Practice

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M_Z

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Good Afternoon everyone,

I wasn't able to find a thread specifically about Practice. To share what Drills you do, what apps you use, how do you keep track of progress.
I have seen some topics here similar such as how much do you practice a week, but nothing specific.

So here, I want to share what I do and hopefully hear what you guys do and maybe some kind of progress report here for additional motivation to keep going.

So let's start with answering these questions:

1) Do you practice?
- If yes continue answering questions below.
- If No-> Why not? Too good, no motivation, no time, don't know where to begin, boring, satisfied as a medium player, etc..

2) How often do you practice?
- Hours a day? minutes a day? Full Time? once or twice a week? What's better, 30 minutes everyday or 8 hours straight but 1 day a week?

3) Do you have a program that you follow? Book, video, coach?

4) Do you have a drill goals?
- How often do you change that goal? Only when you achieve it? every week?

5) Do you use any Technology to practice?
- Phone App? Excel Spreadsheet? Peace of paper? Shaft accuracy measure or any other devices for stroke?

6) What is your end goal in pool?



I will start and answer questions above:
1) Yes. Tiring to force myself to do it on more of a constant basis. So in periods when NO, my reason is No motivation.
2) Right now I am practicing 5 times a week, 2 hours daily. If I slack and don't complete my full 2hrs, I make it up on a weekend.
3) I just took Billiard University Exam and each shot from there and practice those over and over.
4) I come up with a goal for myself. So for example in BU exam, Drill number 1, cut shot. My goal is to make 60 balls daily with 95% accuracy or better. and I change that goal weekly. Right now I am on Just Making balls drills and I go 30 balls for each of 5 positions.
5) I use "Counter+" app. Especially helpful when you go many many balls drill. "Done" drill to time my drills. It is Goal timing sort of thing. I also came up with my own excel spreadsheet where I have Monthly goals, stats etc.I couldn't attach it unfortunately but if you are interested, let me know your e-mail and i can send it to you so you can either utilize it, or have any suggestions how to improve it. Right now I am trying to find good Goal Tracker app for the phone, but there isn't one for free and I don't want to pay money for it just yet:)
6) End goal for now go in APA league to a 7. I am a 5 right now. Started in 2015 as a 3. After that I want to quit my full time job and practice full time while making some extra money with Uber and obviously go to a pro level. One can dream, right?
 
First, welcome aboard. I hope your stay here is enjoyable.
Lots to learn. Lot's to see.
I met my fourth wife here in the revolving door at the office entrance. We've been going around together ever since.

I don't practice.
I don't want to practice.
Where I'm at in my pool playing career, practice is of no consequence.
I suggest you take these questions and make a thread out of each one. You'll last longer. :smile:
 
M_Z said:
5) I use "Counter+" app. Especially helpful when you go many many balls drill.
Click to expand...

I'm all for technology. I use Coach's Eye app for analyzing my stroke. Best thing I ever did (well that and buying Play Great Pool by Mark Wilson - highly recommended if you want to be a pro player, good practical advise on that in the book).

I am, however, against technology if it interferes in the learning process. If you are going to hit a lot of the same shot, why not count racks instead of logging each ball? Go through 15 balls, put a penny under the rail and move it one diamond to represent 15 balls. Move the penny after each set of 15 is pocketed successfully. The issue I have with the counter is that it might take your attention away from the shot making. Are you advancing the counter after every shot? If so, I think that takes your conscious and subconscious away from learning the little things you pick up when doing repetitive drills like this. Instead of noticing how well you executed the shot when your elbow happened to be an inch over from normal, you are thinking about grabbing the phone to advance the counter.

- not sure it is a problem, just something to consider.

Good luck!
 
I agree about counting racks, Dan.
I'm doing Tor Lowry's Stroke Drill, and it will take about 187 racks to get to 3000 strokes. I am only about 20 racks in, but counting racks is easier than each stroke. I would certainly lose count!

Sorry, M_Z, I didn't answer your questions, so here goes:

As I consider my self a beginner (of sorts) I am doing Stroke Drill only right now.

1) Do you practice?

Yes

2) How often do you practice?

About twice a week, two hours at a time. I have to pay for tables, and thery are $8 -$12/hr here.

3) Do you have a program that you follow? Book, video, coach?

Tor Lowry. Soon - Byrne, Fels.

4) Do you have a drill goals?

