Practice

dmgwalsh

dmgwalsh

Straight Pool Fanatic
Silver Member
Do any of the good players have any suggestions on things to practice to try to play the game better?

That 15 ball drill from Rempe without hitting the rails? Good practice but usually in 14.1, we are hitting a lot of rails.

9 balls spread out below the side and practice running with pinpoint shape and getting on a break ball??

Thanks for any input.
 
dmgwalsh said:
... That 15 ball drill from Rempe without hitting the rails? Good practice but usually in 14.1, we are hitting a lot of rails....
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Not all players hit a lot of rails. In his straight pool book, Babe Cranfield mentions watching Greenleaf run 60 balls and only sending the cue ball to the cushion twice. Cranfield describes it as the purest straight pool he had ever seen (IIRC).

I think as with all games you should work on those shots you have trouble with. (Cranfield said that, too.) Find your problem shots either from competition or practice. Work on only one or two at a time. Use progressive practice on the problem.
 
dmgwalsh said:
That 15 ball drill from Rempe without hitting the rails? Good practice but usually in 14.1, we are hitting a lot of rails.
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This is one of the only drills I recommend to people. And it's perfect for straight pool, because it teaches you to look for stop-stop-stop patterns. I firmly believe that you can't help but improve if you do this drill once or twice during each of your practice sessions.

- Steve
 
As a trainer I can say that the drill is made for you short game, and this is used almost all the time in straightpool.

btw. Do you shoot 14 balls and then place them back and shoot the 15th ball so you can continue?

And you van add 6 balls to have all the spots taken.
 
Dennis

One of things I do consistently is practice my break shots. I practice high break shots, low break shots, behind the stack, side pocket break shots - I also practice those break shots at different angles and I try to learn how to spread the balls and keep the cue ball out of trouble. I believe that this is the most important thing to practice - second only to developing a pattern that lands you perfect on your key ball so that you can get a decent, effective shot on your break ball.

I also practice dealing with clusters. Many players have difficulty with breaking them up effectively because they are unfamiliar with dealing with those situations.

Below is a drill that I use a lot. It can be modified in several different ways, and I believe that it is an awesome tool to progress your skills in 14.1.

Practicedrill1.gif


Here is a part II of the drill -

Practicedrill2.gif
 
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Blackjack,

Those both sound like great drills. Thanks for posting them. Doing something like that makes sense, but I never thought of it before
 
I practice for 8-ball by playing straight pool and I practice for straight pool by playing 9-ball. When I play straight pool, I move the cue ball as little as possible, sometimes making 8 or 9 shots in a row using only stop. Then, when I get out of line or for reasons of preserving a break I have to make a long angled shot or play 2 or 3 rail position, I'm a little tight. So, I mix things up by playing a few racks of nine-ball to loosen myself up. :)
 
Blackjack, thanks a lot for these. I've been tortured by the same question as dmgwalsh.
Am I supposed to use one of these initial break balls to play position for in the end? I mean what if as a result of a secondary break I create more break balls?

Last week I tried to practice end-rack patterns which is my weakness, and when I threw some balls around, one or two being break balls and key balls, played cueball in hand then, I was doing pretty good. Things changed when I started playing then - I dogged it several times, pretty easy layouts. Still have to figure how to run these 5-6 balls. I feel I'm completely lost sometimes, don't see how to start and how to connect these dots. Any remedy?
 
Thanks for the suggestions.

I worked a little on the Rempe drill last night. I guess I'll incorporate that into my
practices and see where it takes me.

As far as practicing shots that I have trouble with as suggested by Bob Jewett, I have been doing a bit of this, too. I have set up dots on the table and taken certain shots until I feel comfortable with them and make them at least 3 times in a row. I've used the "standard shots" in Modern Pool by Ralph Eckert and added a couple of side of the rack breaks, one with the cue ball almost in the side pocket and one with a little less angle from the kitchen. also, side pocket break, and behind the rack back cut break.

I should probably take those break practices a step further like Blackjack said and do them with a 14 ball rack so I can see how the balls disperse and vary the english if possible.

In the two diagrams provided by Blackjack the idea is to have some possible break shots already there for the next rack?? I'll have to give that a whirl too.

Thanks for the input.
 
I like to throw out 5 or 6 balls and get on a breaker. I do this OVER N OVER! and it gets me into stroke real quick because I think the end rack is most important in my game ayway.

The other one I like is to cluster 3 or 4 balls out in the rack area with a ball on or near the rail and shoot the ball in breaking out the cluster WITH A PLAN.

http://CueTable.com/P/?@3AarX3HChA3IDWP3LAtN3OAtc3PLti3kLti3kajI3kEsx2qQtFI'm_hitting_the_top_side_of_the_8_because_it_looks_to_be_the_best_way_to_manufacture_a_breaker(12_or_15)_and_get_a_shot.&ZZ@

the text didn't work?, but anyway, in that example I like hitting the top side of the 8 giving 2 possible breakers (12 & 15) and a good chance to come up with a shot on all of them.

Gerry
 
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This really isn't a practice drill, more of a running rack drill but it's something i do and I think it's helped me quite a bit.
Start with a full rack and breaker of your choice. Shoot the breaker and continue your run. When/If you miss, count the balls left on the table and write that number down. When you miss take ball in hand and continue your run. Any time you miss, write the number of balls left on the table and add them up for a total. Shoot a total of 6 racks, 2 breakers coming into the right hand side of the rack, 2 into the left, and 2 into the bottom. When you've completed your six racks add up your total score. If your combined 6 round score is consistently under 50 you can step it up by playing cue ball off the rail breakers into the pack...2 from the right, 2 from the left, and 2 from below......
This might not seem that tough but it puts pressure on you when you're hitting them alone because the numbers don't lie and it keeps you focused on the game. Give it a try...see how you do:)
 
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