How to build a routine

[dmgwalsh]

Lovin your new avatar! Big dumpin goin down.

I had to change it.

I thought I got dumped on. I was leading the league and a father played his son and won both games and took first place ahead of me. The son was out of it. It was a make up game they played 3 months late away from prying eyes.

But.....

In retrospect, I am giving the winner the benefit of the doubt. He has never done anything like that and I find it hard to believe that he would do that.

 

[pooltchr]

Enough of my process, could you please enlighten us with a short intro into the the basic process for study and standing. I would like to include these into my routine.

Everyone is unique, so I can only share my personal checklists.

STUDYING (10 to 15 seconds)
walk the table
determine offense or defense
find my pattern
determine my aiming point for the object ball

STANDING about 10 seconds)
visualize everything about the shot
Determine my Angle Speed and Spin (cover my A.S.S.)
Drop my cue down onto the line of the shot
Adjust my body to my cue.
Verify I am on line correctly

SHOOTING (about 8 to 10 seconds)
Warm-up (2 for me) and verify tip to ball contact point
Stop at SET and verify the cue is still on line.
Lock my eyes on my aiming point
Smooth back to the back of my stroke
short PAUSE
Move my grip hand to my FINISH position
FREEZE and evaluate my stroke

My entire shooting process takes about 30 to 35 seconds.

Steve

 

[JoeW]

I stumbled on one the other day that seems to have a major impact on the pre-shot routine. I did not play for a few days, just had other things that had to be done.

When I got back to the table I found that I was missing shots I should not miss. We have a daily tournament where I live so it was just not the time to stop and figure out what was wrong. Later that day (yesterday) I went back to the room to try and figure out what was going on. My pre-shot routine is pretty standard and is a take off on what I learned from RandyG’s Pool School. It is well established to the point that I can basically ignore it.My problem seemed to have something to do with finding the aim line for the object ball. I was simply missing the contact point and it took a while to figure it out because I had to step back through my pre-shot set up.

When I am playing I track the aim line from about 6 – 9” behind the OB to the pocket. Then I let my eye travel to the contact point. This helps me find the contact point. I was concentrating on position and had gotten sloppy with establishing the contact point. When I realized what I was doing wrong my shooting consistency came back to its normal level.

The point here is that I think that how one uses their eyes to establish the contact point is critical. I begin aiming at the end of the “study while standing” part of the pre-shot routine and I watch this contact point as I move into and bend over the shot. The picture of the contact point changes as you bend over and I want it firmly in my mind’s eye before I start messing with the stroke.

When I get into playing position I tend to forget to have that sharp focus on the contact point and with a few days layoff this can seriously affect the outcome.

I had also “forgotten” that I always visualize the ob moving towards the pocket and then visualize the cue ball movement before the final stroke. These too were easily dropped out. Seems the subconscious thinks that it knows how to do these things with out concentration – it doesn’t and effort is needed to rebuild the routine with only a few days of layoff.

The SPF school teaches a different approach to eye patterns than what I now use. None-the-less I have quickly learned over the last few days that the eye pattern you use is critical. It has to be thoroughly “burned in” before you can proceed to playing position with little thought to pocketing.

 

[JoeW]

I have a little bit of a semantic argument with the interchangeability of “Focus” and “Concentration.” I think it has some real implications for how one builds and uses a pre-shot routine. I think of the word “focus” as some thing we do that is similar to what we do with a camera lens. The field is blurred until we bring it into sharp relief relative to other objects in the field. Thus we focus on the contact point to see this imaginary point and the imaginary line of travel as something that stands out from the background.

To focus requires concentration where concentration is the ability to remove all distracting elements such as sounds, thoughts, and emotions from the task at hand. I understand why people confuse the terms focus and concentration and I think that confusing the terms leads to a form of sloppiness when playing.

One can continue to increase their concentration (eliminating distractions) and then improve their focus. If this is a step wise process it becomes obvious (to me) that one begins to increase their concentration first and this enables one to focus on the contact points and lines of travel.

When stated this way it can be seen that concentration and focus are both important but are not interchangeable. They are two different things and each need to be incorporated into the pre-shot routine. If you work with it I think the average person will find that they can improve their focus if they realize that is what they are doing.

 

[Bankin-B]

Agent Bankin-B

You ever been to Denny's?????

Watch out for the cotttage cheese, that is all I am saying on that one.

