How to force pre-shot routine

D

dimeshooter

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Anyone got some suggestions on how to force myself to stick with my pre-shot routine? It seems like when I get in a match, everything speeds up and I completely abandon it. Are there any good drills that will help make it second nature and not something I have to focus on?

Thanks in advance!

Mike
 
Hi MIke

A perfect pre-shot routine has three parts to it.

THINK
SEE
DO

What is your written routine?
randyg
 
Pre-shot routine

Randy,

Ideally it would be something like this:
- Walk around the table chalking my cue.
- Look for problem balls and figure out a way to break them out
- In 8ball decide what is my setup ball for the 8
- Pick a road map
- Figure out what shot I am going to shoot first and where I need to leave the cue ball to make the 2nd shot and get shape on the 3rd shot
- Figure out where I need to aim to make the first ball
- Line up on the ball and take a few practice strokes
- Stop and stare at the contact point on the object ball for 2 - 3 seconds
- Shoot the shot and keep my eyes glued do the object ball until it goes in the hole.

Now I just continue on always thinking about 3 balls.

When I am not focused and playing fast I do the following:
- pick out the ball I want to shoot
- briefly look at my next ball and decide shape
- get over the ball and take a few practice strokes
- shoot and pray!
- focus on where whitey goes and not if I made the shot

I desperately need to get away from the fast play. It amazes me how many more shots I miss this way.
 
I think you may have discovered the answer to your problem.

How often do you practice (not play) your pre-shot routine?



dimeshooter said:
Anyone got some suggestions on how to force myself to stick with my pre-shot routine? It seems like when I get in a match, everything speeds up and I completely abandon it. Are there any good drills that will help make it second nature and not something I have to focus on?

Thanks in advance!

Mike
Click to expand...
 
Tony_in_MD said:
How often do you practice (not play) your pre-shot routine?
Click to expand...

A great question.

The deeper rooted our bad habits are, the longer it takes to replace them with good habits. The better we practice, the easier it is to replace them.

You need to practice your pre-shot routine until it becomes a habit or automatic motor skill.
 
It might be beneficial to work on adding one new part to your preshot routine at a time. Just an idea I've had, it's incredibly difficult to overhaul you're mechanics/operating procedure as you tend to forget somethings one day and other things another day. I don't know how well this would work in practice, but theoretically I feel it's sound.
 
Cameron Smith said:
It might be beneficial to work on adding one new part to your preshot routine at a time.
Click to expand...

You would then be practicing your other bad habits.

Start by performing your routine very slowly and making sure each step is performed correctly. Once you get the sequence down, increase your tempo in baby steps while continuing to make sure each step is performed correctly.
 
Mark Avlon said:
You would then be practicing your other bad habits.

Start by performing your routine very slowly and making sure each step is performed correctly. Once you get the sequence down, increase your tempo in baby steps while continuing to make sure each step is performed correctly.
Click to expand...

Theoretically yes. However it's impossible to focus on fixing EVERYTHING your doing wrong in one session. When I was starting out I was told by a former professional snooker player to pick one area of your mechanics/game to focus on for the session. That way your mind isn't too cluttered. I was just curious if it might help for pre-shot routines as well.
 
Which is why the OP needs to:

Write down his pre-shot routine, and review it at the start of his training session.

When he practices he needs to follow that pre-shot routine (for every shot) and verbalize each part as he does it.

At the end of each shot he should freeze, and note what he did and what the results were.

Changing bad habits, or developing new ones are hard and not fun work.




Cameron Smith said:
Theoretically yes. However it's impossible to focus on fixing EVERYTHING your doing wrong in one session. When I was starting out I was told by a former professional snooker player to pick one area of your mechanics/game to focus on for the session. That way your mind isn't too cluttered. I was just curious if it might help for pre-shot routines as well.
Click to expand...
 
@Cameron,

i agree here- some kind of habits are hard to *change at one time*. Imo it depends a bit on the type of habits you want to fix-or what kind of *part* you want to insert into your psr.
 
dimeshooter said:
Randy,

Ideally it would be something like this:

THINK:-
Walk around the table chalking my cue.
- Look for problem balls and figure out a way to break them out
- In 8ball decide what is my setup ball for the 8
- Pick a road map


SEE:-
Stand back behind the cue ball for about 2-3 seconds.
Figure out what shot I am going to shoot first and where I need to leave the cue ball to make the 2nd shot and get shape on the 3rd shot
- Figure out where I need to aim to make the first ball
Walk into the line of shot.-


DO:
Line up on the ball and take a few practice strokes
- Stop and stare at the contact point on the object ball for 2 - 3 seconds
- Shoot the shot and keep my eyes glued do the object ball until it goes in the hole.

