My Morning Routine & A Challenge To AZB

TX Poolnut

TX Poolnut

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
This is an early-morning drill I like to start off my day with. It's full of easy shots and is only to help me kinda warm up, find my stroke, and build a little confidence. It's also a fantastic way to practice the "3 balls ahead rule" and shaping shots into zones.

I set the balls one balls' distance from the rails at the diamonds randomly and the three balls in the middle at the head, center, and foot spots. Take ball in hand and run them in rotation. Stop when you try it 15 times or do it 3 times in a row, whichever comes first.

CueTable Help



This morning I had this layout and, for the life of me, couldn't get out. I have a 9' table. I think it may have been because of the up-and-down-the-table layout. I was having trouble maintaining shape on several shots.

Is there anything you guys see that stands out as particularly difficult here?

I would like to see you guys run this layout. As an added bonus, rep to the first video post.
 
Are the balls always in this arrangement? I see trouble right away even with ball in hand, because you have to be either straight in on the 2 to draw back for the 3 (which is tough because of the location of the 9, 7 and side pocket), or a slight backward cut to go 2-3 rails without running into the 7.

With any other angle, you can't follow out of the corner and you can't draw off 2 rails because there is a big chance of scratching in the opposite side. or again, running into the 7.

If you get a tiny bit off of straight to draw back, but not enough to force it around the table, you could follow with inside, but those are the only choices I see for the runout. The rest of the table looks manageable after you get a nice angle on the 3.

I would be ducking! :p
 
The balls are not like this everytime. They are placed randomly.

This layout was what I got this morning and I couldn't get past the 4 ball. It was driving me crazy trying to figure out the best way to run the first 4 balls.

How would you guys do this with the highest level of success?
 
rackmsuckr said:
because you have to be either straight in on the 2 to draw back for the 3 (which is tough because of the location of the 9, 7 and side pocket), or a slight backward cut to go 2-3 rails without running into the 7.
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PURE NONSENSE
 
TX Poolnut said:
The balls are not like this everytime. They are placed randomly.

This layout was what I got this morning and I couldn't get past the 4 ball. It was driving me crazy trying to figure out the best way to run the first 4 balls.

How would you guys do this with the highest level of success?
Click to expand...

I would probably play to leave a straight in shot on the 2. I personally don't like zig zagging around the balls in in the middle of the table here, too much can go wrong. For me drawing back is the shot I can play in this situation with more consistency. As long as I get a decent angle on the 3, I like my chances from there. After the 5 everything more or less leads to each other.
 
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TX Poolnut said:
This is an early-morning drill I like to start off my day with. It's full of easy shots and is only to help me kinda warm up, find my stroke, and build a little confidence.
Click to expand...
This is no morning routine for me, if you ask me. That 4 ball is no walk in the park.
 
Try this.

Start with the pattern as is. Run it out. Leave the 1 ball in its same spot. Move the balls one diamond further away. run that out and keep moving the balls each time 1 diamond further. So on and so forth. This will give you repetative patterns every time. If you miss replace all balls and start that round over. This gives you a set routine and problems to solve every time.

heres your order 1-3-5-8-2-11-10-6-4-7-9
start like this 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11

run out and 1-11-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
and next time 1-10-11-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9
pattern is

repeat till the ball are back in order 1 thru 10. u can play the ghost. 1 point for u if you run out 1 for the ghost if you miss.

hope you understan. if not pm me.

ill give gredit to BERT Kinister . It alsmost like the movement of the balls on his star pattern. Great drill. Grab his dvd on it.

Cheers.

PAt
 
If you have trouble going up and down table, try putting the odd numbers on one end and the even numbers on the other end...that'll get you used to traveling up and down the table.

Tx, I used to do a very similar layout years ago....about time to try it again...thanks.

Jeff Livingston
 
wallets said:
PURE NONSENSE
Click to expand...

Other than showing disdain for my comments, can you constructively add how you would manage position from the 2 to the 3 from any other position other than straight in or with a backward cut? (Maybe you can also tell me how to guarantee perfect shape going between the 9 and 7 from the 1. It seems to me that if you don't have perfect speed off the 1, i.e. one turn of the ball over or under and you could get in trouble fast going from the 2 to the 3.) I am always interested in learning more to improve my patterns. :)
 
Read Bob Byrnes book(s) (sp?). He has a series of exercises that are the absolute best at getting up and down the table.

I can split the 4 and 7 and hit the rail at 4 and 1/2 diamonds and z to the 3, 95 out of 100 times.

How much room do YOU need?
 
wallets said:
Read Bob Byrnes book(s) (sp?). He has a series of exercises that are the absolute best at getting up and down the table.

I can split the 4 and 7 and hit the rail at 4 and 1/2 diamonds and z to the 3, 95 out of 100 times.

How much room do YOU need?
Click to expand...

Good for you. IMHO, I would need more room than what is pictured. :p There is very little leeway to hit rail between the 4 and 7, without scratching or running into the 9 on the Z pattern. And it would depend on where exactly you left yourself after the 1.

Just out of curiosity, what skill level would you rank yourself?

PS - I have all of Bob Byrnes's books and I will go look at the exercises again. I usually do not have trouble moving my ball around the table.
 
rackmsuckr said:
Good for you. IMHO, I would need more room than what is pictured. :p There is very little leeway to hit rail between the 4 and 7, without scratching or running into the 9 on the Z pattern. And it would depend on where exactly you left yourself after the 1.

Just out of curiosity, what skill level would you rank yourself?

PS - I have all of Bob Byrnes's books and I will go look at the exercises again. I usually do not have trouble moving my ball around the table.
Click to expand...

I tried this today, and going between the 4 and 7 isn't that tough, I'm sure you wouldn't have a problem with it. Getting to the 3 isn't difficult, it's getting a good angle on the 4 to get to the 5 which gave me a little trouble.

In other words, everything I said in my last post was wrong.:o
 
rackmsuckr said:
Good for you. IMHO, I would need more room than what is pictured. :p There is very little leeway to hit rail between the 4 and 7, without scratching or running into the 9 on the Z pattern. And it would depend on where exactly you left yourself after the 1.

Just out of curiosity, what skill level would you rank yourself?

PS - I have all of Bob Byrnes's books and I will go look at the exercises again. I usually do not have trouble moving my ball around the table.
Click to expand...

Byrnes book shows a drill with the object ball in the exact same spot as the 2 ball....and with the cue ball on the spot (well, in this case where the 4ball is). And he teaches you how to hit the opposite rail at the first diamond, two and a 1/2 diamonds, 3 and a 1/2 diamonds, and 4 and a 1/2 diamonds.

When I was a young up and comer, I shot these shots (as well as all of the others he shows) until I knew them. And it doesn't take very long. And they come up over and over and over. In fact, these shots make up 90% of 9ball.

Once you learn them, you know them for life, and you can get almost anywhere you need to get. If you can hit diamonds 4.5, 3.5, 2.5 at will.....you will be amazed at how that helps your game.

What is really cool.....is being down over the shot and absolutely knowing where your cue ball will hit the rail. Now, the execution becomes speed only.

Another real cool thing.....is to know you can hit 4.5....or 3.5....(the pocket is right between them) with no fear of scratching.

Of course, the cue ball isn't always on the spot....or where the 4-ball is. But.....the knowledge of how to execute those shots becomes a 'benchmark' from which you can make accurate decisions on how to hit those diamond marks from differing but similar cue ball positions.

I highly recommend those drills. I would reckon most already know these shots. But, if you don't, there is no better investment for your game.

P.S. If you hit the 4.5 diamond mark, you aren't going to hit the 9 on the z. I play Ok. Wanna play some?
 
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Cameron Smith said:
I tried this today, and going between the 4 and 7 isn't that tough, I'm sure you wouldn't have a problem with it. Getting to the 3 isn't difficult, it's getting a good angle on the 4 to get to the 5 which gave me a little trouble.

In other words, everything I said in my last post was wrong.:o
Click to expand...

Me too, probably. :p But I was wondering, what size table everyone is on. if it is on a 9' table, it would have more rail. If it is a 7 footer, well, I don't like my chances.
 
Thirty minutes with Byrnes book....and learning YOUR stroke for these shots and you'll never fear that side pocket again.

Unless of course you can't get a quality hit.:D

Bar box or 9'er.....doesn't matter once you learn the shot.
 
wallets said:
Byrnes book shows a drill with the object ball in the exact same spot as the 2 ball....and with the cue ball on the spot (well, in this case where the 4ball is). And he teaches you how to hit the opposite rail at the first diamond, two and a 1/2 diamonds, 3 and a 1/2 diamonds, and 4 and a 1/2 diamonds.

When I was a young up and comer, I shot these shots (as well as all of the others he shows) until I knew them. And it doesn't take very long. And they come up over and over and over. In fact, these shots make up 90% of 9ball.

Once you learn them, you know them for life, and you can get almost anywhere you need to get. If you can hit diamonds 4.5, 3.5, 2.5 at will.....you will be amazed at how that helps your game.

What is really cool.....is being down over the shot and absolutely knowing where your cue ball will hit the rail. Now, the execution becomes speed only.

Another real cool thing.....is to know you can hit 4.5....or 3.5....(the pocket is right between them) with no fear of scratching.

Of course, the cue ball isn't always on the spot....or where the 4-ball is. But.....the knowledge of how to execute those shots becomes a 'benchmark' from which you can make accurate decisions on how to hit those diamond marks from differing but similar cue ball positions.

I highly recommend those drills. I would reckon most already know these shots. But, if you don't, there is no better investment for your game.

P.S. If you hit the 4.5 diamond mark, you aren't going to hit the 9 on the z. I play Ok. Wanna play some?
Click to expand...

Thank you for taking the time to explain. As a rule, the setup that you describe (cueball where the 4 is, and the 2 where it is) is an easy one to get down table and I can hit the rail either above the side pocket or below it just about anywhere I want to go as well. But if I happen to hit a little fat or thin (usually as a byproduct of english), I have been known to send whitey to the sewer.

And if there are 2 or 3 obstructing balls either coming or going, I am going to have a much lower percentage of success.

Where do you live? You would have to give me a BIG spot because you can hit that shot 95 out of 100 times and I can't make it once. :rolleyes:
 
That's why you practice it.

It's all based on getting a 'clean' hit.

If you can't do that, nothing can help you.:D

Learning to get that perfect hit would be priority.

And it isn't that hard.

I swear.....30 minutes is all it takes. And you'll know it for life.
 
rackmsuckr said:
Me too, probably. :p But I was wondering, what size table everyone is on. if it is on a 9' table, it would have more rail. If it is a 7 footer, well, I don't like my chances.
Click to expand...

I was on a 9 foot, don't like small tables.
 
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