BIG SHOUTOUT to Terry Davidson

[glaken]

After reading and absorbing many of Terry's posts I just know that the man is a highly skilled coach and his always one of the first people I look for to see what I can learn this visit. All your advise is deeply appreciated by this amateur player who is slowly improving, thanks Terry.

[noel]

Wait just one minute!

Is this a "Separated At Birth" phenomenon?!?!



=o|

Noel

[Terry Davidson]

Now you've let the cat out of the bag! Your photoshop skills must be very good

Terry

[michaelm]

Terry,

The club is doing fine. It gets much better in the past several months. I got some friends who are interested in the Canadians. They are now practice everyday and looking forward to competing next year. I am pretty sure that you will see some new faces from BC shown in June 2010; however, the travelling and living expenses are the big factors that makes BC players not going to Canadians every year. Maybe you can cut us who are in the west coast a good deal.

Anyway, I'll try my best to persuade some players to go. I believe I won't be that busy at that time as I was this year.

All the best to you,

Michael

Michael:

Thanks for the kind comments. How is that new snooker club doing? I hope it's full every night and everyone is drinking lots of beer to keep the bar profits up.

Are we going to see some BC players at the Canadians in June? There was only one this past championship and I believe BC has 5 spots. It would be nice to see a full contingent from BC like 2 years ago.

It will be in Ontario (probably Toronto again) around the second weeks of June, 2010. They've dropped the player fee down to $325 too, so it's a little cheaper. Hotel is around $90 per night for double, so $45 per player isn't too bad.

Terry

[Terry Davidson]

Michael:

I can't do a thing regarding expenses to the Canadians as I can only represent the Ontario players. You would have to talk to your provincial rep for the CBSA, who is listed on the CBSA website or else directly to Steve Cooper, who is President of the CBSA.

This is one reason they dropped the fee down to $325 from $475 and the hotel is about $45 per night in a double, but there's not much to be done regarding the plane ticket.

The solution for you of course would be to hold the Canadians in BC or Alberta so the players could drive instead of fly although there's still the hotel costs if it were in Alberta.

The main reason it's being held in Ontario is it's central to the country plus I manage to fill up any empty spots, which is a responsbility they assign to the host province.

Terry

[cantpotforshíte]

Hope you realise that I've saved my one-hundredth post (and promotion) for you Terry, such is my regard for your posts.
To echo the words of others here, I haven't found any other information on the internet that is as helpful and as lucid as yours.
It's given me a renewed zeal for the game, and new things to try out, which always gives fresh hope and opportunities for improvement.
I'd had the shut eye routine and not-doing-any-aiming-on-the-shot thing explained to me before (by an ex-pro actually) but he wasn't nearly as clear or convincing as you, and I remained to be converted until I read your posts on here.
I hope I can give you positive feedback soon in the form of some three figure numbers.
In the mean time, thanks again.

[dpdubai]

Yeah cheers Terry, you've had a big input into my game with my direct questions and indirectly from the answers you give to others.

One post you gave about the 7 important things a pro does that club players below the 75 break level dont do I read every day at least once sometimes twice.

Its ingrained in my mind and when I have the cue in my hands it's helping me deliver straighter and straighter. I can take 10 straight blues off the spot from 6 inches in front of the baulk line now thanks to your help, theres no way I could deliver the cue with that consistency before.

As others have said your a huge benefit to this forum. Thanks alot

[quintahunter]

One post you gave about the 7 important things a pro does that club players below the 75 break level dont do I read every day at least once sometimes twice.

Where is it? I'd like to take a look at it. :snooker:

[laxer]

Hi, I am from singapore here,
And yes, i took terry quote and reflect on my faulty backswing.
And within hours, i potted balls easily with greater control , resulting in breaks of 40-50s

Thank you Terry. =)

Btw do you have any advice on shots selection for bigger breaks ?
Example, do you think of >3shots in advance ? because i only thinks of 2 shots in advance as of now.

