Break builders block........

[oselifer]

well you read my predicament im exactly the same cant do it in matches although im sure practicing the line up doesnt have too negative an impact on your overall game.

I don't know what the problem is..

It may be psycological cause even if two reds go out of line up setup i find it very hard to concetrate..

[RocketRoy1983]

I don't know what the problem is..

It may be psycological cause even if two reds go out of line up setup i find it very hard to concetrate..

yes sounds physcological oselifer but hopefully like me once youve cracked it once youll overcome that "bridge" and improve dramatically.

[gettingbetter]

What other drills do you RR?

I rarely do the line-up these days mainly because a friend of mine has been coming down so I can actually play a few frames, but even when by myself I like to spot the blue, pink and black, place about 7 reds in a cluster and spread the rest around and just build a break like that.

I remember on here that some users said that the line-up doesn't really represent frame situations, so that is why I have reverted to this method - potting, positional play, cannons and splitting the pack.

After all that, I find it hard to believe that you can make 100s in the line-up and get what you do in breaks.

[oselifer]

Unfortunately in the last years i practised line up so much..Maybe 90% of my practice was lineup..

Here is one of the first centuries i did about a year ago..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA5c-bPQ07w

[CTquick147]

In 2009 ive had a 96,81,78 and 70 in the line-up.

Ive had 37 60-70's.

Ive had 78 50-60's

Ive had 276 40-50's

In a match (2009) My HB is 40. Work that one out??

Youll come out the other side mate, as will I, and when we do itll be great!! Keep going

I had a really excellent amateur player get after me once for spending too much time on the line-up. His point being that he felt I was spending too much time playing short shots from the middle of the table. He was right too, I have come across players( and I count myself as one) who've over-done the line-up. I feel the drill advocated by Terry Griffiths and the snooker academy, the rather monotonous task of potting a dead straight blue off the the spot from baulk, as many times in a row as you can, is a far more productive use of one's solo practice time, because if you are making this shot 9/10 or 10/10, you are cueing brilliantly. With a line-up, you always come to the table starting with a short, easy shot, and you can not be playing well and still get 40 or 50 on it, i fell if overdone this can sometimes put me in a mindset of looking for that easy one too much, instead looking to tear off a ten-foot screamer to get in. I personally love doing the line-up, if find it by far the most fun exercise I work into my practice, so it's easy to keep doing it, but I challenge all you line-upers out there, try subbing your line-ups in practice time for the blue ball drill listed above for a week, and tell me if that doesn't put your game up a big notch, it's worked for me, i hope it will for you.

[RocketRoy1983]

Unfortunately in the last years i practised line up so much..Maybe 90% of my practice was lineup..

Here is one of the first centuries i did about a year ago..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA5c-bPQ07w

No heroics on the last blue and too bloody right too! Well done.

CTquick the blue on its spot and cueball from yellow/green yeah? Very good practice routine and one that I incorporate in my routines. I practice line up once a week on a sunday evening for 4 hours the rest of my week, which consists of 4-6 days on the table, is spent on matchplay or literally hundreds of other drills. Im not entirely a line-up player as some may be but it is frustrating that my best snooker and highest breaks is left on the practice table. However, im very confident in my own ability and I know Ill come good soon.

[dpdubai]

Thanks to everyone for the replies, I found them really interesting.

I also agree with CTquick147 on the point about long straight pots being the cornerstone of any practice routine (well for my level anyway).

I normally set the 15 reds along the blue spot, cue ball in baulk and play that way for around an hour recording my score, my record is 8 out of 15. It's a great drill and really sorts my cue action out, if i had my own table i'd do this everyday and I know I would get REALLY good really quickly.

[RocketRoy1983]

8/15 is a very reasonable score well done. Keep recording your scores and see it get better and better. Good luck.

[gettingbetter]

Thats something I really need to knuckle down on too. Luckily of late, down at the club I play at, a bloke whose done exhibitions with Jimmy White and Alex Higgins, coached Peter Ebdon and has numerous friends over in the UK (not bad for someone from Australia) has given my mate and I some tips. He ran us through that drill you guys have mentioned above and he tolded us his mental preparation.

One that he recommends is a long straight pot down the cushion - maybe 2-3 inches away from the cushion.

'Hardest shot in snooker, a test of your character, mental strength and your technique. You only have half a pocket to aim at.'

He made my friend and I take 3 shots from that spot. I can't remember how much my friend got, but I got 2/3, missed the last one because he told me to play with deep screw - he fixed my cue action/stance, but now I have to put it in practice.

Another area in which I feel my progress has been stunted is that I went to the library and got an Eddie Charlton coaching book. I've borrowed it recently and there was a drill where he said just pratice long straight pots for an hour. I read it as play long pots. So for about a month all I did was place cue ball on either green or yellow spot (alternating after potting a ball) and place object ball on blue. ARGH!

[RocketRoy1983]

gettingbetter that should really be in the aarrgghhhh thread

A very hard shot and making you play the 3rd with deep screw is just pure plain mean

[gettingbetter]

I'm more ARGH about doing long pots rather than long straight pots for such a long time. But he did say that I have issues with my cue action and I know that too.

From what I read on here RR, you are a coach right? One thing I kept asking him, which I didn't get a straight answer was - 'if I do that drill - 5 reds on either side of the blue, and pot 2/10 one week and get 5/10 the next week, does that mean my cue action is getting better?'

Could you answer that for me please?

[RocketRoy1983]

You'd think so wouldnt you? Just really concentrate on centre ball striking. As im sure your aware any trace of side and youll miss the pot so as your down and addressing the cueball just concentrate on hitting the white plum in the centre and looking at the object ball plum in the centre too. Keep a record too.

[gettingbetter]

Yeah, thanks for that.

See, this is the story. When i first picked up the cue, I had a Reardon/Cope-like cue arm. When I took my game more seriously, a more experienced player told me that it is too far behind my head now. Last time I did the cue action drill; cue ball over blued,pink and black to the tip, it would always drift off to the yellow spot and even further. Add to that I can't see out of my right eye and I cue under my left, I got things going in and across all the time.

I got an exam tomorrow and finish on the 17th, hopefully I can get this problem sorted out after a 4-5 week break.

[RocketRoy1983]

Towards the yellow spot would imply obviously that you are applying right hand side to the cue ball. Try putting two reds either side of each coloured spot and play the same shot. Now try missing the two reds either side of the black,pink and blue spot and back through the brown spot or hitting your tip on the way back. The trick is to do the same as you would in a match and look at the object ball and not the cueball upon striking the white. However, as there is no object ball place a red in line with the black spot but actually "ON" the cushion so that you have a focus point to aim at as you would in a match. Hope you understand this and it helps yours and others game.

[gettingbetter]

Thanks, I'll try that soon.

Off to bed now.