Still more stroke grooving

[BC21]

..... This game has so many nuances. I can only work on a few things at a time and I consider stance, alignment, cueing straight, and timing foundational.
.....

I agree absolutely!

Most players (myself included) first start playing this game in wide-open mode, meaning we take our weak and inconsistent mechanics to the table and start hitting balls. We miss plenty more than we make, and we think it's because of poor aiming skills. After a few hundred or thousand hours at the table, some of us become pretty consistent.

Too many people think consistency in pocketing balls is the result of developing good aiming skills over time. But, actually, what leads to solid aiming skills is the development of consistent body mechanics - stance, stroke, cue delivery. These things allow us to accurately and consistently send the cb to where it needs to go, and that's when aiming skills really start to develop.

So I believe the way you're approaching this is excellent.

 

[BC21]

Watching lower level players in tough situations -- maybe an uncomfortable bridging position -- they seem to want to get the shot over with as quickly as possible. They make no attempt to learn or deal with the problem.

Exactly.

And when I hear someone say, "Watch better players and you'll learn what to do", I typically throw in, "Watch weaker players also, because you might recognize the same mistakes or poor decisions you make in your own game".

 

[DrCue'sProtege]

And what exactly is the Mighty X drill?

r/DCP

 

[WobblyStroke]

I think this is a very important part of any drill. Something needs to be varied.

I've seen some players shoot the exact same shot over and over for half an hour. I think it's rare that such repetition is helpful.

Spot on. Variability is key for meaningful motor learning to take place. The research is pretty clear on this as well as blocked practice (many similar reps in a row) consistently under performs vs variable practice. There are decent applications for it, of course, like grooving a feel/technique. But to have a skill transfer over to performance on demand, variability is key. The major issue with block practice is that little compensations for that particular shot can creep in, making you execute it successfully at a higher clip without actually making you any better at setting up and executing a one-off shot of a different nature.

To illustrate how weak block practice is in improving in-game performance, consider that Shaquille O'Neil (a notoriously poor free throw shooter) shot above 80% from the free throw line in practice when spending big chunks of time just shooting them.

 

[boogieman]

And what exactly is the Mighty X drill?

r/DCP

 

[bbb]

And what exactly is the Mighty X drill?

r/DCP

be careful who you enable
jmho