how to line up a pot with side

[StevieB13147]

Stez

All good advice contained in the posts above.

But if you are serious about mastering side (or at least getting very good with the use of side!), then be prepared to spend many, many hours on trial and error on different playing conditions in order to build up "the feel" of the shot.

Technically high level shots with side are only played consistently well by players capable of "pure feel" for the required shot.
This, as stated above, only comes through building that "feel" up from many hours working diligently on each shot.

Don't let the effort involved in reaching the "feel" level of play dissuade you, as the rewards come through some of the fantastic (sometimes impossible looking!) shots that can be played in a controlled and calculated fashion with the use of side.
Sometimes, one single executed as planned, highly technical shot can make your night more than a scrappy frame single frame league win.

Get yourself a very competent player to show you some serious snooker shots.
Don't aim too high to begin with, but enjoy the journey.

PS A good sound cue action can lead to serious improvement in all departments of the game, so focus on attaining that first.
The old adage of crawl before you walk and walk before you run, rings true in your snooker development.

Good Luck

[Acrowot]

Very good advice, StevieB13147.
:snooker:

[StevieB13147]

Cheers

Thanks Acrowot

Just experience from someone who has trode that long (never-ending) path!

But the scenery makes it all worth while!

[ace man]

Prior to snooker I played only 9ball, a game where side is used nearly all the time. Never had any coaching at all. Of course I picked up plenty of bad habits in cue action, but (only)one positive thing was me not being scared of using side even later when I started with snooker. With me, it was just the case of adjusting to different cue, balls and cloth. I have no idea how I line up.
Of course now I try to minimize its use as much as possible since snooker is hard enough using plain ball only. However, I must admit that side helps on some positional shots, especially safeties...:snooker:

[Quackers]

I would agree with all the above comments.
Many breaks could not be continued without the use of side on a positional shot. The only other options in that case would be to play for a different colour (thereby putting additional pressure on the pot) or to play safe.
In my view, for the experienced player, playing side is not something to be feared, but just another of the challenges our game has to offer.
For the less experienced players it is important to get a repeatable, straight cueing action before attempting to play with side. But there is no harm trying it - if only to see what you are up against!

[hotpot]

Agree with quackers . Unless your accurate enough to get pinpoint position and leave yourself the perfect angle then youre always going to have to use side at some stage to continue the break .

Once you can play side comfortably and confidently it opens up so many avenues that plain ball striking does,nt offer .

[Freddie Ng]

Good advise

[hapi.j]

Yes I've noticed players who know to play a parallel (with the table) cue when playing top and screw (ie not playing up or down on the cue ball) then go and play across the cue ball when playing side (ie cue is pushing the white out to the side).



Cue needs to always be played in the same direction of the cue ball, regardless of top bottom or side.



In the same way that the whole cue is lowered or heightened for screw or top,the WHOLE cue should be moved to the right or left- not just the tip.



Ive brought this up with players who have been playing for years and its like the lights just went on. They wonder why they arent getting any consistency or a lot of side off the ball.
__________________
Originally posted at Http://www.thesnookergym.com/forums

[Krypton]

I agree with all the things mentioned above. Especially with the the statement "Don't use side" - that's a very effective way to put you a long way back in your learning! Countless hours have been wasted, by beginners, trying to master side too early.


You really can't stress it out enough: DON'T USE SIDE if you're not able to score 50s and 80s even on a regular basis, when faced with a chance. And lying to yourself DOESN'T count here This is way better than most of us are.


I often see this scenario:

A player (I don't consider myself better, just to say) at the practice table, playing the line up drill. He's capable of scoring a 50 on a good day, but keeps to break down at 20 or 30, normally. And exactly the same applies to a player scoring a ton on a good day, 70s regularly!

He's on one of the reds between pink and black and has a nice angle to pot it in the corner and stun across a few inches for an easy black. He miss-judges the shot and ends up with a completely straight black. Depending on how many and which reds are left, it might be necessary to play a reverse-side screw shot. Now, what shall you do?

