Drills

2008-10-23T14:32:00.000-07:00

Before I get into the inital post of this blog. I have to say I am out of practice on writing, and hope to provide more/better content as I go along.

Practice Methods

Drills are a necessary part of playing all sports. Actually they could be considered necessary for almost anything you do. The idea behind drills is to train your mind and body to fall back on a learned method. When you start to get nervous, if you’ve done enough drills, your body should automatically resort to the methods you’ve practiced in the drills. Although they can be very boring, if you’re creative enough drills can be both interesting and challenging.

Drill #1:

Place half the rack in one corner pocket, the rest in the other corner on the same side. Set up straight in shots into the opposite corner on the far end of the table. Try to use only stop shots and to slow roll the object ball into the pocket.

Go to the other end of the table, this time shoot all of the balls in each pocket into the corresponding pocket on the far end of the table.

Go to the other end of the table and do the same thing with the side pockets.

After doing this a number of times, vary it up a little. Try the following:

1. Throw the ball with english into the pocket
2. Cut the ball into the pocket with center ball only
3. Do stop, follow, and draw shots
4. Set up a couple balls and try to leave yourself a shot into the same pocket

How this helps

All of these shots come up in every day play. Since you constantly make about 7 of these in a row it will be a no-brainer when making it in competition play. You’ll worry less about making the ball, and concentrate more on where to leave the cue-ball.

Drill #2

This is about speed control more than anything else. You will be using all 15 balls, set them up according to the graphic. Now no ball (including the cue ball) can hit the rail and no ball can hit another ball. If you do setup the balls and try it again.

The graphic is horrible, I know. I took it from the following site: http://www.nineballbilliards.com/images/table-180-1.gif.

I’ll get around to making a better one, unless somebody knows of a better one to use. There are a number of variations to this drill, all of which help your game.

How this helps

Teaches cue ball control and soft hitting. Both of those are essential to building up your game.

Drill #3

Throw 5 balls on the table, run them out in any order, then throw five more on the table. Leave the cue-ball where it is and run out the next five balls. Repeat until you miss. Keep track of how many you made before missing.

Once you miss the inning is over. You will have five innings. When starting a new inning the table is cleared and five more balls are thrown onto the table, the first shot is ball in hand. Add up your total at the end of the first inning. And compare with future scores.

The obvious variation is running out in rotation.

How this helps

You will start to figure out run-out patterns for groups of balls. Plus it will get you thinking about the best place to leave the cue ball after all five balls are off the table and the next set of five need to be shot.

Summary

Drills have a tremendous impact on your game (so does playing for money). Do simple drills before competition to help raise your concentration and confidence. You are your worst enemy in a game; drills help rectify that problem.

So be creative and drill away.

Also, I’m interested in hearing about anyone else’s practice methods.

Shamrock Hoax: Billiards

Drills