help! aiming

[nicklaus21]

i have been playing for 3 years and and have a higest break of 22.i have developed a solid 2 step parellel stance adopted by pros,loose but firm grip firm bridge etc.and able to cue straight and center,with pocket speed or a little faster,but not too fast and more of less know how to sight the potting angle from pocket to back of ball correctly, and practice often.but i still cant pot balls consistently.can someone recommend me or advice me on a reliable potting system or tips to improve potting consistency and accuracy? i heard u nid to stand at the correct line of aim,and how do you do that?

thanks!

[Terry Davidson]

nicklaus:

The secret to getting the correct line of aim is this:

1. Stand behind the shot about 18in and focus your eyes on the spot (or arc if using ghost ball) on the object ball.
2. Place your right foot (normally the arch) on an extension of this line from the back of the object ball (BOB) through the centre of the cueball and finally to the arch of your right foot. You should be leaning over a bit to the right so your nose/eyes are DIRECTLY on this line of aim.
3. Hold your cue across your hips and form your grip while standing behind the shot.
4. Now take JUST 2 steps, placing the arch of your right foot on this same line and directly underneath where your grip hand will be. DO NOT ALLOW YOUR HEAD TO MOVE SIDEWAYS AT ALL! Place your left foot to the side and even with or slightly ahead of the right foot with at least 18in between your heels.
5. (Most important part) WHILE KEEPING YOUR EYES ON BOB, SWING YOUR CUE OVER, DROP YOUR BRIDGE HAND BEHIND THE CUEBALL BUT...DO NOT ALLOW YOUR HEAD TO MOVE SIDEWAYS, YOU HAVE TO DROP THE HEAD ABSOLUTELY STRAIGHT DOWN ON THE LINE OF AIM OF THE CUE.
6. Now start your feathering but (again) DO NOT ALLOW ANY UPPER BODY MOVEMENT IN THE HEAD OR SHOULDERS. Your right shoulder should remain still in space with no movement.
7. Finally, do not take a deep breath and in fact it's much better if you don't breathe at all from the time your bridge hits the table until you complete the delivery with the grip hand up against your chest.

Follow those step and you will automatically be on the correct line of aim. If you are still missing a lot of pots, remember grooving a good technique takes awhile and you likely have a few flaws in your backswing and delivery. If you can afford it, go see a good coach in your area who can help you develop a technique which will get you delivering the cue consistently straight, which is the key to improvng rapidly at snooker (or golf, cricket, baseball, hockey, you name it).

Terry

[speedyturtle]

I would try to keep it really short and simple and trust me if you follow this you WILL improve.

Snooker is a game of confidence, if you havent got confidence to pot than u cant do too much so nexttime when u go to snooker club, book a table just for yourself and let the red balls fly all over the table and than put the color balls on there spot. Now all you wanna do is keep it simple and pot the red balls and colors. This would get ur confidence high as well. once you got a bit of confidence than you can start lining the balls up. Keep in mind when u playing with other player than you are thinking more about winning than improving so you got to practice on your own. Another thing which would help someone like you is when you aiming a shot and want to pot a ball, you got to bring the pocket next to that ball in ur mind. That way you not look all the way to the pocket. That is why its easier to pot the balls which are nearer to pockets than the ones further away from the pocket.
Last but not least watch as mnuch snooker as you can, that would teach you more than you think specially the break building of ronnie,higgins and henry.


SPEEDY
enjoy

[speedyturtle]

One more thing which i forgot to mention is the stance, it can vary from player to player. Most of the players in snooker circuit has got different stance like mark king for example OR you can see mark selby moving all the time but you got to admit the hoover can pot So as long as you can play for some hours and are comfortable with ur stance and can throw ur cue in straight line, i wouldnt advice you to change too much.

SPEEDY
enjoy

[1lawyer]

Ok have to say I don't understand this BOB stuff...but there are different methods of sighting a shot...

Here is mine...

On every shot...Stand behind the cue ball & OB with your chin in line look at the object ball imagine the shot you need, eg...look at OB then pocket then OB. Once you have made up your mind what shot you need walk into the line of the shot, plant your foot on the line keeping your eyes on the OB get down, stay as still on the shot as you can, pull back, pause and push thro and pot it...90 PER CENT OF THE SHOT IS DONE WHILE STANDING...( don't think ) while down on the shot and try staying down and keeping the cue forward after you have finished delivering the cue... waiting until OB has gone in or you miss...staying down and true will help you get better because you can assess if you have hit it too thick or too thin...It also help you stay consistent don't be afraid of missing (we all do) dont beat yourself up because this is how you improve.

