Thinking about your next shot.

[monkey]

Well, im not too good at snooker although im getting better. The trouble is, i never have very good control of the cueball and dont always think about my next shot. If theres an easy pot on, i go for it and then see what colours im on to. Now i know this is rubbish which is why i want to improve. Can anyone give me some tips on how to think about your next shot and getting position onto the colour? Im also still struggling with screwback and followthrough. Ive watched alot of videos about it but it just aint happening for meAlso, if i try to use screw back i would probably miss the pot as im concentrating more on the screw

Oh, one more thing. People say you need to look at the ball you want to pot when striking but i always look at the cueball, is this still ok?

[mihnea]

It is not ok to look at the cue ball when striking. You have to look at the cue ball at the final backswing, then a pause (when you go with your eyes to the object ball, maybe 1 second) and then hit the cue ball, looking at the object ball.
You have to practice easy shots with every spin until you are confident on it. You cant do breaks without cueball control. You have to know for every shot, where is the best place to leave the cue ball, where you have more options. There is no tips. See where is the next ball you want to play, think where is the best place for the cue ball, think which is the shortest way to get there and strike. You can do line-up routine to get used with cue ball control. But this is for you confidence with spins, because you can do 80-90 breaks in line-up and in game your highest break will be 20+.
After this you could play black ball and try to pot as many consecutive blacks as you can. This is harder but usefull. But you have to play 30-40 consecutive blacks if you want a 30+ break in game.

[monkey]

but if i dont look at the cue ball i always miss the pot lol. Ill go for an hour today and practise:snooker::snooker:

[vmax4steve]

I read Ray Reardon's book many years ago and he stated that he only thought two shots ahead e.g pot a red to leave the white in the right position to be able to pot the colour and leave the white in the right position for the next red.
That means that you should have three shots in your head every time you're at the table, the one you're playing and the next two.

[mihnea]

but if i dont look at the cue ball i always miss the pot lol. Ill go for an hour today and practise:snooker::snooker:

Because you dont have a good cue action. A smooth cue action is the key for playing good. Terry sad (and I tried and it works) to play first 10 shots with your eyes closed every day. You need to be able to do that.

.
That means that you should have three shots in your head every time you're at the table, the one you're playing and the next two.

Sometimes more than 3.

[King T]

Well I think I can help you a lot here since I am no where close to being a professional, I am self taught and my playing today is a result of my own research, trail and error and asking questions. I spent so much time playing snooker with absolutely no improvement AT ALL. With time I started loving the game and decided to improve, I worked hard on my self and believe it or not, I spent around 2 years not knowing how to screw back with a maximum break or 20 maybe. Then when I started watching videos and reading, my game improved a 100 times quicker.

I will start with few tips regarding screw back then general tips that trust me, if you follow, and really put some effort in this game, you will be shocked how your game would improve in no time.

Screwback
If you read online about how to screw back, you would most probably come across the "clock" method, imagine the cue ball as a clock, striking at 12 would cause the cue ball to follow the object ball, striking it as 6 would cause back spin or screwing back the cue ball. That's it? NO!!!!

Try hitting the cue ball at 6 or 12, and you would see the cue ball hardly moving few inches then stopping dead. The most important thing you should do is to follow through. When playing, always and always maintain a follow through of 3-4 inches, without that you will have absolute minimal cue ball control and weak momentum, the follow through gives the cue ball the required momentum to move forward or spins backwards.

If you don't follow through at first you will find it awkward, as if you hit the cue ball and not stop your cue but make it slide as if it's running through the cue ball.

Another important thing is, when screwing back, ofcourse you would have to lower your bridge and aim low on the cue ball, you hit it low then go like, why the hell didn't it screw back? That's because many people aim their cues for the purpose needed, then when actually striking the cue ball, they forget and strike it high then intended (or lower in the case of applying top spin). A very interesting exercise I found at snookergames.com by Mike is, take the spider and lay it on the table, put the cue ball after the spider then bridge beneath it (which means you'll be aiming for a screw back), then strike, see whether your cue hits the spiders wood when striking or not. If yes, that means you are changing the striking point when hitting the cue ball without noticing.

Also, a very important point is, always keep your grip loose, don't grip the cue too tight. If you do so, one of 2 things will happen: Either you would run through the baize and witness your cue ball flying from your table heading towards another, or you would stun the cue ball causing it to stand still or slightly move backwards as you do not allow your cue to smoothly move on your bridge and penetrate the cue ball.

As for improving your game play, at this stage you should practice more and more and play less games. Trust me playing full games will do you no good at all, as every situation you face would be foreign or new to you, and you will never to the right thing. If you put you won't get a position, if you focus on cue ball control to get a position, you might miss the pot by a considerable margin.

Visit: , Download the Junior snooker training program, go through the exercises and choose few that focus on different points, then practice. I found those practice exercises very useful, probably the best guide you can find online and for free. When practicing a certain situation you would for sure improve until you get really good at it. Then when playing a match, when facing the same situation you've been practicing before, you'll feel completely confident and easily execute the shot, the shot will feel familiar to you.

I spent the first 2 years playing matches against who? Against friends of mine whom are also complete beginners in the game. What was the result? 0 improvement! I didn't even know that the right way of playing this game is to have few reds outside the pack, then developing the back! Because the reds were always spread everywhere on the table

If you were a complete beginner, some people might tell you never focus on what professionals do as you will never learn. WRONG, the main reason behind the improvement in my playing is the matches I used to watch, I used to open Youtube, think of any match, open all frames then start watching them. A very useful thing to do is, when matching a match and on a regular break, always try to predict, which ball is he going to position on now? Why did he position on that ball? Commentary is very useful as you would find them analyzing most of the shots and telling what went wrong and what should've been done.

