The Sport of Pool Billiards 1. Ralph Eckert

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      Training program

      signed to help a beginner to become an advanced player. PAT 1 is taken after the player has practiced all these areas. PAT Start is not officially represented as such here, but is dealt with in the form of exercises leading up to PAT 1, although they are not the original PAT Start exercises.

      Advanced players should orientate themselves in this book more towards the alternative or more advanced exercises described under the ten sections, which lead up to PAT 2.

      If you are unsure whether you are an advanced player or not, I recommend you play through PAT 1 first of all. Depending on the average points value scored and the comparison with the target values(from about 80% is fine and will take you on to PAT 2, less than 50% means you need more training and sends you back to PAT Start or to the „lead-up“ exercises described here), you should be able to find out where to start without any trouble. During a test all the exercises are played through with the appropriate number of attempts and innings and the results noted.

      The first four areas of PAT 1 deal with the quality of the shot and look at speed, straightness and the effect of the shot (follow and draw shots).

      The next six chapters deal with the game itself: Small and large positions, frozen rail situations, continuous position games, your movement cycle including shooting accuracy, and finally practical applications. These ten areas can be easily found under the relevant chapter headings! So, all that remains is to say good luck and have fun!

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      Chapter 2

      PAT drills Procedure Your score = your Ø Target Ø Maximum Ø

      1. Speed 3 innings @ 4 speeds 3.0 – 3.5 4.0

      2. Straightness 4 innings @ 3 shots 2.2 – 2.6 3.0

      3. Follow shot 3 innings @ 6 follow shots 8.0 – 10.0 12.0

      4. Draw shot 3 innings @ 6 draw shots 8.0 – 10.0 12.0

      5. Small position 2 x 3 attempts @ 5 balls 3.0 – 4.0 5.0

      6. Large position 2 x 3 attempts @ 6 balls 3.0 – 4.0 6.0

      7. Frozen rail situations 2 x 3 attempts @ 6 & 10 balls 4.0 – 6.0 8.0

      8. Continuous drill 3 innings @ 3 x 3 balls 4.0 – 6.0 9.0

      9. Movement cycle 5 standards balls @ 3 shots 1.8 – 2.2 3.0

      (Standard balls)

      10. Game situations 3 x 1 attempts @ on 9 balls each 3.8 – 5.0 9.0

      Ø = sum of final results achieved divided by the number of innings or attempts.

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      You can write your results down on any piece of paper, but there is also a more luxurious alternative. Official pool billiard workout books are available with score sheets for each test, exact target averages, factors for working out exact averages as well as training programs with a structured training plan for each exercise.

      In addition there are official PAT DVDs in which each individual exercise is not only played (by the 2003 world champion Thor-sten Hohmann) but also explained in detail (by the German coach Andreas Huber and Ralph Eckert). The techniques described in this book can also seen on the DVD!

      „There is nothing that cannot be achieved through patience and equanimity. This is an experience we go through every day“

      - Mahatma Gandhi -

      Founder of the Indian freedom movement and peaceful resis-tance

      Taken from his book „He who follows the path of truth will not stumble“ (2002)

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      Chapter 2

      Speed

      The correct speed is of crucial importance when playing for position! Good players need a great deal of feeling for this and these exercises are designed to help you develop this feeling! Often during training, you will be told to “play very softly”, use “average power”, “hard”, “soft”, “lightly” and so forth.

      Andreas Huber, German national coach:

      The words „hard“ or „power“ are fatal. You can only achieve the right effect (!!!) through the speed of the stroke – power cannot be transferred in billiards!

      To clarify these instructions once and for all and, at the same time, to give you an increased feeling for the right speed, here is a short series of exercises for training speed. Try them out and see if you manage to follow the cue through as I describe. Even experienced sportsmen have problems playing Speed 1 correctly.

      Recommended training target: Play the four balls at Speed 1 and 2 again and again until you can play the four balls in sequence at the right speed. With Speed 3 and 4 just play one ball after the other until they all (but not necessarily in order) come to rest in the right speed field.

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      All 4 balls are to be played one after the other into the marked area, i.e. 4 times in a row. They must not touch the bottom rail, i.e. there is a tolerance of 4 diamonds.

      The balls must not touch each other!

      As above! The same tolerance applies! I.e. the balls should roll into the area and may touch the rail (but don‘t have to). The balls must not touch each other!

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      Chapter 2

      Again as above, only just a little further (Speed 3)! In this exercise you‘ll have to watch your straightness, too as the balls are not allowed to touch each other or the long cushion!

      Here again there is a tolerance of 4 diamonds!

      There is not usually any need to play a speed stronger than Speed 4. A 9-ball break may require Speed 5 or 6 but this cannot be shown in table lengths because the cue ball would

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      automatically jump when it hits the first rail. However, interna-tional table rules state that a ball must be able to run 4 table‘s lengths before it jumps.

      Now you‘ve done the exercises you should be able to see whether you had any problems playing these speeds or not. At this point, though, we shouldn‘t be worrying about straight-ness. Straightness will be dealt with in the next session. The problem of finding the right speed is usually a question of the right swinging frequency! Where does the strength needed for a clean Speed 4 or higher come from? The upper arm? The forearm? Muscle power? No, it comes from the speed