Practice makes perfect.

mikev_wvufan

mikev_wvufan

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
When I practice I usually rackem up and bank all of the balls in or shoot shots that are more difficult for me to make. I don't seem to be improving as much as I would like to. Can someone tell me another way to practice that may help me improve faster.
 
Need more info. Define 'improve'.

What you describe is the best way to, " bank all of the balls in or shoot shots that are more difficult for me to make."...meaning, you gotta practice like you will test yourself.
 
Here are the two favourite drills I use and teach to all those looking to improve their games. They are each very important and teach the three things I feel most important in the game...knowledge/understanding, confidence/trust, and mechanics.

Drill one:

Set up a shot, object ball in the centre of the table and cue ball straight in from the head string. Now accomplish the following goals:

1) Pocket the OB and stop the CB dead 10 times in a row.
2) Pocket the OB and follow the CB into the same pocket 10 times in a row.
3) Pocket the OB and draw the CB into the pocket from which you are shooting 10 times in a row.
4) Pocket the OB and stun the CB forward 1 diamond at a time 10 times in a row each until the CB stops just before the corner pocket.
5) Pocket the OB and draw the CB back one diamond at a time 10 times in a row until you almost draw into the corner pocket.

This drill is excellent for teaching feel, cue ball control, cue ball understanding, centre ball hits, stroke mechanics, and confidence at range. To increase the difficulty increase the distance between the CB and OB.

Drill two:

This is what I can heard termed the 9-15 shot makers drill. The CB had 9 starting positions and the OB has 15 starting positions. The CB positions are on one end of the table at the diamond (eg. 1-1, 1-2, etc) not including the rails. The OB has the same positions including the rails. Every day place the CB on a starting position, pick an OB position and work through various shots and speed controls. Learn centre ball hits and natural tangent lines. If you can make all the shots possible, and there are plenty, with every conceiveable cue ball hit you will have the confidence that you can make every plausible shot you would consider taking on in the game short of banks.

Hope this helps.
 
I want to be able to know what english is best for what shots I have in front of me. In a timed game I am pressed to figure out what I need to do. I had a older gentleman try to tell me that english will only slow you down. I use english on almost every shot and when I shoot hard cut shots or try to run the ball down the rail I seem to make my object ball come off the rail. I don't have much of a problem with position it is simply making the shot with the english that I am using is the issue. Don't get me wrong I am a descent shot I just want to improve my game. I am missing out on alot of money because I won't shoot those people playing for a couple hundred dollars.
 
You shouldn't practice the shots that you find most difficult, you should practice the shots that you shoot most often!
 
Mike,

I have been told that the better the player the more dependant on line and angle the player becomes. The better player uses less english as they usually fall on the proper side of the ball and in correct line so all that is left to do is simply pot the ball and control the speed and shape is natural. I was once told that before you can say you understand tangent lines you must first be able to run a table using centre cue ball only.

You must first ask yourself this when you shoot...if I shoot this shot with dead centre CB and pocket the ball where will the CB go? Now is that where I want to be? Yes. No english. No? What change in the tangent line do I need to make to get where I want to be? Check out Dr. Dave's explanation of the 90-30 rule. This is guaranteed to make you understand tangent lines and proper cue ball control with regards to CB path. Dave is exceptionally gifted at showing you in plain English how the physics works and shows you the math to back it up.

Find it all here: http://www.engr.colostate.edu/~dga/pool/links.html

Click the link The Illustrated Principles of Pool and Billiards.
 
mikev_wvufan said:
I am missing out on alot of money because I won't shoot those people playing for a couple hundred dollars.
Click to expand...

No, you are not missing out on anything but frustration.
 
The ones I shoot most often are the ones I find that are more difficult because that is where people leave me. They know there is certain shots that are harder for me to make and that is where they leave me the most.
 
By perfecting the standard shots you will need to make in a game you will improve your stroke, confidence, and control. Only then will your body and mind be capable of taking on the harder shots. If you practice only tough shots you will, like seymore says, only learn frustration.

