How important is the cue ball up and down the table exercise?

[throwawayttyl102]

I regularly make 40-60 breaks and make 70-80 breaks 4-5 times a week conservatively speaking. However, when I practice the cue ball up and down the table from brown along the blue-pink-black spots, on my natural cue action it comes back a little to the right missing the tip by about a centimeter or so and I have to deliberately practice to bring it back to the cue tip. I hit the cue ball at around 5/10 on power scale. I have asked players to observe and they tell me my cue goes absolutely straight but there is a snatch right at contact to cue ball when I am playing poorly and also that I align the shot correctly.
What should I do to in regards to the up-down the spots routine? I have made a couple of centuries in all the years I have played before quitting for 10 years and I really want to become a regular century player.
Help would be appreciated.

[Mark187187]

I regularly make 40-60 breaks and make 70-80 breaks 4-5 times a week conservatively speaking. However, when I practice the cue ball up and down the table from brown along the blue-pink-black spots, on my natural cue action it comes back a little to the right missing the tip by about a centimeter or so and I have to deliberately practice to bring it back to the cue tip. I hit the cue ball at around 5/10 on power scale. I have asked players to observe and they tell me my cue goes absolutely straight but there is a snatch right at contact to cue ball when I am playing poorly and also that I align the shot correctly.
What should I do to in regards to the up-down the spots routine? I have made a couple of centuries in all the years I have played before quitting for 10 years and I really want to become a regular century player.
Help would be appreciated.

Depends how well the table is set up. If it's not level or the cushions aren't spot on getting it to come back to your cue tip isn't really telling you anything.

[Starsky]

Cueing along the baulk line is a better way to see if your cueing straight . No dodgy cushions involved or bumpy spots .

Nobody at our level is going to cue dead straight every time . If your hitting the breaks you are and want to improve your break building then I would spend more time doing routines that reflect this .

The breaks you are hitting , is it on solo practice or against people ?

[throwawayttyl102]

Cueing along the baulk line is a better way to see if your cueing straight . No dodgy cushions involved or bumpy spots .


The breaks you are hitting , is it on solo practice or against people ?

Against people.

I still feel sad that I am not playing consistently and snatch under pressure. Also in 70-80 breaks, I miss easiest of shots for no reason and miss decent century chances.

[Starsky]

Against people.

I still feel sad that I am not playing consistently and snatch under pressure. Also in 70-80 breaks, I miss easiest of shots for no reason and miss decent century chances.

Your playing to a good standard . If you just focus on hitting a hundred your bound to feel despondent when you miss on 70 odd.
I was in the same mindset when I came back to the game but realised after missing various balls on 90 it was overtaking my enjoyment of being back playing again after such a long break .
I just concentrated on increasing my consistency in breaks and stopped focusing on hitting tons again. I guarantee you that you will hit a ton if your hitting those breaks already. Just practice break building and positional play around the black .

Be happy your hitting those breaks again as some people never achieve that standard.

[Starsky]

A good exercise I found is to get 10 reds around the black with about 4/5 in a bunch . Clear those up on a regular basis and your hitting good breaks consistently in a game like situation . The more you do it in practice the easier it becomes in matches .

I didn’t bother counting the breaks as I know if I cleared them it would be a ton or over but that’s not the object. I’d saying practicing clearing the last 6 reds or so is more important for match play though .

[inevermissblue]

A better exercise would be to have the cue ball on the brown spot and play the blue, to hit the pink and the pink to hit the black, full ball contact would indicate level of accuracy.

https://youtu.be/QAoCrNS_e2Y

[inevermissblue]

I regularly make 40-60 breaks and make 70-80 breaks 4-5 times a week conservatively speaking. However, when I practice the cue ball up and down the table from brown along the blue-pink-black spots, on my natural cue action it comes back a little to the right missing the tip by about a centimeter or so and I have to deliberately practice to bring it back to the cue tip. I hit the cue ball at around 5/10 on power scale. I have asked players to observe and they tell me my cue goes absolutely straight but there is a snatch right at contact to cue ball when I am playing poorly and also that I align the shot correctly.
What should I do to in regards to the up-down the spots routine? I have made a couple of centuries in all the years I have played before quitting for 10 years and I really want to become a regular century player.
Help would be appreciated.

I would say that for me personally it is about confidence and application. Those two things alone account for most of what we achieve on the table.
I often get frustrated by how poorly I start a session. Only after I submit to this, do I start to play well. So i try to apply myself in proportion to what I want out of it. Hopefully 100%.

[vmax]

Depends how well the table is set up. If it's not level or the cushions aren't spot on getting it to come back to your cue tip isn't really telling you anything.

Amen to that, do it on different tables and if the results are the same than it's either your cueing that's at fault or you're not on the line of aim and cueing across the ball, could be by as little as 1/4 of an inch but it makes a huge difference over long distance.
Practise cueing along the baulkline, continue the baulkline to the cushion rail with a length of thin masking tape making sure it's dead straight with the baulkline, take your normal stance with the cue ball on the yellow spot and a red on the side cushion yellow side of the table, centre of the red exactly on the baulkline, take your normal stance as if to strike the red full ball and address the tip of the cue to the centre of the cue ball, then drop the butt to the cushion rail and see exactly where the centre of the butt is in relation to the masking tape.
If it's off by only a small amount then adjust your feet until it's spot on and remember that feet position everytime you take your stance, if it's already spot on then you have a cue delivery problem that can't be helped by someone online as it could be a myriad of reasons why.

[Danger Steve]

Depends how well the table is set up. If it's not level or the cushions aren't spot on getting it to come back to your cue tip isn't really telling you anything.

Can’t say that I agree with this really..

The table would have to be really badly setup, almost un-playable for the cue ball to drift off playing down the centre, usually the slates are either slightly dished or there’s a slight hump, depending on how much the muntins have been adjusted (if it’s has them at all). Either way they usually track pretty straight down the middle, it’s only playing a slow shot closer to the cushion or across the diagonal when the table level really comes into play. That’s why table fitters run the ball down the cushion or across the table when checking for any roll off.

Playing this shot down the spots at a medium pace will certainly tell you if your cueing straight or flicking a bit of side on. So yes! It does work.

[vmax]

Playing this shot down the spots at a medium pace will certainly tell you if your cueing straight or flicking a bit of side on. So yes! It does work.

Not if you have a poorly fitted top cushion it doesn't as it could trap the cue ball for a millisecond and/or make it leave the bed to release it offline. That's why I advocate trying it on more than one table to see if the results are the same.
Some of us play in clubs where the tables are old and not looked after very well as well as having numpties sitting on the cushions pre or post match chatting and drinking

[Danger Steve]

Not if you have a poorly fitted top cushion it doesn't as it could trap the cue ball for a millisecond and/or make it leave the bed to release it offline. That's why I advocate trying it on more than one table to see if the results are the same.
Some of us play in clubs where the tables are old and not looked after very well as well as having numpties sitting on the cushions pre or post match chatting and drinking

Point taken!