Drill goal right now is to get solid stroke fundamentals. From my other pursuits in life, I have learned that they are important even at the top level of anything. I may as well get them right now.

5) Do you use any Technology to practice?

I have a Word document I ise as a training log. I might be interested inyour Excel Spreadsheet.

6) What is your end goal in pool?

Just to be as good as I can, and to beat my wife ( at pool you guys) consistently. Last week she beat me five games out of nine!
 
Last edited:
1. Yes
2. 1-2 hours per day
3. Not really nowdays, did 99 pool shots, robert byrne drills, phil cappelle 14.1 book a few years ago (all progressively, p.1-p. Xxx) now i use video to determine better pattern routes, break technique p.s.r., address stroke and timing flaws.
4.goal right now is straight pool patterns and end of rack patterns.
5. Break speed app.
6.keep learning and breaking through plateaus( I enjoy the frustration and long term progress)
 
Dan White said:
I'm all for technology. I use Coach's Eye app for analyzing my stroke. Best thing I ever did (well that and buying Play Great Pool by Mark Wilson - highly recommended if you want to be a pro player, good practical advise on that in the book).

I am, however, against technology if it interferes in the learning process. If you are going to hit a lot of the same shot, why not count racks instead of logging each ball? Go through 15 balls, put a penny under the rail and move it one diamond to represent 15 balls. Move the penny after each set of 15 is pocketed successfully. The issue I have with the counter is that it might take your attention away from the shot making. Are you advancing the counter after every shot? If so, I think that takes your conscious and subconscious away from learning the little things you pick up when doing repetitive drills like this. Instead of noticing how well you executed the shot when your elbow happened to be an inch over from normal, you are thinking about grabbing the phone to advance the counter.

- not sure it is a problem, just something to consider.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

Are you a pro player?
 
1) Yup

2) 1-2 hours, 3 to 4 days a week.
30 minutes a day is much better than 8 hours once a week. Towards the end of an 8 hour session, you get tired and it's easy to get sloppy. It's really difficult to maintain deliberate practice over that period of time. Conversely, it's fairly easy to stay focused for 30 minutes. Sleep also plays a significant role in the learning process, so having a good nights sleep between each of those short sessions will be beneficial.

3) Not really, essentially I just identify areas that need work adjust my practice to meet those goals.

4) Sort of. I'm primarily looking to identify the skill that a drill or routine is intended to emphasize and work on it until that particular skill has been acquired. By that I mean, some drills are positional drills which emphasize specific positional shots or patterns. The goal is to improve in that particular skill until you are clearing the drill without too many tough recovery shots. So just clearing the drill isn't as useful as being able to do so cleanly.

To help facilitate this, if I'm attempting a new drill or routine I like to try to find examples of it being performed by professionals on youtube. That gives me an idea of the ideal positional routes.

5) Not really. I have Nic Barrows practice app which is really good, especially if you aren't sure how to structure a practice session. But I don't use it nearly as much as I should.

6) To continually improve.
 
Sorry, didn't feel like answering all the questions but I will say that I've bought a whole bunch of drill books early on when I started 6 years ago. Of everything, Alan Sands' Cue Ball Control Cheat Sheets was by far the best http://sites.fastspring.com/billiardgods/product/billiards . It shows you hundreds of various shots to set up on the table and how to get position for your next shot, implementing the clock system. I'd highly recommend it to anybody who doesn't already run out racks. My only criticism of it is poor editing, but common pool sense can usually get you past the mistakes.

And oh, Bert Kinister tapes are fantastic as well.
 
Dan White said:
No, but the book was written by a well-respected pro player and instructor, which carries more weight than what I think.
Click to expand...

I've read the book, and would also recommend it to anyone trying to improve.

I was just playfully pointing out the slight hypocrisy in your statement.
 
Tramp Steamer said:
First, welcome aboard. I hope your stay here is enjoyable.
Lots to learn. Lot's to see.
I met my fourth wife here in the revolving door at the office entrance. We've been going around together ever since.

I don't practice.
I don't want to practice.
Where I'm at in my pool playing career, practice is of no consequence.
I suggest you take these questions and make a thread out of each one. You'll last longer. :smile:
Click to expand...

