[Leigh]

Something that I see missing from pool is coaching vs lessons. As a very new player, I have taken a few lessons from some great players and instructors, I practice A LOT, and I have a great community at the pool hall that is always willing to help when I am struggling. I also appreciate everything I learn here.
That being said... in most sports you have a coach. Let's say you're a gymnast: you go to the gym, the coach has you run through drills or tricks, tells what you to change, what to do again, etc... you practice on your own a few rounds and the coach is back making corrections. You are still expected to practice and exercise on your own... but your are getting structure from a coach almost daily.
My dream situation for pool would be to have weekly or biweekly coaching with practicing on my own in between lessons. I wish there were teaching centers... picture the scene: you and about five other people belong to X pool coaching facility and someone works with your group twice a week (or even more). The coach helps you set practice routines tailored to your goals and gives you feedback on what to change... ah... dreaming...
I love taking lessons. I can only afford them a couple times a year and I will religiously practice EVERYTHING they tell me...but it's easy to slip into bad habits.
Just wondering about how you all stay focused in your practice and get good feedback on what you need to do better.

[bbb]

You can set up 1 hour sessions either virtual with the coach/ instructor of your choice or someone in your town or nearby
Do them every few weeks if that’s affordable
The regular feed back is very helpfull
I am not an instructor
Jmho

[Ratta]

Well Leigh :-)

coaching and lessons should go simultanuosly- in best case of course.
To have a full time coach.....-oh well.. i think both sides (coach and student, lol) would "dream" of it :-)

If you want a long time based relation ship with an instructor, you "should" get all the things you came up with :-)

From my expirience it works good, if the student and myself meet 1-2 times a month. in the meantime the student can work on drills and exersizes/homework he received. also with online coaching it goes that way.
To give a student some "tips" how to keep himself in control about what he learnt- or what he s working on should aso be "normal".

but hey- every instructor or coach is different. It s just the way i see it.

[FranCrimi]

Originally Posted by Leigh

Something that I see missing from pool is coaching vs lessons. As a very new player, I have taken a few lessons from some great players and instructors, I practice A LOT, and I have a great community at the pool hall that is always willing to help when I am struggling. I also appreciate everything I learn here.
That being said... in most sports you have a coach. Let's say you're a gymnast: you go to the gym, the coach has you run through drills or tricks, tells what you to change, what to do again, etc... you practice on your own a few rounds and the coach is back making corrections. You are still expected to practice and exercise on your own... but your are getting structure from a coach almost daily.
My dream situation for pool would be to have weekly or biweekly coaching with practicing on my own in between lessons. I wish there were teaching centers... picture the scene: you and about five other people belong to X pool coaching facility and someone works with your group twice a week (or even more). The coach helps you set practice routines tailored to your goals and gives you feedback on what to change... ah... dreaming...
I love taking lessons. I can only afford them a couple times a year and I will religiously practice EVERYTHING they tell me...but it's easy to slip into bad habits.
Just wondering about how you all stay focused in your practice and get good feedback on what you need to do better.

I think that what you're describing is a situation where coaching and teaching overlap. That's always been the problem I've had with the two when it comes to pool. It seems that they run into each other and overlap so much that they may as well be the same person. How can a teacher teach you without advising you how to practice and work towards your goals? How can a coach help you without understanding your performance abilities and flaws and offer advice on how to correct them?

When it comes to pool, I think of coaching and teaching more as verbs as opposed to coach and teacher as separate people. Of course, there are exceptions and I think it those exceptions apply to working with advanced players. But in general, it's understandable that you're looking to save money and hope for someone out there who can guide you but isn't on the level of a teacher that would cost you more money. But if you really want someone competent, then I think you're going to need someone who understands the whole picture, and that includes the details of your performance abilities.

[Bob Jewett]

Originally Posted by Leigh

... I love taking lessons. I can only afford them a couple times a year and I will religiously practice EVERYTHING they tell me...but it's easy to slip into bad habits.
Just wondering about how you all stay focused in your practice and get good feedback on what you need to do better.

I think this is a pretty good example of a coaching/training session:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMi1iieN4bw

There is not much "instruction" there which is what you would expect with a player who already plays fairly well. There are occasional reminders and suggestions but mostly Alex sets and keeps track of progress in the drills.

How to avoid bad habits depends on the kind of habit. If you are talking about bad mechanics, I can think of things that will help. The first is recording videos of your practice. Your instructor can help you to recognize problems -- it's not so easy to figure out what to watch for on your own.

The second is to practice shots that require your mechanics to be solid. Those are shots that are at the edge of your current skill set. A class of drills called "progressive practice" can automatically put you at the edge of your comfort zone.

[Leigh]

Yes, Bob! That is exactly it!
I love my one on one lessons. We go through the weaknesses in my game and iron them out and I learn new techniques, but I don't grind through a ton of drills (that would be way too expensive.) I do that on my own.
I am so obsessed with this game... I just want to always be improving and moving forward. I feel like the improvement curve was steep for the first 12 months... now I go through stagnant plateaus with sudden jumps here and there.
Someone needs to open a pool school in Tucson!