Making Drills More Interesting

B

bobprobst

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I hate drills. I lose focus so fast and it simply feels useless.

Today I was watching a TAR Podcast and heard SVB say that he practiced 4 hours a day and 6 or more when getting ready for a tournament!

Not surprising considering his success and that it's his job.

So I got to thinking that if I could turn drilling into a competition, I'd give it more attention.

So has anyone here thought about drilling with an opponent? Setting up a drill and putting $1 on the line and each of you shoots it. If you complete it, you get paid. If you fail, you pay your partner. Then it's their turn to run it.

You could even set up drills or positions to get out from and run it the same way.

Another TAR Podcast had Alex Pagulayan talking about practicing straight in shots to work on his aim. That would make a great drill to have each player bid on how many setup straight ins they can get in a row. Whoever bids highest has to do it or lose the bet.

These ideas got me thinking about ways to make practice more interesting. $1 bets keeps the sweat aspect down but puts a little skin in the game - for me at least! Your drills might require more money.

Anyway, I thought I might suggest it to my fellow slackers on my next league night.
 
I would enjoy doing this without the money. But, I cannot get people to drill. I practiced for about 4 hours today by myself. Everyone I know just wants to open their case and start playing. They don't even want to warm up.
 
bobprobst said:
I hate drills. I lose focus so fast and it simply feels useless.

Today I was watching a TAR Podcast and heard SVB say that he practiced 4 hours a day and 6 or more when getting ready for a tournament!

Not surprising considering his success and that it's his job.

So I got to thinking that if I could turn drilling into a competition, I'd give it more attention.

So has anyone here thought about drilling with an opponent? Setting up a drill and putting $1 on the line and each of you shoots it. If you complete it, you get paid. If you fail, you pay your partner. Then it's their turn to run it.

You could even set up drills or positions to get out from and run it the same way.

Another TAR Podcast had Alex Pagulayan talking about practicing straight in shots to work on his aim. That would make a great drill to have each player bid on how many setup straight ins they can get in a row. Whoever bids highest has to do it or lose the bet.

These ideas got me thinking about ways to make practice more interesting. $1 bets keeps the sweat aspect down but puts a little skin in the game - for me at least! Your drills might require more money.

Anyway, I thought I might suggest it to my fellow slackers on my next league night.
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Have you taken a look at the Billiard University drills yet? You can gamble on them with an opponent if you want to, but I find them quite time consuming in their own. Always trying to better a previous score, or just working on an area of it and altering it some for a little change up. That set of drills encompasses quite a range of different skill sets.
 
logical said:
If I have an opponent, I'd play pool.
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That's my problem. Games aren't the same as drills. Drills focus on a single aspect of your technique and help you reinforce them. I totally get the value of drills but lack the motivation to focus on them. Games are where you put what you learn in your drills into practice.

Neil said:
Have you taken a look at the Billiard University drills yet? You can gamble on them with an opponent if you want to, but I find them quite time consuming in their own. Always trying to better a previous score, or just working on an area of it and altering it some for a little change up. That set of drills encompasses quite a range of different skill sets.
Click to expand...

Yes! I'm a big fan of Dr Dave and those are great drills. But after 20 minutes, I hardly feel like I'm paying attention anymore. And I know that's my problem. I miss shots that I know I can make without even thinking in a game situation and then I'm just done.

I was thinking that making it competitive, for me at least, would get the hard practice done while having fun at the same time.
 
If money is your motivator, you don't need an opponent. Set a goal using a point system for drills and put a buck into a bucket every time you do the drill and don't make your goal. Every time you match your goal, it is even. Every time you beat your goal by a point, you take a dollar out.

Increase your goal for the drill so that you are usually leaving money in the bucket. Reset the bucket every day after practice by taking the dollars out and giving them to a guy on the street. I work in a major city, so I always have people to give the money to. If you don't live in a place where people are asking for money, go into the center of your town and toss the money on the sidewalk. I swear to God, just toss it on the sidewalk. If money is your motivator, nothing will force you to improve more than having to toss money out into the street. It drives me bonkers and forces me to play my best and focus during drills. Every dollar I give away drives me to play and practice better, even though it is only a few bucks at a time.
 
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