practicing safeties

[Travis Bickle]

Couple of questions for everybody, at all levels: About how much of your practice time do you spend on safeties, kicking and defense in general? And what sort of routines do you follow?

For me the answer, based on recent playing results, is like the old line from a martial arts movie, just before somebody gets pounded. "Your kung fu is good ... but nottt good enough."

 

[StormHotRod300]

I cant say i practice just play safe alot. I think the last time i did was Wednesday nite for a about 15mins lol.

normally i just practice my safties while playing by myself. And i will just play a safe, and see what i can do to not give ball in hand, and go back n forth on this till i have such a lockup safe, that i cant jump or kick at the ball without giving ball in hand.

And keep on doing the same on the next rack.

dave

 

[ShaneS]

This is a pretty controversial topic. Are you sure we can talk about this?

 

[Donovan]

ShaneS, it's OK. I'm sure he was wearing a condom and rubber gloves.

Anyway, I play safeties like crazy when I play my friends who aren't my best competition and only like to play 9 ball. So I go for the 3 foul win as much as I can. Some may think this is dumb, but those guys are getting pretty good at kicking and jumping. So they do get something out of it too.

I got it! Go get cloned and take turns just playing as many safeties as each of you can. That should do the trick for good practice on both sides of the safety game.

BTW, when I play this way I do it for about a half an hour to 45 minutes and then go back to playing to win outright.

For me most of the safety play practice I get is from playing one pocket. That will teach you faster than anything.

 

[freddy the beard]

Irving Crane

ShaneS, it's OK. I'm sure he was wearing a condom and rubber gloves.

Anyway, I play safeties like crazy when I play my friends who aren't my best competition and only like to play 9 ball. So I go for the 3 foul win as much as I can. Some may think this is dumb, but those guys are getting pretty good at kicking and jumping. So they do get something out of it too.

I got it! Go get cloned and take turns just playing as many safeties as each of you can. That should do the trick for good practice on both sides of the safety game.

BTW, when I play this way I do it for about a half an hour to 45 minutes and then go back to playing to win outright.

For me most of the safety play practice I get is from playing one pocket. That will teach you faster than anything.

I used to watch Irving Crane practice in the mornings at Johnston City. Besides his customary 100-200 ball warm-up runs, he would sometimes just play himself safe (playing straight-pool) and not leave himself a shot for 20 to 30 minutes. This was his specialty, two rails off the long rail and just brush the side of the rack (opening up nothing) and return the Qball to the end rail. Look hard? Crane's rationale was to either execute the shot or miss the whole rack entirely. He said, quote, "If I can't execute this shot in 3 tries, I deserve to lose the 15 point penalty."

the Beard
Bank on, brother!

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%YC8G2%ZI3C5%[M1M4%\C3G5
)END

 

[Donovan]

I used to watch Irving Crane practice in the mornings at Johnston City. Besides his customary 100-200 ball warm-up runs, he would sometimes just play himself safe (playing straight-pool) and not leave himself a shot for 20 to 30 minutes. This was his specialty, two rails off the long rail and just brush the side of the rack (opening up nothing) and return the Qball to the end rail. Look hard? Crane's rationale was to either execute the shot or miss the whole rack entirely. He said, quote, "If I can't execute this shot in 3 tries, I deserve to lose the 15 point penalty."

the Beard
Bank on, brother!


START(
%AN7O5%BL7P8%CJ5O4%DL7N1%EM7P1%FK6P1%GK6N8%HM7N8%IL7O4%JK6M5
%KJ5P7%LJ5N2%MK6Q4%NJ5R0%OJ5M0%Pr5W5%Up4U4%VM7M8%WJ3C7%Xq3W2
%YC8G2%ZJ0C4%[M1M4%\C3G5
)END

Nice one Sir Beard!

Did he really just use center ball to shoot it too or was there a little top center english to keep it on line?

 

[Gerry]

When we got bored working at the pool room we used to make up games. One was playing 9ball safeties. We played to 10 points, $5 a point, 1 point if you lock a guy up and he can't hit the ball.

Another good one is kicks, banks, billiards, and combos, it's just that. Anything but shooting a ball straight in. Amazing how good you get at these shots after playing a few hours a day for a month or so...

Gerry

 

[freddy the beard]

Irving Crane

Nice one Sir Beard!

Did he really just use center ball to shoot it too or was there a little top center english to keep it on line?

Since the necessity for shooting the shot is because you are starting out on or near the end rail, top english must be used no matter what, because you are so close to the cushion.

the Beard

 

[DelaWho???]

