Practice vs. Play

nelldrake

nelldrake

Waterskier/pool addict
Silver Member
I would rather play a game with a practice partner than work on drills which bore me cross-eyed after 10 or 15 minutes. Is actually playing a game a good way to practice? An instructor friend tells me I will never get better unless I do drills. I mostly play 14.1 and One Pocket for practice.
 
Drills are a great way to build consistency and eye pattern on shots. Make your own drills to keep it interesting and make it something that you know you need to work on. Cue ball control, shot making, english, kicking, stroke et cetera.
Practicing shots helps make the mental and physical game better. The more you practice even one shot on the pool table, the better chances you have at executing that shot when it matters, in the game.
 
nelldrake said:
I would rather play a game with a practice partner than work on drills which bore me cross-eyed after 10 or 15 minutes. Is actually playing a game a good way to practice? An instructor friend tells me I will never get better unless I do drills. I mostly play 14.1 and One Pocket for practice.
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When I get bored with doing drills, I will rack for 9 ball or 14.1, play the rack, then go back to the drills.

I wonder how that flies with the instructors around here...
 
nelldrake said:
I would rather play a game with a practice partner than work on drills which bore me cross-eyed after 10 or 15 minutes. Is actually playing a game a good way to practice? An instructor friend tells me I will never get better unless I do drills. I mostly play 14.1 and One Pocket for practice.
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I practice specific drills for no more than 15-20 minutes. Then I will play 14.1, One Pocket or banks.

The 15-20 minutes of intense focus on a handful of drills is short enough not to bore me and long enough to provide useful benifits. Each of my drills is designed to work on one particular area of my game and are often designed around reinforcing my fundamentals.
 
I don't seem to play well alone. I guess I need the competition or the recognition when I make a really tough shot. When I play a game alone it doesn't seem to matter if I miss and I don't give the shot my full attnetion as I do when playing an opponent.
 
nelldrake...I agree with Rufus. Short duration, high focus...and most important achievable goals with measurable results. Many people just do drills with no real thought as to why they're doing them, or what benefit role they play in helping the player learn about improving. Nothing wrong with practicing playing (what you like to do), but if you're struggling with success in playing, then working on an accurate and repeatable stroke is the first major step in overcoming that confidence deficit. We utimately have to be able to strike an imaginary area on the CB that is no bigger than 3mm (and invisible), at some speed between a lag and a break, on demand, under pressure, in one try. Developing that accuracy goes a LONG way in establishing confidence at the table while playing...whether by yourself, or against an opponent. The Mother Drills do an excellent job in identifying stroke errors, and helping to self-correct said errors, as well as achieving these goals.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
 
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krupa...See above post. After training (either privately with an instructor, or in pool school), we recommend a practice/play ratio of 80% disciplined practice/20% play for the first couple of weeks, while training. Then swap it out...20% practice/80% play. Also finish every serious practice session with some playing, as this is where we get our endorphins (the pleasurable sensation from doing what we like to do). At some point (usually within a month), you have to "cross over" and take your new stroke process into combat, to see if it holds up under the pressure of real competition.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

krupa said:
When I get bored with doing drills, I will rack for 9 ball or 14.1, play the rack, then go back to the drills.

I wonder how that flies with the instructors around here...
Click to expand...
 
nelldrake said:
Is actually playing a game a good way to practice?
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A big difference between practicing drills and learning while playing is that while playing, you get one chance at a shot. With drills, you can repeat the shot(s) and make adjustments to dial in on a winning formula. You can also make adjustments to the shot and learn what adjustments are then needed when conditions change. When you are faced with a similar shot in a game, you will know how to adjust to successfully make the shot.
 
krupa said:
When I get bored with doing drills, I will rack for 9 ball or 14.1, play the rack, then go back to the drills.

I wonder how that flies with the instructors around here...
Click to expand...

That flies great with this Instructor.
randyg
 
I hated drills for many years until I read the great book, "Pleasure of Small Motions" by Bob Fancher. One of my favorite pool books. He will show you how to teach yourself to enjoy practice, especially drills.
Donny Lutz
Author
BCA/ACS Certified Instructor 2
 
Looks like a pre-set drill with measureable results in a common answer.

Always stay to the 20/20 Rule in Training and Practice!

randyg
 
Practice

Practice is something I rarely see my clients do. I will come up and see them trying to run rack after rack and their response is "I'm practicing".

I believe our biggest competition is ourselves. I recommend you find a few drills that you can score. Do the drill X number of times and score. Then weeks later attempt the drill and try to beat your previous score.

Depending on your skill level you can always make the drills harder and harder. You don't want the drill so hard you can't ever complete it, but you don't want it so easy you complete it over 90% of the time.

A couple drills:

15 ball brain cluster - good for straight pool
Start with all 15 balls spread out evenly on the table, but no balls within 1 diamond from a rail. Ball in hand the first shot and try to run the table. The cue ball cannot touch a rail. Do this 5 times. Score the # of balls made and if you make all 15 you get 20 points (5 bonus)

3 ball (or more)
rack 3 balls, break and then take ball in hand. Run the 3 balls and redo. Do this 20 times. score # of balls made and if you run all 3 you get 5 points. If you score a total 80% or higher then add another ball and repeat.

Track these scores in a small notebook with the date you try and the type of table you play on. Also note anything you learn or any issues/problems you come across. You can challenge friends to beat your score and compete against them.
 
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