The MISS-GUIDED or STUPID beginner (snooker player in general, that's my point ) thinks: I got to learn this shot. He starts to practice the shot with side. This is the very first step to an enormous waste of time!

The SMART player replaces the white and the red and starts to practice the red, as long as it takes, to make sure he does NOT END UP STRAIGHT on the black. Not one time out of ten, but NEVER.

Chances are - - the so called smart player will play line-up tons much earlier and much more consistantly than the 'Side-Master', because he really learnt something he can USE and relay on, the controlling of the cue ball when playing the bread and butter stun shots coming up every second shot.


From this point of view, the biggest mistake is to practice side because you (even if only once) end up too straight on a colour to continue the break. It pays off A LOT more if you practice the shot just before

Or do you think differently?

(As a guideline: I'm good enought to maybe think about using side and practicing it, if I can end up straight on black DELIBERATELY when playing that red. Look at it like this: I want to practice shots with side, I got to QUALIFY for it. So I set up an angled red and stun over to a black perfectly straight. If I can get the black straight 9 times out of 10, or every time, It might be an idea to start to think about side, maybe. Anything less, and I got to re-do and practice the red.)

Being able to get on a three quarter to seven eights black consistantly is worth a million times more than being able to pot the black with side.

[jarcher]

If you must!!!

I... to a certain degree, was taught how to play side... and trust me... as mentioned above... if you can control the cue ball, don't use it... it will make you miss more because you try to pull off the weird and wonderful and in even thinking about how great a shot you might be able to play, it knocks your concentration away from the most important thing... potting the ball...

So... to start with... in general, I have 9 spots that I hit the white consistently, top, middle, bottom and the same on both sides of the white... just below half way from the middle of the white to the edge of the white.

So, start off by placing a ball on the blue spot, and put the white directly in line with it, aiming at the middle pocket... make sure you are cueing straight by playing a few top spin shots and screw shots making sure that the white always ends up in the pocket after making the pot.

Now, still aiming straight at the object ball, apply your side. Play the white slowly to start with as this will start to give you an understanding of 1. where the white will end up, 2. the amount of side you are transferring to the object ball.

Playing to drop the object ball into the pocket will probably work fine, though you may see a slight movement in the object ball. As you start to hit the white more firmly, you will see more movement, and therefore, through practice, you will be able to start working out where to aim in order to make the object ball go into the pocket.

You will need to do this using top, middle and bottom side as each can have a different effect, and note that if you are playing around the pink and black, that you should never need to hit the white hard... you will actually get more action off the cushion from the white when hit at a nice pace.

One example for me, is that if I am straight behind the blue, on the yellow side of the table and needing to get down towards the black... I will aim to the right jaw, effectively forgetting about the blue on its spot. When I strike the white firm, it throws slightly to the left off the tip, transfers enough side to the blue to make the pot and also throws the white in its correct path. This is actually a very difficult shot to make and I avoid it at all costs, but it has helped me on occasion.

It is worth knowing the reasoning and function of using side as on occasion, if you have ran just ever so slightly out of position (like a mm or two) and find yourself blocked by another ball between the white and the object ball, you can, by knowing how much side can be transferred to the object ball, make the pot with side. Aiming straight at the object ball may make you miss the pot by an inch or two, but using side and at the correct pace, can straighten the object ball and help with the pot in order to keep the break going.

I really hope this helps and all makes sense lol.

Please note... that I have cost my team a trophy by attempting a power shot with top check side on a pink to try to get position on a tricky black. Got the position ok, but what's the use in position if you miss the pot !!

[merlin1234]

my potting isn't too good so I mainly measure my success in terms of cueball gymnastics, which I seem much better at

my breaks are short but spectacular while they last

[vmax4steve]

I... to a certain degree, was taught how to play side... and trust me... as mentioned above... if you can control the cue ball, don't use it... it will make you miss more because you try to pull off the weird and wonderful and in even thinking about how great a shot you might be able to play, it knocks your concentration away from the most important thing... potting the ball...

