Billiards - Potting Method

[poolqjunkie]

I think going from a 20's breaker to a 80's breaker is a easier step than from a 80's breaker to a consistent 80's breaker--from a consistent 80's breaker to a consistent 100's breaker is another tough step. Some people stay being a 60-80's breaker all their life, and never become a 100's breaker. At least for me this is what I am working on.

If you can make 60's to 80's, is it safe to assume that you know most of the angles...then what is stopping you from going to becoming a regular 100 breaker?

Personally, although I have made centuries but that is not my average performance. I am talking about consistent century breaks. I think cue ball control, knowledge, and a wider range of shots perhpas is what make that difference? If so, then these all come down to solid fundamentals, especially the ability to be able to deliver the cue striaght and to strike the cue ball precisely.

When i think of my own game, yes, I miss shots but more often my breaks ended with me missing posiitons. Sometimes it is because I am not comfortable performing certain shots with certain stroke(stun, for example, is more comfortable for me than tops..etc), sometimes it is just that I misjudged the angle of the ball coming off the cushion or off my objetc ball. Sometimes I simply chose the wrong shot, and other times I have no clue what to do...

With that in mind, I think it is only logical to say that an aiming system can not be the ultimate solution to making a player a century breakers as stated no matter how revolutionary it may be.

Of course I am sure a better aiming system would help anyone who has had problem aiming. i am just saying it cannot, in my opinion, be the ultimate solution to make someone a regular century breaker.

[checkSide]

I think cue ball control, knowledge, and a wider range of shots perhpas is what make that difference?

I think this is the key.

It's actually KNOWING what shot you want to play before you get down.

i.e. You KNOW a "center ball hit with half a tip of right hand side at strong pace" will take you off one cushion onto the black.

When you know the shot you want to play for definite, and have played it before, the game becomes much easier.

I believe the best players have such a vast experience that they have played almost every positional shot in existence numerous times before. Therefore a huge element of doubt and concentration is removed from every shot, and more focus is placed on execution.

[Terry Davidson]

poolqjunkie:

I believe you've stated the problem with becoming a consistent century breaker quite well, however I would like to add something that I hope helps you out a bit.

Always think just 2 shots ahead, i.e. - when playing a red and standing behind the shot be thinking ' where do I want the cueball to be on my colour to get to that particular next red'. In reality, even with pros, positional play is not that exact and a player sometimes gets exactly where he wants to be but a lot of times when the cueball is traveling more than a foot the position will be an inch out either way and this most likely forces a change in the choice of next red or colour.

I can also tell you I have just recently sorted out my technical problems and along with a new cue I came across I am back to being a pretty consistent century breaker, at least in practice. I'm now making an average of 4 to 6 a week on my own table in practice and I believe this is because I've reached a point where I'm not thinking or concentrating on my technique but rather concentrating on my positional play. This is another requirement to get to that consistent century stage.

I first had to get to the point where I could trust my technique (and have a real belief in it) to make the pot, or in other words the actual pot has become virtually automatic and I'm free to really concentrate on what matters for big breaks, cue ball control.

Ask yourself this question...when I am playing a pot which is a bit difficult do I trust my mechanics fully and can depend on the technique to pot this ball without concentrating on the technique at all? If you are not at that spot yet then the century break will be more difficult to achieve.

Since as a coach my main student is myself and I've been working on this with both myself and Nic Barrow now for over a year I would recommend you try and find a coach who can 'fine-tune' your technique and (with some practice) get you to the point where you can absolutely trust it. Believe me, it's a wonderful feeling.

If you can't find anyone in BC then if you could make a video of yourself and send a DVD to me I would be happy to analyse it and see if I can give you any pointers. I would give you a series of set shots and where to place the camera to get the best look and when I analyse it I go frame-by-frame and also use Dartfish to see exactly what's happening with your body. This method absolutely helped me to overcome a couple of serious flaws I didn't even know I was doing although I knew the cue wasn't going through straight. The problem was sorting out what the root cause of the movement on the body and getting a technique which eliminated it.

Let me know. I'm offering this to you for free

Terry

[Marlboro]

steve davis said in one of his videos that if you could pot the blue off the spot from the baulk line and in off the cue ball into the same pocket 10 out of 10 times , then you could be a world champion.

Agree.