Thanks:) I didn't want to introduce myself in the Introduction Thread and then not post anything like a lot of people do, so I figured I'd introduce myself there if I stay for a while here:) and that's awesome about your wife:)

and when you say where you are at your pool playing career, meaning you are super good, or you are ok being Okest player in the world?:)

Thanks for suggestion, I do feel like it all should belong to one thread though. I realize I might not get answers exactly to every question I had, but one of the number might hit somebody and they can share something useful for me and for everyone:)
 
Dan White said:
I'm all for technology. I use Coach's Eye app for analyzing my stroke. Best thing I ever did (well that and buying Play Great Pool by Mark Wilson - highly recommended if you want to be a pro player, good practical advise on that in the book).

I am, however, against technology if it interferes in the learning process. If you are going to hit a lot of the same shot, why not count racks instead of logging each ball? Go through 15 balls, put a penny under the rail and move it one diamond to represent 15 balls. Move the penny after each set of 15 is pocketed successfully. The issue I have with the counter is that it might take your attention away from the shot making. Are you advancing the counter after every shot? If so, I think that takes your conscious and subconscious away from learning the little things you pick up when doing repetitive drills like this. Instead of noticing how well you executed the shot when your elbow happened to be an inch over from normal, you are thinking about grabbing the phone to advance the counter.

- not sure it is a problem, just something to consider.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

I confused Coach's Eye with DigiCue for a second. What's so special about that app? Why can't you just use your regular phone(unless you have old phone) to do the same thing? What are you paying $5 for?

I will have to check out that book. thanks.

No, I am not tracking every ball. I track racks. But it is not as Black&White as I wish it was as far as moving penny for each successful rack. Unfortunately my level is not letting me make the whole rack perfect, I usually miss a lot of balls and my excel training tracker I set up, counts all balls I made and all balls I missed. So I usually shoot the rack, and all balls I missed, I leave them on the table, and after I am done with the rack, I put in numbers I missed and made into app. takes seconds. Give me quick break in between racks to reset and keep going. not thinking about app at all.
 
jamnut said:
I agree about counting racks, Dan.
I'm doing Tor Lowry's Stroke Drill, and it will take about 187 racks to get to 3000 strokes. I am only about 20 racks in, but counting racks is easier than each stroke. I would certainly lose count!

Sorry, M_Z, I didn't answer your questions, so here goes:

As I consider my self a beginner (of sorts) I am doing Stroke Drill only right now.

1) Do you practice?

Yes

2) How often do you practice?

About twice a week, two hours at a time. I have to pay for tables, and thery are $8 -$12/hr here.

3) Do you have a program that you follow? Book, video, coach?

Tor Lowry. Soon - Byrne, Fels.

4) Do you have a drill goals?

Drill goal right now is to get solid stroke fundamentals. From my other pursuits in life, I have learned that they are important even at the top level of anything. I may as well get them right now.

5) Do you use any Technology to practice?

I have a Word document I ise as a training log. I might be interested inyour Excel Spreadsheet.

6) What is your end goal in pool?

Just to be as good as I can, and to beat my wife ( at pool you guys) consistently. Last week she beat me five games out of nine!
Click to expand...

Tor is great. He taught me all essentials about pool. I also won a Ball Spottor from his contest. I love Tor. Want to meet him one day for sure and thank him everything he does. I have done that stroke drill long time ago, and I actually did use the app for that too. count 187 racks manually? I would lose count without it, for sure. I didn't do it as well as I should have. I made about 300 balls properly, and then started slacking and just wanted it to get over and wanted to shoot some pool, so I was just chasing number and not paying attention how I shot it. It did help me to stay down and my stands, my stoke however needs a lot of work:(

actually just last week, I finally worked on fixing my wrist, because it would be twisted inside, towards my body slightly. after I fixed it, crazy how many balls I made that I would miss. Example was on one of my drill. I did this drill, (Ball Making Drill from BU #3. Object ball on spotting dot and cue ball all the way back) with my old habit and I made only 10 balls out of 30. After I fixed my twisted hand, I made 18 and missed 12. thought it was just coincides, but the very next day I made 19-11. It really feels unnatural though, feels like I am twisting my wrist out outside so much but when I look at it, it is perfect:)

I have big local tourney coming up this weekend. So I am debating if I should keep thinking about my wrist, or that maybe my problem, thinking about my wrist and not focusing enough on balls. So maybe I should play how I can for this tourney and then practice practice practice my new wrist position.