You are guessing the angles at your level...don't worry too much about this stuff like line of shot and sighting just try and stay consistent. A person who changes too much changes too much...Keep doing what works for you and stick to it...Snooker is a memory game and eventually you will begin to remember the angles of certain shots automatically because they come up again and again...

The most important thing to learn is a consistent way of delivering the cue for yourself in a manner you feel comfortable with so you get thro the ball nicely. Learning timing and how to grip and (when not to grip) the cue too hard will aid your game more than anything else at your stage...

Hope this helps....:snooker:

[wayync]

Ok have to say I don't understand this BOB stuff...but there are different methods of sighting a shot...

Here is mine...

On every shot...Stand behind the cue ball & OB with your chin in line look at the object ball imagine the shot you need, eg...look at OB then pocket then OB. Once you have made up your mind what shot you need walk into the line of the shot, plant your foot on the line keeping your eyes on the OB get down, stay as still on the shot as you can, pull back, pause and push thro and pot it...90 PER CENT OF THE SHOT IS DONE WHILE STANDING...( don't think ) while down on the shot and try staying down and keeping the cue forward after you have finished delivering the cue... waiting until OB has gone in or you miss...staying down and true will help you get better because you can assess if you have hit it too thick or too thin...It also help you stay consistent don't be afraid of missing (we all do) dont beat yourself up because this is how you improve.

You are guessing the angles at your level...don't worry too much about this stuff like line of shot and sighting just try and stay consistent. A person who changes too much changes too much...Keep doing what works for you and stick to it...Snooker is a memory game and eventually you will begin to remember the angles of certain shots automatically because they come up again and again...

The most important thing to learn is a consistent way of delivering the cue for yourself in a manner you feel comfortable with so you get thro the ball nicely. Learning timing and how to grip and (when not to grip) the cue too hard will aid your game more than anything else at your stage...

Hope this helps....:snooker:

That's good advice

[noel]

Good points all... thank you for them.

Just one question... why hasn't anyone, even St. Terry, mentioned the word "cadence".

ca⋅dence  /ˈkeɪdns/[keyd-ns]–noun Also, cadency.

1. rhythmic flow of a sequence of sounds or words: the cadence of language.
2. (in free verse) a rhythmic pattern that is nonmetrically structured.
3. the beat, rate, or measure of any rhythmic movement: The chorus line danced in rapid cadence.
4. the flow or rhythm of events, esp. the pattern in which something is experienced: the frenetic cadence of modern life.
5. a slight falling in pitch of the voice in speaking or reading, as at the end of a declarative sentence.
6. the general modulation of the voice.
7. Music. a sequence of notes or chords that indicates the momentary or complete end of a composition, section, phrase, etc.


My application of "cadence" in snooker is:
Once you're lined up, about to strike the cueball exactly where you want and the cueball is about to strike the object ball at the
exact angle to propell it where you want, the count of your "waggle" or "feather" 1 , 2 , 3 ... PAUSE... deliver! is critical.
On "difficult" shot counts 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , ... PAUSE... deliver!.

That "cadence" or timing is your Rock of Ages to settle you. Assure you. It is your physical "Mantra" to do what it required to do
the essence of "snooker"...

Knock the ball in the hole... and then the next one... and do not miss!

Watch Ronnie on any of his 147's especially the Price is Fastest One
and C.O.U.N.T... you'll feel what I mean...


=o)

Noel

That's good advice

Agreed!

[nicklaus21]

thanks guys, well i think this will not only help me but others in the forum as well trying to figure out potting consistently.

terry :
well i have always adopted your style, it works.but for easy pots.able to pot consistently.however the BOB only works for 3 quarter and almoz straight pots.your hav to figure out where to aim on 1/2 and 1/4 pots.

