The Sport of Pool Billiards 1. Ralph Eckert
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Название: The Sport of Pool Billiards 1
Автор: Ralph Eckert
Издательство: Автор
Жанр: Спорт, фитнес
isbn: 9783941484979
isbn:
I hope that, with the explanations given here and a bit of prac-tice, you will succeed in mastering the 4 different speeds in this book. You will see that a good feeling for speed will improve your game and your results. But before we start on the PAT exercise (see diagram on next page), here‘s an overview of all the speeds. There are, of course, not just 4 speeds in a game of pool, but an infinite number. The more advanced the player, the more he differentiates his speed! With these 4 definitions, your trainer (and myself later in the book) can describe speed more accurately. Instead of saying „play lightly“ I can say „play with Speed 1.25“ and you will know what I mean because you have done this exercise. Of course, balls roll a different distance on different tables. If you are playing on a new table, you should play through these 4 speeds. You may find that Speed 2.5 requires a firmer stroke than on another table, but
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Chapter 2
it will always remain Speed 2.5! You have to hit the ball firmly enough so that the ball rolls just under 2½ table‘s lengths. YOU have to adapt to the table, not the table to you! The run of the ball in this diagram should not be taken too literally. It is just an example to illustrate the speed values.
PAT Level 1, Part 1: Speed
After this brief introduction into speed as well as a bit of prac-tice, you can now have a look at the official test exercises and try them out. I advise you to pretend that you are actually taking the official test (although that‘s impossible just with this book, of course) to see where you actually stand.
The same exercise is used for PAT 1 and 2 by the way. The only difference is in the expectations, i.e. the target average required to move up to the next level.
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Training program
Type and target: As a variation, all 4 different speeds should be played through one after the other!
Basic rules: the table can be divided into four lengthwise sections, marked off by the diamonds and the long outside rail. Each ball must be placed on the head line within their lengthways diamond sections! They do not have to come to rest within their diamond segment but must start there. If you look at the diagram (t006), ball 1 is in the top segment, 2 in the segment below, then 3, then 4. Hitting other ball(s) and the long cushion are not permitted.
Ball 1 is played with Speed 1 (with a tolerance of 2x2 diamonds, as mentioned above). It doesn‘t matter if the bottom rail is touched or not. Ball 2 is played with Speed 2, Ball 3 with Speed 3 and Ball 4, of course, with Speed 4! When you have played through these balls, count how many of the four speeds you managed (all 4, 3, 2 or only 1!). If you have one of the official training manuals you can enter the score in the first field of the score sheet or on a squared pad of paper.
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Chapter 2
Scoring: Do this exercise three times. Note down how many of the four speeds you achieved in each attempt. None, one, two, three or four? Add up the three results and divide the sum through the 3 attempts. This is your average for this first part of the test. At Level 1 your average should be 3.0 to 3.5 if you want to fulfill the prerequisites to move up to the next level. An average of 3.0 or higher is already advanced! So you now know where you stand and what your medium-term aim should be! The targets always add up to 100%. You need 80% to pass a PAT test. In the official training manuals you will find the exact target values and the factor by which you have to multiply your average in order work out your percentage. So keep on training until you achieve satisfactory results. On the next page there are some additional exercises so that you don‘t have to keep practicing the same thing again and again. That could get tedious!
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Training program
Recommended target scores are also given.
Alternative:
Play all 4 balls in sequence into the marked area (Speed 0.5).
Play all 4 balls one after the other into the Speed 1.5 field.
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Chapter 2
Play all 4 balls one after the other into the Speed 2.5 field.
Play all 4 balls one after the other into the Speed 3.5 area.
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Training program
Lead-up:
Here are a few exercises that will help you prepare for the PAT 1 exercises or quite simply help you to develop a good feeling for speed, which is what we are trying to do at the moment.
As you can see there are different „cross speeds“ as well! Be-cause of the loss of momentum caused by friction on contact with the cushion, these speeds are not as fast as the speeds we have been practicing lengthways, but they come quite close! But you‘ve got to master this, too, anyway. Practice these shots for a change, first trying to hit each ball one after the other into the marked area, and then in sequence with no mistakes. If you miss one you have to start at the beginning again.
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Chapter 2
This is a three-rail shot. Here too, play the ball at each speed. First one after the other (Level 1) and then in sequence as above (Level 2).
Lead-up but a bit more interesting: