The Divide on Drills

Zphix

Zphix

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
So, as many of you know, I shoot pool in Green Bay right now and Wisconsin has absolute monsters and I'm privileged to be able to shoot with them and I keep finding something interesting.

Many of you on AZB suggest that doing drills is the way to get better, same thing with getting a lesson.

Every good player I know says they didn't drill when they were starting out, they just played the game, threw balls on the table and focused on shooting. No drills at all and I simply cannot stand the boredom that comes with drills and really, just how important are drills. If this many people got good without them then why do people say that drilling is the absolute best?

The real question I'm asking here is: are drills for everybody? I know SVB never drilled, and Appleton always drills. Different disciplines for sure but that shows that drilling isn't for everybody. I get much more pleasure and much more enjoyment out of breaking a rack open and free-wheeling and it's what I see Masters, Grandmasters, and very high AA players doing.

Furthermore, I've jumped from a low B to high B/low A in the course of 6 months without drilling at all. I'm dedicated to improving for sure, and play at least 6 hours a day but I'm really feeling like drills just are not for me.
 
Zphix said:
So, as many of you know, I shoot pool in Green Bay right now and Wisconsin has absolute monsters and I'm privileged to be able to shoot with them and I keep finding something interesting.

Many of you on AZB suggest that doing drills is the way to get better, same thing with getting a lesson.

Every good player I know says they didn't drill when they were starting out, they just played the game, threw balls on the table and focused on shooting. No drills at all and I simply cannot stand the boredom that comes with drills and really, just how important are drills. If this many people got good without them then why do people say that drilling is the absolute best?

The real question I'm asking here is: are drills for everybody? I know SVB never drilled, and Appleton always drills. Different disciplines for sure but that shows that drilling isn't for everybody. I get much more pleasure and much more enjoyment out of breaking a rack open and free-wheeling and it's what I see Masters, Grandmasters, and very high AA players doing.

Furthermore, I've jumped from a low B to high B/low A in the course of 6 months without drilling at all. I'm dedicated to improving for sure, and play at least 6 hours a day but I'm really feeling like drills just are not for me.
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In my opionion, each person has a peak without doing drills. Some may get to C while others may get to A+, but, I think most will hit a plateau and it's at this point that drills can help one get over the plateau and start getting even better.
 
Zphix said:
So, as many of you know, I shoot pool in Green Bay right now and Wisconsin has absolute monsters and I'm privileged to be able to shoot with them and I keep finding something interesting.

Many of you on AZB suggest that doing drills is the way to get better, same thing with getting a lesson.

Every good player I know says they didn't drill when they were starting out, they just played the game, threw balls on the table and focused on shooting. No drills at all and I simply cannot stand the boredom that comes with drills and really, just how important are drills. If this many people got good without them then why do people say that drilling is the absolute best?

The real question I'm asking here is: are drills for everybody? I know SVB never drilled, and Appleton always drills. Different disciplines for sure but that shows that drilling isn't for everybody. I get much more pleasure and much more enjoyment out of breaking a rack open and free-wheeling and it's what I see Masters, Grandmasters, and very high AA players doing.

Furthermore, I've jumped from a low B to high B/low A in the course of 6 months without drilling at all. I'm dedicated to improving for sure, and play at least 6 hours a day but I'm really feeling like drills just are not for me.
Click to expand...
I think drills can benefit anybody.

You learn a particular skill more quickly when you focus on it exclusively for a period of time - it allows you to pick up and build on things you won't notice or remember if you only encounter it occasionally during normal play, and also gives you a way to target your weaknesses for improvement.

If you mean drills aren't for you because you just don't enjoy them, that's something else, and too bad. I'm like that and wish I wasn't.

pj
chgo
 
Different strokes for different folks. SVB comes up all the time when talking about drills. SVB dedicated his life to playing pool 8 -12 hours a day. When you are playing pool twelve hours a day all these shots get "burned" into your subconscious . You subconsciously learn when to apply 7:30,8:00,8:30 english (clock system) and what that English does at different angles and speeds etc. If you can't dedicate that amount of time to the table drills are a great way to get an understanding of different shots and what you need to work on. When SVB practiced like that I think that is an extreme drill within itself.
 
