tattooedkingpin
Registered
Has anyone on here completely the Tor Lowry 2000-3000 ball pocking drill and did they feel that it really helped their stoke and alignment? I'm about 800 balls in definitely takes focus. Anybody has any thoughts?
Zero-X Training
- Thread starter tattooedkingpin
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One of my students adores this drill. I like that it emphasizes how most strokes aren't merely "straight" but "straight and downward" (because of the interfering table rails).
Tor's drill is nice to take the OB out of the equation and just focus on repetitive fundamentals. But for more experienced students, I prefer Ralph Eckert's version and recommend it to my students, where you line up 15 object balls across the middle of the table (between side pockets) and take ball in hand 2 diamonds away (on headstring). You can move it a little closer if needed. Set up for a straight in shot, focus on mechanics and stroke, and try to shoot a nice smooth perfect stop shot. After each attempt, you can analyze any issues - missing the ball, excess movement of cue ball (too high/low/wrong speed), excess spin, etc.
He recommends doing this thousands of times as well. I will do 3 - 5 lines of 15 balls every once in a while, especially if trying to smooth out stroke issues. I find it tends to get me in stroke as well, I can really focus on fundamentals and delivering a nice, smooth stop shot each time. Also gives you different looks at the shots, shooting into different effective pocket sizes, etc.
Nice thing is the simplicity of it but also the versatility. You can keep track of how many out of 15 balls you make, how many out of 15 were clean stop shots, how many in a row before missing, etc. You can also practice follow (follow OB into pocket), draw (smooth draw back to end rail), replacement shots, stun draw, etc.
Scott
He recommends doing this thousands of times as well. I will do 3 - 5 lines of 15 balls every once in a while, especially if trying to smooth out stroke issues. I find it tends to get me in stroke as well, I can really focus on fundamentals and delivering a nice, smooth stop shot each time. Also gives you different looks at the shots, shooting into different effective pocket sizes, etc.
Nice thing is the simplicity of it but also the versatility. You can keep track of how many out of 15 balls you make, how many out of 15 were clean stop shots, how many in a row before missing, etc. You can also practice follow (follow OB into pocket), draw (smooth draw back to end rail), replacement shots, stun draw, etc.
Scott
tattooedkingpin
Registered
Thanks Scott, I'm getting back into to playing after a couple year layoff. I've always been a decent player, but this time around I really want to perfect my fundamentals through drills. I'm about 1300 balls through Tor's Drill and it has helped me settle it and tweet things and I'm happy with the result. Hoping to complete 3000 balls and then graduate to this drill that you mentioned. Seems like the next natural progression and like you mentioned, very versatile and I like that as a mini-drill to get into stroke.
Ralph is great.....
Here is video of him talking about the drill a little....
http://www.checkbilliard.com/en/video-basic-shots-stop-shot-secrets-ralph-eckert/
And here..
http://www.checkbilliard.com/en/video-aiming-techniques-straight-shot-secrets-ralph-eckert/
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tattooedkingpin
Registered
Well, I just finished the 3000 balls and it has definitely helped me get a stoke, but now I'm going to try and do this a couple 1000 times and see what that goes. Thanks for video. It was great
did you just pocket a ball directly, or you were using CB to pocket OB?
The "ball pocketing drill" is different than the "stroke drill". In the Ball pocketing drill you are shooting an object ball into a pocket. You set up a series of slightly varying shots with specific position objectives. You set up a shot with small incremental variables then shoot the ball in with an around the clock then down the middle series of strokes to learn to shoot the shot with all types of spin. You move to a slightly different location then repeat it all again and so forth. There are a LOT of different set ups and it requires thousands of hits. I did it for a few thousand shots. It is a good exercise but as Tor says you can set up your own shots and do them as well. I got tired of shooting hundreds of very short shots and needed to mix it up a little. I had to jump ahead in the series and do some half table and back cut shots. It was taking months to get to them sequentially. I do think they are great drills but I found I needed to move around vs. following the sequence. The purpose of the "Ball Pocketing Drill" is to develop "Automatic Aiming". Others call it "intuition", being able to shoot any shot without having to "think" about it. You just intuitively know how to shoot the shot vs. using an aiming system with adjustments.
For me the real advantage to drills vs. play is the repetition. If you learn by playing you only run into a shot occasionally. If you miss it you don't figure out why. The next time you have the same shot you are likely to try to make it the same way you did the time before and miss it again.
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Kid,
I know you know, but check out his elbow in that first demonstration.
I start out nearly every session by hitting 'stop' shots down the long rails with the OB about one ball off the rail & the CB 1.5 to 2 balls off the rail, with 7 or 8 down one rail & the rest down the other.
Then I go to the other end & shoot straight real stop shots diagonally from near the corner pocket where the balls are across the table to the diagonal pocket.
After that 30 or so shots, I'm usually ready & locked in.
If my stroke ever seems off, I will do something like Tor's drill, but I will aim the edge of the ball to hit the short rail point. I think just sending them into the pocket is too easy with too much margin for error & is a bit too boring.
Just my Nickel.
Best 2 Ya, Kid.
Tor Lowry 2000-3000 ball pocking drill
Everyone seems to be commenting on Tor Lowry's stroke drill. The question was on his "Ball pocketing Drill". They are not the same, not even conceptually similar. You don't hit the cue ball into a pocket in the "ball pocketing drills" you pocket balls with hundreds of different setups and 10 different cue ball hit positions for each shot. It is intense.
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Yes that's basically a controlled HAMB.
The subject went to the one ball 'drill', so I made a comment about IT.