Trust me, learn to stroke correctly, master the easy shots, understand the CB, and those tough shots will be fewer and far between.

In the meantime, learn to lock up some tough safties when you are presented with a bait shot. Teach your opponent your mental game is stronger than that.
 
PoolSponge said:
Drill one:

Set up a shot, object ball in the centre of the table and cue ball straight in from the head string. Now accomplish the following goals:

1) Pocket the OB and stop the CB dead 10 times in a row.
2) Pocket the OB and follow the CB into the same pocket 10 times in a row.
3) Pocket the OB and draw the CB into the pocket from which you are shooting 10 times in a row.
4) Pocket the OB and stun the CB forward 1 diamond at a time 10 times in a row each until the CB stops just before the corner pocket.
5) Pocket the OB and draw the CB back one diamond at a time 10 times in a row until you almost draw into the corner pocket.

This drill is excellent for teaching feel, cue ball control, cue ball understanding, centre ball hits, stroke mechanics, and confidence at range. To increase the difficulty increase the distance between the CB and OB.
Click to expand...

uh, well, if you can do all of this, i would be supremely impressed...........:eek:

DCP
 
All within reason my friend. Those are but two of the many drills I forced myself to do over and over and over. We all make mistakes, but a focused practice session produces better results that just hitting balls.

For the record, I can normally hit those shots and leave the CB within a ball of the desired finishing position. But then again, I have only hit each of those shots 1000 times.
 
I have never tried what you have proposed to me I will try this this weekend and see just how bad I really am. It sounds like what I need to practice. My only question is upper and lower left and right english is what really screws me up. Top and bottom I don't seem to have as much problem with. Do you know how I can also practice those types of ball control and english.
 
Once you truly understand centre ball hits and can control it, start moving over by as small a fraction as possible and see the difference. A good way to learn it to set up a shot, OB on the spot and Cb about a foot away straight into the pocket. Aim the OB to hit dead centre and hit the shot with increasing amounts of english. See what happens? That is what you will need to learn. Ability to properly use english tends to also mean you understand how to play the whole pocket and understand how the english can change the path of both the OB and CB. Straight in shots played at varying speeds are good to show you what happens and consequently how to aim to compensate.
 
Good tips thank you. I will be practicing alot more. Maybe 1 day I can go to a tournament or 2 and see where I stand with other amateurs
 
If you are used to just shooting balls during practice, another variant you can try is playing a few games of 8 ball using only left english or right english. It teaches you about compensation and what will happen to the cue ball for more shots than you can dream up to practice.
 
mikev_wvufan said:
I have never tried what you have proposed to me I will try this this weekend and see just how bad I really am. It sounds like what I need to practice. My only question is upper and lower left and right english is what really screws me up. Top and bottom I don't seem to have as much problem with. Do you know how I can also practice those types of ball control and english.
Click to expand...
Practice straight side english. Hit the cueball hard and focus on where your tip must go to make a straight in shot at medium distance. You must cross the cueball from behind the opposite side as the english that is used. You can aim the inside of your shaft to the outside of the object ball and slam them in all day long. This will give you an idea of the huge change in the aim required using straight side english as opposed to center. You should be able to stop the cueball spinning rapidly in its tracks hitting just a touch below straight side.

As you go up or down from straight side, the cueball will deflect less and try harder to curve. Most people let the balls curve so they don't realize how much the aim really should change. When they use outside, they don't aim far enough over, but the cueball curves some, then hits and throws the object ball some more, so they make the ball sometimes. But when they get tight and try hard and stroke all the way throught the ball it doesn't curve and they hit it too fat and think they deflected the ball too much. Actually they deflected it properly but didn't know where to aim.

Then for inside, they try the same thing. They don't aim far enough over, the curve decreases the cut, the spin throws the ball even thicker, and they miss the ball badly. But when inside is delivered properly the correct cut angle is hit and with enough spin left on the cueball it doesn't cling to the object ball and can cut cleanly, usually better than no side spin.
 
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