Frequency Of Play.

[throtts]

Just trying to find out what to be considered the amount of hours one should put in to accomplish a very good standard of play.

And, is 7 days a week play practice advisable or should it be more spaced with a day out here and there.

Do pros really practice 7 days a week and 8 hour a day?..

Cheers..

[j6uk]

If I went back to when I was making regular 30 breaks. I would get coaching, coaching and more coaching. Not just one, I would of really look for help and done the rounds of maybe 3 or 4 different coaches. Then start practicing

[chrissmall147]

i played 6 days a week and 6 hours a day if i had no tournaments on. When i had a tournament on it would be 7 days a week and 6 hours a day. The only way to get better and stay consistent.

cheers chris small

[j6uk]

How many weeks build-up would that be? And what was your formula for hitting form at the right time?

i played 6 days a week and 6 hours a day if i had no tournaments on. When i had a tournament on it would be 7 days a week and 6 hours a day. The only way to get better and stay consistent.

cheers chris small

[Sidd]

Well well now. I shall tell you how i have figured it out for me. I am not a professional player but an enthusiast and lover of the game I might never enter in to major tournaments and might end up as a senior club player having played a few city level tournaments etc and am not sure about others but In my personal opinion it should be as following:

RULE 1: your passion decides the amount of time you put in.

For professional play of course if its a profession it must be 6 days a week and 5-8 hours a day thing. Having a day off is important and essential when one takes it as a profession. If that is not the case then, like me, the maximum time one can allot and there is no limit.... I normally play for 5 hours 7 days a week mostly but do take a day off every now and then.

[armstm]

i've had a month off work recently in-between jobs so i've been going to the club for about 2-3 hours a day. any more and i'm too knackered!

i think solo practice like this doing similar routines day in day out does really help. you start to notice what you're doing wrong.

it's much more useful than playing matches all the time imho.

[nrage]

There are loads of studies on learning which can help you answer this Q.

For example, studies have shown that we learn better by doing say 4 x 30 minute practices than 1 x 2hr one in a week, for example. The reason is simple enough, we can only give something our full attention and concentration for a certain length of time. As our attention wavers or our concentration falters we take less in and the practice is less valuable. Also, the longer the gap between practices the more is "lost" and the more you need to re-learn. So, shorter and more frequent beats longer and less frequent.

You could still do 6 hours in the day, but you probably want to break it up into 30-60 minute sessions if possible with a bit of a break between them - a bit like how classes at school are broken up with a long break somewhere in the middle.

Snooker requires concentration for long periods so it is probably worth slowly lengthening the practice session length to work on this aspect of the game, also.

I suspect that all the pro's at some stage or another practiced every day for several hours at least, but that's pure speculation. Some may still be doing this, some may be practicing less. As mentioned by others if you're playing tournaments then you have less time and need less practice

[mythman69]

I also think that if you are tired (say after a long busy day at work) then less time is better for serious practice. But a couple of hours of fun snooker with a mate is a great way to spend the evening. My coach suggests 1 hour of serious practice then have a break and then another hour rather than 2 hours straight. It allows you to refocus and stops you from ending up just belting the balls about which doesn't help develop your game much at all. A mix of games and practice during the week is much better than just one or the other. Practice helps you work on your weaknesses because you can go over and over the same shot. Games help you to develop other skills such as safety play or learning to beat different types of players (attacking vs safety or better players vs poor players). Enjoy it or give it a rest.

[chrissmall147]

Maybe 3 weeks prior to a tournament I would step my practice up to every day for 6 hours and it would be a mix of solo and match play to get a good balance. I had to work hard as there was so many great players. There is no formula for hitting form at the right time mate you just hope you hit form at the right time.
Cheers Chris small

[j6uk]

I suspected so, would it be all those hours practice on the table or, would you be doing stuff off table that you still considered as practice like: the matchbox, training aids, memory/psychology, gym etc?

Maybe 3 weeks prior to a tournament I would step my practice up to every day for 6 hours and it would be a mix of solo and match play to get a good balance. I had to work hard as there was so many great players. There is no formula for hitting form at the right time mate you just hope you hit form at the right time.
Cheers Chris small