your improvement

It was simple for me.
- I played 4-5 times a week including cheap gambling and had access to a cheap nickel arcade/pool hall
- I did not have a gf at the time of my start (17-18ish)
- I had a HUGE competitive drive that made me want to get better at the game and beat X or Y person etc...
 
Some (a lot of) thoughts on learning and improvement

I think a very common complaint in any process of learning a hobby is hitting a plateau. Someone may practice for many years but only see marginal results. It’s common to subsequently reach the conclusion that this person just doesn’t have ‘it’. Or they’ve maximized their potential and will never get much better, save for improving their mental game. This may or may not be true, but I do see a lot of mistakes in practice that certainly do not help matters and they are common across many different pursuits, not just pool.

Some students practice to get ‘better’, in other words unfocused practice with no specific goals. I’ve seen this manifested in guitarists practicing by playing songs they already know or play well, or learning songs that are already within their capabilities. Some pool players will approach the table and simply play games of 8 ball against themselves for an hour and then leave. High school and university students may study by simply rereading the material without giving much thought to actually doing practice questions. Even worse is cutting out all solo practice and relying on match practice or band practice. Doing either of those things will result in improving match play or performing with an ensemble, but the impact on your overall ability will diminish over time.

Even players that practice properly with drills need to understand that simply participating in the drill isn’t necessarily going to yield the results they want. Positional drills are designed to teach to specific skill sets which can then be implemented in match play scenarios. Simply being able to clear a drill doesn’t suggest mastery if the last 5-6 pots are always trick shots. Identify the positional shots that get you out of line and then learn how to play them properly

So let’s break down what needs to be done to actually continue improving. In the simplest of terms, learning to do a physical activity occurs through repetition and development of muscle memory or motor learning. There are a variety of opinions on how many repetitions are necessary to develop a skill to the point of automation, but according to a Dr. Richard Schmidt it seems to be roughly 300-500 repetitions initially and then a further 3000 to correct each poor habit. And to be clear, there will be bad habits. And that’s where learning becomes even more difficult. Just as your brain is learning to automate all the proper motions, your brain will not differentiate between good and bad habits, so any action you repeat will be automated and it will be much more difficult to change that habit. Now, I don’t believe these numbers will apply to everyone as each person learns at different rates, but they give you a general idea of what is involved in the process.

With this in mind, given that it’s a virtual certainty bad habits will be developed and it takes even longer to correct them, then surely the next step to improvement is to identify each of these faults and start eliminating them slowly but surely. These can be as dramatic as jumping up during a follow through or as subtle as poor timing of the stroke or placing your cue slightly off line. Regardless of how small or large the fault, to improve it is paramount that you identify what aspect of your game needs work and focus single mindedly on that particular area until you achieve desired results. But remember, you need to be specific.

Simply setting out to improve your stroke, stance, speed control, shot making etc. is not enough. You need to identify exactly needs to be done to improve, otherwise your progress will be limited. For example, if I want to improve my stroke, what specifically is the problem? In this case lets presume it’s a bit crooked and I want my cue to come back and forth much straighter and stay on the line of aim. Now we have a specific problem that can be addressed, but why is it crooked in the first place? There are a variety of reasons, maybe my hips are in the way and I’m stroking around my body. My grip may be at fault keeping me from bringing the cue back straight back. Also if I’m placing my bridge hand offline, that could also create the issue. Whatever the cause is, it needs to be identified. Think of a doctor diagnosing a patient, they determine what specifically is bothering the patient beyond a general “my stomach is sore” and prescribe treatment that addresses the problem. Every mechanical fault should be approached in this manner and as long as you are interested in improving your execution, you should continue to identify faults no matter how minor. In theory, if you could identify the correct aiming point every time, place your cue on the line of aim every time and push your cue through in a straight line every time, you would never miss. So the goal in improving your execution is to manage this ideal as best you can.

