Pool DRILLS are OVERRATED!
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- čas přidán 4. 06. 2024
- 0:00 How drills are typically used
0:44 Specificity - this is the science part
1:41 Pool montage
1:54 The best way of getting good in 9-ball (summary)
In this video I dwelve over why pool players are obsessed with drills. I present the topic of specificity, which is a very important principle in the practice of all sports. Don't base your practice around drills. Instead you should use your focus on playing the actual game, and then basing your drills around your specific weaknesses.
So what do you guys think? Are you also the type that start out with drills, and then just relax with some ball banging before calling it a day?
I work as a golf coach but it's still the same for most sports. Especially the more technical ones like billards or golf.
Stereotypical training (drills) is great to improve certain parts of your game. You should do that to improve faster! Learn a new skill/ improve at a certain skill -> stereotypical training.
However there are 2 problems:
1. The drills become easy sooner or later and the learning curve will decline. In order to keep improving you need to do something different (that's how the brain works)
2. Doing good in a drill and doing good in a game are not the same
So you could work on those two problems by making your training more variable. For example by doing drills that combine several skills you used to work on individually before. And by playing games and trying to use the things you've practiced/learned.
So I would:
1. Write down specific parts you want to work on
2. Find SEVERAL drills for EVERY part (because you learn faster when switching things up a bit)
3. Also find "drills" that combine many of the skills you usually train 1 by 1.
4. Play games/compete and try to use your new skills.
The key is to get a good mix of all of those things.
And if you plan to practice more variable tomorrow than that should be the main part of your session. If you start off by doing the same old drills for an hour an then go to your variable training you won't be as focused anymore.
Decide what the main part should be and really make it the main part.
And I'd always include something variable at the end (games or drills that combine several skills) because at the end of the day we all need to learn to use our skills when it counts.
I allways start my training with drills, allways. But you have a very good point. Sometimes, after a couple of long hours with drills, I dont have so much focus left for a real 9ball/10ball game. I miss easy shots. So today I started with breaking balls and did some "play against ghost" matches. After, I worked on the problem-shots as you mentioned. Very good results. Thank you. Keep up the good work🙏
This is exactly what I do too. I still play like shit😅
@@onnyt60 😅😅😅😅 made my day 😅
Great video! Drills have a purpose - to increase basic pocketing skills/consistency. And they do a fine job with that. But in order to really start improving your overall play, you should incorporate specific practice shots that relate to known weaknesses in your game. In other words, pay attention to your mistakes/weaknesses during competion, and then work on that stuff during practice.
Make it fun and competitive, like challenging yourself to a goal of successful pulling off a specific shot and/or position play 10 times in a row, or 5 times in a row. The goal should be challenging, but reachable...not so tough that you spend an hour struggling, only to become so frustrated that you just give up. Start with a low goal and keep bumping it up as you reach it.
And whenever I was younger a clever Canadian guy told me ,to practice , just throw the balls onto the table, very rare you would have a similar layout , and just clear the table, very efficient practice
Thx, i needed to hear this. Not so much for doing less drills but for having more confidence in my "just roll the balls on the table and pot them in order" approach which I have way more fun with and I felt guilty not doing more drills.
I'm happy to help! Just remember to focus when playing in that way, and also track missed shots and try to identify patterns in your game that needs improvement!
Love your emphasis on doing what gets you better not on choregraphed rehearsal with not game transfer.
Good advice! Thanks!
Something I've done quite a bit of in the past is to break a 9 ball rack and then sticker up all the ball positions. Now my practice session for the next 30 min or more is that rack. If at any point I'm having issues pocketing a ball or getting position I'll set that shot up and don't continue on until I've made the shot with position 5x in a row. Eventually after working through the rack, I'll run it again with the goal of being able to run it 2 or 3x in a row. And if at any point there's still a priblem shot or position then I'll continue to set that up until it's not. After 30 to 45m on 1 rack (or less if I'm shooting well and not running into any problem shot areas)take a 10 or 15m break and then come back and break a new 9 rack and repeat.
