What are the most important drills for beginners

  • Thread starter Thread starter a_susie_cue
  • Start date Start date
A

a_susie_cue

Guest
Does anyone have any suggestion on how to help a beginner player? I have been told in the past just to work on the basics first such as developing a good stroke and bridge. Also, the first shot they should learn is hitting the cue ball center ball, follow comes next, and then the draw shot. After that is learned, that is when english should be taught.

What do you think about that and what do you suggest?

Any input is greatly appreciated.

Thanks
 
The stance is also a really important fundamental, you must have good balance and not move (especially your head) when you are down on the shot. There is no right or wrong stance, the important thing is to plant your feet firmly and not move from that position whatever your cue arm is doing. If you are just starting out don't worry about follow, draw or english for now - just concentrate on aiming and centre cue ball striking from short distance. I'd recommend you take a look at http://www.easypooltutor.com.
 
Last edited:
The most important things for a beginner are the fundamentals...grip, bridge, stance and stroke. Being able to move the cue forward in a straight line is number one! Once the stroke is consistant, that is time to think about putting any kind of spin on the cue ball. Find a good instructor to help you get on the right track from the beginning. It's much easier to learn if you haven't already developed bad habits that need to be un-learned.
Steve
 
...like Pooltchr says, getting a good start with a Pool Instructor is the way to go. You can learn a great deal in a short time, with an instructor or you do it like many others & play for 20 years with a possible built in limited capacity. Taking lessons does not come with a guarantee, your aptitude, amount of knowledge gained & your practice regime will make the difference.

There many examples of players that learn from the day to day routine, very few ever hit the top layer of play. Their aptitude, limited knowledge & limited practice regime made the difference in their skill level.


There are many good books & videos to learn from. After reading a book & learning to apply the new knowledge, you will shorten up your learning curve.

Good Luck...
 
Thanks for the input. Last night, I was a sub for a local women's league. One of the girls on the team had asked me if I would work with her on her game. I knwo how to teach the basics, but I just wanted to make sure that I had the right idea for working with a begginer.

I was fortunate enough to have many good "teachers" while I was learning the game and breaking very bad habits such as jumping up and not following through on my stroke.
 

CueTable Help



Here is a simple but effective drill. Place all the balls as seen in the diagram. You start out with a ball in hand. The object is to sink every ball without missing. If you miss start over. You are also not able to play a bank, combo, or make contact with any other ball other than the object ball. If you do then start again. This is a simple way to make sure you control the rock.:D
 
a_susie_cue said:
Does anyone have any suggestion on how to help a beginner player? I have been told in the past just to work on the basics first such as developing a good stroke and bridge. Also, the first shot they should learn is hitting the cue ball center ball, follow comes next, and then the draw shot. After that is learned, that is when english should be taught.

What do you think about that and what do you suggest?

Any input is greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Click to expand...

that's pretty much it. watch videos too.
 
Table length, diagonal, straight in shots. 100 a day for 6 months... minimum. Center ball w/a practice cue ball or measles ball or a striped ball so spin can be noted.
 
JimS said:
Table length, diagonal, straight in shots. 100 a day for 6 months... minimum. Center ball w/a practice cue ball or measles ball or a striped ball so spin can be noted.
Click to expand...

JimS for president! That's THE shot to practice! Then, draw and follow.
 
Does anyone have any suggestion on how to help a beginner player? I have been told in the past just to work on the basics first such as developing a good stroke and bridge. Also, the first shot they should learn is hitting the cue ball center ball, follow comes next, and then the draw shot. After that is learned, that is when english should be taught.
Click to expand...

Stance/bridge/grip/stroke. Without these nothing works. You probably need instruction (and patient practice) to get these right.

A small nit about "center ball": The most basic and predictable cue ball movement is when it's rolling naturally, not sliding. Hitting the cue ball on the "equator" (the vertical center) causes it to slide at first before it starts rolling - when it's close to the object ball it may still be sliding when it makes contact, causing it to carom (glance off) at a different angle. Hitting the cue ball a little above center minimizes this sliding so it reacts the same for all shots. That's the kind of hit I think should be taught first - and also the kind of carom off the object ball that should be learned first.

Many will say that learning the sliding-cueball carom angle (known as the "tangent line") is fundamental position play knowledge. I agree with this, but you don't get it with a single kind of cue ball hit, which makes it a (slightly) more advanced thing to learn.

pj
chgo
 
my opinion

a_susie_cue said:
Does anyone have any suggestion on how to help a beginner player? I have been told in the past just to work on the basics first such as developing a good stroke and bridge. Also, the first shot they should learn is hitting the cue ball center ball, follow comes next, and then the draw shot. After that is learned, that is when english should be taught.

What do you think about that and what do you suggest?

Any input is greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Click to expand...

You have been given good advice IMO. Those things DO need to be learned first. What I'd recommend though, and I still to this day do this, is just to throw the balls onto the table in no specific order, then from ball in hand, run them out in order...Or try to anyways, and if you miss, start over from the beginning. This will help you learn where the cueball is going after contact with the object ball. Since I'm not going to post all of my "practice regimens" here, PM me and I'll see where I can help you, but you'll have to give me some details as to what you're looking to learn and we'll go from there. ttyl, Jeff
 
JimS said:
Table length, diagonal, straight in shots. 100 a day for 6 months... minimum. Center ball w/a practice cue ball or measles ball or a striped ball so spin can be noted.
Click to expand...


Yeah thats it, but first i would recommend the "pinguin" lesson from the PAT 1 DVD (With the correct stand you pot the cueball with only one hand)

Also this is very interesting for beginners:
http://www.pat-billiard.com/Video/Stand/pat1stand1high.wmv
(Maybe you must register to look this video (its free))
 
Thanks to all who gave advice. I passed this info along to the girl whose team I was a sub. She was very thankful for all the good advice.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top