How to practice?

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sifu

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How to Practice?​

I have my own 9' table, so I can literally play/practice any time I want for as long as I want. The truth is, I simply don't. I will casually shoot 2-10 tables a week, and not really in a very purposeful or focused manner. Then show up on league night and wish I was better. I'm Fargo 345 with about 600 games, and I'm playing my first session in APA, where I'm somehow a 5 and winning some. That's deceptive, though, because I'm highly inconsistent in league. I've never had an actual table run in any format 8/9/10 ball, but have had quite a few 5-7 ball runs/outs...followed by missing the next couple of easy shots. I tend to play league in binges. I'll play for 3-5 sessions, then not play for a year, then come back. When I don't play league, I just don't play at all.

I feel like my biggest weakness, at the moment, is inconsistency in my stroke. Next biggest problem, is my actual stroke technique. I can tell I don't stroke as well as I used to based on some difficult stroke drills I used to be able to do, like a full table draw with english. My stroke is just not good enough to do them anymore. However, I also believe I may be a poor judge of my own weaknesses, and I may be practicing the wrong things if I just work on what I feel like.

I've watched some of the other league players practice shots repeatedly. I've seen some of those players significantly improve over time, some rapidly, some gradually. I struggle with staying focused if I repeatedly shoot the same shot. I just don't invest the time well. I tend to not practice for very long before getting bored, and in addition, my focus is poor, just robotically shooting, without focus or "learning" anything. It could still be worth it if I was building muscle memory, but I don't have confidence I'm even doing that well. Additionally, doing this, I'm never really sure what shots I should be practicing. I've read that you should make a note of the shots you miss in league/tournaments and practice those. That makes sense, but...I just haven't done it. I wish there was an app for shot logs/journal but I haven't found one and haven't bought a pen/paper one.

I kind of made up my own drill years ago. For my stroke practice, I like shooting with my eyes closed. Line up balls across the table at the second or third diamond. Set up the cue ball at the first diamond for a straight in shot at the far corner. Take my practice strokes. Pause and close my eyes. If my form and muscle memory are good, it should go in at that point even with my eyes closed. When I last played, I made 80-90% of these. About a year later, I don't anymore. It's more like 20-30% now.

I also have the "Ultimate Pool Challenge" and "Ultimate Pool Challenge Advanced" cards. These can be played as a competitive game or for practice scenarios/shots.

So, how do you know what to practice? Form? Shots? Which shots? Other? How do you keep discipline to do it? How do you keep focus? Are there good books/videos I should buy and just work on the things they suggest? Are there good training aids I should be looking to buy?

In the end, the easiest, most obvious answer is simply discipline, and I know that. ANY practice is better than none. I own my failure here, but looking for some tips and/or aids to keep me interested and invested and focused.
 
Start with the games you compete in.
If 9 ball..start at running 3 ball ghost Race to 10
When you get to 8/10-9/10 add a ball.
If 8 ball start with 2 solids, two stripes, and the 8.
Add balls when you beat the ghost 8/9 out of 10.

Add in safety the same way

Get a lesson for fundamentals from an instructor.

This should keep you busy for a while.
 
couldnthinkof01 said:
Start with the games you compete in.
If 9 ball..start at running 3 ball ghost Race to 10
When you get to 8/10-9/10 add a ball.
If 8 ball start with 2 solids, two stripes, and the 8.
Add balls when you beat the ghost 8/9 out of 10.

Add in safety the same way

Get a lesson for fundamentals from an instructor.

This should keep you busy for a while.
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I'm clearly biased, so shooting in a game-like format appeals to me. Is this less optimal, though? From what I've heard, this isn't a very focused way to get better, so progress may be slower.
 
sifu said:
I'm clearly biased, so shooting in a game-like format appeals to me. Is this less optimal, though? From what I've heard, this isn't a very focused way to get better, so progress may be slower.
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simple
Repeatable
Adaptable
Progressive

You could choose many areas of focus within the practice.
Stroke
Break
High runs
Pre shot routine
Lengthen the practice time

You would get what you put in
In my opinion
 
You could video these sessions and find where you struggle if you get stuck. You could take the video to a coach or player you think could help.

Pool is hard and it takes time and effort to play good enough to really know how bad you really play😆
 
Practice without knowledge is about the equivalent of mental masturbation. You have to gain knowledge and there's SO much knowledge to gain. If you don't have access to good instruction, get some books and actually do and practice what they say. Byrne's books are good. Study the game, video tape yourself to ensure you have proper stance and stroke.

Do drills if just playing bugs you. You seem to be at a fairly low level. I would start with some bottle drills. This will give you feedback on follow through angle and distance. Then do some straight shot drills. Then angle drills, speed control drills with follow and draw. Once you've mastered those things, relatively speaking you can move on to learning more advanced concepts.