But doing all of this is hard and a lot of work. It’s very difficult to identify these faults on your own, especially for a new player that doesn’t have the knowledge to self diagnose. This is where instructors and coaches are so useful. They can be the doctor, they can diagnose the problems and prescribe routines that will assist in breaking the bad habits. But you still need to participate in your own learning by approaching every practice session with a goal and a plan to achieve it.
 
For me what helps the most is using my Gopro to videotape my playing.
Maybe not as good as paying a instructor to help you, but the next best thing for sure.
 
thanks joe. as of now I'm shooting a few hours of drills. and playing a few friends that are better than me. also plan on playing in a few tourneys . i have a lot of videos. a few books. and even. your third eye trainer thing. I'm watching a lot of pro tourneys lately too….
 
jcpoolgod said:
thanks joe. as of now I'm shooting a few hours of drills. and playing a few friends that are better than me. also plan on playing in a few tourneys . i have a lot of videos. a few books. and even. your third eye trainer thing. I'm watching a lot of pro tourneys lately too….
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Try to make one 90 day plan of the mix. Stick to it and attack it for 90 days and you'll come out stronger on the other end!
 
thanks cam…one thing I've been working on recently. is a slow back swing. its like i feel so much more control over the cue stick…and i seem to be diverting it straight..
 
ok..

im gonna stick to this for 90 days….shooting these drills…then playing better and equal friends……plus a few tourneys…...
 
jcpoolgod said:
What is the one thing you did that took you to the level you are at as a pool player. What drills did you do that you loved? That contributed to your success?
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as far as drills go i don't do much....too old and set in my ways i guess.:wink:

i have lately practiced my break and long straight ins .

the main thing that has helped me improve my win % this year is several things.

1. focus; i have gotten better at blocking out all distractions.

2. safeties; i play a lot more safes than i used too.

3. pattern selection in 8 ball. doing a lot more thinking .move balls around, play lock up safes or at least leave them hard , and last but not least never give bih if i can help it.

4. adopted a motto that kinda goes with #3 ....if i cant out shoot them i out think them.

all the above helped me in a match last night that nobody there thought i had a chance in hell to win. my opponent has the reputation of being the strongest 7/9 in town and i won 3-3 with 1 of his wins due to a brain fart by me. i made an early 8 trying to break out a cluster.:o
 
jcpoolgod said:
thanks cam…one thing I've been working on recently. is a slow back swing. its like i feel so much more control over the cue stick…and i seem to be diverting it straight..
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Excellent! Snooker coaches espouse the slow back swing. I remember one saying that it should at first almost seem too slow. Though I've never tried to it to that extent.
 
I went to a pool tournament in Worcester, Mass. in the early eighties.

My wife, girlfriend at the time brought along her camera. Of course, I questioned her bringing it. I told her it would be a distraction. She took pictures of me playing, without me even knowing it.

When I saw the position of my head, well above my cue, I knew what was wrong with my game. I wasn't sighting the shots properly. I now play with my head, barely, above my cue. It made all the difference, in the world.

Take some pictures of yourself playing. It might make a difference..
 
Joe T said:
Steady training schedule of practice and playing. IF anybody really wants to get better they can't fail if they train properly. I miss being a good B player, that was a LOT of fun.

While working a job I my life revolved around getting better. Many days started with Accu stats playing in the background as I got ready for work. Some days I would run 2 miles in the morning before work and each lap I was building mental traits I wanted to improve upon (concentration, consistency, confidence, ego, awareness, humility, composure) were some I still remember working on.

At work (driving for Roadway 50+hrs a week) I would listen to different sports psychology programs and even a hypnosis program at the end of the workday before going back to the shop, I even brought two pool balls to work, man those contact points are tiny, lol

After work Tues was RI, Wed was Snookers, Thur was MA for tournament and action. Fri gamble and always with even or better players. Sat Sunday there were plenty of tournaments to choose from. Most days ended falling asleep to accu stats.

When sleep deprived, which happened a lot I would take some nights off but practice at home on a 9ft that I could not fit but could still practice on. Many times I would have to drive straight to work and park in front of the gate so they were sure to wake me, ah the days, lol.

