Reasons for missing ?

[Richard pincott]

There are many reasons why we can miss pots.
excluding bad contacts it’s fair to say that every time we miss we have done something wrong. What though, and how do we put it right.

[Starsky]

If there are so many things then it’s a matter of finding out what the most common is and trying to fix that .
Depending on your level most club players would benefit from going to a coach for one lesson and finding out what that common problem is .
If you don’t know the reason why your missing then how will you know what to do to rectify the fault in your technique ? ..

[Richard pincott]

It’s such a difficult game to get everything right and still play as naturally as possible. A GOOD coach should be able to spot any technical problem or problems especially if you can play at a high level as the problems should be more minimal and noticeable I suppose.
I can’t be bothered with coaching at my age lol
personally I have boiled my faults down to 3 which are not concentrating 100% sometimes. Striking slightly left of centre.
The backswing being to slow and long.

[Starsky]

It’s such a difficult game to get everything right and still play as naturally as possible. A GOOD coach should be able to spot any technical problem or problems especially if you can play at a high level as the problems should be more minimal and noticeable I suppose.
I can’t be bothered with coaching at my age lol
personally I have boiled my faults down to 3 which are not concentrating 100% sometimes. Striking slightly left of centre.
The backswing being to slow and long.

I’d say my faults are mainly what’s going on in my head, ( overthinking etc )
The main technical ones are ,
Not following through enough on a consistent basis
Hitting to the left of the cue ball ( common fault Richard )
Holding cue too tight

I used to religiously try to eradicate these faults through solo practice but now I’ve decided just to play with them and if I miss try to remind myself why I’m missing.
Enjoying my game much better these days even though I’m playing less and my standard has dropped a bit.

[Starsky]

It’s such a difficult game to get everything right and still play as naturally as possible. A GOOD coach should be able to spot any technical problem or problems especially if you can play at a high level as the problems should be more minimal and noticeable I suppose.
I can’t be bothered with coaching at my age lol
personally I have boiled my faults down to 3 which are not concentrating 100% sometimes. Striking slightly left of centre.
The backswing being to slow and long.

I also think most club players who struggle to get a 30/40 break would benefit from getting some coaching from a decent coach . Most faults at that standard are basic ones but most don’t know what they are ( keeping head down etc ) .
Of course coaching can be a curse if your decent and then are told to change too many things which can completely mess your game and head up. That’s another subject altogether though ….😉

[Richard pincott]

I’d say my faults are mainly what’s going on in my head, ( overthinking etc )
The main technical ones are ,
Not following through enough on a consistent basis
Hitting to the left of the cue ball ( common fault Richard )
Holding cue too tight

I used to religiously try to eradicate these faults through solo practice but now I’ve decided just to play with them and if I miss try to remind myself why I’m missing.
Enjoying my game much better these days even though I’m playing less and my standard has dropped a bit.

Sometimes you know what you have done wrong as soon as you have played the shot. Or before even and we still play it 🤣
The times I have heard people say “ I knew I was going to miss that “
I know what you mean with the eyes. I think that’s probably down to being unsure.
Gripping the cue to tight will restrict the shot and can pull it off line.
Not so sure about the follow through though. I believe that this area of the game is the key to an individual’s accuracy. There are only a couple of inches maximum that really count depending on how you strike the cue ball. Then it has left the tip so nothing before or after that 2 inches matters. Some players find it more accurate to punch or hit the ball. This will release the white from the tip more quickly and help stop unwanted side. Cliff Thorburn springs to mind. Not easy to get right.
It’s similar with the pull back. Getting the best distance back before you move forward might also help an individual’s accuracy. I have shortened mine slightly. If you think about it the further you come back the harder it becomes to get it back on the middle of the white.
Small adjustments in your action just might give a player the extra accuracy to improve.
At the end of the day it all comes down to what happens during the “ 2 inches “

[Starsky]

