Practice Time

SlickRick_PCS

SlickRick_PCS

Pool, Snooker, Carom
Silver Member
I want to ask yall AZers out there a question that is quite important to me. I have been playing in my local pool hall for about 3 hours minimum and I do get mentally burned out. I used to play for about 5 hours a couple of years ago. What is the most ideal amount of time one should practice for billiards? If this post has already been replied, please send me the links.

Thanks
 
SlickRick_PCS said:
I want to ask yall AZers out there a question that is quite important to me. I have been playing in my local pool hall for about 3 hours minimum and I do get mentally burned out. I used to play for about 5 hours a couple of years ago. What is the most ideal amount of time one should practice for billiards? If this post has already been replied, please send me the links.

Thanks
Click to expand...

It depends on the individual. Don't keep going if you’re burnt out, you will start to make dumb mistakes and just start firing balls. Doing that is a great breeding ground for bad habits. I would play until you feel that you’re bored with it. They best way to keep from getting bored is to run multiple drills and challenge yourself. I usually put in 15 hours of practice/drill time and about 3-4 hours of tournament or money games with other players.
 
SlickRick_PCS said:
I want to ask yall AZers out there a question that is quite important to me. I have been playing in my local pool hall for about 3 hours minimum and I do get mentally burned out. I used to play for about 5 hours a couple of years ago. What is the most ideal amount of time one should practice for billiards? If this post has already been replied, please send me the links.

Thanks
Click to expand...


Yeah, I get burned out at about 3 hours as well. There is different things you could try to make the game more fun and interesting, but that does not always work. Try practicing for a couple of hours, then go find some games to face other people. The trick is, if your getting better, and you see it, then the game will become more fun for you. Once you see the results from you hard work and dedication, you will not want to stop!

Another thing you could try is just taking a break, if your at the pool hall, practice for about an hour, then take a break. Get a drink, watch the game, etc. Then come back to the table and start again. You dont want to force yourself to play. I've read in a book that if you start to feel like your getting bored, or burned out, then stop immediatly and do somthing else. Come back when your ready to play.

Just my 2 cents

Good luck, hope this helps.
 
Playing pool is not practice. Disciplined, highly-focused practice must have achieveable goals and measurable results. At best, our attention spans are not built for this kind of sustained practice (multiple hours). Thirty to sixty minutes a day, broken down into 5 or 10 minutes segments (with short breaks in between) will provide the most return and solid improvement.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
 
Playing is not practice nor is practice playing.
30 minutes a session would be pushing a pratice session.
"You can't think and hit at the same time"....Yogi Berra.........SPF=randyg
 
randyg said:
Playing is not practice nor is practice playing.
30 minutes a session would be pushing a pratice session.
"You can't think and hit at the same time"....Yogi Berra.........SPF=randyg
Click to expand...

So you say 30 min is too much or too little??
 
I like to start out with simple follow and draw shots to limber up due to a bad back. Then I will work on shots that give a problem during league or in a tournament. When this starts to get boring, I like to work with Bert Kinister short, middle, and long game exercises. I also will keep my practice sessions down to 30 to 45 minute with short breaks. I do this of course on my days off of work. Since I work 12 hour days I use those days to work on kicking and banking for a short time, then I focus on either draw shots or follow shots. If anyone has any suggetions on my practice routine, that it is a good routine or any suggestions on a better way to practice it would be much appreciated.
 
randyg said:
Just perfect for most humans.
Click to expand...

I'd agree with this. I cannot hold my concentration on practicing for more than 45 minutes (I base this on when my mind starts wandering way too far away). I do believe that with an hour break I could go back and get another productive session in, not that I have the time for multiple sessions in one day.

Dave
 
A question for Scot and Randy.. Do you fellows think one can practice "playing"?

We all know it takes a lot of mental energy to compete in big tournaments, and that it takes a lot of stamina to be as mentally ready to play in the last match of the tournament as the first.

By that I mean.. When I had the time to practice, I probably dedicated a good solid 2-3 hours a day to practicing some specific thing, whether it be banking, safety play, combinations, etc. I would spend a further 8-10 hours a day just playing the ghost, or playing against someone else.

The actual practice did a lot for my game, but I think the practice of actually attempting to run balls was just as important. What do youguys think?

I get the idea from you guys' posts that you recommend only a few hours of practice per day, if even that much. But obviously, the pros put in many 10+ hour days when they were starting off.

Is it possible you guys mean that one may spend 2-3 hours a day on fundamentals-related drills, but one has to mix this time in with your daily play? Please clarify how your teaching methodologies look at "practice-practice" versus "play-practice", if I've communicated the difference between those two ideas clearly.

Thanks,

Russ
 
randyg said:
Just perfect for most humans.
Click to expand...
I've heard SVB has practice drills he works on four hours a day. Then he makes a tough game with the locals and plays another 6 to 8 hours. Maybe someone who knows him better can chime in.
 
Thanks from all the replies to my question

The reason that I am sending this post is because just two days ago, I was playing some carom on a 5x10 Olhausen (very old fashion style; doesn't even play accordingly) pool on a 4x8 Olhausen table (and the corner pockets are quite the unforgiving ones) so that I could prep up for a future tournament for the next years to come. It was around 1pm CDT and I usually keep my left hand (my bridge hand) very rigid as usual only to find out that thoughout all this playing that my left shoulder started to ache. I assumed it was stress but it was certainly temporary. I played a regular with just about the same caliber (or a little higher) and I just started to just "burn out"; did not concentrate. I am young to even be in a bad physical condition, so I am certainly not complaining.
 
