A top quality cue or some top quality coaching?

[potted]

Assuming you've never had either what would you prefer?

[platt]

coaching all day long

[karkit1028]

top quality coaching for sure

[DavisFan76]

Assuming you've never had either what would you prefer?

Coaching, for sure.

[stephen23]

Sure COACHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[davidhawkes]

It is not about what cue you use but having the right technique.

A coach will give good advice (one of the first would be to buy a top quality cue!!)

[cueman]

Not quite as straightforward as you think this question. IMO I'd take the cue because finding the right cue is more important as the coaching is irrelevant if the cue you are using is rubbish. Also not all coaches are capable of improving you as a player. For me the best coaching is watching top class players and the rest is down to you being intelligent enough to learn the game. You can waste a lot of money on coaching but if you don't have a certain amount of natural ability in the first place you will soon get back into bad habits. So in summary if you are decent anyway then the cue is more important.

[tallguy]

I guess the question as posed above would prompt almost everyone to go for coaching.

What about giving it a slight twist.

Options
A) One one full day of top quality coaching.
The catch is that you will have to play with an average (say 30 quid) machine made cue for the rest of your life.

B) One top quality cue.
The catch is that you can't ever have personal coaching sessions again. You can get advice but you can't have any dedicated coaching or join an academy etc.

Dumb conditions I know but just to make it a little more interesting.

[cueman]

Its not a dumb question tallguy, I said pretty much the same thing in a round-about way.

Put it this way, if coaches were so good why aren't any of them playing professionally and winning tournaments if they know how to do everything correctly? There is only one professional player who is a snooker coach and that is Matthew Couch and he's hardly done anything in the game. No coaching for most club players is a waste of time unless you have money to burn, I'd rather spend the money on a decent cue and watching or playing against better players, if you can't learn from that then you won't really get to a decent standard that would justify spending £100's on coaching.

[tallguy]

I am not sure I totally agree with you cueman.

Being a good player doesn't imply you can be a good coach and you can be a great coach without necessarily being a great player.

I agree that no coach can "make you talented" but a good coach can correct your mistakes and enable you to raise your game. All said and done, I guess the most important limiting factor will be your own natural talent.

[potted]

Let me expand on the question then in more detail.

I'm 51, been playing socially for years averaging about 3 hours a week, the last couple of years thats been doubled and would be more still if i could find a regular partner or two to play during the daytime locally.

I've played fo a number of years with an all ash two piece bce cue and my best break has been somewhere in the 40's about 6 yrs ago. Of late if I manage a break above 30 I'd need a doctor my heart wouldn't stand it.

I've never had a lesson or been given any playing advice whatsoever. In the last couple of years i've bought a few good cues including a Trevor White one. I dont believe a good cue will ever have any bearing on how well i play I've bought them because i like cues and wood in general.

Last Sunday I went to Telford and watched Ding v Davies but to be honest i went first and foremost because of the offer of a free 20 miniute lesson with Dell Hill which my son and i had.

Now in 20 minuites little can be learned obviously but Dell straight away saw my stance was wrong and showed me the more authodox stance. Tuesday i went alone to my club and put the theory into pactice with what i can only desribe as astonishing results. No high breaks were forthcoming but I felt more comfortable and missed none of them short straigh easy shots which have been all to familiar of late and i noted a big improvement on long ones too. For instance I was placing balls on the baulk colours spots and the white on the arch and potting them in the top corner pockets 8/10 times if it were a straight line and say 6/10 if at an angle.

Anyways, as I'm typing this I think i have answered the question myself i'll see over the coming coupe of weeks just how much my game improves read up on what coaching tips can be had from the net, utube and such and apply myself to them. Next summer funds permitting and assuming the practicing of the free tips has paid some dividedends I'll look to booking 2 or 3 days at Dells Farm.

Probably will go anyways as i cant imagine a better holiday carp fishing and playing snooker.

[miscuehamburg]

Thank you Potted for your first hand report. I have heard much positive feedback from a young German player, who worked a weekend with Del last spring. Would love to meet the guy.

I personally think good coaching is much more important than a cue. No cue, after all, is sold with a pot warrant.

[trevs1]

Thank you Potted for your first hand report. I have heard much positive feedback from a young German player, who worked a weekend with Del last spring. Would love to meet the guy.

I personally think good coaching is much more important than a cue. No cue, after all, is sold with a pot warrant.

Neither is coaching.

[trevs1]

I would agree that some form of correction to an otherwise poor technique can and does help.

BUT....

I also know for a fact, that players I have known personally who were competent players, have actually gone backwords from "coaching".

As a rule, I'm not the biggest fan of the coaching thing, as far too many that I have known appear to have their own spin or views on certain aspects of technical issues. Some I know will give advice about technique, cues, psychology and so on, when in fact, much of what is said just makes no sense at all really, especially when just applying some common sense to the points raised and discussed.

I am not saying that coaching is a bad thing however, far from it.

If the right things are adressed in relation to the individual concerned, then it can help to an enormous degree, and, can offer the recipient the kind of understanding that can be taken away and considered and practised at length.

It's about finding that right thing for you.

[CueAntW147]

All depends on the individual i think and the level they currently play at, for example to a new player, coaching maybe won't do any harm in learning the basics and help to get into good habits straight away.
But an established player may suffer if they are trying to rekindle the magic that may have been lost by being coached, look at Stephen Hendry & Mark Williams as examples especially Mark who surely hasn't benefited from the coaching of Terry Griffiths.

Cues are much like the coaching you shouldn't expect great things from either just be comfortable with what you have & what you do ..and as long as it feels right you can't go wrong, confidence is really the key to it all whether you get that from a cue,coaching, or both or even by something else really doesn't matter , its doubt that causes most the problems.