Im asking 9outof10 to see if his cueing is straight. As pointed out many times before, 90% of missed pots is due to bad cueing, not misjudgement of the angles of contact.

[poolqjunkie]

poolqjunkie:

I believe you've stated the problem with becoming a consistent century breaker quite well, however I would like to add something that I hope helps you out a bit.

Always think just 2 shots ahead, i.e. - when playing a red and standing behind the shot be thinking ' where do I want the cueball to be on my colour to get to that particular next red'. In reality, even with pros, positional play is not that exact and a player sometimes gets exactly where he wants to be but a lot of times when the cueball is traveling more than a foot the position will be an inch out either way and this most likely forces a change in the choice of next red or colour.

I can also tell you I have just recently sorted out my technical problems and along with a new cue I came across I am back to being a pretty consistent century breaker, at least in practice. I'm now making an average of 4 to 6 a week on my own table in practice and I believe this is because I've reached a point where I'm not thinking or concentrating on my technique but rather concentrating on my positional play. This is another requirement to get to that consistent century stage.

I first had to get to the point where I could trust my technique (and have a real belief in it) to make the pot, or in other words the actual pot has become virtually automatic and I'm free to really concentrate on what matters for big breaks, cue ball control.

Ask yourself this question...when I am playing a pot which is a bit difficult do I trust my mechanics fully and can depend on the technique to pot this ball without concentrating on the technique at all? If you are not at that spot yet then the century break will be more difficult to achieve.

Since as a coach my main student is myself and I've been working on this with both myself and Nic Barrow now for over a year I would recommend you try and find a coach who can 'fine-tune' your technique and (with some practice) get you to the point where you can absolutely trust it. Believe me, it's a wonderful feeling.

If you can't find anyone in BC then if you could make a video of yourself and send a DVD to me I would be happy to analyse it and see if I can give you any pointers. I would give you a series of set shots and where to place the camera to get the best look and when I analyse it I go frame-by-frame and also use Dartfish to see exactly what's happening with your body. This method absolutely helped me to overcome a couple of serious flaws I didn't even know I was doing although I knew the cue wasn't going through straight. The problem was sorting out what the root cause of the movement on the body and getting a technique which eliminated it.

Let me know. I'm offering this to you for free

Terry

Hi Terry,
That is extremely generous of you, thank you so much.
Yes, I have someone helping me right now. He is not a certified coach but he has been quite helpful to my game so far. A lot of it is just for me to put in the hours to practice. Sometimes, I feel really bored to tell you the truth but I just keep getting at it.
Thank you very much once again.

[9outof10]

On a good day with rhythm I'll do 7 from 10, from blue spot down the table. [Edit: not following all of them in] That's not great but its the best I can do. I haven't tried that exercise in the last month so I will be interested to see if there is any difference. The only difference I can attest to is that my long potting is there when I need it now.

What causes not staight cueing? Why can I put the cue ball dead centre of any pocket I aim? Why can hit the ball up and down the table between these other balls all day and not even run 6?

I still believe that compensation in cueing is the result of a subconscious desire to play the shot one way and a conflicting conscious desire to play it another. Hence, the compensation. I also believe this is why drills like closing eyes do have an effect. Subconsciously, you go into the shot with correct aim and are not battling what you see when you are down on the shot with eyes closed. The easier way is to tell your conscious mind where your subconscious wants it to aim.

The way you feel the shot is the correct way, the way you judge the shot consciously *making assumptions from my own learning* is the incorrect way. If it was as easy as consciously saying, "This is where I have to hit the object ball.", two years practice and we would be all scoring highly - that barrier that is there would not be there.

If you can make 60's to 80's, is it safe to assume that you know most of the angles...then what is stopping you from going to becoming a regular 100 breaker?

The consistent century stage is amazing co-ordination. The place where these players are able to control the cue to a mm as we control it to a cm - and its done with nothing but ease. Nothing but years and years of practice will develope that. I'm not prepared to put that work in, I just want to luck a century so I can say to myself I know what it feels like to do it. I doubt I will play the next day.

90% of missed pots is due to bad cueing

I'd say 99%.. It's just that now I'm sitting on 45+ when it happens and not 10..

Like I said, some people spot it, some don't. It is laying squarely on the table for anyone to see and most people do even if they can't put it into words they can still feel it.