That sounds like a really great method. I'll give that a try for sure! It sounds like it requires discipline and commitment. That's deliberate practice! Have you done it for a long time? How has it impacted your game? Thanks for the comment!
It helps to put pressure on yourself to focus no matter if you do drills or play fake games. Set improvement goals and keep track. If you're playing 9 ball, play the ghost and keep track how many times you win out of 10. If doing drills keep track of how well you do and set improvement goals. My professional teacher has in his course a series of core offensive and defensive shots. Shoot each shot 100 times and keep score. There is a scoring rubric where it's possible to score between 0-3 points per shot. After completion it is clear which shots I can perform best, midddle, and worst. And it's surprising to me which shots are the hardest to score high. Working on the lowest scoring shots helps my game. The single best thing I have done to improve my game is to take vids of myself playing and practicing. I'm shocked at myself at times and can really see what I need to work on in the vids. Good luck!
Sounds great. What kind of shots do you wind up with the lowest score on? And how do you feel it has impacted your game to work like this?
I think of it as an ebb and flow style. When your starting out, it’s good to focus on drills to cover your basis. Once you start competing and really playing, then they should take your approach. Personally, when I enter the pool hall, I shoot a few practice shots, then just shoot a few loose racks. Then play. And any shots I miss or feel weak on during play, I practice afterwards.
That sounds great. Are you able to still see progress?
I found they're especially good for building the fundamentals. My game took a big step forward when I spent a few weeks doing the stroke drill championed by Tor Lowry, because it taught me how important a good stance & bridge etc. are. But yeah, it's also important to put all the pieces together in full practice games.
I agree! Tor Lowry is a great. Even though he hasn't explicit said it, I think he's general thought is very similar to mine. He emphasizes tracking missed shots and practicing them as the most important types of drills. His important mantra is being a student of your OWN game. After the fundamentals are good enough, he doesn't encourage lining up balls etc. I don't think I've ever seen him line up a traditional drill ever. He's all about stroke drills (at first), then more or less only pattern play and pocketing drills on weaknesses.
I've done drills before and once in awhile I'll do one just for a change of pace. What I do 99.99% of the time is play straight pool by myself. I rack 14 balls and set up a break shot and see how many I can run. If I miss, I rerack and start over. I don't like to spend all day racking balls so I really concentrate and try to keep the run alive. It works for me.
I do the same except trying to run racks of nineball. I'm not good enough for straight pool just yet
This, this is my drill.
Has improved my game substantially
I mostly play softer drills just to get in stroke and get warm or harder drills if I'm feeling not confident with some of my arsenal - so I can't apply it in game without doubt or overadjusting, thus missing pots or positions - but my main training is basically just Progressive X-Ball (for rotation games) and Equal Offense (for pattern games) and I try to play them very focussed and intentional, as if I was playing league.
I never do "drills".... But I do work with just the cue ball and the cushions, It's surprising how much you can learn from it.
Interesting! To get a feel for kicking or to straighten stroke by playing straight shots?
@@PoolProblems Both, I do the thing were you hit the cue ball end rail to end rail without moving my stick and try to have it come straight back and hit the tip...
I also figure out how much spin/English I get off the rail at different speeds, and reverse English for kicks were you have balls in the natural path of a kick....
I made up a "drill" that's actually fun. I put a ball in front of all pockets and then try to 2, 3 or 4 rail kick them all in without missing....
I've actually done it a handful of times...
I've also made all 6 hangers in just 3 shots using carom shots, like in 3 cushion...
That's fun too, and you learn a lot from doing it.
Check out my video of the bar box I built from scratch, it nothing "fancy" but I'm pretty proud of it... For what I spent building it, It's much better than than a wobbly particle board table I would have been able to buy, and it allowed me to get good cushions, cloth, Aramith balls and a decent stick. Sorry for rambling on, I really love pool...lol
100% agree with this! Though I think there’s a huge difference between drills and and “exercise”. To me, drilling is performing the same exact shot over and over to develop confidence, familiarity, and muscle memory. An exercise is more broad. Like running a pattern or line of balls etc.
I did a video on the “best” drill…and it’s basically match simulation. Play a game, and drill the shots that give you trouble.
I like the fact that you think of these as two different concepts. Is it just your personal interpretation, or is it a common distinction? Because general concensus seems to be to use the word "drill" for both types of activities. Anyway, like you explain in your video too, the most important thing is that the drills are based on your preformances. I think both types of activities could be useful, as long as they are honing specific weaknesses in your game. Anyway, nice seeing the sensei in my comment section. I've been following you for a while! Love your stuff! Keep it up.
@@PoolProblems I appreciate that sir. I enjoy yours as well! Keep it up!
It's an interesting point. I don't think there's a wrong approach here. As I see it, many important shots don't come up that often during game-play and if you're not confident, you may even choose a different option that will further reduce your practicing the shot during game-play. The best players keep track of their misses during game-play so they know what to practice using drills. Doing drills aimlessly is just as ineffective (for improving) as aimless game-play.
Yes! That's basically what I mean. The point about tracking misses is key. That will help you identify problems, and also work on solutions. Drills will play a role here. My statement is that they are overrated, not un-needed. The clip where I rehearse the 5-ball at 01:20 could be an example of your point about choosing different options in-game, if you don't have the correct shot in your repertoire. Am I right? In-game I chose to go up and down - I tried this afterward, but learned that I actually could hold the cue ball AND use inside to come towards my target. Thanks for the comment!
Thanks again, basically is playing a game and in looking at your game plan, your pattern play, and to keep your precision cueing... 🤷♂️ Thanks again, for clearing up that drills can be not similar with games faced...
Finally! Someone who gets it. You’re so right! I also saw Darren playing the ghost on his home table about a year ago, (maybe less than) and he beat the 9-ball ghost 30 - 1. He played so freaking good!!! However, even these kind of statistical results are not good enough for him to win major tournaments with a strong field of elite players in it. The ghost drills are good for amateurs/semi-pro level players to use as a measuring stick, but it seems like the better you get the less important drills are.
I practise every day for 2,3 hours last 2 months and I will say that I completely agree with you cause I had the same problem. I only practise specific shoots and run the racks nothing else....
Thanks for the comment! How's your game developed after you started focusing more on gameplay?
Tbh i preety easily finish like 4,5 break and runs with ball in hand ofc if the balls are not in clusters but then I got like 2, or 3 days where my focus is not there and I run like 1,2 max...maybe that should be your new video topic. Also I was playing in second league in my country, 4 months and now I play first league tournaments my personal best was quarter-final so far. But the grind is going on💪🏿💪🏿💪🏿
Drills are tedious and mentally draining, which helps in discipline. But i think it should just be more for warming up and getting a feel of your stroke and table. That being said, i’d specify my own drills to thin cuts and also speed control. Then the other 3/4 75 percent of practice i’d rather just play the game as you mentioned
If drills infact are sharpening the focus and discipline, that's great. I've heard that from others too! But I also see a lot of players doing drills, that are not really focused. A lot of players skip their pre-shot routines and just run through the first 50% of the balls in the drills in a fast pace, miss, line up the balls again and repeat. I was this kind of guy :D And I was fooling my self because I thought that drills WERE focus. I was lining up balls, so that had to be worth something more than just spreading the balls and play. Surely I'm not the only one...what do you think? What is it really, that's making the drills more mentally draining? I would argue that they infact are less draining, since you don't need to make the same analysis of patterns all the time. But the comparison depends on how hard we're able to focus on the actual playing, of course. Which is my main point: Make the playing part the mentally draining bit with intense focus. Thanks for the comment, btw!
I always practice the longest diagonal straight in shot with the 15 balls. That's my simple warm up. It helps me to focus and calibrate my aiming and stroke after days without playing. 5~10 minutes is not a big of a deal.
Yeah, I actually do that myself.
