If fundamentals established, how important are drills?

[papercut]

I've read a lot of pool books and combed through many webpages going over draw drills, follow drills, rail drills, etc. And to set the record straight, I'm a huge advocate of perfect practice over casual play in improving the game.

However, once the fundamentals are "perfected" (I'm referring to stance, stroke-straightness, pre-shot routine, etc.), what benefit do structured drills do over just focused playing of ,say, straight pool or 9-ball (I personally think 8-ball is a flawed game... but that's another post)?

Seems to me that one should spend the proportional time shooting shots that actually come up. For instance, why practice a 2 rail length draw shot for countless hours when it you'd only play it in like 5% of your game shots? By just playing the games but keeping a focus on good fundamentals will automatically force you to spend the proportionate time practicing the shots/position play that come up. If 3 rail position shots come up 20% in games, you'd practice those 20% of the time... and so on.

I believe structured practice around improving the fundamentals are important (i.e. cue-ing center ball to oppositie rail and back to cue tip, etc.).

Thoughts? Does the brain work better doing repetition of the same shot x% of the time rather than scattered about in random play?

I argue this partly because practice encourages me to get lazy on pre-shot routine and fundamentals (you're shooting the same shot over and over again and can cut corners to be successful) and isn't as fun or motivating as actual play. Also, you could be practicing and spending too much time getting better at a small % of the actual shots that come up where time should be better spent.

 

[pooltchr]

I don't know if she still does it, but I caught Allison practicing in a pool room a few years ago. She would set up the same shot and shoot it over and over for 5 or 10 minutes...then another shot, then another. I don't even know if that was her regular routine, or if she was working on something specific. But it seems like a smart way, especially if there are some shots you missed in the last match.

As for how much time...I believe about 20% of your table time should be pure practice...the rest should be play time. It is a game, after all.
Steve

 

[Snapshot9]

After awhile ...

You reach a level where you do not need to shoot the same
drill over and over, but you have a tendency to make-up
your own personal drills, and usually they are shots you
know you have a tendency to get a little weak on at times.

You should just feel tuned up about any shot. I don't really
practice much on making balls I know I can make, I shoot
a few, not many, but I will always practice bank shots before
a tough match to make sure I am 'on' with them, all kinds of
banks.

 

[Al-fahl Amir]

Niels or I usually would right down shots that he missed in a tournament or gambling into a little book that he kept in his case. Later on that day he would practice the shot untill he made it like 5 or 10 times in a row without missing and then move to the next shot. Some times it might only take about 15 to 20 min. but other times it might take all night or all day. I've seen him a couple times get to 9 and then miss the 10th shot and have to start all over again.

He use to have troubles with jacked up shots over a ball or the cueball frozen on the rail. He would gamble with me either 9-ball or 8-ball to where he took another ball and would freeze it to the back of the cue ball before he took the next shot. Or where ever the cue ball was left he would have to pull the cue ball straight back and freeze it to the rail before he could shoot. I watched him break and run a 3 pack on me once pulling the cue ball back to the rail every shot. Niels was always really hard on himself. I tried doing the drills that he did a bunch of times but I would get frustrated and quit after an hour or so. I guess that's why I work for a living and he plays pool.

Don't forget to practice your kicks and safties. I believe kicking and safty play is what truely seperates the champions to every other pro out there. To practice this a lot of times we would play games where the only way you could win was by 3 fouling the person. Or we would play kicking games where to first person to kick in 10 called shots would win.

Niels practiced a lot of Burt Kenister drills but later started making up his own drills to work on the shots that he was finding trouble with in actually play. I feel the harder you are on yourself durning practice the easier the real stuff becomes.

 

[Billy_Bob]

Well there are shots which do not come up very often. Some maybe once a week, others maybe once a month.

The way I look at it, the more I shoot a shot, the better I get. And if I am rarely shooting a shot, I will not get good at it.

So I practice shots which I rarely use or am not good at. But then when I need to shoot that shot, I have a pretty good chance of making it. (Or at least know what to try to do.)

One night, my last 3 shots in a match were all rarely used shots. But because I had been practicing these, it was a piece of cake and I won the match.

Sometimes an evening is filled with several different matches which I won because of my making rarely used shots. Usually just 1 of these shots a game.

And thinking back on when I have won 1st place in money tournaments. I would not have been able to do it without knowing these shots. This gave me a little extra "edge" when playing against the other players. Just enough of an edge to squeak by with a 1st place win.

So you can be just as good as another player. But if you can learn to do things the other player can't, then you have a little advantage.

The book 99 critical shots is my bible for this!

The opposite of this is the player who can be heard saying "I hate these shots". Well if they practiced those shots, they might just get to be good at them and might actually like them because they are easy.

 

[AuntyDan]

I forget where I read it but it seems to make sense to me - When you are first learning the game spend 80% of the time practicing and 20% actually playing. As you get better the percentages shifts until you get to a point where you are spending 80% of your time playing.

I peronally spend most of my practice time attempting to run racks. When I miss a shot I set it up and shoot it over and over until I am happy I know why I missed and how to make it properly. The key factor is to make it correctly at least 3 or 4 times to ensure you have actually learnt from your mistake. Otherwise if you miss it once and make it once all you are learning is how to make the shot 1 in 2 times, which is not good enough.

Sometimes I find by doing this my shot selection is bad (I.E. A shot I can't make more than 10% or 20% of the time) and in this instance I try out some alternative shots until I find one that is a higher percentage shot. Sometimes I still cannot achieve a reliable shot and just have to file that particular situation away for avoidance or safety play in an important game.

I used to use the "donut" paper hole reinforcement sticker method to mark shots for practice, but have found that as my playing has improved I am getting better at visually remembering shot layouts so no longer bother with them.

 

[alstl]

I forget where I read it but it seems to make sense to me - When you are first learning the game spend 80% of the time practicing and 20% actually playing. As you get better the percentages shifts until you get to a point where you are spending 80% of your time playing.

I peronally spend most of my practice time attempting to run racks. When I miss a shot I set it up and shoot it over and over until I am happy I know why I missed and how to make it properly. The key factor is to make it correctly at least 3 or 4 times to ensure you have actually learnt from your mistake. Otherwise if you miss it once and make it once all you are learning is how to make the shot 1 in 2 times, which is not good enough.

Sometimes I find by doing this my shot selection is bad (I.E. A shot I can't make more than 10% or 20% of the time) and in this instance I try out some alternative shots until I find one that is a higher percentage shot. Sometimes I still cannot achieve a reliable shot and just have to file that particular situation away for avoidance or safety play in an important game.

I used to use the "donut" paper hole reinforcement sticker method to mark shots for practice, but have found that as my playing has improved I am getting better at visually remembering shot layouts so no longer bother with them.

Science of Pocket Billiards. Koehler also says "Regardless of skill level, a person that doesn't play often, or has long layoffs, should concentrate on drills. A playing slump should be treated with large doses of drills."

 

[Plummerbutt]

I beleive it is said in "A Mind For Pool" that an amature practices a shot until they make it, but a pro practices a shot until they cant miss it.

That, it seems to me, Is what seperates the real players from the shooters.