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Practice Routines

This section aims to give you a progressive series of practice routines to work through systematically. It is worth working on a batch of three or four practice routines at a time in order to provide some variety. As you master each routine you can drop that one and introduce a tougher one. Mastering a routine does not mean just achieving it once, it means achieving it reliably. Each routine has a suggested reliability factor to signal the right moment to progress. Occasionally, it is worth conducting a comprehensive run through of all previous exercises to ensure that no learned skills have gone rusty.

It is also worth stating that practice should focus on areas for improvement and not just reinforce known strengths. It is not uncommon to observe players practicing what they are good at and ignoring what they need to develop. Taking a systematic approach to these exercises will guard against that tendency. There's also a section of often ignored practice routines. The further your game develops, the more likely it is that a well developed skill in one of these areas will be the crucial difference in match play; and it is undoubtedly useful to players of any standard.

The purpose of practice routines is to provide a consistent standard against which you can chart your improvement. They range from basic exercises for the beginner to very challenging exercises which not even a top professional would achieve perfection on a reliable basis. Indeed, progress is often measured by the attainment of a higher score, or personal best, at a given exercise as well as perfection at a less challenging one. But probably the best indicator of progress is monitor the trend of your average performance at the chosen routines. This average cannot lie - please be encouraged to keep well documented records of your scores and rolling averages at these exercises.

Finally, every competitive player has thought about the mental aspects of the game at some point. As with technical ability, the mental aspects can also be approached in a structured way to improve your chances. First, though, its worth dispelling a few myths about the mental approach. None of the techniques you could come across (i.e. goal setting, positive mental attitude, etc.) are, on their own, the route to success. But they are very important. In a match between two players who are evenly matched in technical ability, the one with the most positive mental approach will have the edge. Now, do you want to be the one with the edge ... or the one without. Looked at another way, a positive mental approach is like the icing on the cake; icing alone is not enough but neither is just a cake!

At the BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2000 Awards , the three times Formula 1 World Champion Jackie Stewart presented the Newcomer of the Year Award to Jensen Button. He commented that the single most impressive feature about Jensen's arrival on the F1 scene was his mind management. Visit the Mind Games Routines section for some practice routines on this crucial aspect of the game.

Progressive Series of Practice Routines

1. Short Straight Blues

Position of the Balls - Place an object ball on the centre spot and the cue ball mid way between the object ball and the centre pocket.

Objective - To pot the object ball into the centre pocket.

Repetition - 6 pots.

Reliability Factor - Achieve all six pots on three successive attempts to progress.

2. Six Sitting Reds

Position of the Balls - Place a red ball over each of the six pockets and the cue ball anywhere on the table.

Objective - To pot all six reds in six shots.

Repetition - Once.

Reliability Factor - Achieve all six pots on three successive attempts to progress.

3. Short Straight Blues with Cue Ball Control

Position of the Balls - Place an object ball on the centre spot and the cue ball mid way between the object ball and the centre pocket.

Objective - To pot the object ball into the centre pocket and (a) follow the red into the same pocket with the cue ball; then (b) stun the cue ball in the centre of the table; then (c) screw the cue ball back into the opposite centre pocket.

Repetition - Twice.

Reliability Factor - Achieve all six pots with position on three successive attempts to progress.

4. Six Sitting Colours

Position of the Balls - Place a colour over each of the six pockets at random and the cue ball anywhere on the table.

Objective - To pot all six colours in their correct sequence in six shots..

Repetition - Once.

Reliability Factor - Achieve all six pots on three successive attempts to progress.

5. Six Nearly Sitting Reds

Position of the Balls - Place a red ball a ball's width away from each of the six pockets and the cue ball anywhere on the table.

Objective - To pot all six reds in six shots.

Repetition - Once.

Reliability Factor - Achieve all six pots on three successive attempts to progress.

6. Six Nearly Sitting Colours

Position of the Balls - Place a colour a balls width away from each of the six pockets at random and the cue ball anywhere on the table.

Objective - To pot all six colours in their correct sequence in six shots.

Repetition - Once.

Reliability Factor - Achieve all six pots on three successive attempts to progress.

7. Three Successive Blacks

Position of the Balls - Place the black ball on its own spot and the cue ball to suit you.

Objective - To pot the black ball three times into the top pockets from the position of the cue ball from the previous pot.

Repetition - Once.

Reliability Factor - Achieve all three pots on three successive attempts to progress.

8. Short Straight Reds with Target Position

Position of the Balls - Place a red ball on the centre spot and the cue ball mid way between the object ball and the centre pocket. Place the six colours alongside the line of the shot as shown in the diagram.

Objective - To pot the red into the centre pocket and position the cue ball closest to the yellow, green, brown, blue, pink and black in order.

Repetition - Once.

Reliability Factor - Achieve all six pots with target position on three successive attempts to progress.

9. Six Available Reds

Position of the Balls - Place a red ball two ball's widths away from each of the six pockets and the cue ball anywhere on the table.

Objective - To pot all six reds in six shots.

Repetition - Once.

Reliability Factor - Achieve all six pots on three successive attempts to progress.

10. Six Available Colours

Position of the Balls - Place a colour two balls widths away from each of the six pockets at random and the cue ball anywhere on the table.

Objective - To pot all six colours in their correct sequence in six shots.

Repetition - Once.

Reliability Factor - Achieve all six pots on three successive attempts to progress.

11. Two Reds with Blacks

Position of the Balls - Place the black on its spot and two reds each a balls width away from the black towards the pink spot and the cue ball anywhere you choose (see diagram).

Objective - To pot two reds and two blacks for a sixteen break.

Repetition - Once.

Reliability Factor - Achieve a sixteen break on three successive attempts to progress.

Variation - The routine can have a third a fourth red added to stretch the challenge.