1lawyer:
yours is similar to terrys.BOB is actually the back of ball which means drawing a line from the center of pocket to the back of object ball,and later focusing on a dot on this point is where to aim the cue tip.i will improve your game with this method because u always have a small point to focus on the object ball.anyways,good tip.and yes changing your form often does not help

speedyturtle:
yes i did your practice too.setting up free table and pot as much as you can.it builds confidence.

noel:
yes i got my personal john higgins modified cadence, one ( look at cue tip on cue ball) two( look at object ball to pocket) three (steady) and strike! its also called some sort of cueing rythm.very clever of u to bring this up.im sure beginners will not realise it.

oh and btw...pls note that i play at many different clubs all around my area with different tables and cloths and lighting and environment and balls.but i practice only in 1 club.will this effect potting consistency?

thanks again for your advice.
any advice for long pots?

[Terry Davidson]

Noel:

Geez, I thought you would be freezing off your cojones in TB by now and I was free to say anything on here!

For me, with my military background I only thought of 'cadence' as marching in a parade or ceremonial affair and I always hated that, so maybe cadence has a negative connotation in my mind.

But, well said as I don't remember seeing any instructional book or having any coach use the word 'cadence' when teaching snooker and I certain it has value (Steve Davis used to practice with a piano metronome(sp?) when he was learning the game in order to get his 'rhythm' (much more common word) or his 'cadence' as you put it

Terry

[Krypton]

terry :
well i have always adopted your style, it works.but for easy pots.able to pot consistently.however the BOB only works for 3 quarter and almoz straight pots.your hav to figure out where to aim on 1/2 and 1/4 pots.

1lawyer:
yours is similar to terrys.BOB is actually the back of ball which means drawing a line from the center of pocket to the back of object ball,and later focusing on a dot on this point is where to aim the cue tip.i will improve your game with this method because u always have a small point to focus on the object ball.anyways,good tip.and yes changing your form often does not help

you got that all wrong!! especially the bold part!

the BOB (back of ball) is where the cueball will make contact with the object ball for a pot. and it's as correct as a thing can be!

but you don't 'aim' or 'point your cue' towards that point. you'll have to aim thinner, even on a 7/8 ball, than towards BOB.

[nicklaus21]

you got that all wrong!! especially the bold part!

the BOB (back of ball) is where the cueball will make contact with the object ball for a pot. and it's as correct as a thing can be!

but you don't 'aim' or 'point your cue' towards that point. you'll have to aim thinner, even on a 7/8 ball, than towards BOB.

izzit? well, i rmb nic barrow says its the line furthest away from the center of the pocket to the object ball.

ya i know on some shots you have to aim thinner than BOB,but 7/8 balls or close to straight i normally point it towards BOB,myb my sighting is a little bad that i think im pointing at BOB but rather actually im pointing it thicker or thinner.i tried potting a little thinner on BOB for those 7/8 balls but i contacted the inner jaw,which normally would go in on an tv table but misses on my club table,medium speed.

[Krypton]

you're mixing up different things.

yeah, Nic says you should look at the BOB for potting. So does Terry. They're both quite right.

But then, they both know: you'll learn to pot from experience. your cue will NOT point at BOB, but outwards, to a thinner contact, because sending the cueball exactly towards BOB will lead to a miss (except on a dead straight pot).

draw yourself a picture. that'll be the best method to find out what i (and nic) mean.

[nicklaus21]

true.. mayb not directly at BOB but more or less.the difference is mms and yet makes a big difference on potting it or not.and potting definitely is by experience...enough said

[Krypton]

the difference all depends on the angle. it's not "mm" in general.
on a thin cut, it's about half a ball's diameter.

[Terry Davidson]

nicklaus21:

You are making one VERY SERIOUS error in your aiming process.

It is...EXCEPT FOR A DEAD-IN SHOT YOU NEVER AIM THE CUE DIRECTLY AT BOB.

The offset between BOB and the line of aim of the cue can be anywhere up to 1-1/32 of an inch (half the diameter of a ball). That is one heck of a lot more than the 'mm' you mention and since there are 2.5cm to an inch then we can say it can be anywhere up to 25mm away from BOB.

However, in order to get this you must supply your brain with the proper feedback so it can unconciously learn this offset and do it perfect every time. This is done on completion of each and every shot where you leave your cue extended and remain still and follow the object ball with your eyes. If on a particular type of shot you tend to over-cut then with this feedback your brain will automatically make the correct adjustment the next time you come across this type of shot.

Most professionals state they aim using 'experience' rather than any set aiming technique and this is exactly what they're talking about. When they first started out the probably used the 'ghost ball' method, imagining a cueball against the object ball in the plant position and then aiming for the centre of that imaginary cueball. Perhaps some good players still use this method but are unaware of it on a concious level.

Terry