SlickRick_PCS said:
I want to ask yall AZers out there a question that is quite important to me. I have been playing in my local pool hall for about 3 hours minimum and I do get mentally burned out. I used to play for about 5 hours a couple of years ago. What is the most ideal amount of time one should practice for billiards? If this post has already been replied, please send me the links.

Thanks
Click to expand...


I would say that a good practice routine would be to play with someone close to your own ability level and who you enjoy playing with for cheap amounts of $$. That way you are not always at the table and can give your muscles a rest every now and then. You also get the benefit of having an oponent to help put you in a match scenario.
 
Russ Chewning said:
A question for Scot and Randy.. Do you fellows think one can practice "playing"?

We all know it takes a lot of mental energy to compete in big tournaments, and that it takes a lot of stamina to be as mentally ready to play in the last match of the tournament as the first.

By that I mean.. When I had the time to practice, I probably dedicated a good solid 2-3 hours a day to practicing some specific thing, whether it be banking, safety play, combinations, etc. I would spend a further 8-10 hours a day just playing the ghost, or playing against someone else.

The actual practice did a lot for my game, but I think the practice of actually attempting to run balls was just as important. What do youguys think?

I get the idea from you guys' posts that you recommend only a few hours of practice per day, if even that much. But obviously, the pros put in many 10+ hour days when they were starting off.

Is it possible you guys mean that one may spend 2-3 hours a day on fundamentals-related drills, but one has to mix this time in with your daily play? Please clarify how your teaching methodologies look at "practice-practice" versus "play-practice", if I've communicated the difference between those two ideas clearly.
Thanks,

Russ
Click to expand...


Russ. Our methology is based on how the human brain tries to function normaly.

If you are PLAYING, then you are not in the proper midset to learn.
If you are PRACTICING, then you are not in a PLAYING midset.

I never mix Practice time and Play time together, virtualy impossible. In school we teach the difference between:

TRAINING
PRACTICE
PLAY

We have a PRACTICE drill for running balls (Piling Rocks). It is very important.

In real time we have Seven MOTHER DRILLS that are directed towards the 10 parts of your pool game. Do a Training MOTHER DRILL each day (10 minutes) and then switch gears into Practice.

If you Train and PRACTICE properly they will follow you into game time....SPF=randyg
 
randyg said:
I never mix Practice time and Play time together, virtualy impossible. In school we teach the difference between:

TRAINING
PRACTICE
PLAY

We have a PRACTICE drill for running balls (Piling Rocks). It is very important.

In real time we have Seven MOTHER DRILLS that are directed towards the 10 parts of your pool game. Do a Training MOTHER DRILL each day (10 minutes) and then switch gears into Practice.

If you Train and PRACTICE properly they will follow you into game time....SPF=randyg
Click to expand...

Randy,

What is the distinction that you're making between "training" and "practicing"?
 
PoolSharkAllen said:
Randy,

What is the distinction that you're making between "training" and "practicing"?
Click to expand...

Allen...The difference between training and practicing is verbalization. You must first train your brain and body to perform specific functions. This is done by TALKING yourself through the process (this takes about a week). Then you practice what you have trained yourself to do. In practice we think the the same thoughts, in the same order...we just don't verbalize them out loud. You practice what you have trained yourself to do for about two weeks. Then you cross over into playing, where you don't talk; you don't think; but the actions are ingrained.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
 
Scott Lee said:
Allen...The difference between training and practicing is verbalization. You must first train your brain and body to perform specific functions. This is done by TALKING yourself through the process (this takes about a week). Then you practice what you have trained yourself to do. In practice we think the the same thoughts, in the same order...we just don't verbalize them out loud. You practice what you have trained yourself to do for about two weeks. Then you cross over into playing, where you don't talk; you don't think; but the actions are ingrained.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
Click to expand...


What else can I say!!!!SPF=randyg
 
i tried those marathon practice sessions years ago, they are a waste of time,

i play for 30-60 minutes by myself, i stop when ever i lose concentration, sometimes if i cant get in the grove i stop in 10 minutes-i give myself that long to get into it, if i cant by then i try later. occasionally its a rare day i can go longer for unknown reasons maybe 90 minutes,


i'm not a marathon player either, even gambling i like to take a break every hour. thats just me.
 
Oh wow good question.. It depends what type of play or what you're learning exactly. I disagree with the mindset of playing and learning are different. I think you can learn while playing just fine. One example of that is doing something you didnt mean to do and seeing a pretty neat result out of it :) or watching others make a mistake and doing something unexpected.. then when you can reproduce it you have learned something.

As far as duration if I'm playing solo I alternate between playing the ghost and playing dumb shots to see how quickly and how well I can get myself back in line. I also would try to run racks on one specific type of english. Like if you're shooting a ball in the corner from a rail instead of just drawing back a little i would use follow and go 3 rails to get the same shape. Simple things like that.

When playing with someone I could play 14 hours a day with occasional break for food.

It's amazing to see how out of shape you can get from not playing though. The stamina requirement is pretty intense. I've been working my way back up and can stay strong for about 6-7 hours again. When I first started back after 2 hours I was ready to fall on my face. I was thinking jesus how did I do this for 14 hour sessions before.
 
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