Like so many others, I have a collection of training cue balls and favorite drills when I go to the pool hall to practice.
I’ll always remember & embrace what my step dad told me about pool as a teenager. “Always practice with purpose.”
So I make sure to have a practice routine and playing the ghost isn’t nearly enough challenge to improve. About a mth.
ago, I started my practice shooting one handed. I set up a object ball on the spot and then cut balls into the corner &
side pockets placing a cue ball frozen on the long rail & 2” off the rail. Next I proceed to shooting off the foot rail to a OB 2’, 4’, 6’ and 8’ away to the kitchen corner pockets with the CB frozen on the foot rail and also about 3-4” from the rail.o
The goal is you have to pocket the shot 3 times in a row before changing the shot. Once could be sheer luck. Twice
just might be a mere coincidence. But three times in a row, then I concede you know how to correctly play that shot.
Let me assure you it is a thrill to pocket a ball 7’ away in the middle of a 9’ table with 4.25” CP pockets shooting 1 handed.
So I do this for about 30 mins and have gotten pretty good at it as I practiced more and pocketing 3 in a row is easier
than it looks when your stroke remains straight. I learned how important grip tension and hand position are for different
shots and especially cue ball speed. Anyway, after about 30 mins, I switch to shooting two handed and what a treat it is.
You literally start thinking to yourself how did I ever miss shots before. Everything seems so much easier and your cue
ball delivery seems so more controlled and precisely stroked with the desired amount of energy. Your sight picture is so
much more steady than before when shooting one handed. The entire process of having a hand bridge placed where
with your usual bridge length versus shooting one handed off a 9’ Diamond table with those frigging contoured rails
makes pocketing balls seem easier. So much so that even backwards cuts 6’ away at severe angles sppear more simple.
I played a ring game this afternoon and made a tidy profit just on 5 and 10 ball spot shots that now seem like hangers. The game seems so much easier playing two handed after practicing one handed. I’ve done this well over a dozen times this mth.
When you first start out, you think why am I bothering. Even cut shots from the side rail at tough angles start out seeming to be impossible. And let me telling you shooting one handed table length on a 9’ a Diamond seems absurd. But this does make you better. I am living proof of this. At the moment after having had cortisone injections in both shoulders earlier this month, my pool game is the best it’s been in several years. I dunno if it’s the Kielwood shafts I’m using, my new practice approach or just some synergistic combination of the two but my confidence to make the most difficult shots is the highest it’s been in yrs.
Anyway, I thought this might be food for thought and see if anyone has stumbled upon or be shown a training approach or practice routine that despite being seemingly very arduous pays off with great results. What I described has helped me to work on a more straight cue stroke and when you start pocketing balls pretty consistently practicing one handed, your confidence absolutely elevates. I think it teaches you to strive to develop the straightest, steadiest stroke imaginable.
I’ll always remember & embrace what my step dad told me about pool as a teenager. “Always practice with purpose.”
So I make sure to have a practice routine and playing the ghost isn’t nearly enough challenge to improve. About a mth.
ago, I started my practice shooting one handed. I set up a object ball on the spot and then cut balls into the corner &
side pockets placing a cue ball frozen on the long rail & 2” off the rail. Next I proceed to shooting off the foot rail to a OB 2’, 4’, 6’ and 8’ away to the kitchen corner pockets with the CB frozen on the foot rail and also about 3-4” from the rail.o
The goal is you have to pocket the shot 3 times in a row before changing the shot. Once could be sheer luck. Twice
just might be a mere coincidence. But three times in a row, then I concede you know how to correctly play that shot.
Let me assure you it is a thrill to pocket a ball 7’ away in the middle of a 9’ table with 4.25” CP pockets shooting 1 handed.
So I do this for about 30 mins and have gotten pretty good at it as I practiced more and pocketing 3 in a row is easier
than it looks when your stroke remains straight. I learned how important grip tension and hand position are for different
shots and especially cue ball speed. Anyway, after about 30 mins, I switch to shooting two handed and what a treat it is.
You literally start thinking to yourself how did I ever miss shots before. Everything seems so much easier and your cue
ball delivery seems so more controlled and precisely stroked with the desired amount of energy. Your sight picture is so
much more steady than before when shooting one handed. The entire process of having a hand bridge placed where
with your usual bridge length versus shooting one handed off a 9’ Diamond table with those frigging contoured rails
makes pocketing balls seem easier. So much so that even backwards cuts 6’ away at severe angles sppear more simple.
I played a ring game this afternoon and made a tidy profit just on 5 and 10 ball spot shots that now seem like hangers. The game seems so much easier playing two handed after practicing one handed. I’ve done this well over a dozen times this mth.
When you first start out, you think why am I bothering. Even cut shots from the side rail at tough angles start out seeming to be impossible. And let me telling you shooting one handed table length on a 9’ a Diamond seems absurd. But this does make you better. I am living proof of this. At the moment after having had cortisone injections in both shoulders earlier this month, my pool game is the best it’s been in several years. I dunno if it’s the Kielwood shafts I’m using, my new practice approach or just some synergistic combination of the two but my confidence to make the most difficult shots is the highest it’s been in yrs.
Anyway, I thought this might be food for thought and see if anyone has stumbled upon or be shown a training approach or practice routine that despite being seemingly very arduous pays off with great results. What I described has helped me to work on a more straight cue stroke and when you start pocketing balls pretty consistently practicing one handed, your confidence absolutely elevates. I think it teaches you to strive to develop the straightest, steadiest stroke imaginable.
Last edited:
as told by uh Don McKay. 
