to practice or not

Practice

fasted71465 said:
I have a home table and I try to play at least an hour a day. Some days I am not in the mood to play or just don't feel like it. I am trying to improve so do I make myself shoot or only shoot when I am in the mood? I think it may be harmful to make myself play. Most of the time I play the ghost or do some drills other times I throw out balls and shoot them in order. I do know that I usually don't do well if I am not in the mood. I am dedicated to getting better and I will make myself if it does help.
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Anything is better than nothing. Even ten min sessions. Line up short straight ins. Shoot with a stop shot. Same distance draw shot and then follow. Lengthen distance same straight in drill. Follow shots should follow into pocket!!! All shots should come straight back to you, except the follow. Great stroke trainer. Treat each shot as a five dollar shot. 3 , 5 , 10 reps, whatever floats your boat. Several short sessions seem to be easier to deal with than one hour sessions. Quit when you want. Remember your not out to make a living playing pool, you just want to progress. Don't forget to go fishing and shoot your guns. Take a walk in the woods!
 
Having a table a few steps away from you at home is sometimes harder to get motivated for than having to travel to a pool hall in my experience. If you can't be arsed playing then don't play. If I can't be arsed I get bored quick and end up playing really poor and getting frustrated. That's not what pool is about. Its meant to be enjoyable, so if only practicing 3 times a week is the most you can do with it still being enjoyable do that. You will benefit more from it.

I played for 8 months solid without missing a day and towards the end I absolutely hated the game. 8 months solid of rotation, even if its was just for 30 minutes was mind numbing. I don't practice drills because I personally don't see the point. They're a must for new comers but I know how to get the ball in the hole and control the white so they personally don't add much to my game. I will however, do a shot over and over if I miss it whilst playing the ghost. That's as close to a drill as I'm ever going to come.

I think part of the reason, as was mine was how you choose to play when at the table alone. Rotation ghost...its so hard to get motivated if you know that's what's coming. Play 14.1. Nothing is the same with the game so it keeps things different. I started using that as my "practice time" about a year ago and chasing your high run is fun, even now. I've been on the hunt for a 250+ run for months now and even though my chances of getting it are low, I still rock up to the table every day thinking todays my day.

You can also play against yourself at say, 8 ball. You are both players and player A is ultra attacking, and player B only knows how to play safe. 3 fouls and player B wins, run out and player A wins. Simple stuff like that will improve all aspects of your game from banking, safety play, kicking jumping, thinking, CB control.

All the best pal.
 
My good man!....what I do is this.... watch accustats, or a great match from the TAR Crew......and when a situation comes up that I am trying to work out....I chart it and go down to the basement to re-enact the shot to see if I can get out of the trap!!!!!

Having a tournament grade table in the basement is invaluable to my learning curve.!!!!


G
 
A few ideas to stay motivated:

Join a league. Playing competitively once a week will give you things to work on, people to discuss it with, and a reason to improve.

Take regular lessons from an instructor. I believe this puts even more positive pressure on you to practice. If an instructor says "this week work on xyz", you are going to want to have made progress on that before the next lesson.
 
I've gotten burnt out on pool before so I know what you mean. Taking a day or two off here and there isn't going to affect your game and you'll come back refreshed and wanting to play. Also, maybe you could invite some friends over, have some drinks and laughs, and just enjoy yourselves. We all take the game seriously, but really it's just a hobby and should be fun or else there's really no point in playing.
 
One thing I didn't get from your post...are you getting out of the basement and competing with other players around and above your level at pool halls and tournaments? Engaging in battle and interacting with other players help to keep your interest in the game high, and tough losses here and there should provide the "inspirational dissatisfaction" necessary to get you out of bed and over to the practice table.

As to the benefit of practice, I invite you to look at four of the players who are widely regarded as among the five best in the world--(in no particular order) Shane, Dennis, Thorsten and Darren. They all practice regularly. 'Nuff said on that.

Finally, a previous poster gave some excellent advice: watch videos of the pros for information and inspiration. If you can watch top players perform at a high level for an hour without wanting to jump on the table and hit some balls, there's something wrong.
 
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macguy said:
Since when has playing pool become a chore to endure? I love to play and usually don't even have the time I would like to devote. I have my doubts whether you really enjoy the game. Most of us here can't get enough.
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I can play 10+ hours straight against someone, at home or in a pool hall. I lose interest in less than an hour playing alone. All this armchair psychology about the OP not loving pool enough or not really wanting to get better or somehow just not being as into pool as they are.....is a bit over the top.