This is Agent Bankin-B signing in on Episode 2 of Billiard Education, I wanted to discuss a little about the back swing stroke pattern as well. The thing I like about stopping at the cueball on the last stroke is you have more control of cueball. When ready to pull the trigger you can also rely on a 1,2,3 backswing, I like to say that a 1 back stroke is slow speed which consist of the distance of 1 to 2 diamonds. A 2 back stroke is a medium speed which consist of 2 to 4 diamonds. A 3 back stroke is a fast speed which consist of a distance of 4 to 8 diamonds. My theory of breaking this process down is your full stroke consist of three parts |-----1,-----2,-----3|, except when you need to do something special for more distance and you need an over excessive amount of stroke. Good Luck This is Agent Bankin-B signing off untill the next episode of Billiard Education.

 

[Neil]

.............

 

[elvicash]

Good points Joe. Another thing I have found that helps me.... start focusing on playing BEFORE you even get to the poolroom. I have found that if I am thinking about other things on the way there, it will take a little time, usually the loss of the first few racks, or even the first set, to get my mind into playing pool.

But, if I start thinking about playing and being in stroke on the way there, I am mentally ready when I get down on the first shot and everything starts out like I have been playing for a while.

Great point Neil

I am guilty of not thinking about the match or playing when I go to a tournament drive by myself, however when I ride in with another player or two in the car and all we talk about is pool I am so much more on from the start. So I need to do more focusing enroute when I drive by myself.

 

[Bankin-B]

Agent Bankin-B

Great point Neil

I am guilty of not thinking about the match or playing when I go to a tournament drive by myself, however when I ride in with another player or two in the car and all we talk about is pool I am so much more on from the start. So I need to do more focusing enroute when I drive by myself.

I'm passing a hint to ya, Why you are driving on your own time, you can get more relaxed and your mind will wonder off in a zone if you listen to something like indian music. Very relaxing. Singing out ,looking for hoss to go to Denny's and get something to eat Dana

 

[HOSS22]

I'm passing a hint to ya, Why you are driving on your own time, you can get more relaxed and your mind will wonder off in a zone if you listen to something like indian music. Very relaxing. Singing out ,looking for hoss to go to Denny's and get something to eat Dana

why does it have to be denny's why cant we go to peppermill? LMAO...i liked lesson #2 B alot of information from great players will get ya there.ive been doing the trial and error for years and its a long brutal process definitely dont recommend it!!! If i only had a great player to polish me off we might just make a buck. eagerly waiting on lesson #3,hoss.

 

[lfigueroa]

This is especially true about "Preshot routine" - some guys focus excessively on foot placement, how your bridge hand gets onto the felt, how many practice strokes you take... overthinking these things can put the Mongolian Death Jinx on your shooting. They will all come naturally from hitting a million balls. Use common sense and get into your stance comfortably and change it if it feels even a little wrong.

There are a lot of guys out there that have hit a million balls and play like crap. You can see them at any pool hall in the country: the guys that show up every day, practice or match up, but after 30 years of daily play still can't run 20 balls to save their lives. These are the guys who have been waiting for it to happen naturally.

Maybe if you're "a natural" that works. But for the rest of us it is essential that you pay attention to the details and play with the intent of analyzing small changes in your game that make you more accurate. I think one of the biggest mistakes a player can make is to do what is comfortable -- because it's comfortable -- instead of doing what makes you play better.

Lou Figueroa

 

[Maniac]

There are a lot of guys out there that have hit a million balls and play like crap. You can see them at any pool hall in the country: the guys that show up every day, practice or match up, but after 30 years of daily play still can't run 20 balls to save their lives. These are the guys who have been waiting for it to happen naturally.

Maybe if you're "a natural" that works. But for the rest of us it is essential that you pay attention to the details and play with the intent of analyzing small changes in your game that make you more accurate. I think one of the biggest mistakes a player can make is to do what is comfortable -- because it's comfortable -- instead of doing what makes you play better.

Lou Figueroa

Once again, I will refer to my earlier post (#4) that after hitting a million balls, if you are hitting them WRONG, then you have not only wasted a lot of time, but you are going to have to spend MORE time undoing the bad habits. My thought is that if you truly have a desire to improve, then you should spend your time/money getting professional instruction from a reputable teacher early on that can make hitting your next "million balls" worthwhile.

Maniac