How many hours a week should I practice?

[snookerfan91]

Alright thank you.

[Acrowot]

Practice as often as you can, Snookerfan91.

[snookerfan91]

Played today for just short of 6 hours had to leave early, (had to help mother with shopping as shops are closed tomorrow, just little bit of food), it was good practice and about 2 hours into practice my stepdad came what a surprise, played with him was good.

I definitely need a new cue it's not even straight and you can notice it on most shots that should be potting just ain't going in , was putting the reds in a line between blue/pink/black and kept practicing finishing the colours too (was losing position on the brown alot which really bugged me).

Soon as I get some cash together I will be on the hunt, I've decided I'm going to go for the top end sort of budget now between 80-100 quid, we will see in the new year...

[RGCirencester]

In what way is it not straight? If you hold the cue at the end and look down the cue is it bent or are you just assuming it is?
If its bent in one direction you can make sure to hold the cue in the mean time with the bend pointing up or down.

[Terry Davidson]

If a cue has a really bad bend in it then I would recommend a new one or else get an expert to straighten it for you.

The mistake most people make is to roll a cue on the table and watch to see if the tip rises and falls. This is never a true indication of straightness since there might be a small rise either at the joint in a 3/4-butt or else down the cue where it doesn't matter.

As long as the last 18in of a cue are reasonably straight it's fine.

To check a cue hold it up to your sighting eye and roll it through 360 degrees and look straight down the shaft. The other method to tell for sure is to put it on a lathe or else use one of those laser measuring devices and roll the cue through 360 degrees and see what happens to the ferrule/tip.

Cues can be straightened but it takes someone who knows what he is doing. If they use steam that will usually take the 'life' out of the shaft and the sure-fire method is to hang a weight off the ferrule and check the cue each day until the bend straightens. However, this method will only work if there's just one bend in the cue.

Terry

[fateric]

Played today for just short of 6 hours had to leave early

Where were you playing for £10 for 7 hours, not Gateshead Snooker Centre was it? Excellent value!!

Mat

[RGCirencester]

Where were you playing for £10 for 7 hours, not Gateshead Snooker Centre was it? Excellent value!!

Mat

Rileys used to do that and I don't understand why they stopped.. I certainly know a lot of people at uni that simply stopped going there after that.

[bonoman1970]

Maybe you should get a life and enjoy New Years Eve !!!

just live a little.

[bonoman1970]

Only joking my friend!


:snooker:

[Acrowot]

in the meantime, do what RGC says and hold cue with the bend facing up or down, but always in the same way.
I did this for quite a while years ago and it worked fine, until I bought a new cue.

[fateric]

Rileys used to do that and I don't understand why they stopped.. I certainly know a lot of people at uni that simply stopped going there after that.

Rileys closing in Newcastle (compulsory purchase order to build a modern art (ie utter garbage) gallery) has all but killed off snooker in Newcastle, especially for young lads. There's simply nowhere affordable left to play. When they had the specials on it was chocker every day, great days!


Mat

[brendan147]

Nothing is cheap these days... the world of capitalism is rising and will kill this game eventually...unless we do something about it. But what should we do to save this game besides enjoying it? Hmmmm....

[snookerfan91]

When I hold the cue and look down it swerves off to the left loads.

[RGCirencester]

Not a good sign lol!

Either use a rack cue, any spare cues you have lying around or hold the cue so the bend points upwards or down.

And buy a new cue

[Rob Singer]

Not a good sign lol!

Either use a rack cue, any spare cues you have lying around or hold the cue so the bend points upwards or down.

And buy a new cue

My 9 ball cue had a warp in the shaft and I played with it for a few months using it warp up but found it difficult. I got my friend Dan (cue builder) to reshape it on the lathe. Did a magnificent job making it perfectly straight and only lost about 1 mm. This was okay 'cause the tip was 13mm. Don't recommend this for snooker cues though (depends what tip size you start with).