I'm not a drill guy either. They bore me to death in a matter of minutes. I'm a feel player and instruction just doesn't sink in. Maybe it's unfortunate but trial and error sort of works for me and the lessons I learn this way stick. I learn more by playing a really good player than doing drills. I do practice but mainly my practice is, aside from making balls, is reinforcing a PSR and the mental side when I am down on the shot.
 
Something I posted a while back:

Doing fundamental drills will "groove" your stroke. Without a repeatable, straight stroke, all else is nothing more than a crap shoot.

Doing pocketing drills will increase your confidence and ability in making balls. It will also show you which shots are low percentage for you.

Doing pocketing drills combined with positional drills will increase your confidence and abilities in pocketing and positional play.

Playing the ghost will enable you to take your individual skills and combine them. It will teach you pressure. It will teach you how shots tie in together. It will teach you the best routes to take to make things as simple as possible.

Doing drills will enable you to set up the same shot, and see exactly where you had a problem with it. Is it a shot that you feel you should make most of the time, but in reality you actually make less than 50% and didn't even realize it?

In any case, drills, or playing the ghost, will do you little good if your goal is just to perform the drill a set number of times. The drills are to reinforce your muscles and your subconscious on how exactly to perform it. So that under pressure, you will perform as you trained. During drills, you should be paying very close attention to details. ALL the details, so you can actually learn something and improve.

To those that think drills are a waste of time- good luck with that. Don't be surprised when in 10 years you find out you aren't much better than you are now.
 
Zphix said:
So, as many of you know, I shoot pool in Green Bay right now and Wisconsin has absolute monsters and I'm privileged to be able to shoot with them and I keep finding something interesting.

Many of you on AZB suggest that doing drills is the way to get better, same thing with getting a lesson.

Every good player I know says they didn't drill when they were starting out, they just played the game, threw balls on the table and focused on shooting. No drills at all and I simply cannot stand the boredom that comes with drills and really, just how important are drills. If this many people got good without them then why do people say that drilling is the absolute best?

The real question I'm asking here is: are drills for everybody? I know SVB never drilled, and Appleton always drills. Different disciplines for sure but that shows that drilling isn't for everybody. I get much more pleasure and much more enjoyment out of breaking a rack open and free-wheeling and it's what I see Masters, Grandmasters, and very high AA players doing.

Furthermore, I've jumped from a low B to high B/low A in the course of 6 months without drilling at all. I'm dedicated to improving for sure, and play at least 6 hours a day but I'm really feeling like drills just are not for me.
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Well, in the fact that you play six hours per day, you are in a sense going through a practice routine. You may not call it a drill but in sense it is.
 
I find drills as much of a mental challenge as a physical one. You start drills, and depending on your initial success, you are forced into a realistic evaluation of your skill level that perhaps just shooting racks doesn't give you. The next challenge for me is running the drills over and over while maintaining a good even PSR without rushing and keeping good form on the 'easy ones' It also drills home for me as a predominately 8 ball player, that small mistakes soon snowball into larger positional errors that you can't just shift out of by changing your pattern.

This topic brings to mind one of my favorite Bruce Lee quotes:
" I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced 1 kick 10,000 times."
 
It seems that the underlying force behind getting better is your willingness to learn, the time you put in, and your desire to get better. (might be more as well)

I learn by doing, seeing, and understanding. I agree that drills should be used to focus on the weaknesses in your game and maybe my style of dedicating myself to this game is the drill that I don't notice. Anyhow, I'm a very strong shooter and my ability is in being able to pocket balls. What stops my run outs is getting good shape on the next ball - and that comes down to position play, shot choice, and speed control.

Shooting the L drill, or T drill, or any other drill for position play just doesn't do it for me. Instead I focus on these elements in my practice sessions and really focus on remembering what it took to get from ball to ball. I almost always mess up somewhere though (in 9-ball, I usually make it from the 1 to the 6 and then hook myself), etc.

I've tried drilling, spent hours drilling and it felt horrible. Although, there are a few that I really do like to do.
 
In the early phases of a player's development I'm guessing (key word) that drills really don't help all that much with the exception of doing some drills that focus strictly on your cueing technique. In these early phases, I think (another key word) it's an all roads lead to Rome type of thing. There's so much to learn and you're such a blank slate that no matter what you do at the table you are working on some part of your game. In this phase I think total immersion is the key. So if a player can be totally immersed in the game while just playing that's probably better than someone who struggles to put in time doing drills. Later on, once a player's rapid improvement subsides that's when drilling becomes important.

