The Ladder

TheConArtist

Daddy's A Butcher
Silver Member
The article of Niels Feijen in the Inside Pool Mag. He talked about his coach making him do this drill called The Ladder, placing two balls on each rail and the remaining three in the middle of the table, now i don't know where but i place them as so. It took me a few hours to get it, and i am still working on perfecting it. How would you start it out, and run it. Thanks.

Note: the nine is in the missing spot as i have it when posting but when i post the thread it ain't in the spot :confused: Just to let you know. Thanks. Cole.

CueTable Help

 
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Wow your way seems alot easier then the way i did it LOL. But i left out something you mustn't disturb the three balls in the middle of the table while pocketing the rail shots. Sorry About this, good info and i left it out LOL. I like this drill as it helps with rail shots and it takes great shotmaking and precise position play.
 
Are you shure that you don´t have to pot them in rotation?
I do a somewhat similar drill often, with only rail shots so some rails have three balls on them. Obviously you have to pot the balls nearest the pockets first because they are blocking the longer ones. I usually get it in two or three tries. I always start withe the blocking balls on the rails with three balls, but you don´t have that so simply start in a corner potting the two balls closest to the pocket (like egg suggested) on the long and short rail and take it from there.

gr. Dave
 
Yes, they have to be run in rotation, you can't disturb any other ball on the table, and no banks or combinations....each ball has to go in it's intended corner pocket. A miss, or disturbance of the balls, and you start over from the beginning...

And then, once you've gotten around the first pattern, you keep the one in the same place, and rotate the rest of the balls clockwise.

It's a good way to give yourself a coronary...
 
I don't do any rotation type drills with 15 balls, way too difficult. But off course that is the point of drills, so if you can handle it I probably need the 7.

gr. Dave
 
Would that coach be mr. Bert Kinister. He always seems to have great drills. He seems like the only instructor that actually focuses on the table instead of the stance and the head game.
 
Double-Dave said:
I don't do any rotation type drills with 15 balls, way too difficult. But off course that is the point of drills, so if you can handle it I probably need the 7.

gr. Dave

Only if I can have all the breaks, and rack my own.....lol
 
Pigcarver said:
Yes, it is one of Bert's drills.


Tape numbers 32 and 33. I am not sure but Niels may even be one of the demonstrators in those tapes as Niels was a student of Bert.
 
Are the balls in the Wei image set up properly to play them in numerical order? Seems to be a little off to attempt the shots like that.
 
In Mexico this is played as a multi-player game, with points for pocketed balls, and point deductions for disturbing balls or scratching. I played this at a pool hall in mexico but don't remember the specifics. I live near the border, and quite often I see this being played by construction workers who don't speak any english.
 
Mexican pool

This is actually like a game played in Mexico. I also play it here with a few mexicans that are regulars at the pool hall. It is a multi-player game. It starts as shown below, but the balls are played in rotation. You start with ball in hand in the kitchen, and each ball is worth its value, except the 3 is worth 6 points. If you scratch on a ball then it is minus whatever points that ball was worth. The person with the most points wins.

CueTable Help

 
AMoney said:
This is actually like a game played in Mexico. I also play it here with a few mexicans that are regulars at the pool hall. It is a multi-player game. It starts as shown below, but the balls are played in rotation. You start with ball in hand in the kitchen, and each ball is worth its value, except the 3 is worth 6 points. If you scratch on a ball then it is minus whatever points that ball was worth. The person with the most points wins.

There are a few other details. You MUST hit the lowest numbered ball on the table first. If you do not, you lose the number of points represented by the ball you do hit. If you don't hit anything, you lose the number of points of the ball you needed to hit. Do not need to call the pockets. If you combo a ball in you lose the points of the ball that potted, unless the lowest numbered ball pots first and the second to pot is the ball immediately after it in the numbered sequence. So if for instance the 9 is hanging on the lip of a pocket and the 8 is the lowest numbered ball and you hit the 8 and it comboes in the 9 which pots first you lose 9 points. If however the 8 goes in first but nicks the 9 and the 9 pots after the 8 then you get 8 points for the 8 plus 9 points for the 9.

