speed control drills?

poolfoole said:
Scott,

In your opinion, does Mother Drill 5 carry over to your game when the cue ball contacts an object ball or when you're doing anything other than just rolling the cue ball? I can do this drill really good, but can't get the feel for the speeds very well when I'm doing anything other than just rolling the cue ball like in the drill.
Click to expand...

I'm not Scott, but I did take a lesson from him at one point, and I think I can pretty much answer your question.

There are three elements to speed control:
1) Judging exactly how hard you need to hit a certain cut shot to get your CB where you want
2) Actually hitting the ball exactly that hard
3) Hitting the cut shot exactly the right thickness, since hitting too thin will make you run long and hitting too thick will make you come up short

All three elements are critical; any one is useless without the other two. Mother drill 5 will give you #2 if you practice it well. Stroke mechanics, eye patterns, and alignment all play a part in #3, and there are drills to help with those things too. But as for #1, only a great deal of experience playing a variety of cut shots will teach you to judge exactly how hard you have to hit the CB to get where you need after a given cut. Which is why drills are great for giving you the tools, but you also have to practice playing the game if you want to really get good at playing the game.

-Andrew
 
poolfoole said:
Scott,

In your opinion, does Mother Drill 5 carry over to your game when the cue ball contacts an object ball or when you're doing anything other than just rolling the cue ball? I can do this drill really good, but can't get the feel for the speeds very well when I'm doing anything other than just rolling the cue ball like in the drill.

Having said that, it's a fun drill. I hit 23 out of 25 stroke speeds the last time I practiced it last Sunday. I went away from it for a few months, came back to it and only his 12 and 13 of 25 my next 2 times I did it before getting up to 23.
Click to expand...

You have to take what you learn doing #5 and translating it to the game. For instance, set up a table length bank shot, and shooting it at a 1 speed will come up short. Not all the energy is transferred to the object ball. And the angle you are shooting changes things as well. A fuller hit transferrs more energy to the OB, a thinner cut allows the cue ball to retain more energy. (a half ball hit just about splits it between the two, so both balls will travel about the same distance in different directions.

The advantage of the drill is you learn what it takes from you to shoot a specific speed shot. If you regularly nail a #3 on your table, and then go to a different room, shoot a couple of #3 as you know it. If you come up short, this table is playing slower than yours. If it's long, the table is playing fast. Now you know that if you would normally shoot a number 3 shot to get position, you may only need a 2 on a faster table.

The knowledge you get from the drill is only useful if you learn to apply it to your game. Mother drill 5 is your centergistic for figuring out what you need to do on a specific shot.

Steve
 
Thanks for your insightful post, Steve. I'll go home and shoot some banks or other shots at different SAM angles and try to get a better feel for the different speeds like you're saying.

pooltchr said:
You have to take what you learn doing #5 and translating it to the game. For instance, set up a table length bank shot, and shooting it at a 1 speed will come up short. Not all the energy is transferred to the object ball. And the angle you are shooting changes things as well. A fuller hit transferrs more energy to the OB, a thinner cut allows the cue ball to retain more energy. (a half ball hit just about splits it between the two, so both balls will travel about the same distance in different directions.
Click to expand...

This part I understand. For example, a 4 speed on my home table is about equal to a 3 speed on the slower tables I'm going to be playing on tonight during my league match.


pooltchr said:
The advantage of the drill is you learn what it takes from you to shoot a specific speed shot. If you regularly nail a #3 on your table, and then go to a different room, shoot a couple of #3 as you know it. If you come up short, this table is playing slower than yours. If it's long, the table is playing fast. Now you know that if you would normally shoot a number 3 shot to get position, you may only need a 2 on a faster table.

The knowledge you get from the drill is only useful if you learn to apply it to your game. Mother drill 5 is your centergistic for figuring out what you need to do on a specific shot.

Steve
Click to expand...
 
getsome01 said:
anyone know any good speed control drills?
any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
bd
Click to expand...
Links to many drills and drill resources can be found here:


Here are a few where speed is important:

Speed is important in most shots and in many drills.

Regards,
Dave
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top