and miss the SOB the first time it actually comes up. Makes you want to say screw drills and pull a DCP by firing a ball through the wall or splintering a cue against the table.
 
I get bored doing any one drill for too long or even playing one type of game for too long. I tend to play a little three cushion, then straight pool, then nine ball, then banks (after I get pissed that I can't run out at nine ball like I want to).

If you get tired of doing drills, you can always:

1. Practice straight pool. Never boring when your near your high run.

2. Practice running all the balls in one hole. You can try the gambling game where you break and run balls into one pocket. If you run all 15, you get to break again. Five balls per try is a good average- amazing how many times you will have to pull some crazy shot out of your a** just to get started because you have no easy shot after the break. Mainly for one pocket players but does a lot for your position play like 14.1 does.

3. Practice on your opposite hand and bridge skills. Sometimes I play eight ball where I play my weaker hand against using the bridge for all shots. Gets a little goofy using the bridge when the ball is near the rail but I still think its excellent for training on both weak spots. (Corey Deuel plays people using only the bridge and he has a few weird techniques for shooting in awkward situations)

4. Get a book like Byrnes 350 shots and just try and learn some new shots that may come up. I'm sure you know most of the shots in his book but there are some gems in there for more advanced players like kiss back shots where the object ball goes towards your hole in one pocket,etc...

His first two books also have a ton of info on three cushion billiards. You can take his diamond system, plus two system,etc... and see how they work on your table. Billiards will definitely help your kicking game.
 
Practice ...

You don't practice making shots that you know you
can make, you practice ones that you don't really
think you can make. There is a difference between
'tuning up' and practicing.

Unless you haven't much imagination, you should never
run out of shots to practice on ... As Einstein said, "There
are more than 6,000,000 shots in Pool" ... How long do
you think it would take to shoot all of them .... lol

A lot of players want you to teach them "how to think
and learn" instead of how to play good Pool, but a guy
has to have something to start with...

It's like I always say, "Some guys will never beat me,
because they would have to have a brain transplant first".

Every real good Pool player has a great imagination, that is
an absolute necessity to be real good at anything you do.

It is not tangible, measureable, but the absolute beauty
that can come from it can be astonishing and breath-taking.

Besides, sometimes when I want to help someone get better at
Pool, the easiest way is just to insult their intelligence, and then
they go back to the table later, and start using their imagination
to get better, and prove that they aren't as stupid as what you
made them feel like .... They practice a lot harder ....

wax on, wax off .... Grasshopper
 
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Colin Colenso said:
Are you setting up your drills in a way that can be scored?
Click to expand...

No, I just make realistic goals for the day and see if I accomplished those goals at the end of the day.

I could go on forever on how to practice and why people fail to practice the right things...


BTW - I just had to reread "In Defense of Women". thanks for reminding us of it :)
 
5ballcharlie said:
I have been playing 8 hours a day on a tight 9 ft table for about a month now just to see if i could raise my level by atleast a half ball. I will practice the first 5 hours on drills and weaknesses i spot in my game and then I will play the ghost races to eleven and find more trouble spots to fix the next day. I have run out of things to practice BY NO MEANS AM I SAYING I HAVE NO WEAKNESSES i feel that the drills i shoot are becoming to routine and boring and i am afraid that i will aimlessly hit the balls without full concentration has this ever happened to you if so what do u do to fix it
Click to expand...


I think..(If you really are lucky enough to have 8 hours a day to practice) you need to re-organize yourself...

Just play for the first hour....whatever game you like, just play, don't practice...After that hour (if you can tape it it's a plus) review how you played and what shots gave you trouble... Pick a shot and work on it for a while, but don't over practice it...once you can make it a few times, go back and play for an hour...then repeat the process...

This way you won't need to create drills... You will know what needs work by the way you play...
 
5ballcharlie said:
I have been playing 8 hours a day on a tight 9 ft table for about a month now just to see if i could raise my level by atleast a half ball. I will practice the first 5 hours on drills and weaknesses i spot in my game and then I will play the ghost races to eleven and find more trouble spots to fix the next day. I have run out of things to practice BY NO MEANS AM I SAYING I HAVE NO WEAKNESSES i feel that the drills i shoot are becoming to routine and boring and i am afraid that i will aimlessly hit the balls without full concentration has this ever happened to you if so what do u do to fix it
Click to expand...

Mundane practice might come to bore anyone. You have to a have goals. A goal is something your striving to attain, like winning a Tournament. You also have to have a plan.

You have to keep this statement in the fore front of your mind. Only the player that is dedicated to practicing & learning will rise to the level of Champion.

If you get bored playing Pool & doing well is not your result, maybe you will enjoy watch the champs.

Can you kick balls in (1, 2 & 3 rail shots) 3 out of 5 times? Do you know the Sids System off the End Rail? Do you know the Sid's System off the Side Rail? How well can you play Last Pocket 8-Ball? Can you run 5 racks in Short Rack 8 Ball? Do you watch Pocket Billiard Videos, to see if you play the shots like a good Professional does? Do you read Pocket Billiard books to learn position play (like Winning One=Pocket, Ray Martin's 99 Critical Shots? Have you ever been through the shots on Kim Davenport's Target Pool?
 
vapoolplayer said:
you should never run out of things to practice. practice may get boring, but you should never run out of stuff.

if you're getting bored with your practice, then you should stop when you get bored, or change things up.

good solution............go out and gamble with your rent money.........after that, practice won't be so boring, and you'll never run out of things to practice.

VAP
Click to expand...
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LOL :D
 
If you manage to concentrate and keep your focus throughout all your practice sessions you will definately improve. If you get bored with practicing and you just start mindlessly hitting balls that is a waste of time and money.

Watching some great pool on a tape almost always inspires me to go and practice. When I get bored with pool or my confidence is low, this is usually the cure.
 
5ballcharlie said:
I have been playing 8 hours a day on a tight 9 ft table for about a month now just to see if i could raise my level by atleast a half ball. I will practice the first 5 hours on drills and weaknesses i spot in my game and then I will play the ghost races to eleven and find more trouble spots to fix the next day. I have run out of things to practice BY NO MEANS AM I SAYING I HAVE NO WEAKNESSES i feel that the drills i shoot are becoming to routine and boring and i am afraid that i will aimlessly hit the balls without full concentration has this ever happened to you if so what do u do to fix it
Click to expand...

It does happen to me sometimes, but i can't wait to do them again the next day LOL. But for the question what do i do to fix it, i find it interesting to set up racks i have seen on t.v. and try to run them out the say way as i have seen the pros do it on t.v. sometimes i could sometimes i end up going a different position. Cole.
 
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