I've recently started with 9ball and have found that progressive play is helping me learn the game. I started with 3 balls until I could comfortably beat the ghost. Then 4, 5, 6 and currently 7, certainly gets difficult!
That's really good! That's a really specific way of practicing 9-ball (and 10-ball). The only thing missing is the break, but that's not as crucial for players just starting with 9-ball. Your way of practicing is certainly what I would recommend to other players starting out. I do it often myself too. Just focus hard and dig deep, take notes of your weaknesses and work on them isolated at some point too. Good luck!
@@PoolProblems yeh break doesn't get covered but when ur starting out with 9ball that's the least of worries, rotation pool is challenging!
i thought about this one night in the shower i was like why would you do drills when i could practice things i may have weaknesses at like shooting when the cueball is frozen to a ball and i have to shoot over it or like long draw shots i could practice ect ive never done drills or just play the game itself like you said ive never done drills before but i remember trying one once and it was way harder for me then to even make 2 balls in when ive broke and ran a few racks they just don’t seem beneficial to me but ig i could see them maybe being good for like warming up ig but you could just throw some balls on the table and shoot them in to warm up too like i do but for me ive never seen the need to use them that’s just my opinion though
I like to start with straightening my stroke and do a few kicks at the rails and then play
I like that. How's it working out for you? Do you ever do drills?
@@PoolProblems I play once a week and switch it up from 8ball 9ball and 10ball but I try off the wall different ball speeds but I should practice longer cut shots but it seems to help with consistency of my shots
Every Pro player has done a lot of drills in his life. You can't reach over a specific level without drills. Image having a shot where you just don't know how to play. So you do it the way you've always done it and you fail - again. That is the point where you should key the layout and repeat this shot later for some dozen times, until you don't miss the shot and you know how it's done correctly.
I personally had a problems with balls frozen to the rail and playing with inside spin. I was forced to practice it until I exactly knew how to hit it.
Niels Feijen also says it's enough to practice a shit like 10-15 minutes a day. Just to remind you of how to shoot.
Great point, and I do agree. What you're describing is identifying specific weaknesses in your game and working on them - and I highly encourage that!
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@@stupidgus123?
Ive only done drills once and it was a coach/captain petit up for me. Other than that i have never done drills on my own. Im definitely not the greatest pool player out there but i can some of the good players in my location.
Generally, this advice is good, but there are a few caveats. If there are problems in one's techinque and fundamentals, then just by playing more, you only practice your flaws more. Thus, it's important to work on good technique all the time and make sure you have the foundation to improve by playing more real games. This requires stepping a bit away from playing. I stopped for a few weeks just to train my draw shot and I improved it more than I did for years just by playing.
Yes, it sound like we're on the same page! It's super important to deal with technique and fundamentals, so "just playing" is certainly not a solution for that. But I also think that drills have an undeserved good reputation for fixing technical flaws. Alot of technical flaws could be dealt with without doing traditional drills. In order for an activitiy to be useful for to improve a technical flaw, it just needs to provide feedback to the preformer. That means you can actually work on straight cueing, elbow drop, stance, alignment, eye pattern, bridge etc. while playing regular "ghost" kind of excersises. You don't need specific drills for those skills. The difference is your focus should be on the technical aspect, and not on the result of the actual playing. That's the hard part. Most players tend to be to result oriented to play that way. Anyway: I mean, I can read the reaction of the cue ball if I'm hitting it precise - why should I prioritze hitting it up and down the rail?
With that said, specific stroke types need repetition, so with a draw shot, you need to drill that. And that sums up what kind of drills I believe is effective, those who prioritize repetion of a specific skill you need to work on (based on game preformance). I love those, and I do them alot! What I don't like, is the typical drill "canon" pool players often priortize, which is a certain lay out of a lot of balls which you need to run out. It completly turns off the analytical aspect of the game, where you need to read lay outs, choose patterns, and execute them. For me at least, it ends up way to comfortable to be effective.