Safety Training

This topic is of interest to me here lately and I have to say that my safety play has improved 100%......
It was a combination of things that made me examine this part oif my game......first there was another thread about this where I stated my playing strategy and got it shot to pieces by several of the more respected members here....You know who you are and thanks.......The second thing was my entry into the SBE Pro-Am charity event and my desire not to embarass myself in such a public setting.......so it made me spent some extra time at the pool hall and prompted me to ask an old timer at the hall to play me some 9 ball.
The old guy .....he's 83....has been a Godsend for my game.....Last Monday during league play it seemed I couldn't do anything right....I had an 8 ball game go 16 innings......thats right 16 shots for 8 little balls.....it was a struggle ...but I won my match 3 straight games....Anyway I ask Al to play 9 on Tuesday and in an hour and a half he had straightened my game out and I had found my stroke....
Finally playing at the SBE Pro-Am changed my perspective being the first public tourney I've ever played.....It took me 40 minutes just to settle down....and through all the excitement (felt just like I had a backstage pass to The Doors or Zep) I only missed one easy shot.......I was also the one that was on the receiving end of all the hooks every other team seemed to leave us with.
By the third and final match I realized that these were just regular guys who miss just like me and lo and behold I found my stroke everything that Al told me came out and I finished strong.....
Since the tourney I've played a good friend who would normally take me down 5-1 in a race to 5....We went 5-3 and it easily could have been my night.....because 2 games I lost were because of tactical errors....
Last night at the bar I held the challenge table 5 straight games taking guys down who were routinely beating me...Every safe shot I attempted last night worked out to one degree or another and I found that I wasn't trying to pocket everything at once......I guess I learned patience and boy did it pay off.....almost 1 AM when I got home when normally I'm done and home by 11 ish......I played until I lost and it was Sublime.......


McCue Banger McCue

 

[DelaWho???]

When I'm practicing I'll play 8 ball against myself and I'll play the leave and shoot safeties...when I cn't hit it I take a crack at it and then play from whereever the CB stops...so in effect I'm working on my safety shots and I'm working on how to deal with being left in the hole with nothing to hit......The idea being to reduce the number of BIH I give up and to practice putting my opponent (in this case me) in a spot where I get ball in hand......if that makes any sense at all

Banger

 

[cuetechasaurus]

You can't really practice safeties if you want to get good at them, because the possibilities that come up in games are infinite and you can't really practice them all... you need to just fine tune your cueball control with touch and finesse. Knowing how to go multiple rails for safeties is something that comes along with position play. If you want to fine tune your cueball control, play billiards on a pool table.

 

[Cheez Dawg]

A friend and me have a game we play to practice safety play.
It starts out the same as 9-ball, but all you try to do is play safeties, and try to extract fouls from your opponent.
First player to extract 10 fouls (they don't have to be consecutive) wins the game.

 

[Travis Bickle]

Thanks for the ideas, everyone. Like some people here, I'll also play out some racks (9 ball mostly) and go for every safety and kick, but I've come to think that I'm not getting enough repetitions of common safeties doing this. In other words, I can execute basic ones with some success (though I need to improve my percentages), but I'm definitely missing too many chances for the true lockup.

Might also spend a certain amount of time every session with just 1 or 2 balls on the table.

 

[Billy_Bob]

The best safety practice for me is while playing someone else. This is the true test. Many times they will have a shot which I did not see while playing my safety, so I learn my safety was not so safe!

What helps me is to concentrate *only* on where the cue ball will go after my shot. And to "care less" where the object ball goes. So just shoot an object ball on left side, center, or on right side. Then use follow, stop, or draw and speed to get the cue ball to go to a nasty spot.

After you master this, then you can get the object ball to do something helpful while at the same time leaving the cue ball in a nasty spot. You can break out one of your clusters, move the object ball closer to a pocket, block a pocket, use it to create a cluster, move or pocket a blocking ball, etc.

 

[Black-Balled]

When I practice, I play either ring-game style- try to run out from everywhere- or tournament style, play the best shot , safe or otherwise, that is at hand. Gots to be able to do both.

 

[ShootingArts]

playing myself eightball

I am able to focus well in practice by playing eight ball against myself. The first balls I select to run out are of course the easiest run so most of them are fairly open. High or low, whatever set of balls I start with I play aggressively without using safeties. The second set of balls is usually all there when I start on them. This "player" plays a safety if there is any real chance of missing or if a lock-up safety that almost guarantees a foul and ball in hand is to be had.

Might be a little split personality thing but I can isolate the two styles of play and keep myself entertained for hours.

Hu

 

[Donovan]

Thanks for the ideas, everyone. Like some people here, I'll also play out some racks (9 ball mostly) and go for every safety and kick, but I've come to think that I'm not getting enough repetitions of common safeties doing this. In other words, I can execute basic ones with some success (though I need to improve my percentages), but I'm definitely missing too many chances for the true lockup.

Might also spend a certain amount of time every session with just 1 or 2 balls on the table.

If you are doing this by yourself, to get repetition, do it until you get it right. In other words, if your safety fails reaset the balls and shoot it until you get it right or shoot it until you can do it three successful times in a row.

 

[Donovan]

and through all the excitement (felt just like I had a backstage pass to The Doors or Zep)
McCue Banger McCue

Don't get me wrong, this entire post was a great read. Thank you for sharing that. BTW, that is a perfect descrpition of the excitement in my book.

"The greatest thing, you ever can do now, is share a smile, with someone who's blue now, it's very easy just..." Plant/Page

 

[TheConArtist]

If you are doing this by yourself, to get repetition, do it until you get it right. In other words, if your safety fails reaset the balls and shoot it until you get it right or shoot it until you can do it three successful times in a row.

Right on brother, Repetition is what it is all about, this and Consistency. When i practice i have the habit of doing this shooting drills, safeties, banks etc... over and over until i got it right or until i can't miss. Even when i pocket the ball over and over if it doesn't split the pockets then i am not satisfied, like i said its a perfectionist thing always had it. Niels was introduced to a drill called the ladder, where you place two balls on each rail and pocket them without disturbing the other three balls placed along the middle of the table, it takes perfect positioning and precise shot making and he practiced this until he perfected it, took him three days i think. Practice hard, practice with a purpose, and never do anything half fast....