Everyone is wired differently, all he asked was whether practicing when you don't feel like it would help or hurt his game.
 
fasted71465 said:
I started back playing after about 5 years that I quit. I have been back at it for 6 months. I have only missed a handful of days that I didn't play. At 2 months I got my stroke back and was playing a ball or two better than before. Then I started declining. past couple of months I have been analyzing my game from the ground up and I am at a loss. It makes it even harder to play while shooting about 50% of my speed and my confidence is at all time low.
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If it's only a few days you've missed in 6 months, then sure take a day off now and then. I can't really fault someone who practices 7 days a week and once in a while they only want to practice 5-6 days a week.

When I was teaching guitar I had students that only practiced once a week for 30 minutes (they included setting up for practice and putting everything away into that 30 min). I had to ask them do they really want to learn to play guitar, or do they like the idea of learning to play guitar, completely different things.

To answer your original question, I don't think pushing yourself to practice will really hurt so long as you aren't allowing yourself to get lazy. If your just going through the motions on those days and banging the balls around, then you won't gain much from it. But if you still do your practice routines, identify problems and solutions and ensure you don't get lazy with your mechanics, it should be fine. It's same reason one can get very good at a job or pursuit they hate. As long as the effort is there, the results will follow.
 
I practice like I am playing SVB. If I start missing I try to figure out what the causing me to miss. I have worked on why I miss for about a month now. Seems like when I start missing shots that I have made a thousand times before I go into what is causing this mode. I am really thinking it is a confidence mental thing but still something went wrong causing the miss. Thanks for the help and by the way, this is what caused me to quit several times in the past. I am not going to give up this time but I can't let it drive me crazy.
 
The will to win

Bear Bryant says that everyone has the will to win, but everyone does not have the will to prepare to win.
 
Pathetic Shark said:
Go on then - what are the secrets?
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I am sorry, i would not reveal on public forum. But watch everything you do until it becomes second nature, the main thing is to get the CB to hit OB at the right expected condition at the right spot.
 
fasted71465 said:
I do want to improve and do what ever it takes just some days I don't feel like getting out of bed. My goal is to never miss a makeable shot. Not having a desire for a few days doesn't mean I aint dedicated because I have practice a lot before when I didn't want. MY QUESTION IS DOES IT HARM YOUR GAME IF YOU PRACTICE IF YOU ARE NOT WANTING TO THAT DAY? It seems I do poorly and hurts my confidence when I force myself to play.
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If you goal is to be better then you practice everyday, even on days you don't feel like being at the table. It will make you bear down and focus on you shot.
Strange you say" on days I don't feel like it" because when I was learning the game there were never days I didn't feel like it, and I would practice for at least 4 hours a day.---Smitty
 
fasted71465 said:
I have a home table and I try to play at least an hour a day. Some days I am not in the mood to play or just don't feel like it. I am trying to improve so do I make myself shoot or only shoot when I am in the mood? I think it may be harmful to make myself play. Most of the time I play the ghost or do some drills other times I throw out balls and shoot them in order. I do know that I usually don't do well if I am not in the mood. I am dedicated to getting better and I will make myself if it does help.
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Bottom line is, every ball you shoot you are training your body and mind. If you aren't paying attention to do it correctly, you aren't training properly. Every minute you spend training doing the wrong thing will require more training to undo it. Like I stated earlier, get your head right before you start hitting balls. Set some goals to help motivate you.
 
I think you need to rediscover the REWARD that comes from practicing.
That feeling of reward is how you can make yourself do it even when you don't feel like it.

And the short answer is, yes, you get benefit even if you don't feel like it.
Just like I can hate every minute of running at the gym and yet,
the same calories disappear whether I'm having fun or not.
It doesn't hurt you.

Right now, you experience all of the "pain" from doing something repetitive,
and you don't experience the "gain" from actually noticing your improvement.
The gain might be there, but you're not seeing & feeling it.

We need a reward for work or we stop doing it, that's true about anything.
And practice is absolutely work.
You need that "Damn I've come pretty far" moment in your pool practice.
How do you get it?

I think the best way is to actually keep track of your score in drills.
You sound dangerously close to that kind of lazy practice that isn't really practice.
One of the top instructors out there told me the ghost is not really practice.
It's playing. Ditto running balls in order. How do you REALLY know you got better
comparing ghost scores?

You have to do specific drills with specific goals like "this will sharpen up my speed control".
Then keep track of the results. Just keep a notepad nearby and mark down "I made 15 out of 30
speed control shots" or whatever.

Do it for a week or two, then mark it down again. You may notice after a few weeks or a month
that yes, you are actually getting better a speed control. THAT'S where the pleasure/gain comes from.

And if you do it for a month and don't actually improve? Well then you're off the hook.
You can skip practice if you feel like and it won't really make any difference.
But I think and hope it won't be that way.
 
CreeDo said:
I think you need to rediscover the REWARD that comes from practicing.
That feeling of reward is how you can make yourself do it even when you don't feel like it.

