Long blue practice routine

[ace man]

Blue ball on its spot, cue ball on the baulk line setup for a perfectly straight-in shot.
The objective is to simply pot the ball.

Out of 100 attempts, how many do you think you could make? How many can a pro make?

I'm often putting a lot of unintentional side unfortunately, so I can't do much more than about 30-35 out of 100.

What could be the most common cause for putting that much unintentional side? The grip?

[Bigmeek]

1 out of 3 is about same for me so I'll be interested in advice. Unintentional side is a big problem for me also. Not just on straight blues! Quite a few things could be going wrong I fear as well as the grip. Getting an expert to watch you and advise would be well worth while. I've been practicing this shot a lot over the last week and think I may be improving. Concentrating on doing exactly the same on each shot has helped, that is.. (and you've heard it a hundred times!...) slow back, pause, follow through.. keep the head down, same routine and time on each shot etc etc We all know the theory!!

[lennon11]

i would think a pro would be doing around 80-85+,i personally would be doing around 65.i think the most common reason for cueing across the ball would be tightening your grip on delivery,which will cause you not to deliver the cue in a straight line.

[Terry Davidson]

The most common cause of this sort of thing is too tight a grip, however there could be many other reasons.



Most players (as has been said by lennon) grip the cue too tight too soon in the delivery.



Ensure you start with a loose grip and then ensure you do not grip the cue tightly until your grip hand hits your chest and also ensure your grip hand hits your chest on EVERY shot, but especially this type of long blue.



The other most common cause is very small movement in the upper body during delivery. This is normally caused by having a backswing that is too fast and also is a little crooked. The brain will unconciously know the cue has gone back crooked and will try to compensate during the more dynamic delivery. To eliminate this one just concentrate on keeping your chin on the cue throughout the feathers, backswing and delivery.



One more important point is to stay down and still at the end of the delivery when your grip hand is against your chest for 1-2 seconds (until the object ball drops or hits the cushion). This will eliminate any 'anticipated movement' which is another common problem.



To re-cap, follow these 4 (maybe 5) simple rules:

1. Loose grip

2. Slow feathers and SLOW backswing

3. ABSOLUTELY no upper body movement

(4.) If you have one, ensure your rear pause is there

4 or 5. Deliver the grip hand all the way through to the chest and stay still at the end of the delivery.



Terry
__________________
Originally posted at Http://www.thesnookergym.com/forums

[dpdubai]

A pro will knock that in around 85% of the time.
Amatuer and club level obviously alot lower.

The only way to improve this and your overall game is to see a coach, a good one even in one session will have you either potting it or hitting the jaws everytime.

After 10mins with a pro coach I could do that on this drill when I use to practice it for hours before hand with varying results. Now after a few months working on the technique shown to me by my coach I spend 5mins on this drill as a warm up and out of 10 attempts at the stun shot I'll either pot it or hit the jaws 10 out of 10.

I dont see any point spending much longer on that because if I can cue into the pocket or jaws of the pocket over 12 foot Im dead in centre bag over 3 every time i go for something.

Most people's problem if you can hit say a 30 or 40 break but not consistently is timing of the white and that shows up on long straight pots.
Alot of club players do have basic technique faults too though, getting up on the shot, stance, grip etc which all show up on this shot.

Terry will be along soon to give better advice im sure.

[Terry Davidson]

I answered this one via thesnookergym but I see my reply hasn't shown up here yet.

Every morning I set up 13 balls across the blue spot and try to pot them as straight in shots to the top pockets. Lately I've changed my grip a bit and concentrated on staying very still on the shot. I've also 'braced' my right shoulder as Joe Davis recommended.

With these slight changes I've noticed a big improvement, going from over 30 attempts down to less than 20 most mornings. As I get to the balls closer to the middle pockets of course the shot gets more difficult with the closed pockets, but on 100% of shots I'm just missing the pot and normally 'juggle' the ball tightly and sometimes fluke it in the opoosite top pocket.

I altered my grip so that in the address position it is configured exactly the same as when I finish with it up against the chest, which puts the grip a little more to the back of the hand but it stopped the slight twisting of the cue during the delivery and also stopped me prematurely tightening my grip on the cue.

I also found my timing was a lot better and I had a smoother rhythm, which I figure is a good thing. If a player pots a particular shot 70% of the time then he should take that shot on in a match (depending on the frame score of course), but that way you are going with the odds.

Remember the 4 -1/2 steps to a good cue action and consistent improvement:

1. ABSOLUTELY no upper-body movement.
2. LOOSE GRIP
3. Slow feathers and backswing.
4. Grip hand to chest on delivery and stay still at the end of the delivery.
(3a). If you have one, remember the rear pause

If you do these 4 things all the time, on every shot, you will improve. I also recommend you video yourself during a practice session and take a very details and slow-motion look at it because the camera will reveal all your faults

Terry

[hotpot]

I answered this one via thesnookergym but I see my reply hasn't shown up here yet.

