How many hours a week do you practice?!?
- Thread starter mrpool06
- Start date
randyg said:
... but then again Randy. some people enjoy just hitting balls now and again and enjoyment really is what the game is all about IMO. Plus I think hitting balls for many hours can be practice if it is organized and disciplined and appropriate breaks are taken. I do the "mother drills", but I don't think that is adequate in and of itself.
You've been at this a lot longer than me Randy and I concede you've greater knowledge, but I'm no dummy either and I have seen very positive effects on my game from hours of ORGANIZED practice. That may have something to do with my sometimes OCD personality, but it is a real effect nonetheless.
I can only practice on weekends due to being away from home all week for work and I have to make the most of it.
wife and twin girls 4 1/2 old.... race mountain bikes during summer, and train. Just ride for fun all winter and train much less on the bike. Retail manager job at 55 hours a week. Work every weekend...
SO to the pool- i have an outstanding 'match' every sunday nite. We play from 8 to 2 am-i have learned alot on Sunday nites!!. I am off on Monday so being up that late isn;t too bad. Mon nite i have league- practice when i'm not in a match if a table is available- from 7pm to 11p usually. Tues i don't play. Wed i usually am off from work and bring kids to school so i ride then goto local poolhall where some of the oldtimers hang and play for couple hours in the afternoon. Thur nite double jeapordy league- play from 7 to 11. Fri no pool. Sat - sometimes i go out for 2 hours after work... so just thinking out loud- alot of pool and glad my wife actually likes the sport... she likes to goto Vegas with me too... i don't drink and she has met alot of the people i play with or against..
so from 15- 20 hours a week...
SO to the pool- i have an outstanding 'match' every sunday nite. We play from 8 to 2 am-i have learned alot on Sunday nites!!. I am off on Monday so being up that late isn;t too bad. Mon nite i have league- practice when i'm not in a match if a table is available- from 7pm to 11p usually. Tues i don't play. Wed i usually am off from work and bring kids to school so i ride then goto local poolhall where some of the oldtimers hang and play for couple hours in the afternoon. Thur nite double jeapordy league- play from 7 to 11. Fri no pool. Sat - sometimes i go out for 2 hours after work... so just thinking out loud- alot of pool and glad my wife actually likes the sport... she likes to goto Vegas with me too... i don't drink and she has met alot of the people i play with or against..
so from 15- 20 hours a week...
practice
practice is the number one rule in billiards
thanks
practice is the number one rule in billiards
thanks
CueJunkiee said:
LOL.
Sounds like me when the kids were young, twin boys plus 2 others, worked long hours, ran 70+ miles per week, ran road races from 5 miles to marathons, and coached youth sports. I played 15-20 hours per YEAR in a good year, how in the world do you manage to get in 15-20 hours a week?
I heard once that Willie Mosconni said he practiced only one hour a day because any more than that you loose focus. Whether thats true or not I don't know but I think the most important part to practicing is paying attention and remembering what your doing right or wrong for next time. If your not remembering stuff then.......ahhh what the hell do I know.
Luv2RunOut1
Banned
30-35 hours a week with practice pro pocket reducers on, just work on drills, and in improving on position play
Sometimes, like during the summer I dont play at all. Now that leagues are up and going, I play about 3 hours a day on the days that I have off. On the days I work (12 hour shift) I only practice a little bit maybe an hour or so. I always work on my stroke to begin with about 10min or so. Then I do some drills for maybe 20 minutes and the rest of my time lately has been spent playing 14.1.
Pugh said:
PUGH:
TRAINING: This is what we do Behind the cueball. Pool School calls them the "Mother Drills". We build our Mantras and Routines by talking ourselves through every step. We build our three Pre-Shot Routines using words with motions. It is important to write everything down on paper. This is the Analytical side of the brain working into your memory. This is were you esthablish your S.O.P of pool. All pro sports have to do this, pool players somehow neglect it.
PRACTICE: This is in Front of the cueball. This is where some great books come into play. Isolating one drill and calculating the results for about 15 minutes is worth more than 8 hours of playing. Look out, the brain will wander after a short period of time. It's this time that bad habits can creep into our routines. One of Pool School's great drill's is "Piling Rocks", which lasts for about 10 pure minutes of Analytical repetitions.
After we have established our Routines, Rituals and Mantras in TRAINING, we then practice them for short quick bursts to see if they need any fine tuning.
SPARRING: Playing like there was no tomorrow. Find a friend. Purely CREATIVE, have fun, no corrections and keep your thought process to your routines only. When you are done, sit down and review what just happened. Then take your errors back to the TRAINING/PRACTICE table and correct them.
PLAYING. Just have fun. I like to challenge my own game. Can I play better than I did last time? Winning is great. Playing better is the goal.
Remember this statement.
"If you are learning, you are not playing. It is impossible to "think and hit" properly at the same time."....Yogi Berra
Learning is the Cause.
