I’ve been doing decently at getting some alone practice time over the last week or so. I’ve been working on speed control and position routes mostly. I did do about 30 minutes playing with “The Gates” over the weekend. Man that’s a tough one. (below – just shoot through the gates 1.5 lag speed and dont touch the balls. I was able to do it 4 times in a row, but never more than that. Not sure if that’s my stroke or just a weird part of the cushion. heh, never really saw any spin on the object ball, I even used a stripe to help identify that.)
After that, I worked my draw speed for a while. Setting up a shot, 1 diamond apart and drawing it consistently back 1 diamond, then 2 diamonds, then 3, etc until I was hitting the end rail. I then increased the shot distance from 1 diamond to 3 diamonds and did it all over again. Next, I had a friend throw out a random number and I had to draw it that many diamonds. I was surprised at how well I did, considering I’ve never really done well at this drill (though it’s been at least 2 years since I tried it). So, in comparison, there is definite improvement, but always room for more.
On Monday, I finally got some time to work on that Kid Delicious clock system. I had some trouble with the 5 and 6 lines, but the 11, 12, 1, 2, 3, and 4 were all spot on and quit helpful. I shot each shot 10 times and I was able to find an accurate cueing spot to reproduce each position. I experimented with various speeds which really shortened the angles, also great to witness. Even though I know it should, actually doing it and finding ways to control it is so much more important than just reading about it.
The 7-10 lines were totally random for me. I’m assuming that he’s suggesting the cueball is stunning into the rail and then the inside spin in carrying the cuebal down to the end-rail. So, that’s what I shot, even though it’s anything but a “medium” stroke, for me. Even still, all of those lines were hitting between the 1st and 2nd diamond (opposite the pocket), with no real consistency. I wonder if my setup was incorrect (not exactly a half-ball hit, I mean). I worked on this drill for probably an hour though, and it was informative, so even though I couldn’t get the results he indicated, it was still a good a experience.
For my next practice routine, I really want to work on elevating my cue. Shooting over an object ball or jacked up on the rail. Also, I need to set up an actual banking drill.