[Terry Davidson]

quintahunter:

Here are the 7 points again, with a little explanation:
1. Remain absolutely still with no upper body movement throughout the shot, from the bridge hand hitting the table to the completion of the delivery (this is the MOST important point and if you do just this you will improve no matter what - within reason - the rest of your technique is like.
2. LOOSE grip...looser than you think it should be. A friend should be able to grab the cuebutt and easily pull it out of your grip without your grip forearm moving.
3. S-L-O-W and SLOWER backswing. Slow enough so that you have positive control of it and can pull the cue back absolutely straight. Any sideways movement of the butt during the backswing will be mirrored in the delivery.
4. Backswing length depends on the power of the shot, but should be no less than 3in and going to 8in on power shots.
5. A discernible rear pause, anywhere from .5 sec to 2 sec. depending on the natural rhythm you develop (there are 2 players who don't have a discernible rear pause though, Ebdon and Allen, however they have very slow backswings.
6. Accelerate the delivery smoothly and ALWAYS, ON EVERY SHOT bring your grip hand all the way through to your chest (it should end up just to the right and above your right nipple for RH players. Another method to achieve this is to try and imagine you're hitting the object ball with your cue.
7. Leave the cue extended at the end of the delivery (when possible) with grip hand against the chest and without moving the head observe what happens to the object ball and cueball. (This should be about 2 seconds and not only gives you the proper feedback but also promotes stillness on the delivery by getting rid of any 'anticipatory movement' which the brain initiates when it knows your are going to move, and sometimes it comes at the moment you impact the cueball - NOT GOOD!)

Do these 7 things consistently and you will improve RAPIDLY, never mind the stance, bridge, balance and all the rest of the 100 or so finer technique points.

laxer:

Most great players only normally think 2 shots ahead, so when you're on a red the question becomes 'where do I have to get on this colour to get on THAT red next'. The reason why a pro will rarely think more than 2 shots ahead is because just one inch off in position on a red pot will perhaps force a change in the selection of the next red ball after the colour is potted. Therefore anything more than 2 shots ahead is a waste of brain space and clutters up the mind (and also might frustrate it for a perfectionist who ends up slighty out of perfect position)

Terry

[JayDee]

Aha Terry, those 7 points I try to memorise per shot. My memory is sometimes forgetful, we should think of a quick snazzy sentance or word that says it all (kinda like the school kid methods for memorising rainbow colours or planet names/order). I get on a shot and I will endeavour to do the 7 points, but when playing on rhythm it goes down to about 4-5 out of 7.
keep Still + Loose grip + slow swing + Backswing length + Pause + Accelerate + Stay down!
Something Like Snow Balls Playing At Snooker.
can't think of anything else right now, so cold!

[Terry Davidson]

It's very hard to remember 7 separate things while you are down on the shot as the human brain can only coordinate about 3-4 DYNAMIC things at a time.

So if we think this - staying still is STATIC, loose grip is STATIC, staying down at the end of the delivery is also somewhat STATIC.

So that leaves us with 4 DYNAMICS (which is still a little hefty, but what the heck, this is SNOOKER!)

My own thing, developed from Nic Barrow's 'bounce-hit' of tennis is just the following. My static thought is 'keep your f*&%$#g chin on the cue' (I have a problem with movement on the shot and this seems to help).

My dynamic thought is as follows (I think the position of the cue (timing) is self explanatory) - BACK...PAUSE...HIT...STAY. Don't know if that will help you, but it's something you can even do in matches and it helps a player get into the 'ZONE' sometimes.

Terry

[Forman]

It's very hard to remember 7 separate things while you are down on the shot as the human brain can only coordinate about 3-4 DYNAMIC things at a time.

So if we think this - staying still is STATIC, loose grip is STATIC, staying down at the end of the delivery is also somewhat STATIC.

So that leaves us with 4 DYNAMICS (which is still a little hefty, but what the heck, this is SNOOKER!)

