Novice Player

[Yorkshire Potter]

Dear All,

Im a novice player, however I have been told I have raw talent and I should practice more to become a better player.

Basically I'm having trouble getting into a combfortable stance, every time I get down to play a shot, my back and arms ache, and this stops any rhythm.

Also I'm struggling to find a permamnent cue action that works for me, once I find something, I'm inclined to go back to bad habbits and hit a shot too hard and lose my action.

Any tips or advice would be extremley helpful.

Regards,

YP

[RocketRoy1983]

How old are you if you dont mind me asking? It will help watching the World Championships on BBC as you can watch the various players cue actions. It can take some tinkering but when you find a cue action comfortable for you practice knocking balls in for as long as you can to really get used to that cue action and remember to stick with it on every shot easy or not.

[Yorkshire Potter]

How old are you if you dont mind me asking? It will help watching the World Championships on BBC as you can watch the various players cue actions. It can take some tinkering but when you find a cue action comfortable for you practice knocking balls in for as long as you can to really get used to that cue action and remember to stick with it on every shot easy or not.

Thank you for your reply.

Im 18 years old, and I absolutley adore snooker. I started playing properly when I was 17 and since then I've wanted to become a good all round player. I don't want to become a pro, but would really like to play to a decent standard.

I bought myself a BCE Sports Ronnie O cue, probably not the best thing in the world, but won't commit to an expensive one until I get this cue action running smoothly.

I just want to work on the basics really and get a started so I can move on to the next aspect ie. positioning, safety play etc.

[RocketRoy1983]

Thank you for your reply.

Im 18 years old, and I absolutley adore snooker. I started playing properly when I was 17 and since then I've wanted to become a good all round player. I don't want to become a pro, but would really like to play to a decent standard.

I bought myself a BCE Sports Ronnie O cue, probably not the best thing in the world, but won't commit to an expensive one until I get this cue action running smoothly.

I just want to work on the basics really and get a started so I can move on to the next aspect ie. positioning, safety play etc.

As you are fairly new to the game so long as your happy with your cue its fine but as you improve you will probably need to purchase a better cue. Its good to hear that you are enthusiastic as this will no doubt make you a more determined player. Are you able to watch the matches starting on BBC2 in 20 minutes as I believe you will learn a lot. How often do you play? Are you able to spend time with decent players in your local club?

[Yorkshire Potter]

I watch snooker religiously, but never really watched to pick tips up, but I've got a pen and paper ready.

I really like watching Stephen Hendy, I think he is very proffessional in his approach, and his cue action is sweet.

Unfortunatley none of my friends or my family share the same passion for snooker, so I try and get down to my local club once a week and pot a few balls.

My current process is as follows.

Judge the shot angle

Align my body the angle and move my body down to the shot

Feather the ball 3 times whilst looking at the cue ball then on the final feather look at the object ball whilst a small pause.

But as stated I'm feeling very uncombfortable whilst this is in swing and I end up missing the shot because im feeling unbalanced.

Im not perfectly sure how far apart my legs need to be and how far away my body should be from the table.

[brettski]

You seem to have a good approach to learning the game, a few tips I would suggest you try, try looking at the object ball more between feathers and give it more attention see if it helps you, and remember the best cue action for you and stance isn't forced to be everyone elses.

[davewere]

The cue action involves many things but the important thing is you are comfortable and steady. One pointer that I can give is check your cue is brushing past your side whilst cueing as that is important to give you a steady cue action. Otherwise your shots will not be so consistant because you are dangleing your cueing arm in the air with less control. Our coach calls it the three points of contact.

[davewere]

If there is a coaching school or a coach in your area I would advise to give it a try because they should be able to help you a lot being a young player wanting to learn.