Practice drills for a beginner.

J

Johnny B Rocks

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Hi guys. I'm new to this pool thing, and I'm terrible. Really terrible. I'd like to improve.

I do the beginner drill where you just shoot a ball into a pocket ( direct contact with no cue ball ). I'm consistent with that, no problem.

I'd like to find some easy drills for pocketing balls with the cue. I have 1 that i do, but it's boring with just the one and no variety. Every other drill I've found has been more about positioning the ball after pocketing the object, and I'm not ready for that. I have trouble judging angles. That seems like a skill that would come in handy in this game :smile:

Thanks for any help in advance
 
mark187187 said:
Have a look at ghost ball as a beginner (Google it or look on YouTube). This helps find the shot line. I think any of the other 'aiming systems' should be left for somewhere down the line. To begin with I'd practice using a straight stroke with no english/spin. Again, good stroke advice, grip advice etc is all over the net.

Drills are really good for getting the fundamentals. Maybe start practicing straight in shots from various distances, and then increase the cut angle gradually when you are pocketing more consistently.

At this stage even running racks can be beneficial as long as you are focusing fully on your aim and stroke. Just running racks alone though won't help you improve unless you are doing drills as well. Think of it as experimenting followed by putting what you've learnt into practice.

Good luck. You've come to the right place for getting advice.

Mark

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Thanks Mark.

I've already stumbled across the ghost ball method, and have been trying that.

Maybe start practicing straight in shots from various distances, and then increase the cut angle gradually when you are pocketing more consistently.

The drill I do accomplishes this, but only from one distance. It does increase in cut angle. Sometimes I'll shoot straight through the drill, other times I'll get stuck on one ball for 5-6 tries. I'm pretty sure it's visualizing where that ghost ball sits that's my problem.

I'd just like to find some more drills that work on the same skill set, as this one is getting boring. (I'll still keep at this one until it's up to snuff) but would like some variety in the routine
 
Johnny B Rocks said:
Hi guys. I'm new to this pool thing, and I'm terrible. Really terrible. I'd like to improve.

I do the beginner drill where you just shoot a ball into a pocket ( direct contact with no cue ball ). I'm consistent with that, no problem.

I'd like to find some easy drills for pocketing balls with the cue. I have 1 that i do, but it's boring with just the one and no variety. Every other drill I've found has been more about positioning the ball after pocketing the object, and I'm not ready for that. I have trouble judging angles. That seems like a skill that would come in handy in this game :smile:

Thanks for any help in advance
Click to expand...

Take a lesson from an accredited instructor and they will help you set up a practice routine that is tailored for you.

Drills can be very helpful, but if you have bad form, all you would be doing with drills is embedding bad habits into your game that will be hard to break.

You wouldn't want to be practicing something the wrong way over and over again, would you? Pocketing a ball doesn't insure that you are doing it correctly.
 
FranCrimi said:
Take a lesson from an accredited instructor and they will help you set up a practice routine that is tailored for you.

Drills can be very helpful, but if you have bad form, all you would be doing with drills is embedding bad habits into your game that will be hard to break.

You wouldn't want to be practicing something the wrong way over and over again, would you? Pocketing a ball doesn't insure that you are doing it correctly.
Click to expand...

I'm by no means a instructor, but what Fran says makes perfectly good sense. You won't go far without learning the fundamentals/ basics first. Trying to correct them later on will prove to be difficult.
Also, you are going to have to shoot the cue ball straight. In other words, you must hit what you are aiming at. If can't do that no aiming system in the world is going to help.
 
Keep an eye out for instructors passing through your area, too. Lots of instructors on here travel, so you may not need to travel too far for instruction. Learn to master the stop shot. Set an object ball directly over the middle pocket and place the cue ball in centre table so its a straight in shot and shoot the shot so the cue ball stops dead. Once you have that down move onto draw and follow. Try drawing the cue ball back to centre table and follow the object ball into the pocket.

Also check dr daves videos on YouTube and tor Lowry's. You will find them very useful.

But at the end of the day just have fun. If you don't plan on becoming a pro, don't do drills that you find mundane and boring. Do stuff you enjoy doing and you will improve and a greater rate.
 
I just started playing in October, but I've been playing 6-7 hours consistently, 3-5 times a week. In the beginning I found it REALLY hard (still do), to keep everything together. If I worked on my stroke one week, my aiming would fail. If I worked on the aiming portion, my speed would suffer. If I focused too much on speed and aim, I would start twisting my wrist and completely forget about the hours I spent trying to stroke through a beer bottle.

I think a really good investment would be a shock doctor glove or pro-shot glove that locks your back wrist. I just got one, and wish I had been using it from the beginning.

The other thing that wasted a lot of my time, is not knowing that I was cross eye-dominant. I figured that out in about January and realized that I was subconsciously compensating for an inaccurate image, once I was down on the cue-ball. Once I figured out I was cross-eye dominant, I had to adjust my stance and re-learn what looks correct.

I'm not anywhere near good, but I love the game, and I tried my best to make as much progress in as short a time as I could, to be able to compete with ppl who've been doing it for years. Figuring out if what you're seeing above table, versus down on the shot is truly accurate and making sure you're arm isn't wiggling around all willy nilly, will save you a lot of time.
 
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