what is the best way to find cueball centre ?

[lahore]

Place the cue on the table lined up exactly with a straight pot and stand two steps behind it, sight the line and move your feet into position for your stance without actually getting down while looking at the cue ball while placing your right foot and then looking at the centre of the object ball while placing your left foot, this should happen very quickly, naturally for most without realising it. Then pick up the cue without moving your feet, start getting down and half way down address the tip to the centre of the cue ball, see how this looks for you.

Don't try getting your right foot anywhere in particular, let your eyes decide that for you by not thinking about it and simply looking at the cue ball for it's that foot that gets the butt of the cue on the line of aim, same for the left foot (object ball) as that's the one that will bring the tip of the cue onto the line along with the butt as long as you're looking at the right target.

tried as you said, and i never cared about right foot.
just hold my head on line and got down. but that pushes my right foot way too much to the right of line of aim
example: while standing behind brown spot "line of aim" my right foot is about 2 cueballs lenght to the right of line of aim now

is this something that i should practice and get used to ? and forget about textbook putting the right foot on line of aim?

thank you

[lahore]

update:
at the moment i am trying to lock the shoulder and cue with lower arm

should i avoid sighting concerns for now? which eye i sight while standing and while down!
and walkin in and not caring about right foot position?

______
just want to know if i should work on all of these points at the moment, or the major work should be done on locking upper arm, and cueing with only lower arm?

thank you once again

[lahore]

vmax thank you for pointing out that i sight with right eye, and while down i use left eye. maybe this is why shots look online to me, but when down i am offline. and i unconciously move butt of the cue towards my body and put right hand side to make it look online to me.

i rewatched the video and did an analysation , when i plant my right foot i am still using right eye, but as i am about to lift my left foot and about to plant it. i move my normal chin position to the right over the cue.

I think it is because of me using wrong chin position which is centre chin position, all these years. because as i am about to lift and plant my left foot i move my normal chin position over the cue and get down. and maybe that is why i switch from right eye to left eye? please correct me
i have shared the analyzed video too

thank you very much for detecting THE BIG TIME problem

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPZNRvO4dgU

[vmax]

i know i drop my shoulder after the strike, and that is how i get a good follow through. do you mean that? or the shoulder is dropping at the wrong time?

tnx

This is your biggest problem, if you watch your video again at around the 35m 02 sec point and slow it down to 25% you will see that the point of your elbow moves around while you're feathering and on the delivery stroke because you're using the whole of your arm all the time and this why the cue moves off line.

Now do you want to cue straight or do you want a long follow through that makes you cue off line because you're using the whole of your arm all the time ?

I did ask you to forget about your feet position and eyes and just look but once again you ask about this, let your natural sighting dictate where you stand, don't think about it.

Now all this is in my post and I've just repeated it again in bold, I don't feel I need to repeat it again so I won't, take it or leave it.

[lahore]

This is your biggest problem, if you watch your video again at around the 35m 02 sec point and slow it down to 25% you will see that the point of your elbow moves around while you're feathering and on the delivery stroke because you're using the whole of your arm all the time and this why the cue moves off line.

Now do you want to cue straight or do you want a long follow through that makes you cue off line because you're using the whole of your arm all the time ?

I did ask you to forget about your feet position and eyes and just look but once again you ask about this, let your natural sighting dictate where you stand, don't think about it.

Now all this is in my post and I've just repeated it again in bold, I don't feel I need to repeat it again so I won't, take it or leave it.

by the way, you said i should lock the shoulder and upper arm and cue with lower arm! so at the last back swing (as i pull the cue back) should not the elbow drop ? or it should stay high?
(just asking, cause i dont want to get to another bad habit)
all good mate, will avoid caring about foot position . thank you

[vmax]

by the way, you said i should lock the shoulder and upper arm and cue with lower arm! so at the last back swing (as i pull the cue back) should not the elbow drop ?

...........NO!

[lahore]

update:
so i made the changed that vmax suggested
1: dont drop the elbow
2: make sure head is online of aim and dont worry where the right foot ends up

practiced real hard for few days yes i am seeing no difference at all.

i still miss long straight blue the same way as i used to
1: blue on its spot, white close to yellow spot and i miss the blue to left of the pocket
2: blue on its spot, white close to green spot and i miss the blue to right of the pocket

when i place blue on its spot, and cueball on brown spot to play up and down and stop the cueball to get double kiss, i get 1 out of 10 double kiss

[anh1701]

My suggestion is to keep it simple, give youself less to think about. You are already frustrated and determined about this which further places you into more pressure than needed.

Stand and cue in the way you feel most comfortable, everybody's eyes/vision, physique and articulation are different so don't worry about lazers, elbows and feet etc etc.

Your only focus now is to just pot the ball. If you repeatedly miss long pots over and over during practice, STOP. Practice something else for a few minutes, then go back to long ball potting. And don't be afraid to make small adjustments (or even use intentional side if you have to) until you hit/pot the object ball. Keep this cycle going in your practice days until you become more comfortable and consistent.

[lahore]

My suggestion is to keep it simple, give youself less to think about. You are already frustrated and determined about this which further places you into more pressure than needed.

Stand and cue in the way you feel most comfortable, everybody's eyes/vision, physique and articulation are different so don't worry about lazers, elbows and feet etc etc.

