Chris Henry - "the balls" and other coaches

[guernseygooner]

Nothing wrong with playing devil's advocate mate. Did you find they improved your game? £50 is almost acceptable in fairness taking into account the content you received too.

I don't know about improvement mate but they certainly help your confidence. Let's say you try to pot a long straight blue into the corner with white in the D and try to follow the white in. You know yourself that this is a pure cueing shot to achieve both parts but you can still make the pot whilst the white can miss following in by a few inches either side. So with normal balls there is still a bit off centre striking or misalignment allowed to at least make the pot.

If you can do it with these balls you know you have hit it pure. The other videos are also geared towards centre ball striking and alignment.

[NonStarter]

Did anyone buy a set? I've been interested a while but the shipping from Belgium really puts me off (€37!). Cymru cues seemed to have them but out of stock

[Tadge]

I have a power glide executive half cue with double plastics centre join and long bolt and have found it a fantastic unit. Open to comments and opinions

[Delphi]

He really seems to be very into collecting money lately, yes i have a set of 'the balls' but i actually never used them except for a minute here and there.
89 euro for the balls 795 euro for a 4 hours distance coaching session and now seems to be connected to https://www.6reds.com.

Well i guess everyone is trying to earn a living but i agree these prices are just mad.

[Starsky]

He really seems to be very into collecting money lately, yes i have a set of 'the balls' but i actually never used them except for a minute here and there.
89 euro for the balls 795 euro for a 4 hours distance coaching session and now seems to be connected to https://www.6reds.com.

Well i guess everyone is trying to earn a living but i agree these prices are just mad.

There was so much publicity around him when Selby played Murphy in the World final . I guess having both players in a final and the exposure he achieved he know sees that as justification for the cost of his products.

[Delphi]

He actually uses a club in Bruges which is close to me, but i don't feel the need to go there for coaching, i prefer to go to Steve in Bloxwich

[chrisg]

The problem is, that running the cue ball up and down the spots is great, but the problem with that is there are so many things that could send it offline on various club tables. I love the training ball with the red spots on it. I use it regularly in my sessions.

The other one I use is the Aim Ball (bit cheaper than Henry's) and I've reviewed this on my website SnookerZone. One of the errors that it has corrected was the fact I was striking an unintentional left-hand side on the cue ball. I'm very much a player that likes to aim left as I am left-handed so my brain thinks of everything as left - even when I'm driving on the road! When I shifted my cue more to the right which for me was centre, I began to make more progress in running the cue ball up the spots.

However, like I said the problem is there are so many variables with that drill that being able to see what the cue ball does with a lighter cue ball, you can then see what your mechanics are and how to correct it.

I personally think the Balls or the Aim Ball are well worth it. Like anything, to get your money's worth you have to use it! Some see these training aids as a quick fix and when they don't see instant results they move on without actually giving them a go and consistently using them.

Just my view though, of course.

[Starsky]

The problem is, that running the cue ball up and down the spots is great, but the problem with that is there are so many things that could send it offline on various club tables. I love the training ball with the red spots on it. I use it regularly in my sessions.

The other one I use is the Aim Ball (bit cheaper than Henry's) and I've reviewed this on my website SnookerZone. One of the errors that it has corrected was the fact I was striking an unintentional left-hand side on the cue ball. I'm very much a player that likes to aim left as I am left-handed so my brain thinks of everything as left - even when I'm driving on the road! When I shifted my cue more to the right which for me was centre, I began to make more progress in running the cue ball up the spots.

However, like I said the problem is there are so many variables with that drill that being able to see what the cue ball does with a lighter cue ball, you can then see what your mechanics are and how to correct it.

I personally think the Balls or the Aim Ball are well worth it. Like anything, to get your money's worth you have to use it! Some see these training aids as a quick fix and when they don't see instant results they move on without actually giving them a go and consistently using them.

Just my view though, of course.

Interesting points about being left handed and putting left hand side on the ball. I know it’s a ‘fault’ of mine at times and like you I’m a leftie. Not Hitting dead centre of cue ball in my opinion is not high on the list of faults to fix unless it’s being caused by your cue action not being straight.
A simple and much cheaper way to see if your putting side on a ball is to line up straight blues into the middle bag and try to follow the cue ball into the same pocket. If your putting side on the ball this way then try cueing along the baulk line to see if your cue action is out .
Way too many people get caught up on having the perfect technique and fall for these types of gimmicks .
You don’t need a perfect technique to make 100 breaks but just need to get the basics right , straight cue action , correct line of aim and keep head still etc .

Just my opinion of course 😉

[itsnoteasy]

The problem is, that running the cue ball up and down the spots is great, but the problem with that is there are so many things that could send it offline on various club tables. I love the training ball with the red spots on it. I use it regularly in my sessions.

The other one I use is the Aim Ball (bit cheaper than Henry's) and I've reviewed this on my website SnookerZone. One of the errors that it has corrected was the fact I was striking an unintentional left-hand side on the cue ball. I'm very much a player that likes to aim left as I am left-handed so my brain thinks of everything as left - even when I'm driving on the road! When I shifted my cue more to the right which for me was centre, I began to make more progress in running the cue ball up the spots.

However, like I said the problem is there are so many variables with that drill that being able to see what the cue ball does with a lighter cue ball, you can then see what your mechanics are and how to correct it.

