What drills are you running these days?

Floppage

Floppage

True Beginner
Silver Member
Ok, ok, ok...I know not everyone believes in running drills regularly. I'm not trying to trigger a debate about the merits of drills vs. just playing. As a beginner, I still get a lot out of the drills I run but everyone is different. Also, I know some advanced players who still run at least a few drills and I'm curious what drills people might be running these days.

I get a pretty significant amount of pool school "homework" from the local academy to add to my usual drills but here are the ones in rotation for me right now.

Stop Shot Drill
Object ball spot marked mid table with the cue ball one diamond away at an angle toward a far corner pocket for a dead straight shot. The goal is to hit it with a slow, easy stop shot as many times as possible without missing. Also, you want the object ball to go smooth and easy, center pocket and the object ball to stop dead straight without rolling to the right or left.

So far I can't make it much past 30 or so in a row but I'm supposed to keep working on it until I can make 100 in a row.

Ping Pong Ball Drill
Put all 15 balls on the table, evenly spaced with no clusters or balls on the rail. Take a cue ball in hand and one ping pong ball. Put the cue ball down for the first shot and put the ping pong ball where you think the cue ball will end up. Do that for each shot and try to run out all15.

Miss the damn ping pong ball more than I'd like but I'm getting closer.

Target Pool Drill
Setup the object ball near a pocket and then setup the cue ball a few inches away at 15 deg., 30 deg. and 45 deg. each time trying to make the object ball and scratch the cue ball in another pocket. Continue trying to scratch in all 6 pockets. Some are not necessarily possible but you should still try.

Suck at this drill more than I'd like but still working on it.

If you have some drills currently in rotation what are they?
 
OK, then...fine. Apparently I'm the only one running drills. And now, you can all go F yourselves. :wink:
 
depends

My old Black and Decker still hangs on when I can find it. The Dewalt doesn't live up to the hype, neither does the Bosch. Not sure what brand the magnetic drill is but at 135 pounds I don't run it very often whatever it is. Black and Decker or a junk short nosed Central Electric drill for me!

I'm glad I never took up competing at sex because most things I compete at I practice so intensely I forget I started doing whatever it is for fun! I knew some drills once but I've forgotten them. Set up anything and work on speed control, shoot banks to work on accuracy. You can almost forget the object ball, it is the easiest part of the shot most the time. Focus on the cue ball and that pingpong ball or just remembering exactly where the cue ball was supposed to stop. When you own the cue ball the object balls almost pocket themselves.

Rack and break. Study all of the patterns you can use to run out both sets if Eight Ball, both pockets if One Pocket, Various ways out if a rotation rack.

Seeing patterns and controlling the cue ball will reap more dividends than all of the set drills combined plus you are not looking at that same drill you are tired of seeing.

Don't stay on the table over twenty minutes at a time without stopping for at least a minute or two to drink some water or get rid of some water you just drank, eat a bean burrito getting ready for league tonight, whatever. Intense focus is hard to maintain for long and learning stops. You consolidate learning during breaks just looking at the table thinking about what you have been doing too.

Hu
 
Who has time for drills after posting over and over and over again in the hot drama threads on here?
 
Congratulations Floppage, you joined 6 months ago and you've already earned yourself some haters! Welcome to AZ!
 
I've been mixing drills and regular play lately. I'm at the point where drilling is the best way to reach the next step of my game. I have all the billiards drills from billiards digest (can't remember the site) on my tablet along with a number generator (1-62) for days when I want to break away from the norm.

Anyhow, when I'm drilling I'm using the drills from Perfect Practice because I definitely see their merit. I also favor the wagon wheel, circle drill, and progressive rail cut drills.

When I'm at the point where drills start draining me I break some racks, write down my run out of plan of attack and then go :)
 
I really like the ping pong type drills. I remember when I was a kid my dad cut a snooker ball sized circle from thin card. When id play he would throw it on the table showing where I needed to be for my next shot and the aim was to land it as close as I could. Gave me a real understanding pretty quickly of how balls reacted off the rails with and without spin.

The drills I do now are fairly basic. For straight pool and short little stun and screw shots I will set all 15 balls from the short rail down the middle of the table in a zig-zag fashion so that one ball doesn't pot until you've moved the ball next to it out of the way and so on. Then I just work my way down the line of balls.

The drills I do aren't aimed at a particular type of game, they're more based upon a particular type of shot. So, soft stun and screw shots I do the above. Straight in shots with draw, stun draw, stun, stun run through, and follow are all shots I will do on straight in practice drills. I probably hit about 300-500 straight in shots a week. I'm addicted :-(

Then you have drills purely for potting practice and I'll just set up tough pots and start potting. Then there is position drills. I will set up a shot over and over again and mark all the diamonds, and half diamonds with chalk cubes....i have too much chalk. Shoot the shot I set up, and try bump the cue ball into the pieces of chalk 3 times in a row before moving to the next.

But the zig zag and straight ins are my personal favourites. I probably do a good 10 or more drills regularly but they feel like hard work.
 
iscars dr, great but expensive
iscars sumo chams cant be beat
ultra dex dr's run as fast as iscars at over 50 percent less price
and kyocera bought otm which are beasts them selves

spades are a thing of the past
 
Baxter said:
Congratulations Floppage, you joined 6 months ago and you've already earned yourself some haters! Welcome to AZ!
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I'm actually surprised it took this long. I probably make almost as many sarcastic comments here as I do in real life. Wouldn't you agree, Baxter?
 
I do the drillis in the Darren Appleton video.
But mostly I notice what shots I tend to miss and set up the same shot over and over, until I make the shot every time.
To me that seems like a good way to practice on my weak spots.
 
6-8 ft stop shots...1 handed...no rail for support
6-8 ft straight follow shots...1 handed...no rail for support
Full table draw.....pocket to pocket
90 degree cut shots.....2 handed
This helps me keep a straight stroke

Everyone is different, for me, it's a straight stroke and knowing the cue ball.

I don't believe in shot drills that much, if not at all.
Certain Stroke Drills in increments of 3, sometimes 4 and 5, are much more important than any shot drill, a guarantee to improve your game.
Anybody can make shots

Straight Stroke
Stroke technique
Knowing the cue ball inside out
Shots are the easy part

You play pool with the cue ball, all the other balls are just pretty colors.

Take the cannoli, leave the shot drills
 
There are drills for controlling the cue ball, drills for learning good strategy, and drills for straightening out and perfecting your stroke.

For controlling the cue ball: Start with this one - lay out all 15 balls in a grid. One ball at the intersection of the diamonds between the foot spot and the head spot (3 balls across the table and 5 down the length). Start with cue ball in hand. Pocket all balls with no contact with other balls or with a rail. If this is no problem for you, then your short position is probably pretty good. Look for another aspect of your game to work on.

Learning good strategy: Probably one area where reading books can actually help a lot.

Perfecting your stroke: Object ball at center table. Cue ball 12 inches in front of corner pocket so you can make a good bridge. Shoot OB into opposite corner pocket with follow. This is the "corner to corner" shot. You should be able to follow the cue ball into the pocket. If you can't, spend the next 12 months pulling your hair out trying to figure it out until one day you actually do! :) Doing this drill with a stop shot is cheating as it is infinitely easier to hit a good shot with center ball than with high follow. If this drill is no problem, then try drawing the cue ball back into the pocket in front of you.

I'm not an instructor, but I've plugged through these things, and I think these are things you need to be able to execute before you can call yourself a player. :) They seem simple, but to succeed in them requires you to do a lot of things right.
 
Try equal offense. The problem with drills is they limit you to one shot. Combine equal offense with some kicking and you have what you need to improve.
 
How come no one practices not missing?

If you can practice making shots, can you practice not missing shots?

How can this be done? Simple...by just running balls. By just rolling all 15 out there and see If you can run all 15, then roll all 15 and see if you can run all 15 and so on.

If you miss any time before reaching 15th ball, you start over.

Keep track of how many you run before you start over and why you missed.

It takes a different mindset to run balls then just doing setup drills or single ball drills.

This practice concept is about incorporating all those drills into use and extending your ability to concentrate over long periods of time.
 
duckie said:
How come no one practices not missing?

If you can practice making shots, can you practice not missing shots?

How can this be done? Simple...by just running balls. By just rolling all 15 out there and see If you can run all 15, then roll all 15 and see if you can run all 15 and so on.

If you miss any time before reaching 15th ball, you start over.

Keep track of how many you run before you start over and why you missed.

It takes a different mindset to run balls then just doing setup drills or single ball drills.

This practice concept is about incorporating all those drills into use and extending your ability to concentrate over long periods of time.
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this is what I do just lay em all out randomly and try to run the table
 
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