practicing banks

[nathar]

I was wondering if anybody knows any drills for practicing bank shots. The way that I am working on them currently is that I will mark two spots on the table, one for the cb and one for the ob, so that I can repeat the same shot multiple times for consistency. Then I will move around, mark two more spots and repeat.

Also would like to know if anyone has any info on banking with english. A guy I was playing with was showing me a shot with the cb positioned on the head rail, or close to it, about 5" away from the pocket and the ob on the foot rail, frozen on the rail, about 8" from the pocket on the same side of the table. Hitting with a med. to med.soft speed with a little outside english, just enough speed to hold the english until it made contact with the ob. Ever since he has shown me this shot, I haven't been able to hit it. I have even gone back to shooting it with no english, which at least I used to make that shot about 30-35% of the time, and now I can't even come close. :oops:

Anyway, I normally play safe when forced with a bank, but I would like to develop some proficiency with this shot (banks in general) as it can be a great weopon in a tight match.

[Neil Fujiwara]

Here is a drill that might help you out, you take ball in hand and try to make as many as possible. The balls are placed 1 ball width away from the rail and it is a foul if you move the other balls while trying to make a ball.

Website: http://prostimo.com/pooltablel.htm

Drill: START(
%AW8Y6%Bt3B2%CW5E2%Dt2B5%Et4B5%Ft4B5%Gt4B2%Ht5B5%I t6B5%JK9E1
%KG0Y5%LR1E1%ML0Y5%NR3Y5%OF6E1%PO4O4
)END

Enjoy!!

[nathar]

Thanks Neil, That is a pretty cool tool. When shooting this drill, what do you suggest with the cue ball. In other words do you start with ball in hand or do you start with the cue ball as spotted? Do you try to keep the cb close to the starting point after each attempt as part of the shot? Or do you just keep banking balls and just keep hitting them from where the cb lands?

Thanks again for the link. This will be a great tool for asking questions as well as demonstrations. 8)

[Neil Fujiwara]

Ooops, sorry for not including more information. You start out with ball in hand but shoot from where the ball ends up, run as many as you can. So far my high score is 4, not great but shows how feeble my banking ability is while trying to play position.

The best thing to do is make a plan to run all 8 balls, then adjust if necessary if you lose intended position.

[nathar]

Cool, I plan on heading out to the pool room in a few hours. I'll definitely put some time into it.

Thanks
Brian

[nathar]

That's a tough drill Neil. I gave it about an hour of my practice time yesterday. Getting the first bank isn't that much of a problem with ball in hand, but after that it gets tough really quick. Before I finally decided to move on to some other drills, positional mostly, I actually was making the first two rather consistently, and once even managed the third. After I hit the third though I ran into another ball with the cb and had to start over. But it was fun and educational, and when I started shooting racks with a friend of mine later on I actually made a few bank shots, and even got position for the next shot. lol :D

Thanks again. After a few months or so of adding this to my list of drills, I'm sure I will show a huge improvement in my banking game. :wink:

[Neil Fujiwara]

This drill is one of the ones in the test that Thorsten ran me through. It is from 1 of the 3 books that the WPA releases as testing materials for the leagues in Europe. Some of the drills seem absolutely impossible, it's a great training tool for anyone. I believe they are going to start selling those books shortly, I will ask Thorsten about it when he gets back from Orlando and the IPT event.

[nathar]

Keep me posted. I will definetly be on the lookout. 8)

[Neil Fujiwara]

I just emailed the WPA about the books since I couldn't find anything about them on their website. Will keep you updated on what they reply with.