Sometimes you know what you have done wrong as soon as you have played the shot. Or before even and we still play it 🤣
The times I have heard people say “ I knew I was going to miss that “
I know what you mean with the eyes. I think that’s probably down to being unsure.
Gripping the cue to tight will restrict the shot and can pull it off line.
Not so sure about the follow through though. I believe that this area of the game is the key to an individual’s accuracy. There are only a couple of inches maximum that really count depending on how you strike the cue ball. Then it has left the tip so nothing before or after that 2 inches matters. Some players find it more accurate to punch or hit the ball. This will release the white from the tip more quickly and help stop unwanted side. Cliff Thorburn springs to mind. Not easy to get right.
It’s similar with the pull back. Getting the best distance back before you move forward might also help an individual’s accuracy. I have shortened mine slightly. If you think about it the further you come back the harder it becomes to get it back on the middle of the white.
Small adjustments in your action just might give a player the extra accuracy to improve.
At the end of the day it all comes down to what happens during the “ 2 inches “

At the end of the day there are many ways to play this game involving many different styles and adjustments in technique .
You just do what works for you , once you get to a certain level it’s more about what’s between your ears anyway 🙂

[Richard pincott]

Very true. 😃

[vmax]

I also think most club players who struggle to get a 30/40 break would benefit from getting some coaching from a decent coach . Most faults at that standard are basic ones but most don’t know what they are ( keeping head down etc ) .
Of course coaching can be a curse if your decent and then are told to change too many things which can completely mess your game and head up. That’s another subject altogether though ….😉

When I had quit playing first dvision uk 8 ball pool the local club pool team where I played snooker asked me to play for them as a favour, I agreed even though I had to drop down to the second division and I was unbeaten that season as I was the previous season in the first. Despite this we were relegated to the third where I also was unbeaten before quitting pool for good, this was 1988 and I haven't played a single frame of pool since.
One of the players in the team had the outward appearance of being a proper player, good stance and cue delivery, follow through, kept perfectly still etc etc but was a poor player and his win ratio was about 50% even in the third division where the standard was pants. He asked me one day what I looked at on the stroke, I told him the object ball, he said he looked at the cue ball and I told him he was wrong and why by explaining that the line of aim ended at the contact point of the object ball and in order for the hand to follow the eye that's where you must be looking.
If you look at the cue ball then the line of aim ends there and the butt of the cue could be coming from outside the line of aim but still be addressing centre cue ball and therefore playing down the wrong line, he thought about it and changed his game and was immediately rewarded and became a decent pool player practically overnight.

Little things like that can help very poor players but like Starsky says, giving advice to a good player other than the very obvious like head or body movement can easily destroy their game by putting thoughts into their head that don't belong there.
A case in point is myself, I'd been playing snooker for a couple of years when I was told by a very good local ton maker that I would be a top player if I slowed down and took more time over the shot. I wasn't at all aware that I was a fast player, to me I was just playing and hitting the cue ball when I was ready to, but I did a stupid thing and took this advice on board which messed up my natural eye movements that ensured I hit what I was looking at while I was looking at it, a very precise moment in time that was completely natural to me but unknown at the time and when that went south I changed other things in the vain hope of getting whatever I had lost back.

What he should have said was to take more time over shot selection, obviously I didn't miss any of the balls that got me to 70+ in two minutes, only the one when I was feeling the pressure of the ton that put me out of position, and given time I would have sorted that out myself.
Thirty years of tinkering with everything

[tomwalker147]

We had a local comp on sunday and I lost 3-0 in the first round, I was giving a start albeit small to a young lad who I know has made centuries and is a very good player actually. That said I should have won however (here are the excuses/reasons);
- i've not played on a star table for 3/4 years at a guess and was drawn on this (Mark Selby's to be precise)
- A really annoying kid was stood on the seating which looks down on the table whispering about how "that's Tom Walker who beat Kyren wilson, he can't be trying today, he's missing everything" etc etc etc

So my two reasons/excuses for playing rubbish actually come down to this I have a tendency to be lazy with initially lining up the shot, particularly if distracted/not in the zone.
Personally speaking if i'm technically not perfect on the day that's fine, I usually find a way round it but if i'm distracted or just not generally up for the challenge I may as well not bother.

