Solo Practice vs competition

baby huey

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Joined
Oct 29, 2008
Messages
1,948
I like the Allen Iverson approach: "Practice, practice we're spending our time talking about practice."
 

lll

Verified Member
Joined
Mar 19, 2007
Messages
19,057
From
vero beach fl
my 2 cents
worth less than that...:eek::eek:
practice vs play to me has to do with where you are at with your skill level
if you are still working on your stroke and fundamentals
you need more practice and lessons
if you think your stroke is where it needs to be
you need to play and work on what loses you games
jmho
icbw
 

darmoose

Verified Member
Joined
May 16, 2012
Messages
2,420
From
Baltimore, MD
I think practice is no substitute for competing and gambling. If your goal is to play, say 4 or 5 hours a day, and do that 3 or 4 days a week, you will be happier with your game if that time was spent competing and gambling rather than practicing.

Particularly so with OP because the game is won not just by pocketing balls. Like in horseshoes, close counts.:cool: And moving and defense can play a great role in your overall success.

The fact that I hate practicing has nothing to do with this testimony, I promise.
:heh:heh
 

Gettherack

Active Member
Joined
Dec 24, 2018
Messages
45
Very well said I agree 100 percent what good is knowing strategy if you can’t excute you will never win!
 

MDahmer

New Member
Joined
May 13, 2019
Messages
3
Some people play really well without practicing. Others I’ve seen that say they never practice...they play well in spurts but they have no consistency and still refuse lol.

I practice a lot myself and I think that a 3 or 4 to 1 ratio is perfect for me, unfortunately I don’t get that much action and it’s more like 8 to 1 practice time and I start to get frustrated and bored...then when I do play someone good it can be hard to get in stroke if I don’t jump right out ahead because I’m so used to long sessions where I’m always at the table.
 

Dennis "Whitey" Young

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Jul 8, 2017
Messages
3,922
From
Klamath Falls, Or.
For me I would think it would depend upon what you want to achieve, what are your goals, who are you playing and what is their level.
For me, I started late @ 18, so I was way behind in years played as compared to McCready, Cole, Keith Thompson, Ernesto and the like, the child proteges, so I had to really practice.
I practice 7 hrs. a day and then went out at night to match up. So I probably practiced anywhere from 14 - 20 hrs. for every 1 hr of matching up. I practiced all disciplines of pool: straight pool, banks, one pocket, and nine ball.

I got lucky, for as Luther Lassiter stated; "if you want to get good at pool, practice on a 5 x 10"! That was always my table of choice.

Other than that I can not add to the already good advise the posters have offered up! Good Luck! Whitey
 

ChicagoFats

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Joined
Feb 1, 2017
Messages
910
Practice is like dieting to me.

I really really really want to do it, but never actually try it.
 

Hardmix

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Joined
Feb 28, 2015
Messages
1,158
From
Cumming Ga
Practice is like dieting to me.

I really really really want to do it, but never actually try it.

Like anything else, you get out of it what you put into. As others have mentioned, just banging balls around is not productive. For me, its more than that, it is destructive to many of the things that I work on. PSR, head position, stroke, etc...

I would challenge any player that chooses action only to identify 2 areas of your game that need improvement. Find a drill on youtube or anywhere on the internet that addresses your specific issue and schedule just one 30 min practice session. If you start getting distracted work on the 2nd drill. If you are still distracted, go get a drink and relax for a few minutes and come back to it. The idea is to practice with purpose.

I expect you will see a improvement in the area you are working with just ONE session and it my even help you win your next session:lol
 

Nick B

Verified Member
Joined
May 25, 2004
Messages
1,025
From
Vancouver, Canada
I only practice. Almost never get to play until I get out to one of our member events. Canada is not the land of One Hole. I generally play against myself and sometimes challenge myself like how many I can make from after the break (DCC style).
 

GoldCrown

Verified Member
Joined
Dec 9, 2013
Messages
1,061
Very well said I agree 100 percent what good is knowing strategy if you can’t excute you will never win!

Hi. Gettherack....this is Frank from Lake Worth...sorry I missed you during the Winter....catch up sometime. Welcome to 1P.org. Welcome aboard.
 

hankh

Verified Member
Joined
Sep 18, 2017
Messages
761
From
Arrey, N.M.
Howdy All;

I can enjoy a practice session, I can take a few ideas with me to work on and
do it ... for awhile 30 minutes or so and I need to move on to something else.
What I find works for me is keeping these items close to each other in functionality.
Some of you may have viewed some of the exchanges between Whitey, lll and
myself over in the Banks section. I'm attempting to improve my Banks game (even
thought no one around here has a clue), so I'll maybe work on Cross-Corner for 30
or 40 minutes then perhaps Cross-Side. Same yet different.
I've been known to scatter 6 balls on the table to practice seeing a pattern then
attempt to shoot it off. Now with the Banks I attempt to do it Banking each and
every shot. Don't make it set it back up and keep at it till I get it. Scratch ...
scatter 6 more and re-start...

Someone comes in and asks if I want to shoot a game well the answer is
sure let me finish this and I'll be right with ya. I do get tired of beatin' up on
myself.

hank
 
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