One Pocket !??

Bluesteel

Bluesteel

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I am looking for some drills to do for 1 pocket. I have been playing around with the Hopkins Q skills to work on pocketing balls. It has definitely helped. I am getting out (all 15 balls) about one in ten racks. This doesn't seem that great, but it is on a 9 foot Olhausen with 4 inch pockets. I think one reason is the table has forced me to improve my speed. I have heard of people playing a version of the Ghost for one pocket but have never heard how it is done. Any help or other ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.
 
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There's a proposition bet that they do in my home room. You break towards your pocket, maybe a bit harder than usual, as if you were playing somone with 'the hit and the pick', and then take ball in hand after one pick, or however many you agree upon. Bet the ghost how many innings to make 15 balls, 17 balls, 25 balls...whatever. The only thing is, when you miss the balls are reracked and you break again. No pick now...Tom
 
Bluesteel said:
I am getting out (all 15 balls) about one in ten racks. This doesn't seem that great, but it is on a 9 foot Olhausen with 4 inch pockets.
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That sounds pretty good to me.
 
Check out Pro Skill Drills volume #6. Its a one-pocket drill book with 48 drills included. I created the drills, performed them and commentated throughout the 2 1/2 hour long DVD about how to execute the drills, what purpose they serve and how to manipulate them to get more out of the particular drill. You can go directly to the site www.proskilldrills.com to buy it or the AZbilliards store carries it also. We have had incredibly great reviews thus far and its only been on the market for a little over three months. Please let me know how you like it. BTW, volume 6 is either a book or DVD, but if you choose one, I would recommend the DVD since it has all the commentary and a bonus feature at the end of it. The book is if you want to bring the drills to the pool hall to look at while you practice and write notes in. Ideally, both items as a bundle is a great deal and would help your game considerably. ($30 each or $50 as a package)
 
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I would agree with the foul

I would agree with the foul at 3:40. I was wanting to find a practice routine for One Pocket. I play against myself, but that can get boring QUICK. Trying to make all 15 in one pocket in one inning sounds interesting.
 
Bluesteel said:
I am looking for some drills to do for 1 pocket. I have been playing around with the Hopkins Q skills to work on pocketing balls. It has definitely helped. I am getting out (all 15 balls) about one in ten racks. This doesn't seem that great, but it is on a 9 foot Olhausen with 4 inch pockets. I think one reason is the table has forced me to improve my speed. I have heard of people playing a version of the Ghost for one pocket but have never heard how it is done. Any help or other ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...


Blue, I teach One Pocket, that said, this is not exactly a drill, but here's some important one pocket practice advice........One Pocket has four primary components: Shooting, Strategic-Creativity, Banking, and Cue Ball Control - and one slightly lesser component, Kicking - master all five and you'll be a champion......So if you want to be a good one pocket player, assuming you can already shoot...during your alone practice time, practice your soft-touch 1/2 table cue ball control for a zillion hours, and practice bank shots until your arm falls off....

1. Cross-corners > Practice every variety: short ones, medium ones, long ones, cross-over ones, thin slice cross-corners along the top rail, extreme inside english cross-corners to avoid the kiss, etc. etc.

2. Straight backs > again, all varieties.

3. Two-railers > Three types: long rail first, short rail first, and twice cross-corners.

4. Three-railers.

....And shoot them all at POCKET SPEED !

Good luck, Ghost
 
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1 Pocket Ghost said:
Blue, I teach One Pocket...shoot them all at POCKET SPEED !

Good luck, Ghost
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That would be one of the major reasons great players are not good players (making sense?) IMO.
 
I'm a pretty bad one-hole player, but the drills that have helped my game the most are speed control drills. Here are a couple I practice when I haven't been playing in a while, or when I'm faced with tables of a much different speed than I'm used to-

Line up 8-10 balls on the head string. Shoot the first ball as softly as possible toward the bottom rail (should move less than an inch). Shoot the next ball just past the first, and the third just past the second, and so on. The goal is to have the last ball not reach the bottom rail.

Variation #1, set up the same thing, only the first ball should just hit the bottom rail, and the next should bounce off the bottom rail just past the first, and so on, with the last ball being like a lag shot.

Variations #2 & 3 are doing the same 2 drills but using the cue ball and taking BIH for each shot.
 
Bluesteel said:
I am looking for some drills to do for 1 pocket. I have been playing around with the Hopkins Q skills to work on pocketing balls. It has definitely helped. I am getting out (all 15 balls) about one in ten racks. This doesn't seem that great, but it is on a 9 foot Olhausen with 4 inch pockets. I think one reason is the table has forced me to improve my speed. I have heard of people playing a version of the Ghost for one pocket but have never heard how it is done. Any help or other ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

This is a drill I came up with once I got my nerve up to send in my entry fee for my very first US Open 1pocket event, around 10 years ago (time flies and all that :-): I throw out the 1 through 6, take BIH, and shoot them off in rotation. You can vary the difficulty by adding balls and/or how much you spread them up table. You can also try and start with BIH behind the line, to make it even more interesting. A lot of guys that I've shared this with have found the drill useful.

Lou Figueroa
 
Thanks

Thanks everyone for the helpful advice. I practiced today taking ball in hand and making as many as possible w/out missing. Most I was able to get to was 9 in one rack. I don't feel to bad about that with the 4 inch pockets. I think I am going to start just shooting banks for part of my practice with the focus on speed. My speed has always been pretty good, but I was told when I first started to play that it is always easier to cut a ball than it is to bank it, so I have always shot away from banks when possible. The biggest difference to me with 1 pocket vs other games, is that it is easier to practice other games by yourself and keep the interest factor up. By the way, has anyone been able to shoot the Bugs Bank that Freddy has recently put up on his blog. Got close a couple of times, but never made it.
 
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