|
| |
|
|
Billiards Article's
Name: Run a Rack of Balls
by Tom Simpson © March 2007 - All Rights Reserved - PoolClinics.com
Recently, a player asked for advice on reaching his goal of running his first rack of balls. He has not been playing very long, but has been to pool school, so he has a fairly clear understanding of ball behavior, and his ball pocketing skills are coming up. Naturally, he wants to run some balls and see some improvement.
To help reach this goal, and to become more comfortable running balls, here's the approach I outlined:
I suggested he set the goal as "run a random rack of 15". Eightball has blockers. Nineball has snookers. Running 15 balls in any order you like gives you a lot more freedom of shot sequence and is a more forgiving challenge. And - it's running a rack!
Practice #1: Improve Your Stroke Fundamentals, so you can deliver more precisely and consistently. Find ways to make your swing smoother, straighter, simpler, more fluid. Deliver more accurately. The primary exercise here is straight-in shots, observing closely. Stay down and watch the cueball. Then check out your tip. Where is it? Did you stay down and finish the shot? Did you get through the cueball well? Did you swerve?
Practice #2: Three Ball Patterns. The fundamental concept of position play is that whenever possible, we play at least three balls ("How can I shoot the current shot in such a way that I get an angle on the next shot that takes me to the one after that?"). Three Ball Patterns is the mother drill for running balls. Throw three balls out on the table at random. Take cueball in hand and execute the simplest run-out you can. No funny business. No fancy shots. Simple. Make it embarrassingly simple. Devise a complete plan before you shoot, as best as your current understanding and skills can support. Adjust the plan as necessary to recover position after each shot. Shoot hundreds of these.
Practice #3: Three Ball Patterns with Commitment. Same as above except before each shot you place a small piece of paper where you're planning to leave the cueball for the next shot. It doesn't matter what size your paper target is. Big targets are awkward to place. Make it small and see how close you can come to it. Pool is a game of close, and of endless recovery. Perfect only happens sometimes. Placing the target will force you to plan ahead. Observe your results closely. Think about why whatever really happened on each shot occurred. This exercise will, very clearly and painfully, show you where your thinking & execution are on or off.
Practice #4: Play Bowlliards. Play by yourself. You're practicing and working toward a goal, so keep score and track your scores over time. Play hard. No cheating. Bowlliards is a terrific game for building your confidence and getting comfortable running balls. There are only 10 balls on the table, so there usually aren't many cluster & pocket-blocking problems.
Here's how it works: Rack up any 10 balls in a triangle (just leave the back row off). Break any way you choose and spot anything that goes in. Then take ball in hand behind the line and try to run out. If you miss, you get one more chance to get the rest of the balls. Start where the cueball is. Score the game just like bowling - a run-out of all ten is a strike and getting out in two innings is a spare. If you've missed twice and there are still balls on the table, your score is the number of balls made in your two innings. Rack them and play 10 racks this way. If you don't know how to score bowling, please have someone show you. This approach to scoring gives tremendous weight to getting out, and thus gives the game some pressure and excitement.
If standard Bowlliards is a little too difficult, play that you are allowed to begin each frame with ball-in-hand after the break. If it's still too frustrating, take 3 whacks per rack (instead of 2), for a while. That way, you'll get all the way through more racks, and not have to rack as frequently. Take ball in hand after each miss. As you improve, give up ball in hand and/or give up the third whack and start playing standard Bowlliards.
When you get opportunities to get input from advanced players, break the rack and then discuss with them what they suggest as the run-out sequence and why. As your scores improve, and you are clearly getting a better feel for simple, smart shot sequences, try calling the next two balls in advance before each shot. This will make you remember to think about your three ball patterns before every shot. Your patterns will get simpler, easier, more natural (fewer difficult shots, less CB movement, landing for position on the "correct" side of the next shot line, etc.).
Milestones: Score a spare. Score a strike. Score over 100. Once you are getting several strikes per game, you are probably ready to start taking some whacks at running a rack of 15. After you've spent a lot of time running through racks of Bowlliards, you'll believe it - and you'll achieve it. A one-whack rack! |
|
|
 |
