Can anyone offer any drills that can improve speed control, or does that not exist due to enviromental conditions of the table and it's surrondings?
Thanks.
Thanks.
desert1pocket said:...These may seem like easy drills at first, but they are harder than they appear, and will give you a good idea of where your speed control really is.
Do you mean on stop shots, of where the cue ball lies after impact? Stop shots I normally don't have problems with. It's speed control in general after impact of an object ball, a cushion, and both.CaptainJR said:Cue ball speed control is my biggest problem. Getting the cue ball to stop within say a 4 inch diameter circle after making a ball and rolling two to three diamonds or more. One diamond away from object ball contact I can usually do pretty good. Two diamonds, OK. Three or more diamonds of roll and the circle that I can count on starts getting bigger.
Any hints on what someone does to help this would be much appreciated. The one hole drills mentioned here are good but I don't play one hole. I don't have the patients for it.
CaptainJR said:Any hints on what someone does to help this would be much appreciated. The one hole drills mentioned here are good but I don't play one hole. I don't have the patients for it.
VIProfessor said:The first thing I do in all my daily practice sessions is to put the cueball in the center of the table and try to bank it three rails to the exact spot for about ten to fifteen attempts.
Then, incorporating a technique that I got from Williebetmore's post on straight pool drills (thanks Willie), I place the cue ball on the foot spot and lag directly at the center diamond on the head rail to come back down to the bottom rail. This has the added benefit of improving your ability to hit the cueball on the exact vertical axis, since you are also be trying to ensure that the cue ball banks straight back without any deviation due to unintended english.
After about five minutes of that, I then increase the speed to bank two rails up to the head rail, once again making sure that I don't place unintended english on the cue ball.
These three drills have not only bring about significant improvement in my speed control, but also in the quality and accuracy of my stroke.
Billy_Bob said:Break a full rack, then shoot each ball so it rolls up to the pocket but does *not* drop into the pocket. Leave each object ball sitting right in front of the pocket.
This teaches you the first "ingreedient" of speed control - hitting a ball full on requires very little speed to get the object ball to the pocket, hitting a ball with a thin cut requires a lot of speed. (And all the in-between.)
Practice this every day. Then with this information stored upstairs... You will be able to shoot certain shots quite slowly - just enough speed to pocket the ball and have a minimum of cue ball travel after the shot. Very handy in certain situations. You will also understand that the cue ball will travel quite a distance after a thin cut and will tend to die with a full on shot.
Also shoot *just* the cue ball 1/2 diamond and stop (quite difficult, try shooting high on the ball). Then 1 diamond and stop. Then 2, 3, 4, 5 diamonds and stop, etc. Then to far rail and stop. Then far rail and come back one diamond. Keep doing this up to 3 rails. This will teach you to shoot the cue ball at different speeds.
Practice daily for 6 months.
tigerallenyim said:Can anyone offer any drills that can improve speed control, or does that not exist due to enviromental conditions of the table and it's surrondings?
Thanks.
CaptainJR said:Cue ball speed control is my biggest problem. Getting the cue ball to stop within say a 4 inch diameter circle after making a ball and rolling two to three diamonds or more. One diamond away from object ball contact I can usually do pretty good. Two diamonds, OK. Three or more diamonds of roll and the circle that I can count on starts getting bigger.
Any hints on what someone does to help this would be much appreciated. The one hole drills mentioned here are good but I don't play one hole. I don't have the patients for it.
tigerallenyim said:Can anyone offer any drills that can improve speed control, or does that not exist due to enviromental conditions of the table and it's surrondings?
Thanks.
tigerallenyim said:Can anyone offer any drills that can improve speed control, or does that not exist due to enviromental conditions of the table and it's surrondings?
Thanks.
VIProfessor said:One more tip--visualization. Before you get down into the shot, visualize, the ENTIRE shot in your head, including the path and the resting place of the cue ball. This makes it a lot easier to execute. If you've put in the hours on the table, your body knows subconsciously just how much force to apply in the stroke. By visualizing the shot, you give your body and your mental computer the information as to the desired results without overthinking and placing your conscious mind in the way. If you can develop strong visualization skills, you will soon find yourself accomplishing feats of speed and cue ball route control that you would not have dreamed possible before.
Good luck, and try without trying!
VIProfessor
TATE said:Plus, if you do mess up after visualizing the shot, you are learning from your mistake, because your mind is absorbing a result different than anticipated. This hones your skills. Shooting shots with vague expectations teach you nothing.
VISUALIZING SHOTS, RATHER THAN ACCURATELY AND CONSISTENTLY AIMING THEM, IS A RECIPE FOR DISASTER.
SONIA