Practice schedule

[hobokenapa]

Hi guys,

So, I'm trying to create some time that I can dedicate to practice in order to try and get to the A ranking. Evenings and weekends are not possible, so I'm thinking of arranging through work to start an hour early and have an hour extra lunch break to enable me to spend probably 75 mins a session. If I did this four times a week, that'd be five hours solid practice per week.

My question is have you found it is better to spread your practice time into one (or two) dedicated 3-4 hr sessions a week, or sprinkle it with shorter but much more frequent and focused sessions? My feeling is spreading my 5hr over four sessions would be a good thing ...

 

[Raodwarior]

I would use the 5 1 hour sessions. Start with stroke drills to get warmed up and make sure your allignment etc is correct. From there just do one or two skill set focused drills for the rest of your time, part working on your weaknesses and part working fundamentals.

 

[Solartje]

spread it !!! but i would concentrate in each session on a different thing.
u might start with the usual warmup stuff. do some straight in shots untill u are aligned, then play a rack or 2 of straightpool and then do for example:

day1: long pots
day2: safety's
day3: kicks, banks, breakballs, problem shots
day4: speed, positional
day5: play some money games, play the ghost, paterns, tournaments, etc.. (keep track of the stats of this day, so every 5th day at the end of the week, u can see how u are progressing. if u see u are strugling in any of these parts, u could spend 2 sessions on it in the next week untill u are satisfied)

this should give the best result in my mind. keep up the good work m8!

ps if your fundamentals arent perfect, spend EVERY day on it, untill it is. its not worth practising safety's etc if your fundamentals arent right.

 

[Eric.]

I'm fortunate that I have my own table but not a whole lot of free time. I try to squeeze in time whenever I can. I think that playing continuously, for longer periods would be better but some table time resulting in more total hours can't hurt either.

Because I can't play for hours at a time, I have a practice mindset to try to get the most out of my time. When I get to the table, I will practice stroke the CB up and down the table about 10X to get my stroke straight. Once my stroke/stance feels comfortable, I try to get my focus into "do not miss" mode i.e. warm up is over. In otherwords, instead of building my intensity up gradually, I try to have maximum focus from shot 1. This way, I don't waste 15 minutes trying to "get loose". I find that this helps me get near my peak ability quickly (unless I'm having an off day ). This seems to help me for tournaments when I have to step up and bring it now.

Anywho, FWIW, this works for me.


Eric

 

[Cameron Smith]

Hi guys,

So, I'm trying to create some time that I can dedicate to practice in order to try and get to the A ranking. Evenings and weekends are not possible, so I'm thinking of arranging through work to start an hour early and have an hour extra lunch break to enable me to spend probably 75 mins a session. If I did this four times a week, that'd be five hours solid practice per week.

My question is have you found it is better to spread your practice time into one (or two) dedicated 3-4 hr sessions a week, or sprinkle it with shorter but much more frequent and focused sessions? My feeling is spreading my 5hr over four sessions would be a good thing ...

If you have the space and the money buy a table. Try and make it work. That's what I am doing, I have the money now I need to find the space.

 

[JDB]

If you have the space and the money buy a table. Try and make it work. That's what I am doing, I have the money now I need to find the space.

I finished my garage as my pool room. It is a great pool room; however, it unfortunately does not help with the time to use it.

 

[unknownpro]

Hi guys,

So, I'm trying to create some time that I can dedicate to practice in order to try and get to the A ranking. Evenings and weekends are not possible, so I'm thinking of arranging through work to start an hour early and have an hour extra lunch break to enable me to spend probably 75 mins a session. If I did this four times a week, that'd be five hours solid practice per week.

My question is have you found it is better to spread your practice time into one (or two) dedicated 3-4 hr sessions a week, or sprinkle it with shorter but much more frequent and focused sessions? My feeling is spreading my 5hr over four sessions would be a good thing ...

Decide what exactly you think will make you an "A" player. Is it beating the 9-ball ghost? (I'm not sure what it would be?) And spend your time working incrementally toward that measureable goal. Conditions will vary every day depending on the table, cloth, balls, racks, and weather, so it's important to make small incremental improvements and not get discouraged from one day to the next.

Drills can be important for certain shots, but consistently running out is what makes a good player. The ghost in some form is essential, imo. Keep in mind though, that even the 6-ball ghost can be very hard to beat on some days, and don't let the racking ruin your day. If the 9 flies out you had a bad rack. If you can't get a good rack, don't waste your time on bad ones, and keep in mind you are practicing to gain more confidence at all times.

If the rack is not consistently good I will sometimes rack the balls any which way and just take the cueball with my hand from behind and slam it into the rack to spread the balls out.

Always stay interested in what you are doing. The moment you lose interest or become frustrated try and figure out why and refocus or change to a different drill, game, or method.

I think you are right that more shorter sessions would be better.

unkownpro

 

[sjm]

Decide what exactly you think will make you an "A" player.

Best advice in the whole thread right here! Here's my advice, Hoboken Dude:

I would spend the first five hours reading - no make that studying - what I believe to be the two classics on straight pool: Phil Cappelle's Play Your Best Straight Pool and Babe Cranfield's The Straight Pool Bible.

I would spend my next five hours writing an essay of what skills I must develop to become the player I aspire to be.

In the five hours after that I would determine what the content of my practice routine will be and will establish the method by which I will track my progress. I will share my practice plan with those whose feedback I value, and tweak my plan if that feedback leads me to believe it is appropriate.

After all of that, I would spend an hour five times a week executing my practice plan, recording my results, interpreting those results, and tweaking my training and development plan as necessary.

After all of that, I will enjoy being a stronger and more seasoned straight pooler.

It's really that simple!

 

[tjlmbklr]

I finished my garage as my pool room. It is a great pool room; however, it unfortunately does not help with the time to use it.

LOL....I second that, I spend more time on this forum talking about pool then I do playing on my table!