What Do You Focus On as You get Down

[mrsnooker000]

here is a video of me tried to explain the 2 problems which might be connected to each other
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3jNWTdukuU
1: i cannot line shot ups
2: when i am down i feel like i am leaning to the right
dont know but it might be because i cannot line up shots while standing up and when down i am leaning to the right

the audio is low in some clips while i tried to explain things, in some clips the voice volume is abit clearer

thank you

[ebonynivory]

You are certainly very dedicated and obviously want to do well at playing this game. I do think you are going far too technical into the analysis and it sounds like there are a lot of things that you are thinking of in the address and execution of the shot. That just isn’t sustainable in my mind ,and I have done a fair amount of tweaking in my time to the point I didn’t enjoy the game in terms of trying to be too accurate, trying to cue perfectly, is my grip right etc. The paralysis by analysis is never ending and also to factor in you could be playing well one day and repeat the same another day and not be able to string 2 balls together. Fair play to you pulling a video that is an hour long to solve this. I believe it’s could be a couple of simple things which could support your play. Keeping your head down on your shot is one. There were a few times you did this well on the long blues. Secondly the pace that you are hitting the long blues at times is very hard and you can see you are cueing straight at times but the pace of which you have hit the cue ball, it looks to have pushed it off line which can happen the harder you hit the ball. I would just try and simplify as much as you can and not get too into a square on stance or a boxer’s stance or of Robertson addresses it this way etc. Find something that works for you and crack on. I seriously couldn’t enjoy the game if I had to think of all the stuff you are thinking of.

[vmax]

here is a video of me tried to explain the 2 problems which might be connected to each other
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3jNWTdukuU
1: i cannot line shot ups
2: when i am down i feel like i am leaning to the right
dont know but it might be because i cannot line up shots while standing up and when down i am leaning to the right

the audio is low in some clips while i tried to explain things, in some clips the voice volume is abit clearer

thank you

The beginning of the video shows that you can find the straight line of aim, cue placed on the right side of the pocket shows this.

The potting off the blue spot at the end of the video shows me that you're dropping the upper arm into the stroke before the tip contacts the cue ball far too often, you even move the upper arm sometimes when feathering as it can be seen moving from side to side a little bit. I slowed the video to 25% of normal speed and it was clearly happening.

You must never use the upper arm from the shoulder joint to deliver the cue as the shoulder joint is a universal joint that can move the arm in any direction and it will, especially with power shots.

Once down in your stance, lock the shoulder and wrist joints, open and close the fingers of your grip hand to keep the cue level and deliver the cue using only the elbow joint, keep the shoulder joint locked so that the elbow remains high on the follow through, shorten the follow through and backswing if you must.

This will give you a more compact and straighter cue action. You will lose power initially but will get it back through practise as you strike more cleanly and accurately and realise you don't have to hit the ball so hard.

You think you can't see a straight line from cue ball to object ball but you can, everybody can because it's natural so get that out of your head, trust your eyes and concentrate instead on leaving that upper arm out of the shot making process.

[Nifty50]

Surprisingly no one has thought of a rude reply to this question. Perhaps they did and admin deleted it.

[DeanH]

Surprisingly no one has thought of a rude reply to this question. Perhaps they did and admin deleted it.

Nope, no one did, I was watching out for any

[Cue crafty]

Surprisingly no one has thought of a rude reply to this question. Perhaps they did and admin deleted it.

Ok, if were looking for humour my answer is " I'm too busy looking good in the mirror" hit me woo, yeh get down 👇 🎶

And then of course, cool & the gang, get down on it, suck my boiled sweet! Yeh baby.

Sorry , I'll get me coat.

[Nifty50]

Knew I could rely on CC lol.

[mrsnooker000]

The beginning of the video shows that you can find the straight line of aim, cue placed on the right side of the pocket shows this.

The potting off the blue spot at the end of the video shows me that you're dropping the upper arm into the stroke before the tip contacts the cue ball far too often, you even move the upper arm sometimes when feathering as it can be seen moving from side to side a little bit. I slowed the video to 25% of normal speed and it was clearly happening.

You must never use the upper arm from the shoulder joint to deliver the cue as the shoulder joint is a universal joint that can move the arm in any direction and it will, especially with power shots.

Once down in your stance, lock the shoulder and wrist joints, open and close the fingers of your grip hand to keep the cue level and deliver the cue using only the elbow joint, keep the shoulder joint locked so that the elbow remains high on the follow through, shorten the follow through and backswing if you must.

This will give you a more compact and straighter cue action. You will lose power initially but will get it back through practise as you strike more cleanly and accurately and realise you don't have to hit the ball so hard.

You think you can't see a straight line from cue ball to object ball but you can, everybody can because it's natural so get that out of your head, trust your eyes and concentrate instead on leaving that upper arm out of the shot making process.