I would be leery of paying too much attention to local shortstops and what they did because after all -- they really didn't make it to the top. Most top players really did drill at one time or another but you have to pay close attention to what they say when the topic comes up. SVB for example will usually say something like "I never did drills." But in another conversation he will mention how he would line up and shoot rail shots for hours on end. This is really a drill but it's just not the type of drill that we first think of.

Of course this is just one man's opinion so...
 
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I am from the cheese head state. I sure wish I were one of those alleged monsters from WI. I have been playing about 4 years now but it does not seem like I am improving as rapidly as before. I am just starting to do drills. They can be challenging by themselves by just challenging yourself to complete them without misses or I'm sure you can find ways to change up a drill to make it tougher. You can do some by not touching rails, making QB hit a rail or 2 rails, put obstacle balls in the way, etc...........
 
The purpose of a drill is not to complete it but to identify the particular shots that you are weak in. If you make shot 1,2,and 3 but can't make shot 4 and get proper position stop the drill and perfect shot 4. Using a drill this way will lead to faster improvement in your game.
 
you got that right!

bmoretallpaul said:
Well, in the fact that you play six hours per day, you are in a sense going through a practice routine. You may not call it a drill but in sense it is.
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I add in a drill from time to time to work on a particular thing, I might do it until its locked in or until I am executing it enough to say I have benefited from the workout.
 
True. Drills aren't for everyone. However, if you are hell bent on getting better as fast as possible, drills are a great tool for that. The main reason is that you can focus on your weaknesses and make them strengths. If you throw balls on the table and just continue running them, you may be neglecting a weakness that only comes up every few racks.

For example, if your banking is weak, an hour a day dedicated to banking drills will improve your banking a hell of a lot quicker than just shooting bank shots when they come up....

Whether you have the patience for drills or not, they are most definitely a short cut for addressing your weaknesses.
 
I think drills can shorten the learning curve, help get past plateaus, and are ideal for someone who doesn't get to play more than a couple days a week for 2 or 3 hours let alone 6 every day. Also, it depends on how you interpret drill. Is playing the ghost a drill? Is practicing certain shots over an over a drill? I think so, but maybe others do not. I don't think anyone ever really got better by just randomly shooting balls in. Also, I think drills are only part of the equation. You have to augment with competitive play.
 
Zphix said:
So, as many of you know, I shoot pool in Green Bay right now and Wisconsin has absolute monsters and I'm privileged to be able to shoot with them and I keep finding something interesting.

Many of you on AZB suggest that doing drills is the way to get better, same thing with getting a lesson.

Every good player I know says they didn't drill when they were starting out, they just played the game, threw balls on the table and focused on shooting. No drills at all and I simply cannot stand the boredom that comes with drills and really, just how important are drills. If this many people got good without them then why do people say that drilling is the absolute best?

The real question I'm asking here is: are drills for everybody? I know SVB never drilled, and Appleton always drills. Different disciplines for sure but that shows that drilling isn't for everybody. I get much more pleasure and much more enjoyment out of breaking a rack open and free-wheeling and it's what I see Masters, Grandmasters, and very high AA players doing.

Furthermore, I've jumped from a low B to high B/low A in the course of 6 months without drilling at all. I'm dedicated to improving for sure, and play at least 6 hours a day but I'm really feeling like drills just are not for me.
Click to expand...

What do you mean by SVB never do drills ???
I think the definition of "drill" should be "a practice where you set the balls up in certain way and try to achieve certain objective"
If the guy shoots a straight in draw shot for 2 hours, it's a drill for me, easy, but effective.
 
StraightPoolIU said:
I think drills can shorten the learning curve, help get past plateaus, and are ideal for someone who doesn't get to play more than a couple days a week for 2 or 3 hours let alone 6 every day. Also, it depends on how you interpret drill. Is playing the ghost a drill? Is practicing certain shots over an over a drill? I think so, but maybe others do not. I don't think anyone ever really got better by just randomly shooting balls in. Also, I think drills are only part of the equation. You have to augment with competitive play.
Click to expand...

Clearly many, many players have gotten better by doing just this. The question is - is there a better way?
 
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