Video of Line-up Practice

[renniwevarb]

Hi snookies,

Finally managed to find time to take some videos of myself doing line-up practice using my iPhone (quality is not too good, erm both the video quality and also my playing quality! )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61uZEFPP2hk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZQS5Uvq3UU

Do have a look, any advice or comments are welcomed.

In fact what you see is already a huge difference to how I've been playing previously (faster feathers, faster back swing, almost no rear pause, and jerky delivery). My friend adviced me to force myself to change my cueing to slower feathers, slow back swing, steady rear pause and accelerating delivery.

So I'm in the process of "over-hauling" my game. Hope the advice given here can further help me in my game (currently I go to pieces in a frame proper, as my cueing has not been ingrained yet, so it does not feel natural to me)

[CoachGavin]

By the looks of things you have done well with the 'over-haul'. You action is pretty good although some different camera angles would be good.

Personally I wonder if you are taking too long for each shot. Working it out from the 2 breaks you made a century would take you nearly 12 minutes. This is also when you are doing a line up with all the balls on. If you think you need to take this amount of time then fine but if you have slowed your feathers down you probably only need 2-4 feathers as if you think for too long your mind will wander. I also think breakbuilding has a lot to do with getting a nice rythm around the table and too fast or too slow is not good in this respect. I suggest just trying with 3 feathers and seeing how it goes.

The other point I noticed is that it looks like your follow through is very short. It is hard to tell from the video angle but you need to get the tip through the white a good 5 or 6 inches. To check this place the white with the back of the ball on the baulk line and then play a long straight blue into the corner. Stay down after the shot and note how far your tip has gone.

These are just a couple of points that might help IMHO. You seem to be doing well so keep at it. Good luck!

[Theguywithaplan]

Yes definetly need to speed up imo. Just because your feathering has slowed down doesn't mean your pace has to. Instead of taking 6 or 7 quick waggles with the cue try maybe 2-4 (depending on the difficulty of the shot) slow ones with a nice pause at the end.:snooker:

[jonplayer]

Good play mate, but you are pretty slow even on really simple shots. If you feel comfortable that's the most important.

[renniwevarb]

By the looks of things you have done well with the 'over-haul'. You action is pretty good although some different camera angles would be good.

Personally I wonder if you are taking too long for each shot. Working it out from the 2 breaks you made a century would take you nearly 12 minutes. This is also when you are doing a line up with all the balls on. If you think you need to take this amount of time then fine but if you have slowed your feathers down you probably only need 2-4 feathers as if you think for too long your mind will wander. I also think breakbuilding has a lot to do with getting a nice rythm around the table and too fast or too slow is not good in this respect. I suggest just trying with 3 feathers and seeing how it goes.

The other point I noticed is that it looks like your follow through is very short. It is hard to tell from the video angle but you need to get the tip through the white a good 5 or 6 inches. To check this place the white with the back of the ball on the baulk line and then play a long straight blue into the corner. Stay down after the shot and note how far your tip has gone.

These are just a couple of points that might help IMHO. You seem to be doing well so keep at it. Good luck!

The camera angle is limited, as I'm taking with my iPhone positioned precariously on the sliding scoreboard, so I may try to practice on a different table to get a different camera angle next time.

I think I'm taking my time because I'm very consciously telling myself to confirm my shot before I go for it, and I feel quite comfortable. Will try to speed up when my shot routine is more ingrained and see what happens.

Follow through - The question is, how to lengthen my follow through? Correct me if I'm wrong, my address position has my forearm vertical, and when striking the cueball my hand hits my chest. So from vertical to hitting the chest this distance is constant right? If my follow through distance is too short does it mean I need to play around with my stance to get a longer follow through?

Thanks for the comments CoachGavin. Looking forward to more comments and advice.

Note: I noticed in the videos that my cue drops off my chin after striking. Is it because I'm lifting my body/head slightly when delivering the cue, or because of a slight drop in my elbow? And is this crucial and how do I eliminate this movement, or is it fine?

[renniwevarb]

Hi Theguywithaplan and jonplayer, thanks for your comments regarding my pace.
As replied to CoachGavin I'm in the process of fine tuning my shot routine, will try to speed up and see what happens. If I'm suited to a slow rhythm then I'll stick with it, unless it slows to a point that my mind wanders.

[saddler79]

Firstly, well played. No body/head movement whatsoever and the cue action looks good and straight through the line to a novice like me. As has been mentioned the pace looks far too slow for a line up. Everybody has their own natural pace but it concerns me to think how slow you would be in a match scenario. Everybody is different but personally the longer I take the worse I am. Dwelling on a shot for too long can be negative for some players.

As you've said you are working on your game at the moment so I suspect when you've perfected it you'll develop a more natural rhythm. Anyway keep up the good work.

[888]

Hi snookies,

Finally managed to find time to take some videos of myself doing line-up practice using my iPhone (quality is not too good, erm both the video quality and also my playing quality! )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61uZEFPP2hk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZQS5Uvq3UU

Do have a look, any advice or comments are welcomed.

In fact what you see is already a huge difference to how I've been playing previously (faster feathers, faster back swing, almost no rear pause, and jerky delivery). My friend adviced me to force myself to change my cueing to slower feathers, slow back swing, steady rear pause and accelerating delivery.

So I'm in the process of "over-hauling" my game. Hope the advice given here can further help me in my game (currently I go to pieces in a frame proper, as my cueing has not been ingrained yet, so it does not feel natural to me)

Very good cue action, your playing style looks like hong kong snooker player marco fu, is it snooker zone tp? anyway good luck in yr future.

[renniwevarb]

Firstly, well played. No body/head movement whatsoever and the cue action looks good and straight through the line to a novice like me. As has been mentioned the pace looks far too slow for a line up. Everybody has their own natural pace but it concerns me to think how slow you would be in a match scenario. Everybody is different but personally the longer I take the worse I am. Dwelling on a shot for too long can be negative for some players.

As you've said you are working on your game at the moment so I suspect when you've perfected it you'll develop a more natural rhythm. Anyway keep up the good work.

Thanks saddler79. Haven't had much time to practice, busy playing round robin matches in a local club, so I just have to play with what I have! The matches are tough, so far I've only won 1 and lost 6

Will put in more practice time when the matches are over.

Very good cue action, your playing style looks like hong kong snooker player marco fu, is it snooker zone tp? anyway good luck in yr future.

Hi 888, why Marco Fu? His feathers are micro-movements not that visible to the naked eye on TV, whereas I have quite "pronouced" feathers? Hahaha... ya the vids were taken at Snooker Zone, Toa Payoh. Hope to play with you some time!

[thinsy]

The other point I noticed is that it looks like your follow through is very short. It is hard to tell from the video angle but you need to get the tip through the white a good 5 or 6 inches. To check this place the white with the back of the ball on the baulk line and then play a long straight blue into the corner. Stay down after the shot and note how far your tip has gone.

One thing to overcome this is to be aware of how far away from the cueball your tip is when feathering (can't really see from the video's)

Although you say your arm is vertical when on the shot you may not be aware that your tip is still 2-3 inches away from the cueball and when you actually make contact with the ball your arm is 2-3 inches past vertical. In my opinion your arm needs to be vertical fractionally after impact with the cueball.

Hope this makes sense.