My own thing, developed from Nic Barrow's 'bounce-hit' of tennis is just the following. My static thought is 'keep your f*&%$#g chin on the cue' (I have a problem with movement on the shot and this seems to help).

My dynamic thought is as follows (I think the position of the cue (timing) is self explanatory) - BACK...PAUSE...HIT...STAY. Don't know if that will help you, but it's something you can even do in matches and it helps a player get into the 'ZONE' sometimes.

Terry

Two really good post's that i will no doubt be reading again in the future terry

some really good advice here which i will definitly be thinking about next time i go practice.
I especially like the "Back....pause....hit....stay" Dynamic thought style, i used a similar type of thing when i was playing cricket that i use to say in my head as the bowler was running in, and it seemed to work well.

[dpdubai]

quintahunter:

Here are the 7 points again, with a little explanation:
1. Remain absolutely still with no upper body movement throughout the shot, from the bridge hand hitting the table to the completion of the delivery (this is the MOST important point and if you do just this you will improve no matter what - within reason - the rest of your technique is like.
2. LOOSE grip...looser than you think it should be. A friend should be able to grab the cuebutt and easily pull it out of your grip without your grip forearm moving.
3. S-L-O-W and SLOWER backswing. Slow enough so that you have positive control of it and can pull the cue back absolutely straight. Any sideways movement of the butt during the backswing will be mirrored in the delivery.
4. Backswing length depends on the power of the shot, but should be no less than 3in and going to 8in on power shots.
5. A discernible rear pause, anywhere from .5 sec to 2 sec. depending on the natural rhythm you develop (there are 2 players who don't have a discernible rear pause though, Ebdon and Allen, however they have very slow backswings.
6. Accelerate the delivery smoothly and ALWAYS, ON EVERY SHOT bring your grip hand all the way through to your chest (it should end up just to the right and above your right nipple for RH players. Another method to achieve this is to try and imagine you're hitting the object ball with your cue.
7. Leave the cue extended at the end of the delivery (when possible) with grip hand against the chest and without moving the head observe what happens to the object ball and cueball. (This should be about 2 seconds and not only gives you the proper feedback but also promotes stillness on the delivery by getting rid of any 'anticipatory movement' which the brain initiates when it knows your are going to move, and sometimes it comes at the moment you impact the cueball - NOT GOOD!)

Do these 7 things consistently and you will improve RAPIDLY, never mind the stance, bridge, balance and all the rest of the 100 or so finer technique points.

laxer:

Most great players only normally think 2 shots ahead, so when you're on a red the question becomes 'where do I have to get on this colour to get on THAT red next'. The reason why a pro will rarely think more than 2 shots ahead is because just one inch off in position on a red pot will perhaps force a change in the selection of the next red ball after the colour is potted. Therefore anything more than 2 shots ahead is a waste of brain space and clutters up the mind (and also might frustrate it for a perfectionist who ends up slighty out of perfect position)

Terry

As i mentioned earlier in the thread I read through these 7 points once in the morning and once at night. It's the holy grail of snooker for me right now, I'm sure we can all play the game brilliantly in our mind. Know exactly what the right shot is, whats standing in the way?

The 95% straight cue action.

I cant thank you enough Terry, I'll work this at the table until I'm bored thinking about it.

[JayDee]

Todays practice sessions been one of the nicest in months, helped on from these principles.
Point 4 is very underestimated by myself previously, and has reduced my mistakes quite a bit. So typical of inexperienced players (ie ME for last 2 years) to swing their cue back 5+ inches for most shots.

What I especially want to point out is that it I notice i'm getting better reaction with the white, because 4 is really helping you do 5 but mostly 6 much better:

Point 5 happens because I make sure it's a shorter backswing, and point 6 because you are closer to the white when you start from 0 velocity, you will be accelerating through the white much nicer than if you are powering from a distance, which would almost decelerate if too far for a softer shot. Loving the feeling