Playing is the Result.
Sorry for the long post, it just seemed important....SPF=randyg
Sensation said:
Great post!
YES. Five practice drills might be a little many but I think it can be done. Do this three days a week with a good nights sleep in between each day and it would be close to perfect. Be sure that you are not building bad habits in your Routines, Stroke or Eye Patterns. That's why we TRAIN before we PRACTICE.
If I could I would:
TRAIN on One Mother Drill for 10-15 minutes in the morning. Then I would PRACTICE for about 20-30 minutes in the Afternoon, working on pre-set drills like "Piling Rocks". I would do this every other day having a day off in-between. I video tape myself in each session. SPARRING on a day off would be imparative to my learning.
Remember to NEVER TRAIN/PRACTICE 2-3 days before a big event. Play but don't practice. It takes a couple of sleep cycles to get the practice info from the Analytical side to the long term memory side ....CREATIVE.
Thanks....SPF=randyg
randyg said:
Not totally true because I think that 'just hitting balls' has it's place. In last month's Billiards Digest, Mark Wilson had an excellent thought if you are trying something NEW.
Just hit the balls without caring if they go in or not.
Fran Crimi recommends doing this when coming back from a long layoff. For the first 20 hours she justs hits balls.
Randy, when I am not shooting well, it is usually because I am moving my head. So I practice only on keeping my head still and down.
Similarly, if one is to practice your set-pause-finish-freeze drill, 'just hitting balls' is the best way, IMHO, to do this.
And like Yogi said, if you have to think while you hit/shoot, then you are not going to do well. 'Just hitting balls' trains you to relax, to develope a rhythm, etc. It is a good training ground for your right brain to take over. If you are practicing and doing nothing but drills, you are missing something. Even playing competively, one tends not to play loose. There is a tendency to use the left side of your brain too much is all that I am trying to say.
Maybe this is a matter of symantics. I think your classes are the best Randy, and I know that there is no one else in world who tries to learn from others like you.
Just a suggestion to have a section in your classes: 'learning to play on the right side of the brain'. Everybody overlooks this. Rhythm is undevalued. The preshot routine helps rhythm, and I know you teach 'triggers'. However, 'just shooting balls' is good also.
JMHO, WW
randyg said:
Nice!
For the moment... let's say I'm talented and very well organized, methodical (A+). You just can't get to know the game in a year and a half. So I use a lot of schemes, representing drills I've invented, tests I've done with rails (spins, strenghts), difficult shots to pratice, stroke testers, etc.
Oh and don't worry for my bad habits, my "coach" makes his checkup every week.
Here's the question. Let's say I get at the poolhall every day for 4 hours, should I practice on specifical parts (frozen OB on rails) of my game during short lapses of time (3-5 different sessions) practicing in between.
OR working on 3-5 differents drills that are not specifical??
About training in the way you define it, I just don't have point of reference... I guess I would have to meet you! I guess I train... but don't isolate it as much as I should.
Nice paragraph about big events!! I share your thoughts about that.
Thanks for everything
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kids in bed at 8, wife asleep by 9. Poolhalls open to 1amcatscradle said:
Sleep is way overrated LOL
This is a great post by everyone!
Depending on other time commitments, 0-40 hrs per week. I've likely averaged about 5 hours per week over about twenty-five years of playing, with a high of 30-40 hours per week for a few months. I'd love to be able to spend 60-80 hours a week practicing/playing, but sometimes other activities simply take priority. Landlords are more interested in receiving their rent money than hearing about my latest high run.
Good Rolls,
Rasta
Good Rolls,
Rasta
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PKM said:
Not me, I pay a fortune in table time. The owner cuts me some breaks for helping out other players, too.
For an off time, if I am not playing seriously for a period of time, or just taking time off, about 1 or 2 hours a week just to stay "kind of" in practice.
If I am getting back in stroke or am trying to improve my game, 3 or 4 two to three hour sessions a week.
For game maintainence once I'm in stroke, 3 to 4 one hour sessions a week.
Once I'm in stroke I can take a week or two off the game and be right back after 15 minutes of warm up. But if I slack off too much or too long it takes longer to get back in stroke.
I strongly recommend, even if it's expensive, if you can at all afford it, to build a game room at home and put in a serious pool table. Playing pool on your own table is a cheap pastime.
Chris
If I am getting back in stroke or am trying to improve my game, 3 or 4 two to three hour sessions a week.
For game maintainence once I'm in stroke, 3 to 4 one hour sessions a week.
Once I'm in stroke I can take a week or two off the game and be right back after 15 minutes of warm up. But if I slack off too much or too long it takes longer to get back in stroke.
I strongly recommend, even if it's expensive, if you can at all afford it, to build a game room at home and put in a serious pool table. Playing pool on your own table is a cheap pastime.
Chris
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