The “Plan B” Exercise
After having taken a personal hiatus from my pool training these past few months, I’m back to basics this week. I’ve just been shooting a ton of stop shots and just making lots of balls. The Monk calls it “piling rocks.” That’s when you throw all fifteen balls on the table and run them and run them and run them. I love to pile rocks. It’s really quite demanding of your attention and focus actually. It’s so easy to get lazy and lackadaisical if you don’t have a plan.
Other variations of piling rocks include shooting every ball with your opposite hand, using the bridge on every shot, drawing every ball, following every ball, shooting every shot as firm as you can, shooting every shot as easy as you can, or trying not to bump into another ball. These are all just some variations to spice up your practice a little.
On this particular hot summer night at Table Steaks East, I was piling rocks, shooting each shot with a firm punch stroke. Then I decided to select only the more difficult shots, versus just shooting the connect-the-dots layout in front of me. In doing so, I began noticing a pattern. I caught myself second guessing my decisions. I noticed that I wasn’t fully committed a couple times to shooting this not so obvious shot. That’s when it came to me. I’m sure I’m not the first to think of it, but I’m calling it The Plan B Exercise.
Obviously, Plan B is what we resort to when our Plan A fails. In this exercise, throw all fifteen balls on the table to run in no particular order. Start with a not so obvious, more difficult shot and play shape for a specific ball and pocket on the table. Once you get there, turn around and now shoot a completely different, much more difficult shot. Repeat. The objective is to become accustomed to committing to and pocketing any shot, not just the one you planned for. You’d be amazed at how this forces you to just suck it up and shoot.
Have you ever gotten out of line and now you’re faced with a more difficult shot than intended, or maybe even have to choose a different shot altogether? It’s so common to then miss because we were so consumed with the disappointment that we were distracted from our task at hand, which is making the shot. My Plan B Exercise is just a simple little way of practicing overcoming the change of plan and resetting yourself for the new plan and shot you’re facing.
I’m sure I’m not the first to think of it. Give it a try and I welcome your thoughts on it. As always, thanks for all your continued support.
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