Training question

Bamacues

Bamacues

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I have a question about training techniques some of you may use when you get out of stroke.

I had surgery a couple of months ago, and was out for a while. When I got back into pool, I still make ny shots, but I seem to have absolutely no idea as to where the cue ball is going. What is happening is that I am stroking the ball too hard. It does not feel like I am, but whitey keeps on going. I still manage to win most of my matches, but they are a lot closer thanthey were in the past (I have played 9 Master's matches that were 7-6 this session).

Any ideas/suggestions?

Thanks,
Joe
 
Don't hit so hard!

Sometimes when I have absolutely nothing to do, I will throw a ball on the table with the cueball and try to hit it toward a corner pocket. The only rule I give myself is that I cannot end up with the cueball closer to the pocket than the object ball, and when it gets close, and I try to see how many times I can execute a legal shot without pocketing the ball or scratching. It takes awhile, but you get used to the lighter strokes. Maybe it can help you as well.
 
Training

Bamacues said:
I have a question about training techniques some of you may use when you get out of stroke.

I had surgery a couple of months ago, and was out for a while. When I got back into pool, I still make ny shots, but I seem to have absolutely no idea as to where the cue ball is going. What is happening is that I am stroking the ball too hard. It does not feel like I am, but whitey keeps on going. I still manage to win most of my matches, but they are a lot closer thanthey were in the past (I have played 9 Master's matches that were 7-6 this session).

Any ideas/suggestions?

Thanks,
Joe
Click to expand...

For what it is worth, spend some practice time just hitting the cue-ball around the table. Hit all types of (personally) preferred types of english and have the cue-ball land at exact chosen spots. Push to a rail and freeze it, 1-rail, 2-rails, 3 rails and all kinds of different angles.

The point of this is to be as comfortable as possible with the cue-ball. Pocketing balls are allot easier when a consistent feeling is established with the cue-ball.

Allot of walking in your spare time will also do wonders when on a comeback.
 
Try speeding things up a few gears Joe. When I"m feeling funky I play as fat as possible....but heres the trick....pick out where you want whitey to stop, make the shot, and if the CB goes past, or too shorrt...move it to the spot you wanted and continue......fast fast faster.....this will get the mind off whats wrong and back on shooting pool!

hope you feel better,

G.
 
Thanks for the tips, guys. Position play has always been one of my strong points. I grew up as a snooker player, so it was very crucial. I am not new to the game. I have been playing over 45 years and am about 60 now.

The thing that bugs the pi@@ out of me is that it does not FEEL like I am stroking the cue ball very hard at all, but I obviously am. I am not talking about missing the position by an inch or so, I mean a foot or more.....

The guys on my Master's team have nicknamed me "The Tinman" because it takes me so long to figure everything out (I am a fast rythm player, but I keep adjusting). I am usually far behind in my Master's races, then I finally come charging back....

Joe
 
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Here is a drill I was shown and it really helps with speed control and where the cue ball goes:

Place all 15 balls between the corner pockets and the side pockets, basicilly , all the balls are at one end of the table. Starting with BIH, run as many balls as you can, but only hit a rail or another ball when needed.

Don't put balls on the rails or real close to each other, just scattered out.

As a plus , you can also start to see patterns better.

I also do a pocket speed drill which is just using enough stroke to barely make the object ball. I've gotten better shape and cue ball control using this drill. Its kinda cool seeing the object just barely roll into the pocket and the cue ball rolls to perfect shape, all without any type of spin.
 
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Bamacues said:
I have a question about training techniques some of you may use when you get out of stroke.

I had surgery a couple of months ago, and was out for a while. When I got back into pool, I still make ny shots, but I seem to have absolutely no idea as to where the cue ball is going. What is happening is that I am stroking the ball too hard. It does not feel like I am, but whitey keeps on going. I still manage to win most of my matches, but they are a lot closer thanthey were in the past (I have played 9 Master's matches that were 7-6 this session).

Any ideas/suggestions?

Thanks,
Joe
Click to expand...

Hi Joe,

Do you have Bob Fancher's book, "Pleasures of Small Motions"??

You are physically doing something different, and you have to pay attention to what your body is doing in order to figure out what exactly is causing you to perform differently.

You don't just lose your ability to predict the CB's path. It's there in your head. You may just be overthinking it.

When I get out of stroke...which is quite often...I shoot with center CB only, I watch the CB's path and remember it.
When my forwardthinking (visualization) of each shot is matching the actual outcome of each shot, then I get back into stroke.

As far as CB speed control, I tend to shoot lag shots or the half table 3 rail kick shot (CB starts and ends at the center of the table).
This gives me my baseline (medium) stroke, and I can judge whether I need to shoot harder or softer based off my Medium (lag speed) stroke.

I hope my spiel was helpful,
Mathew.
 
