When Practising

[Jools]

Hi, can i have your thoughts, experiences.

I have just recently started to take the game more seriously after being a social player for years and taken it upon myself to practice as often as possible. I never set myself an amount of time just practise until i get fed up or tired, problem is mentally i could go on for ever but physically i get tired after about 3 hours. I seem to go from not particularly good to getting a rythm and into a 'zone' where everything becomes easy and when i tire i lose it and come back down the other side though the frustration makes me want to give it just another half hour. Is this when i stop? Anyone else experience this? How do i get the best out of myself. I am improving though every session.

[CoachGavin]

Your boredom/tired/want to go home stage is when you should just go home. Practising at this point will lead to bad habits as you will get up off the shot quicker/ stop walking in properly and other bad habits will creep in.

I suggest writing down a set practice before you go. Include weaknesses and also targets for eack routine. For instance one of mine used to be:-

Clear the colours (always useful and a good warm up).
The line up (usually for about an hour) - set a target ie number of 30+ breaks or something.
Continuous blacks off the spot - 10 attempts. Try and set a target for next time ie 14 continuous blacks playing from where the cue ball finishes.
21 long pots. Play long straight pots using all 21 balls from the left and right side of the table. Again, try and set a good target for next time.

By doing different routines like this also leads to less boredom as you have targets and aims for your practice. One important thing is make sure you buy a drink and take regular small breaks to have a drink and a breather.

I hope this helps.

[miscuehamburg]

I would additionally recommend to split your practise time in exercises/just for fun frames. I doubt that solo practise sessions beyond 3 hours in a row will do any good

[Freddie Ng]

I would additionally recommend to split your practise time in exercises/just for fun frames. I doubt that solo practise sessions beyond 3 hours in a row will do any good

agree .. should have a few short breaks in between and take some time to think over your mistakes and how to correct it. Try to enjoy every practise session

[CoachGavin]

Yeah I agree. Solo practice should not fill all your practice time. Practice games should make up a lot of your practice too. If you practice too much on your own you will lose your sharpness and go stale. You may even start to forget why you started practising in the first place !!

[Zidane_87]

ive recently started to highlight my weaknesses....... no point avoiding them until a proper game and try and guess the correct way to approach them

For example i was weak at potting the black with the cue ball low and high off its spot, so i spent a good hour on it!!!

never be afraid of missing a shot and evaluate why you did is a good approach i find!

all the best mate!!!

[Bigmeek]

CoachGavin Good tips there mate, thanks.

[Jools]

Thanks for all these responses. It might be worth pointing out i NEVER get bored, my enthusiasm for practice is limitless, especially more repetative drills, sounds mad i know but when i see improvements the feelilng is sweet and when i don't i have an insane optimism that i'll get better with more repetition.