Speed control

K

kamikaze13

New member
I've been playing pool for about 6 months; I normally play 2-3 hours a week.
I'd like to practise more but I don't have a table at home and the nearest decent club/pub is quite far away since I don't have a car.
My biggest problem is that I don't really have good speed control - for safety or position purposes. I hope that the feeling for the speed of the balls is something you gain through experience and time - is it?

Thanks
 
6 months at 2 to 3 hours a week comes out to about 60 hours of experience. In that short amount of time, you really aren't going to get that much feel for the different speeds for accurate cue ball placement. We teach speed control in our pool schools, and give students a scale to measure their speed, but without practice, it's going to be tough.

Steve
 
kamikaze13 said:
I've been playing pool for about 6 months; I normally play 2-3 hours a week.
I'd like to practise more but I don't have a table at home and the nearest decent club/pub is quite far away since I don't have a car.
My biggest problem is that I don't really have good speed control - for safety or position purposes. I hope that the feeling for the speed of the balls is something you gain through experience and time - is it?

Thanks
Click to expand...

of course it is. One of the best things to remember when learning is to shoot the balls with pocket speed. If you can lean to just make the ball drop in then your pocketing will go up. Also if you know pocket speed then you can adjust your CB in regards to that for your next shot.

Learn to use natural positioning and follow, draw and center with no english. (english is side spin, not top or bottom on the vertical axis)

Another thing to very much remember that many beginners forget is that "if the shot is harder then that does not mean shoot it harder"

I got a buddy that started shooting with us and he's just a 4 in apa. He won his first match against a 5 b/c he took care of the balls, he didn't shoot very hard, just made the balls go to where he needed them. I told him don't ask more of your stroke than you can give it, play your strengths and know your weaknesses. He did what he needed to and won the match.

Take your time and it will come. PM me your email and I'll send some drills and such your way to help ya out.

Best wishes,
Grey Ghost
 
greyghost said:
of course it is. One of the best things to remember when learning is to shoot the balls with pocket speed. If you can lean to just make the ball drop in then your pocketing will go up. Also if you know pocket speed then you can adjust your CB in regards to that for your next shot.

Learn to use natural positioning and follow, draw and center with no english. (english is side spin, not top or bottom on the vertical axis)

Another thing to very much remember that many beginners forget is that "if the shot is harder then that does not mean shoot it harder"

I got a buddy that started shooting with us and he's just a 4 in apa. He won his first match against a 5 b/c he took care of the balls, he didn't shoot very hard, just made the balls go to where he needed them. I told him don't ask more of your stroke than you can give it, play your strengths and know your weaknesses. He did what he needed to and won the match.

Take your time and it will come. PM me your email and I'll send some drills and such your way to help ya out.

Best wishes,
Grey Ghost
Click to expand...


Not even just beginners, it's amazing how long it takes players to learn how much you can move the cb with a smooth easy stroke and a good angle. Not knocking them, I used to be one. Good advice.

kamikaze13, just keep plugging away and it will start to come. While practicing whatever game you are playing, if you miss a shot or position, set it up and shoot again at least until you make it once. Don't move on to the next shot. You'll learn different shots much quicker this way.
 
Check your local bowling alleys and rec centers. Many of these will have bar boxes. When i first moved to Mountain Home, my pool table was still in storage in Oklahoma. It took me about 6 months to get time to move it in and set it up. In the meantime, I'd go to a local bowling alley for lunch at least 3 days a week and while I was waiting for my food, I'd get on one of their bar boxes and do nothing but stroke drill, stop shot drill and speed drill. During this time I was playing a local tournament on Thursday nights. Just that 15 to 20 minutes kept my speed control and ball control sharp. Of course, in a few months, you'll spend the price of a table in quarters on those bar boxes, but the difference it will make in your game is tremendous. It doesn't take hours to work on speed control. Just focus what practice time you have on what you need to work on, in your case, speed control. Someone, I think it was Grey Ghost, reiterated it well in another thread "PERFECT practice makes perfect".

Grey Ghost is right, it will come with time! If you can only play 2 to 3 hours per week, then it's going to take a long time. If you can find a table at a bowling alley to practice on, 2 hours a week... well, 2 HOURS of PRACTICE is better than 2 DAYS of PLAY, because you can focus on exactly what you're having issues with.

Bob
 
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Here's something you can try. Shoot a lag shot until you get the feel for the speed. That is roughly as hard as you need to hit most shots assuming your in line. After you get the feel for it, practice shooting everything at that speed. After that you can adjust your power as needed to play position.

It's something I always do after I've been playing snooker exclusively because I need to re-adjust to the weight of the balls and size of the table.
 
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