Is Playing good practice

[ICUE]

I know it is common advise that to get better you have to play better players. To me match play reveals how you truly play but does not help you improve your execution. It can help you with shooting the shot you can already execute while under pressure. I think you can not play better than you practice, meaning if you can only run 4 to 5 balls consistently while you are practicing you won't start running racks during match play. So if you want to get better than your current level you should spend a majority of you time on the table practicing. I invite any feed back on this theory.

 

[Black-Balled]

The argument could be made either way. If you are in a must-win type of situation then I guess you might pucker up. You might step it up though.

If you are playing with yourself, well then who cares what you are doing?!

I am a believer in practicing the way you compete. If you want to be good in tourneys then you play them. If you want to run balls in your living room then get to it. If you want to win all the money...then match up better!:grin:

I know it is common advise that to get better you have to play better players. To me match play reveals how you truly play but does not help you improve your execution. It can help you with shooting the shot you can already execute while under pressure. I think you can not play better than you practice, meaning if you can only run 4 to 5 balls consistently while you are practicing you won't start running racks during match play. So if you want to get better than your current level you should spend a majority of you time on the table practicing. I invite any feed back on this theory.

 

[Slickstick9]

I don't like to have too many money matches in a row with-out a practice session. The practice session seems to ground me.

 

[ceebee]

There is an old phrase that was heard through the ranks of Professional Golf, "You don't learn to play Golf, on the Golf Course". As a Golf Instructor, I encouraged my students to learn to hit the ball correctly on the practice tee, then learn to apply those skills in the different situations that one faces on the golf course.

With the myriad of drills that have been developed for Pool players, a player that can "do the drills", should be able to apply that knowledge in competition play. Experience & competition hopefully teaches us how to handle pressure at an important moment.

 

[greyghost]

Pratice is for developing your perfect REPEATABLE routine and execution

Matching up is good for developing your mindset/mental toughness

Tournaments are for uhhh...hell I have no idea what tournaments are for?

I think the tournaments are there to give us something to do in between practicing and matching up lol:wink:

J/k to me tournaments can help you to learn to ALWAYS BE READY!

Many times you have to sit around and wait some time in b/t matches at a tournament....you go hot, cold, hot, cold, hot,cold

The key in the tournaments is to be prepared and instroke in a seated position IMOP

-Grey Ghost-

 

[ceebee]

There is an old phrase that was heard through the ranks of Professional Golf, "You don't learn to play Golf, on the Golf Course". As a Golf Instructor, I encouraged my students to learn to hit the ball correctly on the practice tee, then learn to apply those skills in the different situations that one faces on the golf course.

With the myriad of drills that have been developed for Pool players, a player that can "do the drills", should be able to apply that knowledge in competition play. Experience & competition hopefully teaches us how to handle pressure at an important moment.

 

[mfinkelstein3]

Is Playing Good Practice

There are three things you need to do over time to really improve your game. The first is to take lessons. Without a focused look from an expert on what you are doing wrong, you will always struggle to improve. It is amazing what we don't know about our own game!

Next you need to practice what you learned. It does no good to know something, but not be able to do it consistently. The big problem I see here is players practicing incorrect things or not practicing in an organized fashion.

The final piece to this improvement path is competition. Whether you match up for money or play in tournaments or leagues, testing your knowledge and skill is a prerequisite for improving. Without the added pressure of playing to win, you miss out on the mental focus required to improve.

Then after your competition, you go back to your instructor with your problems and lessons learned. Your instructor will give you more new things to practice. You do the work and then go back into the arena.

Over time if you follow this path, you will improve tremendously.

What I see a lot of players do is skip the instruction part for a lot of reasons. Then they wind up practicing bad fundamentals etc, and are frustrated with their pool game, don't know why and seek answers in all the wrong places. Many players look for answers in more money games, more practice, a new stick, etc. Unfortunately they are missing out on a big piece of the improvement formula. You really need an educated outside set of eyes to help you see how you are really playing.

This is not magic, but it works in football, baseball and other professional sports.

 

[ShootingRazbone]

You need to do both. There is a time to do both imo.

If you matched up today and lost and had obvious things to improve on the next day should be used to practice those things. Imo you dont go jump into a 5 dollar or dollar a ball game the next day without working on the things you need to. To me you are just continuing bad habits which can't be good.
I never play small money games to practice because that little 5 or 10 dollar game can turn into a 100 win or loss quickly. It's ok if you hate money. There is a place for both and imo both are needed.

 

[rhyno]

i think playing yourself is great practice.....i always try to beat myself.......why play the ghost when you can play yourself.,if there's no run out...hook yourself then escape.i heard efren mentioning in an interview that he does this.
getting a digi cam and videoing yourself is a good option.....lets you see things that you probably would miss while your playing

 

[pooltchr]

Practice is what we do to get better. Playing is the reason we practice.

They are two different things with two different purposes.

You can not do both at the same time.

Practice to build skills. Play for the enjoyment of the game.

Steve

 

[stljohnny]

i think playing yourself is great practice.....i always try to beat myself.......why play the ghost when you can play yourself.,if there's no run out...hook yourself then escape.i heard efren mentioning in an interview that he does this.
getting a digi cam and videoing yourself is a good option.....lets you see things that you probably would miss while your playing

I do that (video)... and it really lets me go back and rewatch racks to see what went wrong? Did I miss a shot? Did I choose the wrong pattern or path to the next ball? Is my stance out of alignment, is my arm straight, am I poking or stroking? should i have used a bridge, left handed? Did I 1-stroke the ball? Am I looking over the table or just shooting the first ball that comes to mind? did i get out of rhythm? am i talking to myself - is it negative or positive?

I will usually video on the weekends then spend the next week (at least) watching and rewatching and taking notes of every missed shot or missed position then take those to the practice room and hit those shots until I make it at least 10 times in a row on both sides of the table. Unfortunately, for me, that's a lot of shots,

Also, I'll take note of good things too.. what worked? why? I'll practice those shots as well.

Once I feel like I've fixed the majority of those errors, I'll go back to the busy pool room and match up - video the whole thing and start all over again. Sometimes it'll be a month or longer between match-ups; but each time I do better than the last. Sooner or later, I'll start winning more than losing; as long as I keep to this sort of review/fix/practice/review pattern.

 

[Aaron_S]

Practicing is simply learning by repetition. If you want to be a better tournament player, repetitively playing in tournaments is good practice.

Aaron

 

[MitchAlsup]

Never confuse practice and play.

During play, all the rules apply, and a miss is tantamount to a loss.

Durring practice, if you miss you can set the balls back and shot the shot 10-50-1000 times until you quit missing it--whatever it takes to engrain that shot into your subconscience. To a certain extent, practice is the long slug of drudgery that leads to victories. Practice should include attempting shots that you would never try at play until you have them mastered in practice. Practice iw where you "get good" play is simpy where you show that you "are god" (or not).

There are different kinds of practice: stroke drills, long shot drills, bank drills, kick drills, open ball potting, breaking rack drills, fast and loose practice, slow and methodological practice, shot routine practice,...The distilled sum of which are what you show at play.