[mikee]

I can lose to anybody ,especially this time of year as I don’t play as much .Was it a tight or very fast table as it was Selby’s .

[Richard pincott]

We had a local comp on sunday and I lost 3-0 in the first round, I was giving a start albeit small to a young lad who I know has made centuries and is a very good player actually. That said I should have won however (here are the excuses/reasons);
- i've not played on a star table for 3/4 years at a guess and was drawn on this (Mark Selby's to be precise)
- A really annoying kid was stood on the seating which looks down on the table whispering about how "that's Tom Walker who beat Kyren wilson, he can't be trying today, he's missing everything" etc etc etc

So my two reasons/excuses for playing rubbish actually come down to this I have a tendency to be lazy with initially lining up the shot, particularly if distracted/not in the zone.
Personally speaking if i'm technically not perfect on the day that's fine, I usually find a way round it but if i'm distracted or just not generally up for the challenge I may as well not bother.

Hi Tom.
What a frustrating game we play.
I have been trying for over 50 years to find that 1 small difference to take my game to the ultimate level. But I have never found it. I am still trying lol.
I have probably tried everything possible but like you if I hit form I rarely miss but most days now any technical issues seem to magnify ☹️
luckily it doesn’t seem to affect my safety game so I can usually struggle on and compete ok.
I think it’s because with me anyway that there are 2 different mind sets needed for the shots.
With break building the main objective is to get the object ball in the pocket then the white where you want it.
With safety the main objective is to get the white ball where you want it and the object ball safe if you see what I mean lol.
Anyway good luck 👍

[Richard pincott]

When I had quit playing first dvision uk 8 ball pool the local club pool team where I played snooker asked me to play for them as a favour, I agreed even though I had to drop down to the second division and I was unbeaten that season as I was the previous season in the first. Despite this we were relegated to the third where I also was unbeaten before quitting pool for good, this was 1988 and I haven't played a single frame of pool since.
One of the players in the team had the outward appearance of being a proper player, good stance and cue delivery, follow through, kept perfectly still etc etc but was a poor player and his win ratio was about 50% even in the third division where the standard was pants. He asked me one day what I looked at on the stroke, I told him the object ball, he said he looked at the cue ball and I told him he was wrong and why by explaining that the line of aim ended at the contact point of the object ball and in order for the hand to follow the eye that's where you must be looking.
If you look at the cue ball then the line of aim ends there and the butt of the cue could be coming from outside the line of aim but still be addressing centre cue ball and therefore playing down the wrong line, he thought about it and changed his game and was immediately rewarded and became a decent pool player practically overnight.

Little things like that can help very poor players but like Starsky says, giving advice to a good player other than the very obvious like head or body movement can easily destroy their game by putting thoughts into their head that don't belong there.
A case in point is myself, I'd been playing snooker for a couple of years when I was told by a very good local ton maker that I would be a top player if I slowed down and took more time over the shot. I wasn't at all aware that I was a fast player, to me I was just playing and hitting the cue ball when I was ready to, but I did a stupid thing and took this advice on board which messed up my natural eye movements that ensured I hit what I was looking at while I was looking at it, a very precise moment in time that was completely natural to me but unknown at the time and when that went south I changed other things in the vain hope of getting whatever I had lost back.

What he should have said was to take more time over shot selection, obviously I didn't miss any of the balls that got me to 70+ in two minutes, only the one when I was feeling the pressure of the ton that put me out of position, and given time I would have sorted that out myself.
Thirty years of tinkering with everything

