Johnny Henson, Professor Pool
Are you a player struggling to improve your billiards game? If so, do you find it hard to differentiate between practicing and playing? If you answered yes to both of these questions, then you’re not alone.
As a coach and mentor to many students, I feel the lack of true focus on practice holds most players back from ever achieving the level of play they desire. But there is good news, with the proper approach and focus during practice, you can improve your game to the next level. The first thing I want to state is that you should practice much more than you play. Willie Mosconi said he practiced 40 hours for every 1 hour of competition. This may seem to be very extreme to a lot of players reading this article, but you get the idea. You don’t get something for nothing. There is no free ride on the road to a better game. The key is to always practice with a true purpose.
It has been said that those who fail to plan, plan to fail. Practice with a plan in mind, and don’t just shoot your favorite shots, or pocket a few balls and call it practice. Instead, treat every practice session as preparation for playing or competing. Try focusing on improving your stroke and specific harder skills, such as long shots, thin cuts, banking, caroms, combinations, kicking, jumping, and drawing, just to name a few. Try to run some racks and reset and reshoot all shots that you miss or struggle with. Try to make your practice time fun. Try keeping the practice time limited to two hours or less, in order to maintain focus on each shot and its outcome.
During play, be honest with yourself about your strengths and weaknesses. Note what shots or skills you struggle with and dedicate extra time to them in your next practice session. My practice rule is to note every shot or type of shot you miss when you are playing or competing. The next time you practice, shoot every missed shot until you can make it three times in a row. Practicing shots you’re not good at, or that you miss when playing or competing, will progress your game much quicker than practicing shots you rarely miss, or that you’re already good at.
My rule: In practice if you are not missing any shots, you’re practicing the wrong shots. If certain shots or skills are problematic during practice, try to avoid them when you’re playing or competing, and consider playing safety shots instead. Always remember, practicing correctly is crucial for your game to continue on the road to improvement. Practicing incorrectly will not make the problems go away, it will many times make them worse.
Seek out a professional instructor early on to help coach and mentor you on the correct way to practice and also play. As an experienced instructor, most students who come to me have incorrect strokes graded on film at less than 25% correct. A good stroke is graded at 90% correct or better on film. The earlier a player seeks instruction to learn the correct way to play, the easier it is to correct or perfect that player. Bad habits are hard to break. Practicing only what is correct is the key to improving your game now, and also paving the way to playing at a much higher level in the future. By practicing with a purpose and seeking out a professional instructor, you can take your game to new heights in a short period of time.
Start practicing with a purpose today. Contact us for more information at [email protected] or call 623-377-0042. Visit our website at BilliardUniversity.com to learn more about our classes and mentorship programs.