is this a good practice routine
- Thread starter bastille
- Start date
I think you would be better served by doing positioning drills. Don't get me wrong you can do combo drills but by practicing the way you are your brain is learning to think in combo patterns rather than runout patterns.
You are right in a way, combos do require a lot of precision. The old saying goes practice doesn't make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect. Unless you are practicing to become the worlds greatest combo player its wasted table time imo. Granted combos are a part of the game and deserve some practice time but I wouldn't dream of devoting the majority of practice time to them. The easiest way to get the ball into a hole is to shoot the CB into that ball and for it to go directly into the pocket, so it makes sense to me that's what should take up most practice time as far as pocketing balls go. The easiest way to get that done is by having a solid base to play from, so practice time also has to be devoted to fundamentals. To leave the easiest of pots you need to practice position also. This alone can make the game far easier than anything I've mentioned. You can be a ridiculous Potter but have poor positional skills so eventually you will snooker your self and that insane potting ability you have can't do anything to help you. But if you have world class positioning skills in theory you can be an average ball pocketer but you will leave yourself easy on most shots so it doesn't matter. This is why I believe everyone should devoted the most time to position drills if they are anything but a beginner/novice. Pocketing is thrown in there also when practicing position as a bonus.
My practice is split approximately as follows;
60% Position & Potting
10% Fundamentals....i strongly advise much, much more for this if they're a weak point for you
20% Safety
9% Banking
<1% Combos
Each to their own, but even the pros will avoid what look to be fairly easy combos if they can because its an unwanted risk of missing. But then again, all this practice means you probably win more frames than me with the old 1-9 combo.
My practice is split approximately as follows;
60% Position & Potting
10% Fundamentals....i strongly advise much, much more for this if they're a weak point for you
20% Safety
9% Banking
<1% Combos
Each to their own, but even the pros will avoid what look to be fairly easy combos if they can because its an unwanted risk of missing. But then again, all this practice means you probably win more frames than me with the old 1-9 combo.
ok intredasting. i play tier 2 apa. at this level shooting ability is all that matters, if you are the best at potting in your league you simply will never be beat, this is the angle i came from. my goal is to become elite at potting in as little time as possible (efficiency), so i came up with a couple practice routines like the one in the OP.
thanks for the advice, and will focus more on positioning skills cuz of course that is huge.
Where's tier 2 apa? Do you mean SL 2? If you're an SL 2 you will probably be best served by working on your fundamentals. At that level, you're missing as much (or more) from a poor stroke as bad aiming.
Combos are challenging. I don't practice them enough.
When I do, I like to try to predict all three ball paths/ or two, if you are pocketing one. Sometimes a combo can be to break up clusters and play safe...so then, more of a controlled carom exercise.
Throw in some rail first shots, as part of the combo practice...it's all valuable. Tough shots to master...I have a buddy who is a 'combo king'.
Me...not so much.
When I do, I like to try to predict all three ball paths/ or two, if you are pocketing one. Sometimes a combo can be to break up clusters and play safe...so then, more of a controlled carom exercise.
Throw in some rail first shots, as part of the combo practice...it's all valuable. Tough shots to master...I have a buddy who is a 'combo king'.
Me...not so much.
Yeah I have to agree with Krupa. World class aiming is nothing with a crooked stroke. You may make the odd one but you won't know if you missed because you aligned wrong or because of your stroke. At least with a straight stroke and bad aiming you can be certain you missed because of an aiming error. You can pick up an aiming system in days, but it can take years to develop a straight stroke and solid stance so I'd work on this before anything else.
I mean no disrespect to the OP but at SL 2 levels no one can pot consistently. The most consistent potters in your league will have the most consistent stroke hence why they may be slightly better potters. If you devoted 90% plus to developing your stroke you should fly through the tiers in no time. People get stuck at that level purely because they don't work on their fundamentals or have ingrained poor fundamentals into their muscle memory which is very difficult to reverse.
Great thread, bastille.
Practicing combinations is a great practice tool.
This type of "specialty" practice, like others,
e.g. bridge, opposite hand, is super provided
you do it seriously (perfect practice).
This is a great regimen for position play. Your brain
might be focusing so much on the combination that
you could overlook controlling "whitey." If you can do
both simultaneously, you are doing well for yourself!
:grin-square:
sounds like a waste of time imo, think id be working on position play. Think about what comes up more in a match.....playing position (which is every shot) or playing a combo (which might be once every couple of matches if that).
like someone said earlier, if you are trying to be the best combo shooter, then yeah its a good drill.
like someone said earlier, if you are trying to be the best combo shooter, then yeah its a good drill.
Keep practicing those combos so this never happens...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_y12sL1oR2s&t=6m40s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_y12sL1oR2s&t=6m40s