For me its a mindset, i know I have the skills, its applyingthe correct shot at the correct time , whenever you have a hundred options wrangling around your brain this can be very difficult
Yes, this is so true. That needs to be delt with through practice. Fixed drills will never train the analyze+execute skill needed in random lay-outs!
What is the best way to practice my stroke?
Depends what you want to improve. Record yourself, try to identify one issue, exaggarate the new habit/improvement, and play with it until it sticks. Don't expect it to magically be changed, but you can mold things towards the right direction. Don't compete while fixing stroke issues. We all tend to get result oriented and go back to old habits if stakes are introduced.
How does that sound?
@@PoolProblems thanks a lot. I need more table time
Play whatever game you enjoy playing or want to play. when you miss a shot or play bad position, not sure what to do, choose the wrong route, etc. immediately set it back up until you get the desired result on that particular shot. Want to work on banks? play bank pool but do the same thing. miss? set it back up. then continue the game. play a game of shooting safeties on yourself. etc. make it real world but just set it back up and try again when you screw something up. and if all else fails, realize it's the cues fault and buy a new cue.
I'm not such a huge fan of setting the shots back up, since it sort of removes some of the pressure when playing - but we're all different. I'm more fan of taking notes and working with the shots afterwards, even though you can see me doing exactly what you're describing in this video. So I guess it depends. Your final point - LOL :D
I can see the issue with "doing drills for the sake of doing drills". Indeed... Maybe I should mostly focus on problem areas of my game when doing drills, like "if I usually struggle with shots when the object ball is touching the rail, then I should practice that". Not just doing any drill for the sake of doing drills. Makes sense.
Exactly! Find your weaknesses, repeat them until you have them covered. Feel free to find or even make drills out of them, but always know how they are linked to your playing abilities. If someone asks you "why are you doing this drill", you should have a good answer!
This is the way I look at it. People will ask questions like what’s the best exercise to get better at bench pressing? And they somehow fill to see the obvious answer, bench, pressing. You will get better at whatever you practice.
Yes! As a strength training enthusiast, I love the parallel you're drawing. You assist with excercises like incline dumbells, tricep work etc, but at the end of the day, benching more will give you the results you need. Also, in strength training you have to deal with fatigue management, which really isn't an issue in pool.
A lot of the Filipino players admit they just "spread and shoot" for practice and gamble games. That's where they learn to perform under pressure.
I think drills are very important and should be put to use. However, I do feel that once you reach a certain level after learning the proper fundamentals and English/Positioning techniques - what you’re saying has some truth to it.
Everything in pool is about how clean you hit the ball. Doing drills or just playing you should focus on hitting the ball clean. The thought process while you are down on the shot is crucial for getting better and nobody talks about this. So to answer your question, drills can improve your technical skills and intuition about cue ball control but they won't make your stroke more pure if you don't purposefully think about it. So drill or no drill you should think about elements which purify your stroke. The problem you talk about is that you don't take the game seriously but you take the drills seriously, well you should take everything seriously to get better.
Great point. Have you watched my other video about problem shots? I go through some aspects of the thought process on the shots. Does that cover some of the things you feel is important? Great point about taking everything seriously. However, playing in the evening after work, kids etc., we have to be realistic about how long we're able to stay focused - so it's important to use the time wisely.
@@PoolProblems In this video you practice 1 shot but you also work on the thought process which is good. But practicing 1 single shot can be misleading, because no matter what you are thinking about, you will bet comfortable sooner or later and this won't stick for long time (except the really hard shots where you have to really get down the technique right). The elements I'm talking about for example are - slow draw on the last swing, pause at the back before the shot (this is used mainly in practice so you can give your brain time to realize what actually you are doing), keeping your elbow up and so on. Those are the most common ones that some people talk about but there are a lot more. Don't take my word for it, I'm just sharing what my coaches are telling me and what I think is worth practicing. Also very important you shouldn't think for more than 3 elements/things (3 is really the limit, I recommend 2) because the chances those things will stick is really low.
