Practice - The Absolute Key To Consistency In Pool

Posted on March 15, 2008 in Recreation and Sports by admin

I’m sure you’ve heard the old saying — “practice makes perfect”. Well, I’m here to tell you, it’s not a lie. Ask the participants of just about any sport, game, occupation, hobby, or interest, and I’d be willing to bet that the majority will agree with that statement.

Pool and billiards is certainly no exception to the rule. If you want to shoot your best pool, you have to invest some time practicing the game and all its intricacies. No one starts out as a pro, and you better believe that the pros have some serious practice time under their belt or they wouldn’t be where they are today.

Practice time is a necessity, and not only to build your skills up to the higher levels. Maintaining that level of expertise requires you to constantly brush up on your skills. It doesn’t take long to get “rusty” at pool if you don’t play fairly regularly.

Luckily, once you do get your skills up to where you want them, playing pool is kind of like riding a bicycle, and you don’t forget it. You don’t forget how to make the shots, but unless you practice on a semi–regular basis, you just don’t make them consistently. And, to paraphrase another cliche — consistency really is the name of the game.

Pool is a funny game in that respect. You know you can make that seven ball in the far corner — you’ve done it hundreds of times. However, if your body hasn’t recently gone through the motions of holding the cue stick, and stroking it just so, and keeping that stick at just the right angle, and allowing for the slight English that you are applying, and a thousand other little things, there’s a good chance that you’ll miss that seven ball. Your brain knows how to make the shot — your body forgets sometimes.

If you are a beginner to the game, a lot of practice is absolutely imperative. You can cut your learning curve down considerably by viewing videos and reading how–to books by pool and billiards pros. But, there is no short cut to actually grabbing a pool cue and getting the feel for how the balls behave when you start banging them off the rails.

A good way for your practice time to pay the most dividends is to take it seriously. Instead of just casually knocking around the balls, try to practice a little more scientifically. Pick particular types of shots to work on and keep trying them over and over until you master them. Pay attention to any shots you miss during your games so you’ll know what to work on at the next practice session.

Dedicate each practice session to a certain group of shots, say maybe banks shots from different spots on the table, or those difficult long table–length straight shots, or sharp angle cut shots. I could name so many types of shots that I have missed, and practiced repeatedly, until I could make them fairly consistently.

Pool is a game that requires you to train your body through repeated motions. As I mentioned earlier, when you get to a certain level of pool playing expertise, your brain knows how to make the shot. Now you have to get your body to cooperate. Keep on practicing and it’ll happen.

Ernie Reynolds is a long-time pool and billiards player. His site - http://www.pool-and-pocket-billiards-resource.com is evidence of his love for the game. Pool and Pocket Billiards
Resource is a site for pool and pocket billiards players, where game descriptions, equipment care and maintenance, playing tips, pool accessories, links, how-to videos, and more are just a click away.

Tags: billiards, billiards practice, consistency in pool, pool, pool practice, practice, practicing pool

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