bulldogpool
Registered
What numeric/quantifiable drills/exercises do you do to measure pool ability and progress? I'm a firm believe in measuring progress. :smile:
Measuring pool ability and progress
- Thread starter bulldogpool
- Start date
I have an app on my phone called 9 ball skill drill.
You play 5 racks of 9 ball (break/ball in hand). Each ball is worth 1 point, and the 9 is worth 2 points. So a break and run would net 10 points. If you make the 9 early on, it stays down and you keep shooting until you miss. So make the 9 on the break. Run the 1, 2, and 3 and then miss the 4. You would get 5 points.
At the end, it tells you your score and then gives you a ranking based on that score.
The only thing I don't like is that it doesn't save previous scores, so you really can't see any progress unless you manually record the scores.
You play 5 racks of 9 ball (break/ball in hand). Each ball is worth 1 point, and the 9 is worth 2 points. So a break and run would net 10 points. If you make the 9 early on, it stays down and you keep shooting until you miss. So make the 9 on the break. Run the 1, 2, and 3 and then miss the 4. You would get 5 points.
At the end, it tells you your score and then gives you a ranking based on that score.
The only thing I don't like is that it doesn't save previous scores, so you really can't see any progress unless you manually record the scores.
I have a set of 6 drills that I started doing. I do them 5 times each. 5 of the drills use all 9, and 1 drill uses 6.
I have a spread sheet that I keep. 1 rotation through all the drills is 225 balls. I judge my improvement by how much closer I get to completing the 225 balls. In my opinion its a reallly good focus drill.
It takes me about an hour to run through all the drills once. It has almost become a part of my daily routine. Kids go to bed, I go shoot drills.
-Jason
I have a spread sheet that I keep. 1 rotation through all the drills is 225 balls. I judge my improvement by how much closer I get to completing the 225 balls. In my opinion its a reallly good focus drill.
It takes me about an hour to run through all the drills once. It has almost become a part of my daily routine. Kids go to bed, I go shoot drills.
-Jason
bulldogpool
Registered
9 Ball Skill Drill
It's on the android market. Not sure about for iphones though if that's what you have.
If you can't get it or find it, Dr. Dave's site has the same drill with a spreadsheet you can print out, and fill in manually.
http://billiards.colostate.edu/resources/nine-ball_drill.pdf
The Hopkins Q Skill Challenge is also good.
http://billiards.colostate.edu/PBReview/HopkinsQSkill.htm
bulldogpool
Registered
Thanks. I have an iPhone. Does anyone know of a similar app for iPhone? A spreadsheet is an option of course.
I do not know your skill level, if you are able to play all the 4000 possibilities of shot on the table then you become extremely comfortable with potting balls which is #1 objective. 2nd objective you have to know why you miss shots, 3rd objective is how to get shape, and mix in some 9 ball games, now you are ready to go out and test your skill under pressure, keep notes of which shots you miss, and if you miss back to drawing board, never play for fun, if your opponent do not want to gamble bet one side, you pay if you loose, they do not!
Only when you master shot making you start drills of 9 ball or 10 ball game.
I like to keep track of my progress doing the Fargo drill. I think it gives a fair and accurate assessment of your skills due to the straight pool and rotation game elements. A score sheet with instructions can be found here: http://billiards.colostate.edu/resources/fargo_sheet.pdf
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Morning all ^^
The only important thing at starting practicing seriously is the right attitude. And here it is all about being serious with yourself. Here i saw far more *giving up* immediatlý as they see how much hard work it needs to improve
Meant in general- no offense to a special person here
So the main idea about practicing seriously is to write down your results- to keep kind of challenging yourself-and finally being able to measure them. My beliefe is, if someone says " i cannot play alone...that s boring" i say that he just don t want to really increase and that he s just too lazy.
Cannot means "i don t want to".
so you basically you could choose every shot available on the table to keep results. There are some nice *tests* available. For example you can play one of those right now-and keep your score. Then you start to work on different shots/situations/exersizes etc.-- and after working on these things for some weeks, you ll play *the test* again-and you can see, if you have improved here or on which sections you have improved or still need or still have to work on.
No matter if we would take here a test like PAT. Equal offense or whatever. Special drills, some drills of J. Tucker for example-- you can take ANY shot and keep results.
And if oyu have fun working on your skills then YOU have the right attitude. You always have to try to learn, to earn knowledge and work on your physical abilities (fundamentals) to get stronger.
I let usually play also a kind of test right on the begin if i work with a new student-no matter how strong he is. And believe me- also the really strong guys hating it, if they look like a *worm* by missing shots over and over again-the difference is, that THEY WANT to fix that issue. Not giving up, not wanting to get beaten- having always the willing and the heart to win every time.
Have a smooth stroke buddy and enjoy your journey
The only important thing at starting practicing seriously is the right attitude. And here it is all about being serious with yourself. Here i saw far more *giving up* immediatlý as they see how much hard work it needs to improve
Meant in general- no offense to a special person here
So the main idea about practicing seriously is to write down your results- to keep kind of challenging yourself-and finally being able to measure them. My beliefe is, if someone says " i cannot play alone...that s boring" i say that he just don t want to really increase and that he s just too lazy.