" If playing the game alone got you better then every sports practice would just be a scrimmage. one half of the team vs the other half of the team to get ready to play another team. there would be, goal kicking drills, shooting drills, blocking drills, passing drills, no pop flies, no swing training, no ball pocketing drills, no 3 man weave and there definitely wouldn't be any pads or bags in a boxing gym"...
That's a line from a video I'm making on efficiency and I'm actually using pool as an example at one point in a section called "perfect practice" I make an example out of A guy who sucked in pool leagues. He told me he practices for 4-6 hours almost daily. I said you must be practicing the wrong s**t and asked what he does. He said he racks 8 ball and plays himself. Obviously 9 ball alone can offer him more than 8 ball. But that's still not a reason to focus primarily on playing yourself. I agree those ball drills you showed are over rated but not all drills are and you also cannot create the competition vibe in your basement playing yourself alone. Tow Lowry has awesome advice on his channel and I've learned a lot from him. Everybody should practice center ball training, look for shots you miss often and practice them till you're comfortable. Practice different English with them and then focus on 2-3 ball runouts, picking which pocket they will go in before you shoot. From there work your way up to 9 balls with ball on hand. Once you go from 2 balls to 6,7,8,9 balls, it starts to become 2nd nature. And the more comfortable you get with your ability to runout, the more comfortable you will feel in competition. You have to train your subconscious mind by some sort of repetition. and you have to present in training.
Power side note - If you teach the things you learn you'll remember them much better and be able to call upon it as needed. If there's not someone willing to listen, pretend to teach someone or act like a crowd is watching 🤣
Looking forward to your video - let me know when it's done.
I'm a huge fan of Tor Lowry. Another user actually also mentioned him in a comment, so I'll just paste in my reply here:
Tor Lowry is a great. Even though he hasn't explicit said it, I think he's general thought is very similar to mine. He emphasizes tracking missed shots and practicing them as the most important types of drills. His important mantra is being a student of your OWN game. After the fundamentals are good enough, he doesn't encourage lining up balls etc. I don't think I've ever seen him line up a traditional drill ever. He's all about stroke drills (at first), then more or less only pattern play and pocketing drills on weaknesses.
I make sure my stroke is straight, rack em up, and just play game after game after game with myself. I play every ball honestly and as though I am playing a real person.
I agree. it's more fun too.
Where are you from Brother ?
Norway, but originally from Iran 👍
VERY TRU INDEED!
I think you argued against yourself there when you brought up specificity. Wouldn't specificity mean that we should be choosing specific types of shots to practice? Perhaps the drills you have been doing are just not specific enough. For instance, instead of doing the L drill as you just showed, you would probably get more out of doing the yo-yo drill from Neils Feijen"s videos, which focuses on a very common type of rail shot and nothing else.
Great comment. I think there's room for both the yoyo-drill and the L-drill in pool practice, as long as it's done in a purposeful manner. But how isolated a drill is, does not determine how specific they are to the competing situation. I see why you think that "specific" mean "degree of isolation", but the term is more used to describe how well the activity develops the athlethes abiltity to compete in their sport. Here's a link that put's thing in a context: velocityspusa.com/the-essential-guide-to-sport-specific-training/
Quote: Sports Training Is The Truest “Specific” Training. In the end, the thing that tends to increase your sports skills the most is playing and training your sport.
Running and weight training are f.ex. less specific than practicing draw shots, which is less specific than a training match. Also - it's about what disciplines you compete in: The L-drill is more specific to f.ex. straight pool (precise position in small areas), and the yoyo drill is more specific to nine-ball. I do think we should isolate shots like you mention! A well reflected player will understand what things to isolate based on their own weaknesses. It's about seeing patterns in why they give away racks, and working on their weaknesses.
Nothing in that article suggest that focused exercises are inefficient. And I wouldn’t even call that article scientific since there are no sources and its way too vague. Improvement comes from repetition and focusing on specific skills and weaknesses.
