Escalating drills on the pool table

There is one pool drill that I have been doing off and on since I got back to the game.  It all started when I took a lesson, and the instructor told me to (as a practice drill on my own) spread out three balls on the table and run them out.  He wanted me to be able to do this 10 times in a row.  It was harder than it looked, even with starting the drill with ball-in-hand.

When I was finally able to do it, I modified the drill to make it so that I had to run the balls in order.  I would use the 7,8, and 9 balls and run them out like the end of a 9-ball game.  I got to where I could do this three times out of four, so I moved up to a four-ball sequence, breaking up the 6-7-8-9 and then getting ball-in-hand and trying to run out.  If any balls went in on the break, they could be spotted on either spot.  I wanted to keep doing this drill until I could run them four times out of seven.

This took MONTHS.  Several times I got close, running the balls three times out of seven, but for the longest time I could not get over the hump.  Finally, though, last month I made a breakthrough.  I was able to run all four balls four times in a ROW.  So, the same night, I tried to run five in a row, and managed to do THAT five times out of seven!

So, I have raised this drill to the next level.  Now, when I practice it, I break up the 4-5-6-7-8-9 and then give myself ball-in-hand and try to run out.  My goal is to do it six out of eleven times.  So far the best I have done is two out of eight, so I have a ways to go.  It takes a LOT of concentration, and there is a feeling of satisfaction each time I DO manage to do it successfully.
 

Chess Playing in Europe

This autumn, my wife and I went to Europe, and (like the last time a few years ago) we found that there are several places where people play chess outdoors, on large chess boards with large pieces.  Last time we found such boards in Lucerne and Zurich in Switzerland, and in Salzburg in Austria.

This time, we found a board in Danau Park in Vienna, and also revisited the board on the Lindenhof in Zurich.  It is always a good time playing on these boards.  Depending on where you are, you can play in front of quite a crowd, and the crowd participation ranges from quietly watching to actively commenting.  In Vienna, it was a lot of fun to play while 5-10 people who sat nearby would shout suggestions to both players.  The trick was to ignore the bad suggestions while occasionally taking a good one. :-)

Over the years (1992 - Lausanne, Switzerland; 2003 - London, England; 2010 - Lucerne, Switzerland; 2012 - Vienna, Austria and Zurich, Switzerland), I have played many outdoor games, and through a combination of skill and luck I have never lost.  I have drawn a few games, though.

I always look forward to finding places in new cities where such games are played.