Practicing Practice

A reader asked me how I practice,
which I figure is a great question,
because I have asked myself that
same question many times.

Here's how I answered him:

My practice sessions are not very disciplined.

Many times I just throw all 15
object balls on the table, randomly,
and then go for the run,
but sometimes I vary the experience with different ideas,
sometimes I try to run them all
from the same side of the table, for example,
or try to run them without the cue ball touching a rail,
or a ball other than the OB.

One thing for sure,
I almost never ignore a missed shot.
When I do miss, I always replay the shot
until I feel comfortable with it.
I feel it is essential to never leave that
negative image of the miss in my mind.

I never practice my 8/9 ball break shots,
first of all because I don't like all the noise,
and second because it seems like work to rack them each time.
How lazy is that!?
;o)

Sometimes I hit all the balls really soft,
other times with strength, confidence.
Sometimes trying a kill shot instead of soft roll...

Sometimes going 2 or 3 rails instead of just one rail
to get position.
Sometimes with reverse english, or none at all,
to see what happens...

Many times I will take the tougher shot,
like cutting a ball down the rail instaed of banking it,
or cutting a ball into the farther-away pocket
instead of the obvious one.

I should definitely practice more bank shots.

If I didn't vary my approach to practice,
I'm sure it would seem like work, or boring,
so I try to keep it interesting.

So, practice for me is not about doing everything right,
but about learning, discovering,
and that never seems to get boring...

Hope that helps.

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