Six Pointed Star

iusedtoberich

iusedtoberich

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I did this drill 3 hrs straight yesterday. It has 15 variations, I got through the first 5. I think I went up 5 fargorate points in 3 hrs. Note, Neil's has the balls frozen, but that didn't make sense to me, so I put them about 1/8" off the rails. I haven't felt this good about a practice session in years. Its originally from Bert Kinnister.

Neils' video:

My picture:
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This is very similar to JT's drill, and one that I used to practice way too much. It is fun to see that you enjoy this drill because it was always my first choice.


I should warn you though, I really did practice this tooo much. I ended up not doing other important drills and developed a tiny problem of trying to hold the cueball too much on shots away from the rail, and ended up hitting those shots thick.

I would suggest you spend a warm-down period with the One Pocket L or this simple drill
 
Tough drill. I have never completed it without at least one miss. Niels also has other drills with the balls a bit off the rails.

Before doing the six-pointed star, however, I practiced the five Feijin drills that lead up to it: Yo-Yo drill, Terrific Three, Skillful Square, Up & Down, and Knight's Move.

Spot to Bottom also helps.
 
g0ds gReeN said:
Didn't know there was a name for this. I've messed around practicing this except I would only spot the balls randomly.
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The video(s) by Niels are great at showing the various shots that can be used to succeed in the drill. But there are always a few shots a player will come up with on his own, especially since we aren't as consistently good as he is.
 
As mentioned, this is Kinister's drill and his tape "Building the 6 pointed star" takes you through the different areas of the drill before you try the whole thing.
The 9 pointed star is tougher yet.
When I was a die-hard player, I dedicated 30 minutes per day to the 6 pointed star. It will elevate your game no doubt.
I still have a pic somewhere of my old dry-erase board showing the order for all my daily drills back then.
 
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Yeah, I saw the links for his "build-up" drills and opened them in new tabs, but didn't watch them yet. I just wanted to go right to the star. I had a lot of trouble on it for a while, doing the first layout, then it sort of fell into place. From there, the next 4 layouts seem to build on the first and I had less relative trouble with them. I don't think I'm the favorite for any of them yet, but maybe 35/65.
 
There are really only two shots in the 6-pointed star that tend to trip me up. Either I don't pocket the ball, or I get a bit out of line for the next shot.

The shot on the 2 to get back to the three in pattern 4 is where I usually err. The Knight's Move drill really keys in on that shot.

All it takes is a moment of inattentiveness to get out of line, though. Focus more than anything is crucial.

That, and a consistent stroke. This is the drill more than any other that showed me how much my stroke needed to improve.
 
I did variation 6-15 tonight. It went really well. I feel I'm stronger at a lot more shots compared to last week. I didn't keep score. Maybe tomorrow.

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I found a weak spot. Playing the 2 to get on the 3, when the angle is almost straight in. From where the CB is now, to where the circle is, anywhere in that range. Going forward just to hit the end rail and bounce out a bit. The trouble I'm having is I keep hitting it fat and scratching (or jawing the CB) after pocketing the ball (even from the 2nd CB position), or I hit it too thin and miss. I've been hitting it a high and a bit of outside. That's my first choice. Would you guys hit it like that? Or only high? Or, high inside? I tried all 3 variations a bunch of times and didn't have high success with any.

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SUPERSTAR said:
He's color blind.
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OK. I assume he's going from the 4 to get on the 5, then to get on the 6 (not in the photo). The 6 should be on the left long rail across from the 4.

Since I do the drill with the ball flush to the rail, this situation doesn't come up in the same way.

When confronting a somewhat similar shot, though, I've used soft stun, straight lowball, or even a drag shot with no spin. Depends on the distance.

The CB usually comes off the long rail and drifts forward to the first diamond. Gives me a decent angle to pocket the 5 and get on the 6.
 
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iusedtoberich said:
I found a weak spot. Playing the 2 to get on the 3, when the angle is almost straight in. From where the CB is now, to where the circle is, anywhere in that range. Going forward just to hit the end rail and bounce out a bit. The trouble I'm having is I keep hitting it fat and scratching (or jawing the CB) after pocketing the ball (even from the 2nd CB position), or I hit it too thin and miss. I've been hitting it a high and a bit of outside. That's my first choice. Would you guys hit it like that? Or only high? Or, high inside? I tried all 3 variations a bunch of times and didn't have high success with any.

View attachment 870346
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* it’s the 4 to the 5.

With the 4 that far off the rail, it’s tough not to catch the point. You’d have to cheat this to the thin side, or play some sort of stun follow. Depending on the 3rd shot, I’d probably avoid the bottom rail and just roll forward a diamond to take my medicine on the 5.
 
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