And the short answer is, yes, you get benefit even if you don't feel like it.
Just like I can hate every minute of running at the gym and yet,
the same calories disappear whether I'm having fun or not.
It doesn't hurt you.

Right now, you experience all of the "pain" from doing something repetitive,
and you don't experience the "gain" from actually noticing your improvement.
The gain might be there, but you're not seeing & feeling it.

We need a reward for work or we stop doing it, that's true about anything.
And practice is absolutely work.
You need that "Damn I've come pretty far" moment in your pool practice.
How do you get it?

I think the best way is to actually keep track of your score in drills.
You sound dangerously close to that kind of lazy practice that isn't really practice.
One of the top instructors out there told me the ghost is not really practice.
It's playing. Ditto running balls in order. How do you REALLY know you got better
comparing ghost scores?

You have to do specific drills with specific goals like "this will sharpen up my speed control".
Then keep track of the results. Just keep a notepad nearby and mark down "I made 15 out of 30
speed control shots" or whatever.

Do it for a week or two, then mark it down again. You may notice after a few weeks or a month
that yes, you are actually getting better a speed control. THAT'S where the pleasure/gain comes from.

And if you do it for a month and don't actually improve? Well then you're off the hook.
You can skip practice if you feel like and it won't really make any difference.
But I think and hope it won't be that way.
Click to expand...
Excellent post.

This is what the Billiard University (BU) playing-ability Exams offer:
- a structured pool workout routine.
- score-able drills that specifically assess and measure improvement in all important pool skills.
- a scoring system to rate your skill level.
- motivation to practice through the challenge of increasing your score (and eventually achieving a pool playing-ability diploma).

For those who haven't tried it out yet, more info and scores posted to date by AZB users can be found on the AZB BU thread

Enjoy,
Dave
 
I wouldn't wanna get out of bed either if i knew I faced shooting 15 ball rotation.

To build my confidence, I toss out 15 balls and do so until I've been able to run them off the table.

Having now boosted my ego, I then turn to practice drills.

I know that it's not considered practicing merely to shoot balls, but I intensely focus on each shot as if it were my key ball to winning a match. In this manner, I tend to focus on all aspects such as position, speed, angle, draw, follow etc.

I keep a daily journal, and at first was lucky to run out the fifteen a few times a month. Now my success comes daily and I keep track of how many shots I fail at, then go on to practice those repetitively. Or not; depending how my 66 year old frame feels that day.
 
dr_dave said:
Excellent post.

This is what the Billiard University (BU) playing-ability Exams offer:
- a structured pool workout routine.
- score-able drills that specifically assess and measure improvement in all important pool skills.
- a scoring system to rate your skill level.
- motivation to practice through the challenge of increasing your score (and eventually achieving a pool playing-ability diploma).

For those who haven't tried it out yet, more info and scores posted to date by AZB users can be found on the AZB BU thread

Enjoy,
Dave
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I will try these drills and see what skills level am I. Thanks
 
The_Marvelous said:
dr_dave said:
Excellent post.

This is what the Billiard University (BU) playing-ability Exams offer:
- a structured pool workout routine.
- score-able drills that specifically assess and measure improvement in all important pool skills.
- a scoring system to rate your skill level.
- motivation to practice through the challenge of increasing your score (and eventually achieving a pool playing-ability diploma).

For those who haven't tried it out yet, more info and scores posted to date by AZB users can be found on the AZB BU thread
Click to expand...
I will try these drills and see what skills level am I. Thanks
Click to expand...
I hope others will try them also. Again, when you do, please post your scores (and video if available) on the AZB BU thread, both after your first attempt and after practice so we can see how much you can improve your scores.

Thanks,
Dave
 
fasted71465 said:
I have a home table and I try to play at least an hour a day.
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Where about in LA are you from?

I think you just need some friendly competition to get you motivated.

Practicing for 5hrs alone is tough. Shooting with a bud for 5hrs, I can do that every day of the week.
 
fasted71465 said:
I do want to improve and do what ever it takes just some days I don't feel like getting out of bed. My goal is to never miss a makeable shot. Not having a desire for a few days doesn't mean I aint dedicated because I have practice a lot before when I didn't want. MY QUESTION IS DOES IT HARM YOUR GAME IF YOU PRACTICE IF YOU ARE NOT WANTING TO THAT DAY? It seems I do poorly and hurts my confidence when I force myself to play.
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I think that people are better and more creative with their hobbies if they have a lot of them and cycle through them regularly (just like eating balanced meals). Take a break and do something else you like to do, and come back to it. Give your pool-synapses some time to rest; they're probably saturated with endorphins on the days you don't feel like practicing.
 
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