Drill of the Month The Annual Player Skills Evaluation Drill

By Dominic Esposito a.k.a. The Drill Instructor

If you could increase your playing skills next year as much as they increased this past year, would you be happy with that amount of progress? Answer: Yes or No

How do you know that your skills have increased? You can’t answer the question if you had no basis point to start from. This Official Annual Drill is designed to determine your skill-building progress.

I give you the chance to affirm and confirm that your next pool year (and each year thereafter) can prove that your pool playing skills have grown and by how much.

The Drill Instructor is officially challenging you with The Happy New Year Annual Playing Skills Evaluation article. It’s structured, so you can start right now. Is this your first year? Great!

This is the Official Annual Evaluation Drill. Use this drill skills evaluation anytime, regardless of your game-playing preference. Doing this same drill year by year will prove your consistency.

This is the official Drill Session Record Keeper card. Copy this to use as a personal journal. Get the complete Practice Record Keeping Journal https://thedrillinstructor.us/Shooters-Journal. html from the website. Be sure you keep score to see your true Pro Skill Drills growth.

The pool table setup below is position and execution specific for your Player Skill Level Evaluation. It will work for any game format you normally play. This setup challenges your ball-making, position-play, and complex shot skills in open and closed-table situations. Each time you shoot this Player Skill Level Evaluation, be sure to flip the entire table layout over. This puts each shot into an opposite-side format.

You may execute kick shots, long and short bank shots, combination shots, carom shots, jump shots, and whatever else you need. This drill evaluates your Pro Skill Drills level regardless of what game you normally play.

8 Ball Players Do 10 Attempts Using Option A or B: Option A: Only play Solids or play only Stripes for all ten attempts. Option B: Play the Solids 5 times, then switch and Play the Stripes 5 times.

1. Start each rack attempt from Ball-In-Hand.

2. Select Solids or Stripes, then begin your run out.

3. Do Not Miss any shots; however, you may make legal contact with any other balls.

4. Should you miss pocketing a ball, STOP THE DRILL. Make a note of how many balls you successfully ran before the missed shot. Mark the score right away.

5. After marking your score, re-set the drill and start your next attempt out of 10.

9 and 10 Ball Players Do 10 Attempts:

1. Start each rack attempt from Ball-In-Hand.

2. Run the rack out completely in Rotation through the 9 or 10 Ball.

3. Do Not Miss any shots; however, you may make legal contact with any other balls.

4. Should you miss pocketing a ball, STOP THE DRILL. Make a note of how many balls you successfully ran before the missed shot. Mark the score right away.

5. After marking your score, re-set the drill and start your next attempt out of 10.

Your Pro Skill Drills Ratings are made up of two scores. The First Score you must track.

How many times out of 10 attempts you successfully completed the drill without missing a ball.

This answer is your Pro Skill Drills Player Rating.

The Second Score you must track.

Add up the total number of balls that you successfully pocketed during each of the 10 attempts.

Divide the total number of pocketed balls by 10. This answer is your Pro Skill Drills Run Rating.

The following are examples of a player’s overall PSDR (Pro Skill Drills Rating):

1. 8 Ball: 6 Successful Runouts out of 10 Attempts = 60% PSDPR (Pro Skill Drills Player Rating)

65 total balls were pocketed during 10 attempts. 65/10 = 6.5 PSDRR (Pro Skill Drills Run Rating)

2. Rotation Games: 5 Successful Runouts out of 10 Attempts = 50% PSDPR

70 total balls pocketed during 10 attempts. 70/10 = 7 PSDRR

As often as you take this exam use the same performance exercises to know you did get better and by how much.

By Kat Day