What Shot Do You Practice the Most?

T

TheBook

Ret Professional Goof Off
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The subject of drills, and stroke come up a lot. There are many books available and now I see that there is very BIG news for the pocket billiard world with the Pro Drill Set being endorsed by Nick Varner. What do you practice the most. For me it is a straight in shot. I will do this for hours. I will shoot a cueball straight down the table doing a lag shot and try to get the CB to stop at the middle of the head rail . Then I will hit harder to get to the second diamond, 3rd, etc and try to keep the ball on the straight line without straying off.

I will then put a object ball on the middle spot and CB on the head spot and do a stop shot and try to get the ob to come back and hit the CB and move the CB one diamond, 2 diamonds, etc

I will then do various straight shots into the pockets and try to follow with the CB or draw it back into the opposite pocket or try to get to a certain spot on the table.

I can keep busy with this for hours. I have all these books and tapes on different drills but I just cannot seem to get past these fundamental things. I will try out other drills but I don't have enough time for them.

For some reason I cannot get off of the straight shot. How does everone else find time to do all of the other drills?
 
I also practice straight shots the most, primarily with the object ball 1/4" off the side rail at the second foot diamond with the cue ball in the kitchen at the same side, drawing the cue ball to get shape on an imaginary ball frozen on the head rail in the middle. It helps straighten a wobbly stroke since you have about 1/2 a pocket to shoot at and hitting the side rail going in generally will make the object ball miss.
 
I pratice several drills in a kind-of rotation. It depends on where I need the work.

I use the straight in corner to corner the most though (CB and OB about 2.5 - 4.5 feet apart). I like to use it with follow, draw, dead stop, and stop with side spin. For the latter, the CB should spin in place long enough for me to put another OB in place on the table, and don't put the CB and OB more than 2.5 feet apart; too much deflection. Great for stroke work.

Otherwise, I like the classic "L" drill, and The Monk's 12, 13 and 14 ball drills.
 
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I really like this drill. I'll start with it like this and try to make all four balls, then go in rotation. I'll replace the balls and see how long I can keep it going trying to keep the cue ball in the center of the table. These simple "one rail to the center of the table" position shots come up so frequently, especially in 9 ball, that it's a sin not to practice them. How many times have you seen a great 9 ball players who's in stroke run table after table using shots just like these.
 
The shot I practice most ...

The cross corner bank shot on each side of side pocket. It's my warm-up
and tune in shot.
 
Generally I practice extreme english shots: power draws, power follows, long cuts with lots of inside or outside. The reason is it forces me to get my stroke together fast and gives me a feel for the range of shots I'll be using, and adds confidence.
 
Practice

I practice the break in nine ball more than any other shot. If I play straight I will practice backward cut shots.
 
TheBook said:
The subject of drills, and stroke come up a lot. There are many books available and now I see that there is very BIG news for the pocket billiard world with the Pro Drill Set being endorsed by Nick Varner. What do you practice the most. For me it is a straight in shot. I will do this for hours. I will shoot a cueball straight down the table doing a lag shot and try to get the CB to stop at the middle of the head rail . Then I will hit harder to get to the second diamond, 3rd, etc and try to keep the ball on the straight line without straying off.

I will then put a object ball on the middle spot and CB on the head spot and do a stop shot and try to get the ob to come back and hit the CB and move the CB one diamond, 2 diamonds, etc

I will then do various straight shots into the pockets and try to follow with the CB or draw it back into the opposite pocket or try to get to a certain spot on the table.

I can keep busy with this for hours. I have all these books and tapes on different drills but I just cannot seem to get past these fundamental things. I will try out other drills but I don't have enough time for them.

For some reason I cannot get off of the straight shot. How does everone else find time to do all of the other drills?
Click to expand...

What you're talking about is a good foundation drill that helps read a table, but don't dwell on it for more than a .5-1hr. If you keep doing one thing, you're only limiting yourself to learning more.

This link is to an old post, but I offer some easy drills you can set up on any table (bar box to 9 footer) when your time permits.

As you understand more, you'll see that the simple drills I show will help you determine if it'd be better to do more follow/draw depending on the table to gain shape. The drill you reference is a very good one. If you do it on different tables, it'll open your mind up to other possibilities.

I agree with 42NateBaller's post about doing a "drill rotation" for whatever table you're going to be on (if that's the type of format). If you're doing these/this drill on only one table, then you need to open up, else you'll get stagnant.

On the "drill rotation" practice, it'll make you more "well rounded" and a better shot/thought maker.

hope this helps.

Note: Stay Down, till the ball falls!
 
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Practice one thing at a time; Stroke, speed, english, aiming, tracklines.. whatever. Practice certain positions shots that come up often in the games you play. Try them with different english and different strokes. Get comfortable with the common shots, it build confidence also. Then play, and play to win, rely on instinct.
 
Ronoh said:
What you're talking about is a good foundation drill that helps read a table, but don't dwell on it for more than a .5-1hr. If you keep doing one thing, you're only limiting yourself to learning more.

This link is to an old post, but I offer some easy drills you can set up on any table (bar box to 9 footer) when your time permits.


hope this helps.

Note: Stay Down, till the ball falls!
Click to expand...

Thanks for link. It does appeat as if I am spending too much time on one thing. That is one of the reasons I made this thread was to find out why there is not enough time to do any other drills.
 
TheConArtist said:
i practice the shots where the cueball is right up on the rail,
Click to expand...

TCA:

I have had some success with those shots by ligning up as usual, but looking at the cueball on the final stroke instead of the object ball.

Anyone else try that on shots off the rail or jacked-up over a ball?

Feels really weird, but seems to work...

Oh, and I mainly practice The "Tequila Hooker". It is my favorite shot and I only miss it really late at night.
 
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