I truly appreciate you taking the time to watch my snooker video and provide such a detailed analysis. Identifying the issue and offering a clear solution shows real insight, and I’ve already started applying your advice. Thanks again for your help
I will do what you suggested

1: you said lock your wrist joints, you meant "the grip hand wrist" ?
you said i drop my upper arm into the stroke before the tip contact the cue ball ? if i lock my shoulder will this be stopped? or should i stop dropping my elbow ? or once i start to lock my shoulder this will be fixed ?

2: and you are right i can see my upper arm going side to side when feathering. so to fix this i just need to lock my shoulder ????? or should i lock my elbow ? and if i lock it should i keep locking it even when i deliver the cue ? and by the way when i pull the cue back at last backswing, my elbow drops ? should i stop dropping the elbow at that point too ?

[mrsnooker000]

I’d like to take a moment to thank everyone who took the time to watch my snooker video — your support and feedback mean a lot to me. I truly appreciate each and every one of you for being part of this journey.

That said, I want to give a special thanks to Vmax for going above and beyond. Your in-depth analysis, clear identification of the issue, and the solution you offered were incredibly insightful and helpful. It really made a difference, and I’m grateful for the time and effort you put into helping me improve

[vmax]

I’d like to take a moment to thank everyone who took the time to watch my snooker video — your support and feedback mean a lot to me. I truly appreciate each and every one of you for being part of this journey.

That said, I want to give a special thanks to Vmax for going above and beyond. Your in-depth analysis, clear identification of the issue, and the solution you offered were incredibly insightful and helpful. It really made a difference, and I’m grateful for the time and effort you put into helping me improve

Glad to be of assistance mate, and truth be told this is the first time that anyone has bothered to thank someone on the coaching thread that I've seen, kudos to you for that and thanks for your thanks

[mrsnooker000]

Glad to be of assistance mate, and truth be told this is the first time that anyone has bothered to thank someone on the coaching thread that I've seen, kudos to you for that and thanks for your thanks

that’s surprising! Just seemed like the decent thing to do — you all take the time to help, it’s only right to say thanks. Appreciate the kind words, mate. just giving credit where it’s due. Didn’t realize that was rare — figured it was the least I could do considering how helpful you’ve been. Big respect to everyone who takes time to coach and share insights

today i just tried locking my shoulder, i printed what you suggested, however! i am alittle bit confused, how to apply these changes! should i stop following through and dropping my elbow like ronnie does ? ( not trying to copy him but i am so used to it) .
should i lock my elbow too?

thanks

[Cue crafty]

Glad to be of assistance mate, and truth be told this is the first time that anyone has bothered to thank someone on the coaching thread that I've seen, kudos to you for that and thanks for your thanks

Yeh, amen to that. So many people come on here expecting help, actually almost demanding help like it's our job to provide information. Vmax is a great explainer of the technical matters of snooker. It's good to see him get some praise for his conviction to helping people. Lovely to witness someone giving praise back for that help.

Makes the world go round peeps.

[vmax]

that’s surprising! Just seemed like the decent thing to do — you all take the time to help, it’s only right to say thanks. Appreciate the kind words, mate. just giving credit where it’s due. Didn’t realize that was rare — figured it was the least I could do considering how helpful you’ve been. Big respect to everyone who takes time to coach and share insights

today i just tried locking my shoulder, i printed what you suggested, however! i am alittle bit confused, how to apply these changes! should i stop following through and dropping my elbow like ronnie does ? ( not trying to copy him but i am so used to it) .
should i lock my elbow too?

thanks

If you locked your elbow as well then your arm wouldn't be able to move, it's your shoulder joint that drops the upper arm and thus your elbow drops with it.

Watch Neil Robertson, Judd Trump, Mark Selby and Kyren Wilson as none of them drop the upper arm into the stroke before the strike, only when using extreme power does their upper arm drop from the shoulder and that's after the cue ball has been struck.
It's a fine line that some players stray over but just let the cue follow through naturally according to the power of the stroke, don't think that you have to have a long follow through just because the greatest player of all time does, Ronnie drops his upper arm after the cue ball has been struck 90% of the time and 95 % of the time when he's bang on form and flowing. When he doesn't he misses just like everyone else does.
Selby used to play with an upper arm drop for a long follow through but stopped that a few years ago now, if he can so can you.

Practise playing shots by placing a red about a balls width parallel to the line of aim about six inches in front of the cue ball and don't let the tip of the cue go past that point. Start with slow shots and gradually build up your power. Let the grip hand dictate this by keeping the fingers slightly open at the address point and only closing them completely when the tip reaches the red. The grip hand usually causes an upper arm drop by closing the fingers too firmly, like a boxer delivering a knockout punch and using power from the shoulder, let the grip hand fingers close loosely without gripping the cue tightly.