Now I just continue on always thinking about 3 balls.

When I am not focused and playing fast I do the following:
- pick out the ball I want to shoot
- briefly look at my next ball and decide shape
- get over the ball and take a few practice strokes
- shoot and pray!
- focus on where whitey goes and not if I made the shot

I desperately need to get away from the fast play. It amazes me how many more shots I miss this way.
Click to expand...



Real good. I would like to add some other features that belong in your routine.

Remember to alway write your routine. Once you have them on paper you can always improve the routine.

Let's talk about getting together for some real quality instruction.
randyg
 
Cameron...Actually, that's not true. Once you establish what your errors are, you CAN work on fixing them in the same exercise even (let alone the same practice session). How? You focus on correcting one element at a time, for a few reps. Let's say you have three issues...no set; too fast of a backswing (poor transition); and no finish (poking the CB). You can correct all three of those errors with Mother Drill 1 & 2, just doing a few reps concentrating on the specific correction. As long as you have a way to measure your results, you can fix anything you want...sometimes in short order.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

Cameron Smith said:
Theoretically yes. However it's impossible to focus on fixing EVERYTHING your doing wrong in one session. When I was starting out I was told by a former professional snooker player to pick one area of your mechanics/game to focus on for the session. That way your mind isn't too cluttered. I was just curious if it might help for pre-shot routines as well.
Click to expand...
 
Pre-shot routine

Thanks for all the responses! I definitely see the value in a pre-shot routine and I am VERY motivated to get better.

Last night I spent an hour shooting 9ball by myself and I really focused on going through the routine on every shot. It took about 10 minutes a game, but my game was very much improved. I discovered that chalking my cue in between every shot really helped to slow me down and to remember to go through my routine. I will keep working on it.

Randy always the salesman :smile: I really wanted to attend your Fargo class, but I am not going to make it. Maybe we could schedule a few hours around the class?

Mike
 
Mike...You cannot play and practice at the same time (they are different skill sets and mindsets). You need to do specific exercises, where you can measure the results of what you're trying to correct (or ingrain).

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

dimeshooter said:
Thanks for all the responses! I definitely see the value in a pre-shot routine and I am VERY motivated to get better.

Last night I spent an hour shooting 9ball by myself and I really focused on going through the routine on every shot. It took about 10 minutes a game, but my game was very much improved. I discovered that chalking my cue in between every shot really helped to slow me down and to remember to go through my routine. I will keep working on it.

Randy always the salesman :smile: I really wanted to attend your Fargo class, but I am not going to make it. Maybe we could schedule a few hours around the class?

Mike
Click to expand...
 
Pre-shot routine

Mike...You cannot play and practice at the same time (they are different skill sets and mindsets). You need to do specific exercises, where you can measure the results of what you're trying to correct (or ingrain).

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com



That is exactly why I posted the question........I'm not sure what drills to do.

Mike
 
dimeshooter said:
Thanks for all the responses! I definitely see the value in a pre-shot routine and I am VERY motivated to get better.

Last night I spent an hour shooting 9ball by myself and I really focused on going through the routine on every shot. It took about 10 minutes a game, but my game was very much improved. I discovered that chalking my cue in between every shot really helped to slow me down and to remember to go through my routine. I will keep working on it.

Randy always the salesman :smile: I really wanted to attend your Fargo class, but I am not going to make it. Maybe we could schedule a few hours around the class?

Mike
Click to expand...



Mike

Talk to me.

My email is:
randyg@poolschool.com

randyg
 
Mike, it's probably too late to weigh in on this for you, but for the sake of anyone who might be reading this with a similar situation, I thought I'd post my reply:

Some people do things fast. They think fast, they move fast --- that's who they are. There is nothing wrong with being someone who does things fast. I have had many clients who do not fare well when they are told to slow down. It's not in their makeup to do so. If you or anyone out there are one of those types, here's a suggestion:

Compromise.

Jump out of your chair fast. Move around the table fast. Eye your shots fast. Think fast. But when you take your first step into your final approach, slow down. That's easy to remember and very effective.

Fran Crimi
BCA Master Instructor
Former WPBA Touring Pro
 
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