Oh and one more thing. I found it helpful for me, not practice or shoot at all 1-2 days before big tourneys and it seems to help me. anybody else does that? so yesterday and today I am not practicing at all, not even picking up my cue. At the tourney I will be hungry for pool. maybe that's what helps me?:)

PS, shoot me your e-mail and I will send you my excel if you are interested. I am still working on improving it, so I'd appreciate any feedback:)
 
PocketSpeed11 said:
Sorry, didn't feel like answering all the questions but I will say that I've bought a whole bunch of drill books early on when I started 6 years ago. Of everything, Alan Sands' Cue Ball Control Cheat Sheets was by far the best http://sites.fastspring.com/billiardgods/product/billiards . It shows you hundreds of various shots to set up on the table and how to get position for your next shot, implementing the clock system. I'd highly recommend it to anybody who doesn't already run out racks. My only criticism of it is poor editing, but common pool sense can usually get you past the mistakes.

And oh, Bert Kinister tapes are fantastic as well.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the Link. I haven' had a pool book yet. And one thing I don't want to do for sure is Buy a bunch and never use them. So maybe I will but one that you recommend and won't go the next one until I am done with it completely.
 
I also have facebook page to track my progress and that would keep me more responsible for getting drills done because I would have to report on that page everyday and if I didn't, obviously I slacked. So that was a good motivation for a while but it died of too. I need to jump back on that. Also utilize marker's board for weekly and daily goals. well, used to, not working on excel file like I mentioned about.

One of my motivation was - If I hit weekly goal, I get to go and play in weekly local tourney, if I don't, I am not going.

Sounds good in theory but again, didn't last more than 3 weeks:(
 
1) Do you practice? - Yes
- If yes continue answering questions below.

2) How often do you practice?
- Typically 2 hours per day during the week and about 3 - 4 hours each day on the weekends.

3) Do you have a program that you follow? Book, video, coach?
- Yes. I have many instructional books and videos. I usually pick one and work my way through it, revisiting fundamentals often. I've also spent some time with Jerry Briesath and Mark Wilson.

4) Do you have a drill goals?
- I usually set a percentage goal for each drill - typically 75 - 80% before I will add another drill. Once I reach 90%, I move that drill off to a once-in-a-while/tune-up kind of drill that I revisit on occasion to keep my proficiency.

5) Do you use any Technology to practice?
- All kinds - I think I own just about every training aid known to man and I have used them all. High-tech, low-tech, it doesn't matter. If it helps me, I continue to use it.
- I like the AcCue-Shot, QMD and a handy little app for my iPad that Mark Wilson showed me called hudltechnique. If memory serves, it was free and does was that coaching app mentioned in a previous post does. It allows you to compare video clips side by side. I think it was originally created for golf, but works just as well for pool.
- Looking forward to the release of the Digi-Cue in October.

6) What is your end goal in pool?
- I started playing about 5 years ago. I'm an APA 7 in 8-ball and a 7/8 in 9-ball. I would like to be a 9 in 9-ball eventually, but have a lot more practice to do before that happens.
- Ultimately, I would love to compete (and go deep) in the US Amateur Championship.
 
I try to do a wide variety of drills, as well as work on the specialty shots (ie. jumps, banks, kicks, etc.) And I probably work on my break more than any other single aspect of the game.

I'm sorry but I don't really know the names of most of the drills I do. But some really good resources for drills are Billiards University, Darren Appleton's Youtube Channel, Tor Lowry's instructional set, etc. I think it's important to try new drills and revisit ones you haven't done in a while. You will learn a lot about your game (and weaknesses) this way.

One thing I would recommend is to do a lot of stroke drills. A fundamentally sound stroke pays off on every shot.
 
M_Z said:
I confused Coach's Eye with DigiCue for a second. What's so special about that app? Why can't you just use your regular phone(unless you have old phone) to do the same thing? What are you paying $5 for?
Click to expand...

Actually it used to cost $20 before they dropped the price way down. It is worth every bit of $200 if you ask me. Coach's Eye, and I'm sure some other similar software, allows you to analyze sports performance in slow motion and the software allows you to draw lines and shapes on the video. So, for instance, if you set up a pool shot from overhead, you can draw a line over the cue just before you start your stroke, and then you can go forward and backward frame by frame and see how your stroke delivery differs from the direction of the cue before the stroke started. There are many things like that you can do to really hone in on the details that are impossible to see with the naked eye.

FWIW, I found that the QMD electronic device was not ready for prime time. I eventually returned mine.

Good luck!
 
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