So... to start with... in general, I have 9 spots that I hit the white consistently, top, middle, bottom and the same on both sides of the white... just below half way from the middle of the white to the edge of the white.

So, start off by placing a ball on the blue spot, and put the white directly in line with it, aiming at the middle pocket... make sure you are cueing straight by playing a few top spin shots and screw shots making sure that the white always ends up in the pocket after making the pot.

Now, still aiming straight at the object ball, apply your side. Play the white slowly to start with as this will start to give you an understanding of 1. where the white will end up, 2. the amount of side you are transferring to the object ball.

Playing to drop the object ball into the pocket will probably work fine, though you may see a slight movement in the object ball. As you start to hit the white more firmly, you will see more movement, and therefore, through practice, you will be able to start working out where to aim in order to make the object ball go into the pocket.

You will need to do this using top, middle and bottom side as each can have a different effect, and note that if you are playing around the pink and black, that you should never need to hit the white hard... you will actually get more action off the cushion from the white when hit at a nice pace.

One example for me, is that if I am straight behind the blue, on the yellow side of the table and needing to get down towards the black... I will aim to the right jaw, effectively forgetting about the blue on its spot. When I strike the white firm, it throws slightly to the left off the tip, transfers enough side to the blue to make the pot and also throws the white in its correct path. This is actually a very difficult shot to make and I avoid it at all costs, but it has helped me on occasion.

It is worth knowing the reasoning and function of using side as on occasion, if you have ran just ever so slightly out of position (like a mm or two) and find yourself blocked by another ball between the white and the object ball, you can, by knowing how much side can be transferred to the object ball, make the pot with side. Aiming straight at the object ball may make you miss the pot by an inch or two, but using side and at the correct pace, can straighten the object ball and help with the pot in order to keep the break going.

I really hope this helps and all makes sense lol.

Please note... that I have cost my team a trophy by attempting a power shot with top check side on a pink to try to get position on a tricky black. Got the position ok, but what's the use in position if you miss the pot !!

Jarcher
Side is not transferred to the object ball. The white moves off line when struck with side which is why you must aim the shot thicker than neccessary for a plain ball shot. At short range/fast speed the white stays off line, but at longer range/slower speed the white will come back towards the right line and even go on to or beyond the right line due to the action of the side on the nap of the cloth.
What you are trying to do when playing with side is to judge the trajectory of a mini swerve shot. Once you are knocking in twenty and thirty breaks on a regular basis, start practising with side using the advice given in this thread.
Don't be afraid.

[peterpackage]

Fact is whilst side isn't recommended for beginners and should only be used infrequently, if you want to get to a good level, you have to start somewhere learning side.

Even if you only use side on 5% of shots, if you cant do it when required, it will most likely be end of break. Ditto with all of the other shots we love to hate (rest play, bridging over balls, cueball on cushion etc etc)

All i can say is you have to practice a heap and play around with side yourself to see where you need to aim. I don't recommend using the aim and pivot method which seems popular with some Americans.

[Terry Davidson]

I recommend a player who cannot consistently run 50 breaks should only use side under the following conditions:

1. On the break
2. When an object ball is over the hole and there's lots of room for error.

When using side you must alter your line of aim and the amount is different for EVERY shot on the table as it depends on first of distance between the 2 balls, secondly on the amount of power used, then we can move on to speed of the cloth, weight of the cueball, natural throw of the cue, strength of the nap and probably a host of others I can't think of right now.

Besides, in almost every case you can achieve the same results by using a combination of height on the cueball and power used. The break shot is an exception and there will be some exceptions in safety play where the margin for error on the object is large and the player is attempting to 'swing' the ccueball around the cushions to get to a particular side on the baulk cushion, exactly the same as the break-off shot.

Terry

[sbsnooker]

Dear Gem
If you want to play side on a shot say right hand side place your hand down in line on the right had side of the white lining up the object as if you were playing a normal shot and then just take normal aim and strike. never never get down place your bridge hand to the middle of the white and then try to move the the tip to the side u want, always place your hand down to the side of the white you want to hit at the same time lining up your object ball where you want to hit it
hope this helps