Improving while playing 2 times a week

ted efremoff Asked 12 years ago

Hi guys.  

I'm a 48 year old guy who just started playing in clubs 3 years ago and have received a little bit of coaching.  I only play twice a week in a club where most players are about my skill level - 1500 to 1700 with one or two guys in the 2000 range.  In the last year I have played three tournaments at which I broke about even.  I feel that my game is improving, but at a very slow rate.  

I am interested in improving my game, but don't have more than 6 hours a week to be at the club.  When I am at the club most players want to warm up for 15 minutes and then play.  Some players will drill more. I would prefer to drill for an hour at least. I don't have a robot or a table at home. I really don't want to spend a lot of money on coaching. What do you reccomend I do to improve my game within this framework? 

Best.

Ted.

Jeff Plumb Answered 12 years ago

Hi Ted,

Ideally you could get some of your club members who like doing drills to practice with you. Show them the Training Plan (PDF) that we have. This details a basic training session that covers the important areas you need to focus on. Even better would be to follow our Training Plan videos.

It's really important in your training that you concentrate throughout the entire session. The best way to do this is to challenge yourself. When practicing the drills, you should be reaching to learn new skills and not just doing things you can already do. You also don't want to stretch too far and not be able to do the drill at all.

Another great way to keep the intensity up during training is to turn the drills into games. Nearly every drill can be turned into a game by keeping score. For the consistency training plans, this can be done by counting how many balls you can get on in a row.

The other thing to remember is that you should have a focus for each session. This will allow you to concentrate on one aspect of your game in detail.

I think by following a structured program you will improve faster than just playing games. Of course playing games is important and the reason why we train is so we can get better results in games. That's why our training plan template includes a games section.

Let me know if I've helped you out or if you still have some more questions.