Repeat Lesson Concern

[Williebetmore]

hmmmmm?
well, after years of working on the Stroke Drills from Tom Rossman, ...........

no, not trying to figure it out on my own. thats why i have asked for help from Rossman, Wilson, and Diana Minor. DCP

DCP,
I think we are near the crux of the issue. I believe you are basically "on your own." If you are a student in the sense of letting someone teach you the game; then it requires a continuous process of lesson/practice/feedback/correction/further practice.

Let me explain how it works in my case. A few times a year I work with one of the stroke guru's, I am given specific drills to do, record the results on paper, then report back on progress at next lesson - results checked, minor adjustments performed. I call them whenever I have a question that could be discussed by phone.

In addition, two or three times a month I have a long session with a top pro (playing 6-12 hours); all interesting situations and strategies are discussed as they occur, any stroke flaws are pointed out immediately, any interesting shots are set up after the session and dissected. THIS is what I mean by letting someone instruct me. Yes, I ask for their reasons when I feel disagreement; but somehow those guys ALWAYS seem to be right - and I do whatever they tell me to do. They spent hard years learning these lessons, and I want a shortcut to achieving similar results.

While this is an extreme example; the basics are the same - there is no quick fix; and you will not improve without SOME type of continuous analysis/feedback/correction/practice loop. I am not sure you have such a loop; which is why I say you are "doing it on your own." If you are not learning a specific stroke with feedback from one of your "helpers"; then you ARE using YOUR stroke; responsibility for the results rest on you; not on the several occasional instructors.

 

[Kevin]

Takes a lot to get me back into one of these endless threads.

I think DCP needs a simple drill with recorded results... and absolutely no BS-ing or excuses allowed about the results, dispel delusions and focus on what is true about your game now and not years ago.

You are either getting it done or you simply aren't, and that is that. Face it, practice till you get acceptable results, move on to the next challenge. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Take the infamous 3-ball challenge, tossing out 3 balls, take ball in hand, run out in order. What is your percentage over 20 tries? Where do you fail? Missing the shot?

Was it a poorly delivered stroke? Go 2 steps back to straight in shots at increasing distances till you can deliver the cueball where you think you are aiming.

Bad aiming? You'll never know for sure until your stroke is straight. Missed position? was it a speed control or directional control off the rails that let you down in getting the right angle on the next ball to get you to the last ball?

So work on it, adjust. If you fail to run out, record the result, set up the shot again and be willing to shoot it 50 times if that is what it takes to bend the cue balls path to your desires. That or concede it was a boneheaded effort and there must be easier/safer ways to move the ball where you need it to go, no sense being an idiot in these matters.

Attention to these little details are where the rubber meets the road in pool, failure to master a mistake simply suggests you will repeat the same mistake next time.

Keep track of the numbers, if you get to making 80% of the runouts, make it 4 balls. If you are under 30%, drop it down to 2 balls. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Play Fargo. Play Bowliards. Anything with numbers and data so you have NO EXCUSES ANYMORE. Get the job you want to get done-- done.

Now I am going back to sleep on DCP for another 2 years or so, hope it works out, and on that consistent stroke, a good SPF teacher can laser you in faster on the proper sequence to be more consistently dropping lots of balls. And that isn't a bad thing, is it?