I remember once my friends watching a video of Neil going like what a banana shot! They were thrilled and amazed by his wonderful banana shot! If you actually take a closer look and hear the commentary, you'd discover that he was trying to develop the pack and accidentally missed it, not so kool eh?

Hope my post comes in handy! Sorry for the long post it's just that when I read your post I knew exactly how you're feeling and remembered my self back in the old days.

Best luck! Keep us updated

[vmax4steve]

but if i dont look at the cue ball i always miss the pot lol. Ill go for an hour today and practise:snooker::snooker:

Playing snooker is like archery, only the cue is your bow and the cue ball is your arrow. You don't look at the arrow when shooting a bow, you look at the target.

[mihnea]

Good advices, but I think not very usefull. I heard all these 1000 times and I didnt understand why. The screw could be done even with a 1 inch follow through or 10 inch follow through. A long follow through offers a smooth cue action but if you hit the cue ball at 6 (with a long or short follow through) the cue ball will screw back. Mark Allen has a very short follow through and he is a very good player. So, you have only to practice....and practice....and when you finished, practice...

P.S Dont forget...practice.

[monkey]

Thanks all for the help. And yes your long post really helped, ill go on the websites you mentioned and try the techniques you said. The bloody person in the club will think im sad, ive been in every day for the past 4 days:snooker:

So do you think i should go on my own to practise today? If i do, shall i play a game from the break or just spread the balls around the table, or what?

[mihnea]

Try to play easy shots but play the same shot until you are very confident. Spreading balls and playing will not help you, it is just rolling balls.

[King T]

Good advices, but I think not very usefull. I heard all these 1000 times and I didnt understand why. The screw could be done even with a 1 inch follow through or 10 inch follow through. A long follow through offers a smooth cue action but if you hit the cue ball at 6 (with a long or short follow through) the cue ball will screw back. Mark Allen has a very short follow through and he is a very good player. So, you have only to practice....and practice....and when you finished, practice...

P.S Dont forget...practice.

You are right, but you missed a point I deliberately did not mention in order not to complicate things. If you notice Sullivan screwing back from the black hitting the cushion and sending the white somewhere near the pink, he doesn't even strike the cue ball too low, however his cue action and follow through and the power used allows that much screw back.

Same concept why it is hard to screw back from a long red, or why you lower the striking point to stun the cue ball if the object ball is far away, it's a combination between distance and the momentum you cause.

[mihnea]

Yeah. I didnt say the follow through is not important. I play with a very (maybe too) long follow through for every shot. But stricking the cue ball low corectly, is more important. I saw peoples cueing low, and droping the elbow very much and hiting the cue ball in the middle. And they asked why the cannot screw, when they where hiting the cue ball low. Because they were not hiting the cue ball low. There are many other more important things than follow through.

[King T]

Thanks all for the help. And yes your long post really helped, ill go on the websites you mentioned and try the techniques you said. The bloody person in the club will think im sad, ive been in every day for the past 4 days:snooker:

So do you think i should go on my own to practise today? If i do, shall i play a game from the break or just spread the balls around the table, or what?

Try to play easy shots but play the same shot until you are very confident. Spreading balls and playing will not help you, it is just rolling balls.

Agreed, leave full games or spreading reds for the time being. Try to practice simple routines as much as you can. I know you might get bored then so play a game or 2 before going back home.

A very good and simple practice routine that I would recommend is. take 2 reds and place them horizontally with the black but make sure they don't block the blacks path to the pocked. Place 2 reds vertically with the pink, both beneath the pink. Now start potting one of the reds aligned with the black then position for the black. Take the reds in the order you like and once potting or for instance you were left short on the reds beneath the pink, put back the reds that you potted and continue playing.

Very easy yet effective, you'll quickly note the angle you'll be needing to pot the black and position on the next ball on mind.

[King T]

Yeah. I didnt say the follow through is not important. I play with a very (maybe too) long follow through for every shot. But stricking the cue ball low corectly, is more important. I saw peoples cueing low, and droping the elbow very much and hiting the cue ball in the middle. And they asked why the cannot screw, when they where hiting the cue ball low. Because they were not hiting the cue ball low. There are many other more important things than follow through.

Yeah you are absolutely right, I also did mention that point in my earlier post However nudging the cue ball low will do you no use either

[Terry Davidson]

monkey:

You are attempting what most new snooker players try, in that they want to learn how to run before they can even crawl. What I mean by this is snooker is a very difficult game to learn rapidly and there are certain steps you have to take, IN DEFINITE ORDER, before you can improve.

The very first thing you have to get is being able to deliver the cue consistently straight, which sounds very simple but it probably the most difficult thing to do.

So go to books, DVDs, youtube.com, thesnookergym.com and also on the coaching threads here and first of all work on your TECHNIQUE. Always start with easy shots, i.e. - pink on the spot and cueball 1ft behind it.

Also, you will get bad advice and good advice from everyone (for instance someone on here said Mark Allen has a very short follow through when in fact he has probably the longest follow-through in the game). Everyone thinks they are an expert but that is not necessarily so.

If you can afford it, go see a GOOD coach and not just the guy at the club who charges 10quid and hour. Ask other players or ask on here for someone to recommend a good coach in your area.

And I'm not one of those people who don't know what they are talking about as I'm a certified IBSF and SnookerGym Master Coach and I do a lot of coaching on here and on thesnookergym.com

Terry