Solo Practice how much is too much?

[alabadi]

Hi Everyone

i was just wondering what everyone thinks with regards to solo practice, does anyone get board with it?

I have read in numerous forums and probably here too, that a lot of players don't really enjoy solo practice and don't really bother too much, they would rather play a game.

i myself maybe in the minority here, but i love it, i can't get enough of it at the moment. i have increased my solo practice from 8 hours to 10 hours a week. this is done over two days, thats all i can afford at the moment, had it been cheaper or i had my own table i would probably parctice everyday for 4-6 hours.

i am so hungry for practice and improving i can't wait for my next time on the tables. its a pity the prices are high each session costs me £20-£30 plus i play once a week which i split with my friend and thats a £10 each so at the moment its costing me around £50-£60 a week which is a lot of money for me.

how does every one here feel about Solo practice? if the prices were more reasonable at the clubs would you consider do more sessions or you feel you do enough anyway.

it would be fascinating to know

Alabbadi

[FOXMULDER]

Are you relatively new to the game? Most people love solo practise when they're just starting out. Give it a few years and they hit a plateau and stop improving - that's when it can become tedious. You can't really hit the next level without practising with good players.

A healthy mixture of solo practise and some good practise partners is perfect.

[alabadi]

I have been playing now for 2 1/2 years now. So maybe I am still enjoying it, however practice does get frustrating but not boring. At the moment I can't see myself ever getting bored with it.

Alabbadi

[narl]

I was practising today and couldn't pot a damn ball, incredibly frustrating.

[Particle Physics]

Don't know if you're near a Riley's but they do some nice online booking offers. I can book a table during the afternoon for £2 an hour online (compared to £7.50 an hour walkin!), and it's £3.50 in the evening during the week. Not sure about weekend prices though, but online booking is still cheaper even then I think.

[hotpot]

Solo practice is vital if you are working on any specific aspect of your game like grip , stance , cue ball control , long shots etc . As long as youre paying total attention to what is happening then you,re bound to be learning . Match practice puts all the solo practice to the test when theres a bit of pressure .

[Particle Physics]

I think that's spot on hotpot. I did 2.5hrs today, I can't afford more time unfortunately. It was all about the basics you've mentioned, as I've only really been playing seriously for a couple of months. I love solo practice. I wish I could persuade my wife that digging up a large piece of the garden and replacing it with an extension might be a good idea because I'd practice for 5 hours daily, 5 days a week. Solo practice; you, the table and balls and no interruptions. Quality time.

[hotpot]

I think the key is to know when youre not paying attention to whats going on and losing concentration , you then become lazy , go through the motions and are likely to pick up bad habbiits without realising it . Once this happens its time to put youre cue away and reflect and try to remember the positives from the session .

[alabadi]

some good advice, thanks , and your right hotpot sometimes i can lose concentration and focus then practice becomes meaningless becuase any awareness of whats happening becomes vague.

i have stripped my practice back to basics this week, i am going to keep a journal a suggestion picked up here in the forum, that way i can gage my progress and see what and where are the obsticles or sticking points in my game, i can then do something about them.

i have found sometimes that i have finished a solo practice session and said to myself at the end, what the f*** did i acheive today, which is a waist of time and effort.

Alabbadi

[FOXMULDER]

In solo practise I used to play frames 'against' myself, playing in two different styles: one 'player' would play attacking, aggressive snooker; the other, defensive and conservative. I would keep score, as you would in a normal frame. On the whole I think the attacking alter-ego won more often, as you might expect. It's a good way of seeing where your strengths lie.

[alabadi]

interesting idea

[matt926_uk]

When i do solo practise i find that i can't really play frames because i end up not putting the effort into each shot, i much prefer to do a line up type practise where i have targets to beat.
I try to vary the practise that i do as well, like i'll spend 20 mins on long straight blues, 30 mins on normal line up, 30 mins on break building, but i never actually time it, i just do whatever i feel like doing.

[Chris Bedford]

Solo Practice how much is too much?

It's all about the right kind of practice. If you have coaching they can give you excersises to do. I also enjoy solo practice and at the moment have an 8ft table which I'm renovating once done il be doing 4 plus hours a day. You only reach a plateau if you don't do the right kind of practice.

[steve clarke]

I was practising today and couldn't pot a damn ball, incredibly frustrating.

lol glad it doesn't just happen to me!

[Particle Physics]

What folk forget is that the adult brain is optimal for the first 45 minutes. It then needs a 15 minute break. After a few sessions it needs a half hour break. After four hours it needs at least an hour off and some food/drink. The mind needs to refuel, literally and it also needs to rest and process what it's learnt. The body also needs a break because despite some muppets saying snooker is not a sport, it definitely is and players do a fair amount of miles walking round the table, bending into odd positions, it can be hard on the joints, back and it is physically tiring too. These principles apply whether your studying at a computer or doing a physically intensive job. People are not robots, they're organic matter.

The problem then, is that we'd need about six hours to do 4 hours of practice if we applied breaks. And I'm guessing that the improving player probably needs to do something like 12 hours of practice a week? Just a guess from what folk have said here and there. That's 18 hours including breaks. Most folk can't afford 18 hours of time at all, regardless of the table cost.

I find that I'm trying to squeeze a lot into my 2.5 hour practices and maybe too much (sitting down for just five mins half way through). If I fit in the breaks I've mentioned, I'm down to 1.75 hours of practice which isn't enough, so I'd have to book 3 hours of practice to get a couple of hours in. After I leave the table, my mind is in a daze, and sometimes I can't remember all the things I've done, hence my suggestion of a log/journal last week. I must apply a 15 minute break next time, less is more so they say. I wonder how the really good amateurs on here get on, and how much practice they achieve per week whilst also holding down a job/family/social commitments etc.