Coordination/Flexibility

Playing with the wrong hand

Almost every person is more coordinated with one hand than the other, and almost every body has a strong side. I like to train my other side too because it helps my coordination, trains my muscles and keeps me flexible. One drill that will help all of these things is playing with the wrong hand. It is definitely a big challenge and the beginning but it will help you in the lon run. I always integrate at least one rack with my left hand.

Coordination

Jasmin Ouschan juggling with billiard balls

To train my coordination I love to juggle. Take 3 balls (maybe not billiard balls at the beginning) and try it out. Help: Take one ball in the right hand and imagine a rectangle in front of you. Now try and throw the ball from the right hand to the top left corner of the rectangle and catch it with the left hand. Then throw it with the left hand to the top right corner and catch it with the right hand. It is important that you don´t move your hands to much when catching the balls, that is why you need to learn to throw the ball always the same. This helped me to start with the juggling. Now I like to juggle even before matches, because it will wake my mind up and train my feeling for the balls and table I will need later. On the Internet you can find more instructions on how to start it, in case you have no experience with it at all.