Drills are very helpful in that sense, but it’s up to you to take that shots you’ve been practicing and look for opportunities to transfer them to your game. But where drills fail most people is twofold. First they practice the same drills for years and focus on clearing them and not getting perfect position. Second, they don’t align the drills to the area of the game they need to work on. That’s partly related to my first point, but if you are struggling with going up and down table you should probably put the L drill aside.
@@a1rwui Great comment. And I do agree! But, I need to clarify that I have never stated that drills are inefficient. I thought that was a clear point in the video, but maybe I can make it clearer in the future. Overrated does not mean inefficient! Like you said, repetition is the way to go to improve on specific weaknesses - building new neural pathways etc. Aligning that work to the actual weaknesses in the game is the way to go.
Fokus
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45 years without *drills.Spread the balls try to clear.If you are not stupid you should learn from misses too so the more shots you play should get you better in a faster way than drilling.Its not science its logic.
Why do drills? As a long time youth sports coach, you gotta drill to perfect the individual moves you'll need in a game. I play APA n I have opponents that don't drill, just come on off days n play...guess what? They can't do cut shots, or draw shots because they don't practice them. Break down the shots n drill them n I GUARANTEE they will come up in a game ir match n then you can say "I've made this shot 1000 times" n shoot with confidence. I've only been playing seriously for about a year, but drilling has helped immensely. So to me, you telling people NOT to drill is a disservice.
I thought I was pretty clear about the fact that drills do play a role in pool practice, but I'll make sure to be more precice the next time, so I appreciate the comment. My main conclusion is: Play the game with focus, find weaknesses and base your drills on them. Don't just do random drills without having a clear goal about what weakness you're honing. And always remember to spare some of that mental energy on truly focused gameplay. Because the better you get, the more important it becomes to develop the ability to analyze completely random patterns, keeping your composure, truly focusing, and to execute all the different shots needed to run the rack.
not completely true. u need to master the basics first, isnt it? for professionals, it is certainly the case. most people cant even hit the cueball back and forth table and touch its cue, meanwhile they thinking about should they play a combo bank with positional play
Yes and no. Most drills don't work fundamentals any more than regular playing does - do they? It all depends on what you want to focus on. I agree that fundamentals are super important (who doesn't), but I'm not sure if the solution is hitting a ball up and down the rail until it comes back super straight, because at some point, you need to implement it to you're game. I mean, it's certainly possible to focus on fundamentals while playing "regularly". I do this from time to time - f.ex. telling my self that I need to pay more attention to my bridge hand, my delivery, staying still, pre shot routine, etc.
@@PoolProblems i think theres defoly a unhealthy proliferation of drills. but some of the old,boring,common drills are very helpful to enhance cueing and basic positional play. i actually think hitting the ball up and down table is one of them,altho there no need to practice it to perfection. i actually got a lot out of the drill. cuz, if u just playing, u focus is not solely on cueing and the muscle memory won't take in that fast. centre table drill and L drlls r all good etc
@@liyexiang666 Yes! Great point. I think for a excercise or activity to be good for fundamentals, the most important thing is that the excercise gives feedback on whatever you need to practice. So the up-and-down is okay for that, I guess, even though I'm not a huge fan. My point is, regular playing also gives you feedback on the accuracy of the hit, as long as you know what you're looking for. The balls behave in a certain way depending on the hit - overcut/undercut depending on unintentional outside/inside, or the cue ball picks up speed or dies when it hits the rail etc. So if you're aware of these things, you can do a lot of fundamental training in regular game play. The important thing is that the fundamentals must be your focus, not necassary making the balls or running out. It's a shift from result oriented practice to process oriented.
Pool is a wonderful game and whatever you finds to work is fine. Drills are important for me at least 2hrs a day minimum. If life permits. But I disagree with you because I believe a person always must remember that whatever works for me may not be beneficial for someone else. I know people who never practice at all and are very talented. So practice is as individual as our fingerprints and I treat it as such. Have a great day on purpose.
If you fail to practice, you practice to fail.
Only a fool thinks you don’t need to practice - at anything.
Who thinks that way?
Rubbish