Your only focus now is to just pot the ball. If you repeatedly miss long pots over and over during practice, STOP. Practice something else for a few minutes, then go back to long ball potting. And don't be afraid to make small adjustments (or even use intentional side if you have to) until you hit/pot the object ball. Keep this cycle going in your practice days until you become more comfortable and consistent.

yeah thank you for the reply

this forum is extremely slow, how many active members are there?

[tomwalker147]

yeah thank you for the reply

this forum is extremely slow, how many active members are there?

Hi Lahore, i'm a century break player and i'll be honest I am pretty average at long blues. In fairness I don't practice them but i'll probably pot 7/10 these days, although if i get the first one i will usually pot the next 9 as i just keep everything the same!

I admire your determination to improve but I think your time and efforts would be best put into practicing shots that come up more regularly in frames, I can't remember having to go for a long blue in a single match this season.

How are you in and around the balls? Do you struggle equally with short shots such as blacks or pinks off the spots? Can you clear the colours off their spots near enough every time?

[Cue crafty]

this forum is extremely slow, how many active members are there?

See here, bottom of page shows the sad stats - https://www.thesnookerforum.co.uk/board/

[itsnoteasy]

See here, bottom of page shows the sad stats - https://www.thesnookerforum.co.uk/board/

............

[vmax]

this forum is extremely slow, how many active members are there?

You expect too much from others, the coaches you have seen are best suited to players of an already high standard who just need a tiny tweek here and there and not someone who needs wholesale changes to get closer than two feet of the pocket when attempting a long straight blue.

I tried but you questioned my observations with 'do you mean this' ? 'do you mean that' ? so obviously can't get through over the internet.
On a one to one basis I would work out your stance and sighting in ten minutes, I would watch your eyes to get an idea of where you're looking during the shot making process, watch your grip hand to see if it's closing tightly and twisting the hand/wrist, watch your head and body closely to spot any movement.

Maybe these other coaches also did this but you failed to understand or thought you were making changes but in reality didn't, we don't know as we can't watch you play.

Therefore it's up to you through trial and error to make one change at a time and find improvements, I would start with your cue action and stop using the upper arm completely and yes I know you said you did but you need to film yourself on your smartphone and watch it back at slow speed to find out if you really have because this cue action will be such a habit it will be difficult to change it.

Relax your grip hand so that the cue merely rests in your hand,
maybe drastically reducing your follow through will help,
shorten your backswing as well,
see what works by your results,
film yourself from behind to check you're not twisting or turning your grip hand or wrist,
if you're getting further away then make a different change,
if you're getting closer then you're moving in the right direction,
if you get to the point where you're missing to the same side of the pocket from both sides of the table by more or less the same distance every time then it becomes a stance issue and then you can make changes to your stance to get the whole of the cue on the line of aim,
alter you feet,
see where the balls go and if you miss by more then move the feet the other way,
if you then get closer then alter your feet again a bit more the same way,
if results are better but inconsistant then look for head or body movement.

One change until you get good results and then move on to something else but make it a habit to focus on the object ball when striking the cue ball and learn to cue straight first otherwise any changes made won't make any difference.

[mrsnooker000]

Hi Lahore, i'm a century break player and i'll be honest I am pretty average at long blues. In fairness I don't practice them but i'll probably pot 7/10 these days, although if i get the first one i will usually pot the next 9 as i just keep everything the same!

I admire your determination to improve but I think your time and efforts would be best put into practicing shots that come up more regularly in frames, I can't remember having to go for a long blue in a single match this season.

How are you in and around the balls? Do you struggle equally with short shots such as blacks or pinks off the spots? Can you clear the colours off their spots near enough every time?

thank you , and glade you make 100 as it is still a dream for me

yeah i struggle alot around the balls that is why i keep practicing long straight blues, up an downs including double kill etc.
i miss lots of blacks, easy shots. although medium straights shots i am fine. when i cut balls to right middle i miss thin, and when i cut left middle i miss thick and thin.

its not that i dont practice. if im not practicing more than a pro i am sure that i dont practice less.
practice makes perfect , but yeah since i have problem in my game, all these practices are wasting time as i am getting nothing out of it.

i cannot even get 3 out of 10 blues happily. and 3 out of 10 double kiss when i play up and down

i agree what you are saying. blues dont come in practice. but even when i play up and down to get a full ball double kiss with the blue i hardly get 3 out of 10. that shows i cannot hit full ball.

thank you for replying and understanding what i am going through

[lahore]

You expect too much from others, the coaches you have seen are best suited to players of an already high standard who just need a tiny tweek here and there and not someone who needs wholesale changes to get closer than two feet of the pocket when attempting a long straight blue.

not a huge expectation from a forum.
yes chris henry might be the one who does tiny tweek but i saw him for a week and i was expecting alot from him as a decent and qualified could and should spot when someone is off. (instead he worked alot on mental side of the game, and how to use side like pros do etc)
pj nolan , well he teaches beginners to pro level. not sure if i was really unlucky that these coaches could not spot my technical problem. saw him from a week too, (he worked alot on break building)
nic barrow , saw him for a day . he believed he can fix anyones problem. however couldnt fix mine

well i spent alot of money travelling all the way to them, hotel, tickets etc. and yes i am back to page 1
i am not expecting anything from anyone, and by the way is there a problem if someone want to get closer than two feet of the pocket when attempting a long straight blue?
not sure why u said that,
thought people are friendly here, that is why i shared my videos to get a help from you people