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The Making of a Billiards Champion
(1st of a Series)
Jackie "The Angel" Broadhurst
Goal-Setting
No matter what kind of skill or level of skill you want,
goal-setting has proven to be very effective. Achievers in
various fields including athletes and business people use
this technique. It gives you long-term vision and short-term
motivation. It helps you focus and organize. It forces you
to confront certain realities about your game so that you
know what you need to improve on.
Long-Term
Not every pool player has the desire to become a world-class
pool player. But for people who love competition, it is their
nature to be the best that they can be. The first step in
setting goals is to consider what you want to achieve. So
at what level do you want to play pool?
• Do you want to beat all of your friends?
• Do you want to move up a rating in your league?
• Do you want to be the best in the world?
Measure
First, you must have a specific measurement in mind to determine
your long-term goal. For example, if your goal is to beat
all of your friends, how many balls would you have to run
to be the best player amongst your friends? Would the best
be able to run 3 or 4 balls, or 3 or 4 racks? Write that number
down. Next, you must measure your ability now. For example,
how many balls you can run without a miss, right now? 'You
must know where you are, to get where you want to go.' Throw
all 15 balls on the table, with ball-in-hand on your first
shot, and see how many you can make without missing. Try this
drill 20 or more times and record your highest run.
Time
How much time are you going to spend practicing to improve
your performance? Consult an instructor on how much focused
practice time he/she thinks it would take for you to achieve
this goal. If you plan to practice only 1 hour a week, and
your goal is to increase your high run by 50 balls, it could
take you years to achieve this goal. But if you practiced
for 6 hours/day, you may be able to achieve it in months.
If you think it will take too much time for you to obtain
your long-term goal, either consider more practice time or
setting a lower long-term goal.
Short-Term
First, subtract your long-term goal from your current measurement
of ability. For example, when I set my goal to win the BCA
8-Ball tournament, my long-term goal was 100 balls. One year
prior, I could only run 32 balls, but I practiced for 6 hours/day,
6 days/week. Therefore, my long-term goal subtracted from
current ability was 68 balls. Next, Divide that number by
the number of months or weeks that you plan to achieve your
goal. I planned to run 100 balls in 1 year, so 68 divided
by 12 is 5.6. Therefore my short-term goal was to increase
my high run by 5 or 6 balls per month. By setting sharp, clearly
defined goals, you can measure and take pride in the achievement
of those goals. You can see forward progress in what might
previously have seemed a long pointless grind. After seeing
this technique work, you will then be able to achieve even
higher and more difficult goals. Remember that if you are
getting significantly higher or lower results than you expected,
you can make adjustments. The next articles are designed to
help you perfect your practice and be the best you can be
in the shortest amount of time.
Jackie "The Angel" Broadhurst, 2003 BCA 8-Ball and
Trick Shot Champion, is currently training to win the US Open
9-Ball Championship. This would be a historic event since
a woman has never won this title. She invites everyone, no
matter what gender, ethnicity, age or background you are,
to play and learn together about this great game. Visit her
website at www.TheAngelsofBilliards.com.
Article Source: www.add-article.com
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