Practice

[renard]

Some people do not practice. I, don't practice as much as I should. During game time I may miss a shot and set it up to shoot it again. That's really not the practice I need.

If you practice, what do you practice?

Here is an example of what I will set up during one of my practice routines:

-1 rack (fifteen balls) of assorted combinations
-1 rack of assorted caroms
-1 rack of assorted billiards
-1 rack of assorted jump shots
-1 rack of assorted masse's
-1 rack of assorted kicks

Those are the skill shots I practice.

I finish with:

-Break shots
-Nitro (sometimes called brainwash or dynamite)

Nitro is a position exercise. Throw out all 15 balls. All of them at least 6 inches from each other and 6 inches from the rail. The cue ball cannot touch anything except the intended object ball. In otherwards no banks, caroms, or combinations. Play position without the rails or disturbing the layout.

(My personal best 3 runouts of 4 racks. I found out today I need to practice this more often.)

 

[BRKNRUN]

Some people do not practice. I, don't practice as much as I should. During game time I may miss a shot and set it up to shoot it again. That's really not the practice I need.

If you practice, what do you practice?

Here is an example of what I will set up during one of my practice routines:

-1 rack (fifteen balls) of assorted combinations
-1 rack of assorted caroms
-1 rack of assorted billiards
-1 rack of assorted jump shots
-1 rack of assorted masse's
-1 rack of assorted kicks

Those are the skill shots I practice.

I finish with:

-Break shots
-Nitro (sometimes called brainwash or dynamite)

Nitro is a position exercise. Throw out all 15 balls. All of them at least 6 inches from each other and 6 inches from the rail. The cue ball cannot touch anything except the intended object ball. In otherwards no banks, caroms, or combinations. Play position without the rails or disturbing the layout.

(My personal best 3 runouts of 4 racks. I found out today I need to practice this more often.)

Belive me when I say I am not "knocking" this drill, just help me understand why doing a drill without using the rails is beneficial???

I understand that you want to pick stop shot patterns if at all possible, but knowing how to use those rails for position seems like a must, and it does not make sense (to me) to eliminate a crucial element of position play.......JMO

 

[5ballcharlie]

I shoot drills for about an hour
20 racks of 15 ball rotation.
20 racks of straight pool
Work on weak shots.
Work on weak positonal shots
Sometimes I will shoot Joe Tuckers corner pocket workout
Sometimes I will play the 10 ball ghost
Work on whatever I feel thats weak at the moment.

I am practicing on a super tough 9ft brunswick with 3 7/8 inch pockets so practice is tough but very effective

 

[renard]

Belive me when I say I am not "knocking" this drill, just help me understand why doing a drill without using the rails is beneficial???

I understand that you want to pick stop shot patterns if at all possible, but knowing how to use those rails for position seems like a must, and it does not make sense (to me) to eliminate a crucial element of position play.......JMO

If you play 9-ball all the time it's probably not as beneficial. 8-ball and straight pool require more exact position with more clusters, congestion, and a possible stack to contend with.

Small position zone control at slower speeds is what we are striving for. I concentrate on 17 different places to strike the cueball for various positional problems. Drifting the ball short precise distances.

Using the rails in shots for position you can use greater speed but it is harder to get exact positons in the middle potions of the table. Also what if using a rail is not an option?

 

[BRKNRUN]

If you play 9-ball all the time it's probably not as beneficial. 8-ball and straight pool require more exact position with more clusters, congestion, and a possible stack to contend with.

Small position zone control at slower speeds is what we are striving for. I concentrate on 17 different places to strike the cueball for various positional problems. Drifting the ball short precise distances.

Using the rails in shots for position you can use greater speed but it is harder to get exact positons in the middle potions of the table. Also what if a using a rail is not an option?

I agree "in general" that 9-ball requires less precision...but not totally...There are times that you need very precise position and you better be able to come with the shot if you want to complete the run out....I actually believe that real 9-ball is more about CB control than it is pocketing balls.

I did watch Efren play some straight pool. He seemed to be using the rail and getting precise position. I guess my view on this is that sometimes 1 one-rail shot can set you up for 5 stop shots....If its "harder" to get precise position using the rail, why would you want to eliminate that from the drill when you know at some point you will be required to use a rial (or two) for position.

I don't understand...What does "what if using a rail is not an option" mean??...

 

[renard]

I agree "in general" that 9-ball requires less precision...but not totally...There are times that you need very precise position and you better be able to come with the shot if you want to complete the run out....I actually believe that real 9-ball is more about CB control than it is pocketing balls.

I did watch Efren play some straight pool. He seemed to be using the rail and getting precise position. I guess my view on this is that sometimes 1 one-rail shot can set you up for 5 stop shots....If its "harder" to get precise position using the rail, why would you want to eliminate that from the drill when you know at some point you will be required to use a rial (or two) for position.

I don't understand...What does "what if using a rail is not an option" mean??...

Point taken. Yes using the rail for position is something that comes up more often. But my point is not using a rail comes up less often and therefore is something to be practiced.

Also what does, "What if using the rail is not an option" mean. Somtimes we have to float a ball for position without a rail being available.

An example getting position on the 12 ball to break the cluster/stack.

START(
%AN7O5%BG6F3%CF3J9%DL7N1%EM7P1%FK6P1%GK6N8%HM7N8%IL7O4%JK6M5
%KL0U5%LI9M3%MN9Y3%NT9W4%OG6G5%PE9F9
)END

 

[Billy_Bob]

In general, it is good to find specific drills and practice them. Some drills will be impossible for a beginner such as leaving position for next shot. If a beginner, may want to just concentrate on pocketing the ball for now, then after a few years, do the position thing.

The best drills are your own. Go to a tournament and remember which missed shot cost you your last match. Then work on this shot. Shoot the same exact shot over and over. Do drills with similar shots.

Example: I was always missing balls which were frozen to the rails. So I took all 15 balls and froze them to the rail, each at a diamond marker. Then tried shooting them in with ball-in-hand each time. This was very frustrating because I was not good at these shots. These are the things you need to practice - what you are not good at - what is frustrating to you - the shots which cost you matches.

It is no fun and a LOT of work to practice these things. However it is the road to improvement...

 

[Josh Palmer]

Brainwash is great. It sharpens your short positon shots, and forces you to get on the right side of the ball using finesse. More importantly, it teaches you to focus hard on a particular pattern without touching a rail, or you fail. Makes all of the games play more simply after practicing this drill.