What's your point?
My point is no one ever addressed his question. The first post was about the stroke drill then everyone started posting about that. No one posted about his question.
What is the Tor Lowry 2000-3000 Drill?
r/DCP
r/DCP
I don't know about the 2000-3000 part of the description but the Ball Pocketing Drill would require more than that many shots. I don't think that is part of the name unless there is some other Ball Pocketing drill. Tor is best known for his stroke drill but he gives away a very comprehensive Ball Pocketing Drill.
He sets up a series of shots and it takes 10 shots per spot if you hit perfectly (3 on the straight in shots, no side spin). You must make the shots 5 times for each cue ball cuing position. In the first level you are allowed to miss but in subsequent levels if you miss you start the shot over. There are 5 different levels and as many as 16 setups setups per level.
He offers the video explanation and the eBook with all the layouts as a free "bonus" with his $29.95 cd set.
I attached the first setup for level 1 from his eBook. The ball closest to the pocket is the object ball. The other 4 spots are cue ball locations. In level 1 if you miss you repeat the shot until you pocket the ball 5 times from each cue ball cuing spot (red dot). So 200 shots if you don't miss. Actually 35 less since you only use 3 cuing positions on the one straight shot instead of 10 as on the angle shots.
In subsequent levels you must do 5 in a row from each cuing spot so if you are shooting the 10:00 spot and make 4 then miss you start the (10:00 position shot only) over. You might have to shoot 1000 times to complete a single pattern if you have trouble and there are 5 levels with up to 16 patterns per level. It could take months or even years to shoot them all depending on your skill level and the number of hours you practice a day.
Attachments
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I probably look at this drill differently than most.
I use this drill for automatic positioning of the QB. I pick a spot where I want the QB to stop. Then shoot the OB into the pocket and observe the ending position of the QB.
It is true that you have to pocket the OB to continue play but the priority is the final location of the QB.
I work to be able to do this with no conscious thought. Just shoot and observe.
To me, if the eyes are not allowing you to see the shot line from a standing position and then bending down with the cue on the shot line every time you may have a difficult time with any drill.
This is the drill I shoot very single day before I start practice. It has worked for me. Give it a try.
See post #33
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=428802&page=3&highlight=pocket+john
I have been a member and participant of the "14 Day Pool Experiment" since the beginning. It was a lot of work and a lot of fun.
Have fun. It only gets better.
John
I replied to the OP. The Tor drill emphasizes stroking down toward the cloth. Let the cue ride along that way and don't try to lift the stroke hand excessively, just let it happen.
Ball Pocketing Tor Lowry
I can't say automatic aiming kicked in for me at level 4 because I did not go sequentially after level 3. I asked Tor about it and he said it was ok to jump around or even create my own. The reason I moved around was I needed to work on longer shots and back cuts which appear in the later levels.
For me automatic aiming is a little illusive. I shot thousands of shots on the stroke drill and thousands more on the ball pocketing drill. It seems to me improvement is gradual but slow. I have younger playing partners who improve faster. I am 68 and my short term memory is crap so maybe my muscle memory is similar.
I got the short drills down cold then started working on some of the longer drills. The problem is there are so many different shots that only come up once in a while I still run into areas where I am low percentage in a match.
The ball pocketing drills get progressively harder and require more accuracy and much more repetition but they really are the best system for improvement I have seen.
There is a drill Tor recommends, as does just about every other teacher and cd, where you shoot 3 balls into pre selected pockets in sequence. It is like shooting the last 3 balls in a 9 ball game. You start with ball in hand. It is a great way to test your progress. If you are successful 15 times out of 20 you add a ball and now do the 6-9 and so forth. If you find yourself stuck at a certain level for a long time you are living in my world. I use this drill to test for improvement then do more ball pocketing drills.
Please let me know how you are doing with them as I am also an avid student of that method of training. I have great intuition (automatic aiming) for half table situations but still have to work a little at long shots where the variables are more influence due to the distance. I guess I am on semi-automatic aiming
I can't say automatic aiming kicked in for me at level 4 because I did not go sequentially after level 3. I asked Tor about it and he said it was ok to jump around or even create my own. The reason I moved around was I needed to work on longer shots and back cuts which appear in the later levels.
For me automatic aiming is a little illusive. I shot thousands of shots on the stroke drill and thousands more on the ball pocketing drill. It seems to me improvement is gradual but slow. I have younger playing partners who improve faster. I am 68 and my short term memory is crap so maybe my muscle memory is similar.
I got the short drills down cold then started working on some of the longer drills. The problem is there are so many different shots that only come up once in a while I still run into areas where I am low percentage in a match.
The ball pocketing drills get progressively harder and require more accuracy and much more repetition but they really are the best system for improvement I have seen.
There is a drill Tor recommends, as does just about every other teacher and cd, where you shoot 3 balls into pre selected pockets in sequence. It is like shooting the last 3 balls in a 9 ball game. You start with ball in hand. It is a great way to test your progress. If you are successful 15 times out of 20 you add a ball and now do the 6-9 and so forth. If you find yourself stuck at a certain level for a long time you are living in my world. I use this drill to test for improvement then do more ball pocketing drills.
Please let me know how you are doing with them as I am also an avid student of that method of training. I have great intuition (automatic aiming) for half table situations but still have to work a little at long shots where the variables are more influence due to the distance. I guess I am on semi-automatic aiming
hes got a book coming out soon now as well
forget the name of it, saw it advertised for the first time yesterday on fb
forget the name of it, saw it advertised for the first time yesterday on fb