I had a list of players better than me and would go after them as best I could working my way up the list, losing a lot at the beginning. Everyone always asked me “why you play so and so, he’s too good for you?” I didn’t get much action with players below me but did with players my speed and as I improved the money I won from them went directly to better players, lol I learned early on that I didn’t like getting the wild 7 8 but would rather get games on the wire and played those guys until the games I was getting turned into games I was giving 

I didn’t do a lot of drills back then and I only recommend drills to players now adays that I’m sure have skills they need to add to their game. Big problem I see now is that ANYONE can invent a drill but they don’t realize there are so many other drills or skills that are way more important that they could be doing. I was pretty much obsessed with recording mistakes and then working on them or learning new shots I saw on accu stats. Accu Stats really saved me because Billy Grady Nick Buddy and those guys were telling you how and why to play shots certain ways, something that could have taken me many more years to learn.

So what I’m saying while I reminisce is this;
Have a plan.
Make a list of better players and how you can play them as affordably as possibly.
Make another list of players close to your speed that you want to pull away from.
A list of your weaknesses to turn into strengths.
A list of committed hrs of practice.
Add some cross physical training and some time to improve your mental traits.
Attack it without being an excuse making cry baby, “I can’t, I can’t” and you can’t fail.

Now go and have the most fun pool can offer you, a steady dose of testing yourself.
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Joe,

Thank you for this post.

I am sort of doing it right now as best I can. This helps me know I am on the right track.

kollegedave
 
At the close of this year, I quit focusing so much on my mechanics and spent more time on my PSR. I force myself to get back up and reset if it doesn't look absolutely right. I like to pause with maybe a couple of micro strokes right at the point on the CB I want to hit. I'm verifying my stroke line and making a conscious effort to predict where everything forward of the tip will go when I execute. When I'm sure I'll make it, I pull the trigger. If I miss, I stop what I'm doing and set it up and make it 5 times before I move on to the rest of the rack. Everything magically came together once I started doing that. I quit burning brain cells during my game on things like foot position, grip, hip angle, etc. and saved them for visualization of what will happen when I pull the trigger...where will the CB hit the OB, where will both end up? It's important at some point to relegate as much of the mechanics of your stroke to the subconscious and save your concentration for the really important things, forward of the tip. If I start running into trouble down the road, I'll reexamine my mechanics to find the problem and fix it...then I'll turn my attention back to what's going on from the tip forward.

I also quit trying to muscle the CB so much to try for perfect position, letting the game tell me what I need to do and working with that...I can see it in advance now, and work to get the best leave likely, not necessarily the perfect leave. More often than not, the leave is perfect doing it this way. Muscling the shot when I really didn't need to was making me miss and I'd usually over run my position anyway. Perfect is the enemy of Good. Good gets you out, forcing the CB for Perfect will put you in your chair.
 
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DAVE_M said:
Drills? None, unless you consider playing the 9/10 ball ghost, a drill.

Started with the 9ball ghost... Kept losing.
Went with the 4 ball ghost... Started winning.
Went to the 6 ball shot... Started winning.
Went to the 9/10ball ghost... And now I win 1 out of every 3 sets (race to 7).

I can probably beat the one pocket ghost before I'll ever beat the 8ball ghost lol.
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The 6 ball ghost is one of my favorite opponents for getting some practice and being able to enjoy myself at the same time. For me, it's easy enough that I'm a favorite to win a race, but hard enough that I'm not going to win every rack, so it's a confidence builder without being a walk in the park.

Winning and losing aside, I like 6 ball because I can plan the entire run out and have a decent chance of following that plan, unlike 9 ball where I am usually playing a few balls ahead and adjusting my plan some time during the rack or playing defense. That allows me to track not only wins and losses, but also whether I win like I intend to.

When I'm looking for a challenge, I'll switch to the 9 ball ghost for a bit, but if I'm struggling and getting frustrated, I'll switch back.
 
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