How to practice by yourself...

Here's my latest

I change up my drills often, but this is my old reliable:

Rack 14 balls, place the 15th ball in ideal position to get a break, and take cue ball in hand. See how many racks you can get through without repeating. My best is four. Then repeat.
 
basketcase said:
What is everybodys opinion about practicing alone, what has worked for me is to just throw 9 balls on the table and take ball and hand and just practice running out. It just gets soooooo boring sometimes and I'm just looking for new ideas. I play at lunch 3 or 4 days a week and I would like to see what other people do.
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It depends on which part of the game I need to Practice. I have 20 minute Mother Drills for the PHYSICAL-MENTAL-PSYCHOLOGICAL sides of my game.

If I have more time I also play the ghost a race to 5 using the game I will be playing later in the week.......SPF=randyg
 
Patrick Johnson said:
An advanced version of this is to put coins on the cushions where you expect the CB to hit as it travels to your target position (and maybe use a coin on the surface for the target too, if you don't mind just coming close). Put the rail coins right on the edge of the cushion so they'll jump if you hit just right.

This is great for learning not just where the CB ends up but the exact path it takes to get there - and it gets you into the habit of walking around and checking the angles and paths. Your safety play will also improve.

pj
chgo
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Thanks I am at this level and this will help me!
:cool: rep for you!
 
Practicing by yourself

basketcase said:
What is everybodys opinion about practicing alone, what has worked for me is to just throw 9 balls on the table and take ball and hand and just practice running out. It just gets soooooo boring sometimes and I'm just looking for new ideas. I play at lunch 3 or 4 days a week and I would like to see what other people do.
Click to expand...
My normal routine is to do what you do. I throw out a 9 ball rack and run the balls out and if I miss a shot I put all of the balls back on the table and I run them again until I run all of the balls and then I start over. For me running 9 ball racks is the best way to practice all of the shots. You have to be able to move the cue ball around the table and also to be able to recognize where to get to be on the right side of every shot to get to the next shot.

I don't like practicing 8 ball by myself even though I play it now and then with friends because I think it ruins my stroke. You just shoot too many easy shots in 8 ball, but you do have to be able to break up clusters correctly to run out in 8 ball and that's a plus for practicing 8 ball.

James
 
On my site
http://www.sunburstselect.com/PBReview/index.htm

there are several practice methods listed under the articles and links sections:
  • Hopkins Q-Skill
  • Fargo
  • Olympic 9-Ball
  • Progressive 9- Ball
  • 9-Ball Q Skill
  • PQ
All of these can be used for assessment and practice.
Play any of the game / test and stop where you make mistakes as an indicator of weakness that needs to be addressed.
 
something simple...

Here is one for you...very simple and will give you a goal or two...

Hopefully you have a competatively set up table with 4 1/2 inch pockets???

This will be similar to what you are already doing but with a twist..

Just throw out the 7 8 9 and take ball in hand and try to run out...

On my first try some time back I did it 22 times in a row and knew it was time to move on to the 6 7 8 9....

You must at least run out 10 times in a row before adding another ball...

Have fun and No Cheating....

Mr. J. :-)
 
I'd recommend 2 things off hand:
1. Joe Tucker's drills in Guaranteed Improvement available both as a book and as a dvd.
2. Fargo, Mike Page did a youtube explaination of it a while back.
 
Okay, first you go into a dimly lit room. Grab some soft porn and some Luther Vandross. Have an objective in mind. A goal, if you will. A couple of drinks won't hurt either. From there, instinct will take over.

Oh shit, pool. I went back and read the rest of the first post. Whew, that kind of threw me, anyway. I haven't had to give that kind of advice in quite a while.
 
I have tried the drills, but I don't like hitting the same shot over and over...as I don't think that it helps in game situations that you don't get more than one crack.

However...If there is a particular shot that you are having trouble with...It does help to hit it 50 times to learn how to make it.

I have recently switched to practicing similar to what I saw Mark Tadd and Tang Hoa doing.....

I witnessed both of them doing the same thing....(especially Mark).....

He would throw out all 9 balls...(literally at one time...I cant do that as I cant get all nine balls in my hand at once)...

He would just run balls until he missed some "off type" shot...He would stop running balls and hit the same shot over and over about 20-50 times...then he would go back and run balls again...find another shot and repeat the process....He then switched to hitting banks only for a while, and then back to just running out...(but he would always stop and hit a shot over and over if he missed)

Tang did the same thing...He was running balls and he missed a (low percentage) long "extreme" cut shot...He stopped running balls and basically spent the next 30-45 minutes just hitting the same long extreme cut shot.....

Lately I have incorporated the same type of practice...I start out with all the balls and just make any available shot for about three racks...Then I switch to 10-ball...I run balls until I find a shot that I either miss, or have trouble getting shape....As I find shots...I will work on that shot unitl I make it consistently...then go back to running balls.

I did not see this being done by Mark or Tang, but I have also started practicing "playing safe" I will start with all 10-balls and practice playing safe no matter if it is the right shot or not...It is just practice getting safe from anywhere no matter how the balls lay...I then will run down some of the balls and practice playing safe with less balls on the table...Some of them are almost impossible to get safe, but I think it dials in your CB controle and opens up your safe "options" during a match....When I do get safe on a shot, I also try and make the hit from being hooked, and look for ways to "kick safe"..

I will then play a few racks of banks only.....(doing the same process of if I miss a bank...I hit the same bank over and over)

After I have done all three...I will rotate, (run outs, safes only, banks only)

It seems to be helping...and it removes some of the boredome of just running racks or doing drills...
 
I like Brknrun's strategy best that is why I listed all the solitary games. The game creates tension and help me find a current weakness. Then I practice the weakness until I am bored with it.

The only exception to this routine is to use Bert Kinister's shot # 1 for ten shots as a warm up to make sure my stroke is where it should be. This often leads to a half hour of work, just straightening out the stroke !
 
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JoeW said:
I like Brknrun's strategy best that is why I listed all the solitary games. The game creates tension and help me find a current weakness. Then I practice the weakness until I am bored with it.

The only exception to this routine is to use Bert Kinister's shot # 1 for ten shots as a warm up to make sure my stroke is where it should be. This often leads to a half hour of work, just straightening out the stroke !
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AMEN....SPF=randyg
 
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