Match Practice & Solo Practice

[Daniel Westhead 147]

How much time should you spend on match practice per day and per week?
How much time you should spend on solo practice per day and per week?

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[Terry Davidson]

Simple answer...all the time you can if you want to improve

Terry

[bongo]

Simple answer...all the time you can if you want to improve

Terry

I totally agree with Terry.

[Daniel Westhead 147]

I totally agree with Terry.

But, can't you over practice?

[bongo]

Ooooops I posted in the wrong thread. I meant to post 'I totally agree with Terry' in another thread!

I think it's important to practice the right things. 2 hours of concentrated practice is better than 4 hours of playing where you don't concentrate and knock the balls around pointlessly, take that as an example.

[Daniel Westhead 147]

Thanks Terry and Bongo .

[bkpaul]

Well it depends on several issues and the amount of practice or match practice will therefore fluctuate.

Consider this:

You usually practice 2-3 hours a day but today you were up earlier than usual and had a none stop busy day, you are tired but you have told yourself you must practice 2-3 hours a day.

In the given situation you are likely to:

1. Play badly because you have no energy
2. Play badly because you can't concentrate

Add into the argument you have been doing a lot of heavy lifting (say for example moving home) and you will find you have many aches and pains which of cause are detrimental to good good cueing.

Really the bottom line is.

Practice as much as you can whilst maintining you concentration levels and your performance, once you feel tired stop for the day or at least a few hours to recover.

If your concentration goes walkabout but energy levels are ok take a short break and change what you are doing, if you are playing frames, try routines, or try billiards, basically break up your practice into different parts so you don't become bored or complacent.

If you do the same old thing time after time you will very quickly cease to learn anything and as such practice becomes pointless.

Don't continually play the same players, or players of the same standard as this limits your game, if you are playing a lesser player than yourself set targets, i.e. not to let them score, or not to let them score more than xx points.

If you are playing a better player set yourself a points total to achieve, or set a point in the game where you can still win, i.e. 3 reds out, on the colours etc.

You will learn far more from developing your game against a variety of opponents (and styles of opponent) than you will in any other way.

When you practice yourself uuse routines about 40% of the time, frames about 30 % and billiards about 30%, this will teach you a grreat deal about yourself and your game.

[quintahunter]

When you practice yourself uuse routines about 40% of the time, frames about 30 % and billiards about 30%, this will teach you a grreat deal about yourself and your game.

Sorry, what do you mean when you say "billiards"? English billiards? The one with only two balls?

[bkpaul]

Sorry yes I mean English Billiards and it has 3 balls, red, yellow and white.

All snooker players should play a cue sport where they need to control the object ball and the cue ball in the same stroke as they learn far more from this.

Obviously in snooker you do this when playing snookers but no where near as much as you do in Billiards, also billiards is far more about top half cueball striking as opposed to bottom half and as such a player who can master both codes will be a far better all round player and have a far greater shot selection.

[Krypton]

say 3 balls, and you are correct

[quintahunter]

Sorry yes I mean English Billiards and it has 3 balls, red, yellow and white.

I meant 3 balls, right...

Do you think it's such an important "game" to dedicate 30% of the time on the table? It seems too much. Even though, I'll give it a try and see if it really improves my game. I assume you recommend it for solo practice, as I don't think anyone will want to play billiards with me.

[bkpaul]

Yes I do think it's important, and 30% is about right.

The important thing I am trying to get across here is not the game of Billiards but the ability to control the cue ball whilst at the same time controlling the object ball (s)

Think of it this way if you can play a shot and determine the exact path the object ball will take and where it will come to rest how easy snooker then becomes especially where you are playing one of the following:

1. a cannon to dislodge a difficult ball
2. to promote a ball into a better position (different from (1) )
3. to play a snooker
4. to play a contianing shot

I often don't play to the billiards rules as its not about that its all about control.

I for example will often try to play snookers (pretty difficult with only 3 balls on the table!)

I may well take that a step further in that at least 1 ball must hit a cushion

and further still

both cue ball and object ball (the ball the cue ball strikes) must hit a cushion

and further still

all balls must hit at least 1 cushion

another way to play is you play to pot 2 balls in 1 shot (3's a tad difficult!! and greatly prone to luck rather than ability)

one of the biggest things you will learn from billiards is of course standard billiard shots, 1/2 ball in off, 1/4 ball in off, 3/4 ball in off and how to as a bye product of that how to negate that happening.

What I mean by how to negate that is to learn to control the angle of reflection by striking slighlty lower (stun), slightly higher (run) or using small amounts of side spin this then also teaches you how to get your "standard shots" when not in "prime" position by using the different types of shot described.

Some people, usually snooker players call billiards boring, well if you just like potting I guess it is, but snooker is not just about potting and there are far more ways to win a game (or more correctly far more ways of giving yourself the best chance of winning) than potting alone.

Snooker players say to me if I make a 100 break I will win, that's true but you have to be in control of the table to score and if you have played a poor safety you are likely to spend a lot of time sat down.

I would be happy to knock in 2 35 breaks every frame... or 3 25 breaks either way I would be ranked world no.1 !!

[quintahunter]

Yes I do think it's important, and 30% is about right

OK, I'll try then. Any recommendations or guidelines? :snooker:

[bkpaul]

Apart from what I said in my post above all I can add is the object of the excercise is to get the object ball and cue ball exactly where you want them, don't play pots!

[KeithinFrance]

Apart from what I said in my post above all I can add is the object of the excercise is to get the object ball and cue ball exactly where you want them, don't play pots!

I have to agree with you there, my bacon sarnie loving friend. What did the Pirelli ad used to say?

"Power without control is nothing." Substitute potting for power and that's exactly what you've been advocating.