I personally think the Balls or the Aim Ball are well worth it. Like anything, to get your money's worth you have to use it! Some see these training aids as a quick fix and when they don't see instant results they move on without actually giving them a go and consistently using them.

Just my view though, of course.

I was exactly the same, didn't know I was doing it until I got coaching and Chris Small noticed it straight away. He recommended the balls, let's be honest they are expensive but within two weeks, using them every day, they had retrained my brain to see centre as centre and not left, so they definitely work. The exercise with a normal cue ball and the light red potting and following into the bag was also very helpful to me for " seeing straight" as straight. I wouldn't like to say they are worth the money as it really does depend on the fault you are trying to correct.
Im left handed as well, I wonder if it's in us all to cue up a little left.

[vmax]

Personally I believe it's all about getting the butt of the cue on the line of aim so that you're not cueing across the line when you address centre cue ball. It's pretty easy to find the centre of the cue ball IMO, just divide it evenly in two but if the butt isn't on the line then you're actually playing the cue ball down a different line. It's difficult to know the difference between this and unwanted side as the address point on the cue ball could very well be the exact centre of the wrong line that the butt of the cue is on and the result when playing up and down the spots is very similar to butt on the right line but addressing tip off centre, but simply changing the address point on the cue ball won't put it right, in fact it will make it worse as you'll end up chasing the wrong reason down a blind alley.
Stance is the key, feet position is paramount, but if that doesn't work then a cocked wrist grip could move the cue that 1/4 to 1/2 inch to get the centre of the butt very close to the line of aim.

[mikee]

As Starsky says ,potting balls and following the cue ball in is pretty much all you need ,then Potting the ball and screwing the cue ball back into the other middle pocket is good enough ,then set up some medium range shots and stun them into the corners ,it’s great practice when your off a bit ,and where you miss is good feedback

[Starsky]

Personally I believe it's all about getting the butt of the cue on the line of aim so that you're not cueing across the line when you address centre cue ball. It's pretty easy to find the centre of the cue ball IMO, just divide it evenly in two but if the butt isn't on the line then you're actually playing the cue ball down a different line. It's difficult to know the difference between this and unwanted side as the address point on the cue ball could very well be the exact centre of the wrong line that the butt of the cue is on and the result when playing up and down the spots is very similar to butt on the right line but addressing tip off centre, but simply changing the address point on the cue ball won't put it right, in fact it will make it worse as you'll end up chasing the wrong reason down a blind alley.
Stance is the key, feet position is paramount, but if that doesn't work then a cocked wrist grip could move the cue that 1/4 to 1/2 inch to get the centre of the butt very close to the line of aim.

Forgive me if I sound like a numpty and I’ve misunderstood what you’ve said .
Are you saying that your feet position would change from playing a shot with side and then the same shot centre of the ball ?

[vmax]

Forgive me if I sound like a numpty and I’ve misunderstood what you’ve said .
Are you saying that your feet position would change from playing a shot with side and then the same shot centre of the ball ?

Yes,
because when playing with side you have to allow for the deflection and swerve of the cue ball so you should be playing a different line, eg. aiming thicker or thinner than the actual direct line to the contact point on the object ball.
But this is not what I'm suggesting for cueing/aiming problems for those that are playing across the line all the time because their natural stance means the centre of the butt of the cue isn't directly on the line of aim, this should be remedied by a body position change to move the grip hand so that the butt of the cue is directly on the line of aim.
Body position change means a small change of the position of the feet, practise this by cueing along the baulk line and addressing the cue ball on either green or yellow spots to a ball directly on the line tight to the side cushion while extending the baulk line to the cushion rail with a length of thin masking tape and getting the centre of the butt directly on top of the tape while addressing centre cue ball. If you can get a full ball contact double kiss on this object ball so that the cue ball comes back on the baulk line then you have the perfect line.

Bloody difficult to do.

[Starsky]

Yes,
because when playing with side you have to allow for the deflection and swerve of the cue ball so you should be playing a different line, eg. aiming thicker or thinner than the actual direct line to the contact point on the object ball.
But this is not what I'm suggesting for cueing/aiming problems for those that are playing across the line all the time because their natural stance means the centre of the butt of the cue isn't directly on the line of aim, this should be remedied by a body position change to move the grip hand so that the butt of the cue is directly on the line of aim.
Body position change means a small change of the position of the feet, practise this by cueing along the baulk line and addressing the cue ball on either green or yellow spots to a ball directly on the line tight to the side cushion while extending the baulk line to the cushion rail with a length of thin masking tape and getting the centre of the butt directly on top of the tape while addressing centre cue ball. If you can get a full ball contact double kiss on this object ball so that the cue ball comes back on the baulk line then you have the perfect line.

Bloody difficult to do.

I agree with what your saying about the correct line of aim for a particular shot and the feet position will put you into that correct line of aim to play the shot.
Interesting as I play so instinctively I haven't noticed any difference in what my feet are doing when playing side . I guess after playing so much previously my sub conscious already works out what I’m going to do.
I try not to overthink these technical things too much these days as it’s a recipe for disaster . 😖

[mikee]

I wouldn’t worry about all that stuff anyway ,no one really hits the cue ball dead centre most of the time ,near enough is good enough . Just practice and and improve your faults