Every morning I set up 13 balls across the blue spot and try to pot them as straight in shots to the top pockets. Lately I've changed my grip a bit and concentrated on staying very still on the shot. I've also 'braced' my right shoulder as Joe Davis recommended.

With these slight changes I've noticed a big improvement, going from over 30 attempts down to less than 20 most mornings. As I get to the balls closer to the middle pockets of course the shot gets more difficult with the closed pockets, but on 100% of shots I'm just missing the pot and normally 'juggle' the ball tightly and sometimes fluke it in the opoosite top pocket.

I altered my grip so that in the address position it is configured exactly the same as when I finish with it up against the chest, which puts the grip a little more to the back of the hand but it stopped the slight twisting of the cue during the delivery and also stopped me prematurely tightening my grip on the cue.

I also found my timing was a lot better and I had a smoother rhythm, which I figure is a good thing. If a player pots a particular shot 70% of the time then he should take that shot on in a match (depending on the frame score of course), but that way you are going with the odds.

Remember the 4 -1/2 steps to a good cue action and consistent improvement:

1. ABSOLUTELY no upper-body movement.
2. LOOSE GRIP
3. Slow feathers and backswing.
4. Grip hand to chest on delivery and stay still at the end of the delivery.
(3a). If you have one, remember the rear pause

If you do these 4 things all the time, on every shot, you will improve. I also recommend you video yourself during a practice session and take a very details and slow-motion look at it because the camera will reveal all your faults

Terry

Very helpful ,i stopped playing five years ago one of the reasons was because i could,nt help my wrist turing in towards my body which meant i was putting unwanted side on especially on power shots .

I tried to persevere for so long but in the end the frustration got the better of me .
Hoping to get back into the game now and i,ll defintely be working on that advise with the grip , even thinking about the cue trainer.

[stephen povey]

I have always found straight blues a good practice for cueing. Try to pot both balls in the top pocket ,THEN you are cueing straight!!!! Also try stunning the blue in nice and sweet. Another reason for missing this shot is POWER , DO NOT I REPEAT NOT NOT NOT hit the white too hard , power cuts down the% chance of you potting the blue LESS power MORE control thats what i find in my solo practice!!

[Bigmeek]

Crivvins Stephen, that's a tall order!! There's no chance of me potting both balls even if I had surgical equipment to line things up!!

[stjimmy18-1991]

my highest is 8/10... that might translate to 80/100. but that was when i was playing regular... nowadays i'll be happy with 1/10 lol

[cazmac1]

I was experimenting with this shot recently and was using my cue which was 57 1/4, wasn't having much joy I added an inch on the my cue by screwing in a cut down mini but screw in extension. I immediately start potting better, I also notice that when I missed I missed to the opposite side of the pocket then I did with it off.
Just a little something to think about. :snooker::snooker:

[Brijacq]

21 from 25 the other day when i tried it.

[ace man]

I envy some of you...

Thanks for tips to Terry and others. I guess camera work is in order.

I also noticed that I almost never make such a shot on a first try. After a few (bad) misses I adjust who knows what and some balls start to drop in. However, I think I'm introducing another fault to compensate for faults I may already have. But also at times, very rarely, I can just feel that shot was executed perfectly, with being totally still and with nice follow through, without the feeling of a crooked stroke...hard to explain, but it feels like that for me. I manage to pot both balls in the same pocket, but that happens rarely.

Rear pause? I try my best to incorporate it into my routine, but it is hard. Been playing for years without it with relatively quick feathers. I still feel very stiff with it, my grip somehow wants to tighten up if I pause at the back...not every time though.

With longer backswing, I'm not always able to keep the cue parallel. I'm supposed to drop the elbow slightly on a backswing and allow the cue to sort of open up my grip to prevent lifting of the cue itself, but this is all totally new to me. Sometimes I still lift and it is driving me mad...

With all these problems, it is hard to believe I can make 3 out of 10...

[dpdubai]

Crivvins Stephen, that's a tall order!! There's no chance of me potting both balls even if I had surgical equipment to line things up!!

It takes some time but it can be done, and your game will improve dramatically if you figure out whats stopping you pull this off within a few attempts.

Its ironic Ronnie cant pot a long ball because when you watch him his cueing is so straight and so sweet the cue just glides through.

After a few months practicing the long blue if you get your percentage of success up your cueing will start to like more like his.

Something to aim for.

[circle]

Hmmm

The long blue is one of my favourite routines

On a good day, off the blue spot its 10/10, but i prefer to put the 15 reds across the table. Not only does this make it harder, but it saves wear on the table! I read ages ago that Hendry put all 21 balls-middle to middle- and cleared them without missing.

Opinons please.........as for Ronnie, i reckon the fact his cue arm is so far inside the vertical when his tip hits the white, is maybe why his long game isnt what it was, as he can no longer get through the cue ball as he has run out of cue!

??