solo practice

[Crixus]

Hi guys, Iv been playing the game for 4 years now & have decided to actually try & learn it properly. I joined a local league but have grown tired of losing. So now iv started practicing on my own instead of playing friends as I can take it more seriously. Hopefully it's the way forward for me but what I need to know is how many hrs I need to be doing especially at the 'learning' phase. I can only commit 1-2 hrs every other day due to family & work commitments. Is this enough? ???

[lennon11]

In my opinion most of practice should be solo....when practicing with others it either turns into match play(although useful too)...or a social nite.Stephen hendry always used to advocate mostly solo practice...didn't do him too bad.

[Crixus]

I agree. Although it does feel strange as hardly anyone else seems to practice solo. ( in the club I go to anyway).

[bolty]

I popped to the club yesterday for a couple of hours of doing a few solo routines. It was packed out with guys in threes having a few beers and food along with their snooker. It made me feel a bit daft! Serves me right for going it at 7pm on a Friday. I'll go a few hours later next time I think.

[Burnpark]

Can't beat practising on your own, work on shots you struggle with but also find some routines. I am working on break building at the moment, along with shots off the cushion (my weak spots). I never feel awkward when practising on my own and I rarely see other players doing the same. Good to get some frames with other players to gain some match practice but don't ignore solo practice. Good luck

[snookerdad]

In reply to your actual question, a couple of hours of quality solo practice every week would prove invaluable to most club players.

Tim Dunkley (World Snooker coach)

[blinker]

I popped to the club yesterday for a couple of hours of doing a few solo routines. It was packed out with guys in threes having a few beers and food along with their snooker. It made me feel a bit daft! Serves me right for going it at 7pm on a Friday. I'll go a few hours later next time I think.

Initially it does feel awkward just like how it would look like dinning alone in some places.

Then soon you get used to it, the club players get used to it and it feels pretty normal now to play alone and chatting up with some of the guys there every now and then

[Zhuge]

+1
you need to get over the awkwardness and sink into the routine. There's where I find total concentration and focus, sort of like a zen snooker meditation :P where you are totally disconnected from the surrounding people. But of course, you will still get disrupted once a while by some busybody asking daft questions....

[pottr]

Too many underestimate the importance of solo practice... I'm not saying you can come on leaps and bounds without it, but I feel it really is pivotal if you wish to improve beyond a certain level.

Attacking the lineout and having a crack at set splits is the only way you will gather enough experience to spot the patterns that help you make 30's and 40's more consistently.

[Burnpark]

I also believe it is important to mix up the routine to avoid going stale. I always start with hitting the white ball up and down the middle sports to ensure I am cuing straight and then alter between shots I am struggling with, long shots and break building. Fair play to anyone that does this for more than 2 hours a day as it can be very lonely and tedious.

[bolty]

I'm finding two hours is about right, anymore and it, like you say, becomes tedious and sometimes even frustrating. My experience of learning is that once you become frustrated you become worse, temporarily only but enough to nullify any good you think you're doing.

[pottr]

I'm finding two hours is about right, anymore and it, like you say, becomes tedious and sometimes even frustrating. My experience of learning is that once you become frustrated you become worse, temporarily only but enough to nullify any good you think you're doing.

Definitely...

When you get frustrated and you're practicing with a partner... keep playing and learn to grind it out. But like Bolty says, if you're on your own and you get frustrated, there will be zero benefit to continuing.

[Crixus]

Thanks for the replies ppl. It's nice to know once in awhile that we have folk to call on when the 'doubts' start creeping in!

[Romewo]

Kurt Maflin practice solo every time, every day. But thats because no one in Norway is a pro and nowhere near his level. The only match practice he has, is in the tournaments

I start every session with solo practice. From half an hour till one and a half. Then match practice with a mate.