By the way, safeties in this game can be real winners. Sometimes it may be better to take an intentional foul by laying a safety and seeing if your opponent tries to hit the balls. It can happen that busting up a cluster with a legal shot on the lowest ball will sell out the game. So strategy is key.

Also it pays to have a good stroke, you'll need one to move the cue ball around.

Great game.

Flex
 
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I've seen mexicans playing this game at the local hall aswell....they get real excited and start yelling and carrying on....:rolleyes:
________
 
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i don't know if it is set up for the rotation part, but i am shure you can place them how you want and still try and run it out in rotation, i was just trying to pot them in any order and not hit any other balls if i do then i start all over. Tonight i will test it out in rotation, sheesh LOL can't wait to see the outcome. Great drill though.
 
TheConArtist said:
... Great drill though.
I agree it's a challenging drill. Do you find that your runs in matches are often stopped by balls frozen on the cushion? If not, I think you are better off moving each ball off the cushion by a couple of inches to give you conditions closer to the ones you have to deal with normally.
 
Bob Jewett said:
I agree it's a challenging drill. Do you find that your runs in matches are often stopped by balls frozen on the cushion? If not, I think you are better off moving each ball off the cushion by a couple of inches to give you conditions closer to the ones you have to deal with normally.

yeah i would say i use to have trouble with rail shots the exact reason why i practice this drill but now they aren't as hard and more familiar thanks to the drill. I use to just practice hours and hours of cutting the balls, but never no rail shots until this drill. The next drill i am going put into my routine is combos :D as this is my next difficulty :) Other then that i say my game is purdy gooder. What other drills are very challenging that you know of Bob? As i would like to put more drills then my daily ones. Thanks.
 
you guys are going it all wrong. I have been to berts house and done the drill. I think it is the best drill out there. I have been working on this drill for 6-8 years and have only run 12 ball under 10x.

1 . run them is rotation
2 . when you go to the 2nd ball to the 3rd ball you must go in between the 3rd diamond and the side pocket.
3. when you goto the 3rd ball to the 4th ball you must go on the other side of the side pocket and the object ball on the 5th diamond.

I dont know how to do the wei so here is the layout.

there are 4 subsets of balls.

the 1st ball of each group is on the diamond closest to the pocket . the 2nd ball of each group is a diamond and 1/2 up on the rail and the 3rd ball of each group is on the 3rd diamond. I usually put the ob about a thumbs width off the rail. when you go from the 2nd ball of each group you must go two rails sometimes 3. you can only go back and forth, not 3 rails around.

I think this is the best drill there is . I usually try to get it 5x in a hour and then I give up. I only do it with 9 balls. 12 is too tough. when you start the drill use only the 1st 4 and build you way up.

even better yet buy the video. bert explains everything is great detail. well worth the money.


---------------------------------------
- 2 3 12 11
-
-1 10
-
-
-
-7 4
-
- 8 9 6 5
----------------------------------------


oh thats nice doesnt look like the balls came out in the right place

i cant believe I am doing this here is a pdf with my artistic chicken scratch.

I any of you can do this with the interfering balls in the middle of the table you should be at the us open and the ipt and the whatever else there is.
 
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TheConArtist said:
... What other drills are very challenging that you know of Bob? As i would like to put more drills then my daily ones. Thanks.
Any progressive practice drill. Progressive practice is described and five levels of basic drills are shown for free in the Basics handout on www.sfbilliards.com Lots of other progressive drills are in my columns in Billiards Digest and On The Break News, which are all available for free on-line:

http://www.sfbilliards.com/articles/BD_articles.html

http://www.onthebreaknews.com/JewettIndex.htm

The very nature of progressive practice makes it challenging and tailors it to your own level of play.

Here is one: everyone should know Mosconi's "semi-circle around the side" draw drill. If you don't remember it, see

http://www.sfbilliards.com/articles/2001-04.pdf

for how to turn it into a progressive practice drill.
 
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