I can totally relate to this. I had an injury as well that hampered me for 4 - 6 weeks. My problem however is not hitting the ball too hard, but everything feels crooked and I've lost confidence and end up steering the cue ball or twisting my wrist while shooting. Sucks. I'll run a few racks, sometimes ugly but I get the job done, then the miss can come out of nowhere, on the simplest of shots.

I liked the suggestions for hitting the ball too hard - any suggestions for this? Just looking for something I haven't thought of...

Thanks,
Scott
 
If you have access to a billiards table (no pockets and really fast cloth) try playing on it for a while. The speed of the cloth will make you hit the cue less hard.

As another alternative, play a "close order drill" where all the balls are 1.5-2 ball widths apart in the middle of the table. Give yourself BIH and give yourself 1 point if you sink all 15 of them in a single run. You simply have to develop light/delicate speed control to master/get-good at this one.
 
Sounds like you've already gotten some good advice. I'm going to try to add to it.

It sounds to me like you're able to predict with acuracy which direction the cue ball will go, just no longer able to accurately able to control how far it goes. If that is correct then you have to spen your time on distance/speed control exercises.

Take all the balls and put them at the head end of the table. Start with one ball, on the head string, and slow roll it to the other end of the table and try to leave it as close to the rail as you can. Leave that ball alone and do it again with another, slightly to the left or right so you don't hit the first ball. Do this over and over until all the balls are at the other end. Are you zeroing in on the distance? If not, go to the other end and do it again. If you are, then go to the other end and do lag shots, down the table and back, again trying to leave the ball close to the rail but this tim after going 2 lengths of the table.

Do that until you have it down and then up it to 3 and then 4 lengths of the table. You need to be able to get fine muscle control back and this will help. Once you have these speeds down you can add half lengths, giving you 8 different speeds to be able to differentiate.

Take that to the next level by setting up a shot and putting a target, say a napkin or piece of paper, where you want to put the cue ball and shoot the shot aver and aver again trying to get the cue ball onto the target. get good at one shot and switch to another. The shots can be easy, but the distances involved should vary since distance is your issue.

Best of luck, but I bet the single ball exercises will help a lot.
 
Thunder Thighs said:
Steve Austin, the Bionic Man had the same problem after surgery.. :p. Just kidding ya Joe
Click to expand...

Oh yeah...I forgot that. Maybe they gave me a bionic arm.:thumbup:

As Okinawa said, I am pretty sure I am doing something different...stance, stroke...something, but I have not been able to figure it out yet.

I want to thank everyone for the help. You all have given me some really good exercises to work wit, and I truly appreciate it. It is very frustrating to know that you have the skills to do something that you have done for years, and then not be able to execute it for some reason.

Thanks again,
Joe
 
When I am feeling out of stroke or feel that my stance is a little strange I am putting the practice pro pocket reducers on the table and start shooting balls.
I am starting from almost straight in shots to get in stroke and work my way to longer distances and cut shots, and I try to position the cue with precision on the next shot.
I have to try harder, I am focusing much more because of the added difficulty and I have to stroke good to make balls.
I have a better stance, I am starting to make everything a little better and when I take off the reducers after 30-40 minutes everything is simpler I just try to stay focused and then I am playing much better.
 
When I'm overhitting, I do some straight in stop shots from shorter to longer distances, trying to drop the ob at slow speed. Seems to help my stroke, maybe it could help yours too.
:p
 
Maybe the rails and/or cloth got changed while you were out? Just a thought. You may not need any specific drill, just need to relearn that stuff that was in muscle memory but has since been 'forgotten' by your arm. I think just putting time at the table doing anything at all will probably get you back up to speed.
 
Hi Joe

Hey Joe - this is Steve from your Masters team - and I must say I've enjoyed shooting with you guys this session. I can certainly relate to shooting the ball a bit too hard at times and missing position. I know that in my case I have a tendency to 'rush' things a bit - especially at the start of a match when the adrenalin kicks in. I also tend to speed up my warm up strokes - and this usually leads to a harder stroke on the ball than I want. I noticed in your last match that you did hit the ball harder than you needed to on a number of occasions. Perhaps you might slow down your warm up strokes just a bit which might help slow down the actual shot.
 
cuestick55 said:
Hey Joe - this is Steve from your Masters team - and I must say I've enjoyed shooting with you guys this session. I can certainly relate to shooting the ball a bit too hard at times and missing position. I know that in my case I have a tendency to 'rush' things a bit - especially at the start of a match when the adrenalin kicks in. I also tend to speed up my warm up strokes - and this usually leads to a harder stroke on the ball than I want. I noticed in your last match that you did hit the ball harder than you needed to on a number of occasions. Perhaps you might slow down your warm up strokes just a bit which might help slow down the actual shot.
Click to expand...

Steve,
Thanks...I really enjoy it, too.

You might be onto something. Last night a friend told me I looked like I was rushing my shots and hitting the cue way too hard. I had not mentioned this issue to him, so that may be it. Maybe I just need to work on a preshot routine for a while that slows things down. I know that I play at least 3 balls better than I have this session.

I am looking forward to next session.
Joe
 
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