Great post with good points.
You have another 20 years of tinkering before you catch up with me 😃
I totally agree about it’s wrong looking at the white. Yet Ronnie does it quite often and John Higgins does it every shot. I can’t work it out. Higgins must let his eyes give him the line and he must always get down perfectly on that line and strike the ball dead straight on that line. I have tried it years ago but wether I potted the balls or not I had no real control over anything.
Basically before Steve Davis came along and messed up everyone’s game by turning everybody into robots, TRYING to cue straight, keep perfectly still, pause at the back etc. Everyone used to play naturally without thinking about cueing straight etc including me. Like you said . You should see it and then try to hit it. So many top players since Davis have gone down the technically perfect root. Thankfully some of the best have stayed perfectly natural like Ronnie, Jimmy, Judd. When Jimmy or Judd play their crazy looping shots with all sorts of side on white they move, jump, the arm twists and goes all over the place lol They couldn’t do it keeping still or cueing straight . I am not saying that’s the way to play every shot but the moral of the story is that on those shots it’s the eyes that are controlling the hand that’s guiding the white.
Dennis Taylor beat Davis in 1985. If you watch him. He’s moving all over the place trying to guide and get the white to hit the target.
Guiding the white is now seen as a no no amongst most coaches. I can play cueing straight or I can guide or feel/play the white onto the target naturally.
At the end of the day you can still get ithe white onto the target naturally without thinking or trying to cue it straight. Ask Ronnie, you can tell he is only thinking about the contact point. He lets his eyes pot the balls so to speak. He lets his hand and cue do what they want.
it seems like you coached some of the natural ability out of yourself.
I think you can get your potting and eye rhythm back though.

[Danger Steve]

I can lose to anybody ,especially this time of year as I don’t play as much .Was it a tight or very fast table as it was Selby’s .

I also played on Selby’s table in round 3 of that comp Tom mentioned. I would say it’s vey similar to my table, speed-wise maybe a tad faster, but I’m assuming it’s fitted with No.10 cloth? The pockets are small as you would expect and most players there have a good moan about them. The table heaters are set on max and the table itself is stupid hot, I actually thought the radiator on the wall had come on at one point, I was getting proper sweat on!

A few things I didn’t like about Selby’s table. 1: The lights are way to bright and I had eye strain after 5 mins. 2: The table seemed higher than any table I’ve ever played on, not sure why? 3: There is a door that leads to the bar directly opposite his table, so during the comp you have players and spectators constantly going in and out which is really off putting! 4: The fact your playing on Selby’s table naturally seems to draw a bit of attention which I also find distracting! … needless to say I got beat 3-0 in that match, when really it should have been closer. I did loose to the guy who won the comp though, so he was obviously playing well!

[Danger Steve]

There are loads of top players that look at the cue ball so I don’t agree that focusing on the object ball is the only way to go? I’ve tried myself in practice to just focus on the object ball and it just feels so unnatural to me and my long potting can be way off!

I don’t know for sure, I’m just assuming here, but I think most ‘cue ball watchers’ play in a similar way to myself? I will get down on the shot, look at the white in relation to the object ball and if I’m potting to the left I should see the object ball to the left of the white, this is how I know I’m set up correct on the shot, if not I’ll micro adjust or I’ll get up and start again. Then once I’m happy I’m lined up, I’ll check my cue is on the line while doing my feathers and at the same time I’ll be flicking my focus between the object ball and the cue ball. Once I feel happy everything is good I draw the cue back, making sure I draw back on the line of the shot, pause and then play the shot. At the moment the cue starts moving forward I’ll kinda be half looking at the cue ball and half looking a couple of feet in front down the line I want the cue to follow through, if it’s a short pot the object ball will be somewhere in my vision but not the main focus, and if it’s a long pot my eye will switch focus at the very last second between cue ball and object ball. I think when I’m playing well all this works in harmony (timing) and everything is great, when I’m struggling or not 100% concentrating, everything is kinda blurry and I can miss simple shots.

*edit.

Of course, all this happens subconsciously when your playing well! Like Richard said regards Ronnie, when your playing well and in the zone, you get down and your eyes seem to pot the balls for you! There’s little thought about cue action etc..

I find, especially in comps or when I’m under pressure, that I suddenly become conscious of what I’m doing and everything seems to be happening in slow motion? Not sure if anyone else experiences the same thing? I don’t necessarily play any worse, but suddenly the game doesn’t feel natural? If that makes sense..