Bored? I can"t imagine not hitting balls until I can't stand up.
Mary Jane and Beer. :thumbup:
Mary Jane and Beer. :thumbup:
Playing By Myself at Home
- Thread starter Logandgriff
- Start date
He said 30 racks, hasn't he?
wschomburg
New member
Alone Play
I hear ya, playing at home for me is boring as well. I am not disciplined enough to practice repetitive shots over and over again, even though I should.
However one drill that I do like to play is throw 3 solids and 1 stripe, 8 ball on the table randomly. You get cue ball in hand.
The goal is to run out the 3 solids and make the 8 ball. If you do this you win. If you don't sink the 3 solids, you then shot the lone stripe, and then the 8 ball. If these two balls go in then you just simulated a loss in a game because you failed to hold onto the lead and turn the table over to your component.
I find this to be a good mental exercise as well as good practice.
If you can win the game 2-3 times, then try with 4 solids and 1 stripe, and so on. I find this to be a good variety.
Good Luck
Bill
I hear ya, playing at home for me is boring as well. I am not disciplined enough to practice repetitive shots over and over again, even though I should.
However one drill that I do like to play is throw 3 solids and 1 stripe, 8 ball on the table randomly. You get cue ball in hand.
The goal is to run out the 3 solids and make the 8 ball. If you do this you win. If you don't sink the 3 solids, you then shot the lone stripe, and then the 8 ball. If these two balls go in then you just simulated a loss in a game because you failed to hold onto the lead and turn the table over to your component.
I find this to be a good mental exercise as well as good practice.
If you can win the game 2-3 times, then try with 4 solids and 1 stripe, and so on. I find this to be a good variety.
Good Luck
Bill
I also play a similar game. To keep it going, I take the object ball off the table even if I don’t sink it.
So I start With 4 potential points. Reduce the score if I miss a shot. To 3, 2, etc. Sink everything and it’s 4 points. Then I switch to solids or stripes. Keep a running tally up to 28 or some other arbitrary Final number between two Imaginary teams.
This way I’m still concentrating more on positioning the cueball. I’m not ‘starting over’ taking time from actual shooting to change the balls.
Anyways, I never do ‘drills’. I make up games that are fun to play but hone a particular skill.
You really need to play against someone even if just once a week.
It gives you something to practice for. Ideally the person should be as good or better than you
jeremycantor
Registered
If I want to really concentrate and improve, I also stick with 14:1.
But if I'm feeling a bit lazy and want some casual practice, I'll play "no-break-straight". Throw all 15 balls out on the table randomly and just shoot until there's one left. Then throw the other 14 back on the table randomly and continue (you must hit the last ball from the previous rack first), and see how many balls you can make in a row.
Again, this isn't great for serious improvement, but it's a nice, relaxing game with a goal > beat your record. Mine is 81. But again, that's without breakouts. My 14:1 record is much lower.
Also try the above with pocket reducers.
Another fun one is no-straight-shots. Kinda like bank-pool, but you can also play any other "advanced" shots. Caroms, combos, kicks, jumps, masses, or banks. Just no normal shots.
I also like shooting with no practice strokes and no back swing. Just get down, aim, pause, and push forward with your back hand. It's harder than it sounds because your arm is trained to go back and forth. For me, it's nearly impossible to control the cue ball when shooting like this, but it helps to confirm whether or not my initial aiming is correct. If I'm missing a lot of shots, I'll do this maybe 20-30 times, then go back to a normal stroke.
But if I'm feeling a bit lazy and want some casual practice, I'll play "no-break-straight". Throw all 15 balls out on the table randomly and just shoot until there's one left. Then throw the other 14 back on the table randomly and continue (you must hit the last ball from the previous rack first), and see how many balls you can make in a row.
Again, this isn't great for serious improvement, but it's a nice, relaxing game with a goal > beat your record. Mine is 81. But again, that's without breakouts. My 14:1 record is much lower.
Also try the above with pocket reducers.
Another fun one is no-straight-shots. Kinda like bank-pool, but you can also play any other "advanced" shots. Caroms, combos, kicks, jumps, masses, or banks. Just no normal shots.
I also like shooting with no practice strokes and no back swing. Just get down, aim, pause, and push forward with your back hand. It's harder than it sounds because your arm is trained to go back and forth. For me, it's nearly impossible to control the cue ball when shooting like this, but it helps to confirm whether or not my initial aiming is correct. If I'm missing a lot of shots, I'll do this maybe 20-30 times, then go back to a normal stroke.