Jaden
 
straightline said:
Anyone calling themself sifu should be telling us? :p
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Ah, lol. Made a joke about a "sifu-edition" sash in Kung Fu 25 years ago. Became a running gag with friends. "Sifu" or some variation has been a go-to for anything from email address, to games, to forums ever since.
 
sifu said:
Ah, lol. Made a joke about a "sifu-edition" sash in Kung Fu 25 years ago. Became a running gag with friends. "Sifu" or some variation has been a go-to for anything from email address, to games, to forums ever since.
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Ok. Now I gotta make up good advice. Thanks. :D
 
I mix it up. I think I keep drills to a 10 min. Minimum or I lose focus. I start every practice shooting the cue ball the length of the table and back to my tip. Then long straight stop shots to warm up.I’ll play the ghost in a race to 5 . then I’ll shoot long straight draw shots for 10 mins. Then maybe play another race to 3 and work on jump shots for 10 mins. Etc. etc. I tend to work on more stroke drills then position drills these days. I feel I know the lines around the table and thats more about speed control and since my table doesn’t play like other tables speed drills don‘t help a lot. I think the big thing Though Is limiting your drill time to what you stay focused On. If you get bored and lazy and start not going through your pre shot routine and not treating it like it’s important it’s not doing a lot for you.
 
Jaden said:
Practice without knowledge is about the equivalent of mental masturbation. You have to gain knowledge and there's SO much knowledge to gain. If you don't have access to good instruction, get some books and actually do and practice what they say. Byrne's books are good. Study the game, video tape yourself to ensure you have proper stance and stroke.

Do drills if just playing bugs you. You seem to be at a fairly low level. I would start with some bottle drills. This will give you feedback on follow through angle and distance. Then do some straight shot drills. Then angle drills, speed control drills with follow and draw. Once you've mastered those things, relatively speaking you can move on to learning more advanced concepts.

Jaden
Click to expand...
books are old school . I have a ton of them but the best players in the world are now dropping instructions weekly for free on you tube. 30 plus years a go you had to either read books or hope one of the old guys at the club took a liking to you and showed you some of the things they learned lol now its all right there for the taking.
 
Leverage your phone. Record yourself from 1) straight on, facing the camera; 2) straight on behind your grip hand; and 3) perpendicular to your stance.

From 1 and 2, check for stroke wobbles, chicken wing, twisting your grip, etc., anything that results in your cue deviating from dead straight along your intended shot line. You can also check your alignment. From 3, ensure your grip is 90° to the table at cue ball address and at contact when pulling the trigger and you’re not excessively dropping your elbow. (Disclaimer: elbow drop isn’t necessarily a bad thing but if you do have a piston stroke rather than a pendulum stroke, it better be straight.)

This won’t tell you how to fix things, but it will at least tell you what might need attention. Correction would probably be best served via a good instructor, although if you are highly analytical (a blessing and a curse, ask me how I know), you might be able to figure it out yourself. Danger: this can be a rabbit hole.

One thing that has helped me is to be assertive with the cue. I don’t mean hitting everything hard, but make sure your stroke finishes strongly. (On low speed shots you can do this by shortening your backstroke, still finishing assertively yet with low speed).

Best of luck at the table. Take this advice from a C player, APA 6, FR around low 400s.
 
Here's the outline I use for beginners' clinics. It has some stroke/mechanics drills. Also, if you don't understand all of the points in the Basics I and II outlines, you have some studying to do.


As @bbb pointed out, what you probably need is a good instructor -- one that can check your fundamentals and suggest fixes.

If you really want to get better, you are going to have to put in time on the table. From your post, it sounds like you are unable to put in any useful practice time -- you just mindlessly hit the balls. I don't think anyone here can help you with that problem. Maybe find practice drills that are scored and keep track of your scores.
 
trob said:
books are old school . I have a ton of them but the best players in the world are now dropping instructions weekly for free on you tube. 30 plus years a go you had to either read books or hope one of the old guys at the club took a liking to you and showed you some of the things they learned lol now its all right there for the taking.
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Yeah, but I didn't and wouldn't recommend that for someone to start off with because there's too much information out there and it's too easy to get into things out of order and learn concepts that you shouldn't be focusing on to start off with. Books or learning series videos will give you foundational structure ro build on.

Ideally, you would find a good instructor to use. The key there is a good instructor though. If you don't have access to one or don;t have the funds for one to start off, I think that books or an instructional series is the better way to go.

Jaden
 
trob said:
books are old school . I have a ton of them but the best players in the world are now dropping instructions weekly for free on you tube. 30 plus years a go you had to either read books or hope one of the old guys at the club took a liking to you and showed you some of the things they learned lol now its all right there for the taking.
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Most YouTube instruction is worth less than you pay for it.

Some people can't get anything out of books. Some people can. For people like me, written instruction is as good as or better than video... Generally much better. Presenting information by video is difficult and most instruction on YouTube suffers for it. The same can be said for writing, but generally someone puts a lot more thought into writing a book than they would making a video.

As for the op, what you are really asking for is a magic bullet. You don't have enough desire to improve, until you do, you won't improve.
 
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