Cannot means "i don t want to".
so you basically you could choose every shot available on the table to keep results. There are some nice *tests* available. For example you can play one of those right now-and keep your score. Then you start to work on different shots/situations/exersizes etc.-- and after working on these things for some weeks, you ll play *the test* again-and you can see, if you have improved here or on which sections you have improved or still need or still have to work on.
No matter if we would take here a test like PAT. Equal offense or whatever. Special drills, some drills of J. Tucker for example-- you can take ANY shot and keep results.
And if oyu have fun working on your skills then YOU have the right attitude. You always have to try to learn, to earn knowledge and work on your physical abilities (fundamentals) to get stronger.
I let usually play also a kind of test right on the begin if i work with a new student-no matter how strong he is. And believe me- also the really strong guys hating it, if they look like a *worm* by missing shots over and over again-the difference is, that THEY WANT to fix that issue. Not giving up, not wanting to get beaten- having always the willing and the heart to win every time.
Have a smooth stroke buddy and enjoy your journey
That reminds me of what not to do again. I became really disciplined once recording expenses and money I won playing pool over time. After 4 months of doing that I quit playing for 8 years. I won't be doing that again.
lol- ^^
Well- you can only say about yourself what you want. To make pool for a living....it s easy to count the guys who are really able to live from it. So few players can say that.
If you love the game, you will keep playing pool-if you just want to make profit....you should choose a *job* as your hobby ^^
Keep a diary. After every match, award yourself ten points for each tear that falls from the eyes of your opponent.
FARGO
Q-Skills
Olympic 9-ball
Equal Offense
Bowlliards
Playing the Ghost
Freddie <~~~ can't count
So many good options in this thread... three I like:
1. The Ghost
This teaches you that mentality that once you're in line, you must stay in line and not miss. You can't have a brief lapse in concentration. This drill scales nicely to all skill levels:
Can't run a rack: Play with 3-8 balls. Short races to 5.
Can sometimes run a rack: play 9b ghost in a race. Start with race to 1 and build up. If you can win races to 7 or higher, it's time for the 10b ghost. Beat that over a long race and you should probably be on ESPN.
2. Straight Pool
Very simple, start with a break shot... then just keep track of your high run. Try to beat it. It's accurate... it's hard to 'fluke' a high run that is nowhere near your playing ability. Besides the goal of passing your current record there are landmarks (15, 50, 100) that will give you a warm and fuzzy feeling if you can hit them.
3. Six Pocket
If you struggle with the break in straight pool, or just want to incorporate some hard breaks into your practice, try this. Break a full rack, run as many as you can without fouling. Any ball, any order, any pocket. Do that for 10 racks. Perfect score is 150. It sounds simple but it's deceptive. A lot of guys think they'll get a 15 every rack, then they space out on their third ball and do something careless, suddenly they scored a 2... and after doing that a few times and scoring less than 100, what you'll learn from this game is to play smart, always send whitey on safe paths, and never dog it.
1. The Ghost
This teaches you that mentality that once you're in line, you must stay in line and not miss. You can't have a brief lapse in concentration. This drill scales nicely to all skill levels:
Can't run a rack: Play with 3-8 balls. Short races to 5.
Can sometimes run a rack: play 9b ghost in a race. Start with race to 1 and build up. If you can win races to 7 or higher, it's time for the 10b ghost. Beat that over a long race and you should probably be on ESPN.
2. Straight Pool
Very simple, start with a break shot... then just keep track of your high run. Try to beat it. It's accurate... it's hard to 'fluke' a high run that is nowhere near your playing ability. Besides the goal of passing your current record there are landmarks (15, 50, 100) that will give you a warm and fuzzy feeling if you can hit them.
3. Six Pocket
If you struggle with the break in straight pool, or just want to incorporate some hard breaks into your practice, try this. Break a full rack, run as many as you can without fouling. Any ball, any order, any pocket. Do that for 10 racks. Perfect score is 150. It sounds simple but it's deceptive. A lot of guys think they'll get a 15 every rack, then they space out on their third ball and do something careless, suddenly they scored a 2... and after doing that a few times and scoring less than 100, what you'll learn from this game is to play smart, always send whitey on safe paths, and never dog it.
Dr. Dave has a set of 5 DVDs on practice drills. Many of the drills are scored. My only problem with those DVDs is that he could have found a cuter model to demo the shots. Alternatively, he has a bunch of drills for free on his web site and some have corresponding videos on YouTube.
So true. What the heck was I thinking? At least the model I chose was a decent pool player. :wink:
Many player rating drills with supporting resources can be found here:
Also, diagrams for many of the scored drills from the Video Encyclopedia of Pool Practice (VEPP) series can be found here:
Many of the VEPP drills are described and illustrated in numerous articles (starting April, 2012) here:
Regards,
Dave
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I play a game called FARGO.
Here is a video on the rules and such. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHj6KUw8xzE
Here is a video on the rules and such. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHj6KUw8xzE