Should you change your pre-shot routine?

[PKM]

Something I was wondering about: Suppose you're facing a difficult and/or high-stakes shot. Once you decide on your aim and speed, couldn't you argue that it's better to just get down and treat it like any other shot, vs. taking some extra time on your pre-shot routine?

The TV commentators often say after a miss that the player didn't take enough time on the shot.

On the other hand, it's easy to say you should never vary your pre-shot routine, but very few people seem to really take that advice.

 

[mikepage]

Something I was wondering about: Suppose you're facing a difficult and/or high-stakes shot. Once you decide on your aim and speed, couldn't you argue that it's better to just get down and treat it like any other shot, vs. taking some extra time on your pre-shot routine?

The TV commentators often say after a miss that the player didn't take enough time on the shot.

On the other hand, it's easy to say you should never vary your pre-shot routine, but very few people seem to really take that advice.

You should, imo, have a portion of your preshot routine that is of variable length. In other words, you should be able to take more time on a shot when it's appropriate to to do without feeling as though you're violating your routine. Then once you start drawing back from your set position, everything should click like clockwork--i.e., no extra long pauses or anything.

 

[JXMIKE]

i wouldnt change a thing, i feel like whenever im playing bad its because im not staying with my usual preshot routine so money game or a casual game or practice everything stays the same, if you play fast and your comfortable with playing fast why slow your game down and kill your game.

i guess im a creature of habit.

 

[mjantti]

I think this is a question of what do you think is a part of the pre-shot routine ? At least for me, in a pressure situation I like to take an extra round around the table to make sure I'm calm, I know exactly what I'm trying to do and I'm not rushing into the shot. If I'm nervous, I concentrate on my breathing. I might even take a sip of water. For me I don't count this as a pre-shot routine when I'm observing the table and thinking about what to do. Now, after the extra round of pacing when I know what I'm trying to do, I stand towards my shooting direction and from that point on, I don't change a thing. I just make the shot with my regular shooting rhythm. Sometimes I just take the extra round to calm my nerves even though I know exactly what I'm going to do.

 

[sjm]

I think this is a question of what do you think is a part of the pre-shot routine ? At least for me, in a pressure situation I like to take an extra round around the table to make sure I'm calm, I know exactly what I'm trying to do and I'm not rushing into the shot. If I'm nervous, I concentrate on my breathing. I might even take a sip of water. For me I don't count this as a pre-shot routine when I'm observing the table and thinking about what to do. Now, after the extra round of pacing when I know what I'm trying to do, I stand towards my shooting direction and from that point on, I don't change a thing. I just make the shot with my regular shooting rhythm. Sometimes I just take the extra round to calm my nerves even though I know exactly what I'm going to do.

This is, more or less, my philosophy too. You might spend a little more time prior to getting down over the shot, but once you are down, your routine must be unchanged. Pool is a game of rhythm, and if you fiddle too much with your pre-shot routine, you lose that rhythm along with your ability to perform at maximum efficiency.

 

[ShootingArts]

for me, yes and no

Something I was wondering about: Suppose you're facing a difficult and/or high-stakes shot. Once you decide on your aim and speed, couldn't you argue that it's better to just get down and treat it like any other shot, vs. taking some extra time on your pre-shot routine?

The TV commentators often say after a miss that the player didn't take enough time on the shot.

On the other hand, it's easy to say you should never vary your pre-shot routine, but very few people seem to really take that advice.

I won't make a conscious decision to change my routine. However I have noticed that on a critical shot I often slow my backstroke and have a noticeable pause before beginning the forward stroke. Seems to increase touch and feel for speed. It's not as effective when I try to do it, it is a product of where my head is at during that moment.

TV commentators are sometimes right, sometimes full of baloney. Hard to fill all of that air time without saying the same thing over and over.

Hu

 

[John Biddle]

Phil Capelle, of Play Your Best Pool fame, did some research watching pro players on video. Here are the details of how two top professionals adjust their routines based on shot difficulty.

............................Archer....Reyes
Easy Shots................1-2.......2-3
Average Shots ..........3-4 ......4-5
Tough Shots..............5-8.......6-8

Now just because these guys do it doesn't mean it's right, but ....

 

[pooltchr]

However I have noticed that on a critical shot I often slow my backstroke and have a noticeable pause before beginning the forward stroke. Seems to increase touch and feel for speed.
Hu

Isn't every shot a "critical shot"?
If it works better, why not have a slow smooth backstroke and a pause before beginning the forward stroke on EVERY shot???????????

Steve

 

[ShootingArts]

not in my book

Isn't every shot a "critical shot"?
If it works better, why not have a slow smooth backstroke and a pause before beginning the forward stroke on EVERY shot???????????

Steve

Steve,

No every shot isn't a critical shot, meaning achieving every aspect of the shot requires the same degree of attention. We all have different opinions about things but I often played six or eight hours after long days of very physical work or played over eighteen hours straight, sometimes days at a time. One of the greatest things I ever learned was conservation of effort. It doesn't take the same effort to shoot a ball sitting in the pocket and move the cue ball a few inches to the next shot as it does to hit a tough off angle shot and maneuver the cue ball over twenty feet and land in a keyhole for the next shot. Some advocate the same effort for every shot. I see that as a way to exhaust yourself in a long match or tournament and lose to the people that have learned to pace themselves and only expend the effort needed.

My backstroke is normally slow with a smooth transition to the forward stroke. Deliberately adding a pause doesn't work for me. When the situation seems to demand it the pause is automatic.

The biggest mistake I have made in trying to rebuild my game coming back to pool after many years away was trying to build a new game to fit the cookie cutter mold that is the "right way" instead of just dusting off the "wrong way" that took down some of the very best players of the day. I play like crap when I try to play using a perfect pendulum, spf, precise stance alignment, all of the niceties that distract me from playing pool. When I simply focus on beating another player or making balls fall in holes I occasionally catch a gear that reminds me of days of old. Must look like the old Hu to other people too, I have had several people quit me in midset when I shifted to my old style of play.

A thread today reminded me I have hit my million balls, several million in fact. I am probably best served to let that take over instead of trying to build something new. In other words, I think I need some fine tuning, not reinventing the wheel.

Hu

 

[Neil]

.................

 

[ShootingArts]

strongly agree with that

I think that on the critical shots it is important to spend a little extra time looking at the shot before you bend down. Really visualizing just what it is that you are going to make happen. Then, once down, maybe take an extra stroke or two to make sure everything feels o.k., not consciously thinking about the right steps, but just making sure you feel them.

Get your thinking done standing up. If you aren't happy with the plan when you get down on the shot stand up and think some more.

Hu

 

[randyg]

I thought it was "pre-shot routines".

I feel that it takes three seperate routines flowing together to preform a shot.

THINK-SEE-DO

SPF=randyg

 

[Big C]

Something I was wondering about: Suppose you're facing a difficult and/or high-stakes shot. Once you decide on your aim and speed, couldn't you argue that it's better to just get down and treat it like any other shot, vs. taking some extra time on your pre-shot routine?

The TV commentators often say after a miss that the player didn't take enough time on the shot.

On the other hand, it's easy to say you should never vary your pre-shot routine, but very few people seem to really take that advice.

I have seen pro's miss some very easy shots, even when they are on their game. Somehow it makes them seem more human. Those easy shots are usually missed due to lack of focus and it all started when they first saw the shot and deemed it easy. To me, each shot I shoot deserves my full attention and effort. It may be that the shot I am about to shoot looks easy, but I want to make sure that the next shot is just as easy. When you start thinking like that you don't need to change a thing.