Any good practice drills for pool?

Question

I've played pool (8-ball) for years and am becoming pretty good at making a called shot. But I'm terrible at cue ball control and setting up for my next shot. Does any body know of any drills that can help? I've tried an internet search and I can find a few, but I also find a lot of sales stuff. I'd be interested in both beginner's and intermediate drills, but not trick shots please. Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Highly recommend Bert Kinister's "60 Minute Drill" and the "Advanced 60 Minute Drill".....it teaches you position play by numbering the shots that you will encounter....and by learning them this way, it pretty much comes automatically.....you will see the shot and the route to the next ball and know what #shot it is.....I would take 5 of these...and put them on a note pad and then go shoot them several times until it was automatic.....problem is I can't keep my "transmission" on "automatic" and thus I am not on TV.......great tapes/DVD that would really help your game......tell Kinister to send my my 1%!!......yeah right!!!!

Answer 2

Cue  ball control  is  the  most  important  aspect  of  the  game  if  you  want  to  be really  good  at  it.  What  I  like  to  do is  throw  the  balls  out  on the  table  and  take  a  coin  or  a  cube  of  chalk  and place  t*t on  the  table  where  I  want  the  cue  ball  to  land  for  the  next  shot. This  wiil  help  you  become  familiar  with  the  way  the  CB  reacts  off  the  rails  and  after  hitting  other balls. It  takes hours and  hours  of  repetition  but  it  definitely  will  improve  your  game.

Answer 3

if you can get a bert kinser tape it is the best instrouctional i have seen and i have look at alot of them he has tapes from begenner to pro here is a drill from one rack a set or six ball breack and take cue bill in hand and then try to run out from there when you miss start over keep working until you can run out constintly you can also start with a tthree ball rack

Answer 4

Lots of ground already covered and good advice -If just starting out try one of the most hated names in pool Practice-set up diff shots shoot them diff and just see what happens sure listen to all the advice but you still have to do it .ie   soft shot as explained you wont have a clue in H what they call a soft shot .sooner or later its you that has to shoot it

I can tell you 2in off tangent then 2 in of draw OK bottom left -hit but could you do it from that ? most of the time NO just practice then you will know what it will or wont do

                                          Later Johnny

Answer 5

Hire a pro. The best in any sport all have coaches, ask Tiger Woods. The best money you will ever spend will be to get a qualified instructor. Don't be discouraged when you instructor starts you with things you "already know", you might be surprised at learning what you thought you already knew

Luck

K

Answer 6

Here are a few I do, which are from a book by Willie Mosconi:

Line balls across the middle of the table (can be as many as you want, but probably at least 5). Try to make them into either of 2 corner pockets using draw shots to maintain position. As you improve, you may want to try this in sequence (e.g., each ball from left to right). Can place the line even with the back edge of the side pockets, so the cushion can be used for balls near either end. Mosconi shows this done along the head string and into the opposite corner pockets - can really be done either or any way.

Place 5-7 balls in an arc less than 2 feet in front of a side pocket. Use draw shots for position to make them in order.

Place as many balls as you want in a line in diagonal across the table - the first ball about 1 foot off the back rail and a half foot off the side rail and the last ball about 1 foot off the other side rail and 1 foot off the far rail. Try to make them in order going up the table into the far corner pocket. Can go as much as 2 feet from each rail at the end to make it easier.

These all depend on a good draw and stop shot for which you need a good tip on the stick and chalked. English also is helpful. If you can't draw very far, work on doing that first. People tend not to have as much problem with follow shots, because that is the direction the cue ball will tend to go.

As you improve on these, you'll probably find you are taking shorter cue ball routes and softer shots to accomplish your position.

Actually, running 9-ball racks is good because you can only play position for one ball.