backswing pause, yes or no?

[Luke Hooper]

maybe thats what im doing wrong? breathing during hte shot, i always breath and recently i find that for some reason or another i hold the cue closer to my chest and found that sometimes i pot fantastic balls, and sometimes i dont...and never realised about my breathing, its a possibility that the times i pot good balls i hold my breath and the times i miss easy pots im breathing and pushing the tip off to the right...

which would make sense because i have noticed i miss a lot of pots to the left and that could be the reason why...

oh dammit i want to ge in the club right now.

[Terry Davidson]

Luke:

If you were capable of running a 50 or 60 or more in a regular frame and now after a short break can't run 4 blacks in the line up then you have something a lot more serious than breathing on the shot. You could be breathing though and that may be causing SOME of your problems, but definitely not all by a long shot.

The most common is one of two things. First of all movement of the upper body on the shot and secondly lateral movement of the wrist.

So, get the swing thought into your head when you are down to KEEP STILL RIGHT TO THE END OF THE DELIVERY AND (for goodness sake) KEEP THE CUE EXTENDED AND YOUR CHIN ON THE CUE AT THE END OF THE DELIVERY FOR AT LEAST 2 SECONDS!!!!!! (this should resolve the movement problem, but also in case you're moving on the backswing then also keep your f#$%&@g chin on the cue during the backswing and delivery (my swing thought by the way).

Next...turning the wrist...most players will have someone tell them or read that the wrist should hang straight down and they take this to mean the back of the palm should form a straight line with the outside of the forearm.

THIS IS WRONG, WRONG, WRONG and leads to twisting the wrist on delivery. Confirm this by addressing the cueball with your chevrons straight up and then deliver the cue and see where the chevrons finish. Most right-handed players with this grip will turn the cue anywhere up to a quarter turn but at least an eighth of a turn and this moves the butt of the cue sideways and thus the tip sideways the other way (to the right for a right-hander).

The correct (Terry Davidson) method is to COCK THE WRIST OUTWARDS SO THAT THE BUTT OF THE CUE IS DIRECTLY UNDER THE LONG STRAIGHT BONE IN THE FOREARM. This is part of my KISS methodolgy for snooker technique. You should have 3 or 4 wrinkles at the wrist joint if you're doing it right.

GRIP...take your cue apart and lay down the shaft. Grab the butt and hold it just like a hammer and you're going to drive a nail with it. NOTE THAT THERE IS AT LEAST A 60degree (or so) angle between the end of the forearm and the back of the hand, but the hammer is lined up directly below the straight forearm bone.

Now put your cue back together and re-form that exact same grip WHILE YOU ARE STANDING BEHIND THE SHOT AND KEEP IT THERE UNTIL YOU ARE IN THE ADDRESS POSITION and then relax it as a pure hammer grip is too tight for snooker.

Another thing...when you are getting down into the address position KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE OBJECT BALL AND DO NOT LOOK AT THE CUEBALL UNTIL YOUR BRIDGE HAND IS ON THE TABLE AND YOU ARE IN THE ADDRESS POSITION.

Then no more than 2 slow and smooth feathers MAXIMUM, followed by a FRONT PAUSE OF AT LEAST 1sec, then very slow backswing with eyes moving to the object ball and length proportional to the amount of power you're going to use, then a REAR PAUSE if you NATURALLY have one, then start accelerating evenly and smoothly driving through the cueball until the back of your grip hand thumb hits your chest (ideally about 2in above and to the right of your right nipple).

AND REMEMBER THIS VERY IMPORTANT ITEM...what stops the cue from shooting across the table is the thumb striking the chest and squeezing the cue into the forefinger. Most players will try and stop the cue using the 4 fingers or some combination of them and it should be the THUMB AND FOREFINGER WITH THE PRESSURE COMING FROM THE THUMB DRIVING INTO THE CHEST.

Copy this post down and take it to the club and work on each item ONE AT A TIME and you WILL improve, especially if you can manage to stop the movement of the tip to the right which seems to be causing all your problems.

This is a test and I want a report back once you've mastered all the above points

Terry

[checkSide]

.....This is a test and I want a report back once you've mastered all the above points

See you in 3 years then!

[cally]

.......................

[abhi147]

Luke:

If you were capable of running a 50 or 60 or more in a regular frame and now after a short break can't run 4 blacks in the line up then you have something a lot more serious than breathing on the shot. You could be breathing though and that may be causing SOME of your problems, but definitely not all by a long shot.

The most common is one of two things. First of all movement of the upper body on the shot and secondly lateral movement of the wrist.

So, get the swing thought into your head when you are down to KEEP STILL RIGHT TO THE END OF THE DELIVERY AND (for goodness sake) KEEP THE CUE EXTENDED AND YOUR CHIN ON THE CUE AT THE END OF THE DELIVERY FOR AT LEAST 2 SECONDS!!!!!! (this should resolve the movement problem, but also in case you're moving on the backswing then also keep your f#$%&@g chin on the cue during the backswing and delivery (my swing thought by the way).

Next...turning the wrist...most players will have someone tell them or read that the wrist should hang straight down and they take this to mean the back of the palm should form a straight line with the outside of the forearm.

THIS IS WRONG, WRONG, WRONG and leads to twisting the wrist on delivery. Confirm this by addressing the cueball with your chevrons straight up and then deliver the cue and see where the chevrons finish. Most right-handed players with this grip will turn the cue anywhere up to a quarter turn but at least an eighth of a turn and this moves the butt of the cue sideways and thus the tip sideways the other way (to the right for a right-hander).

The correct (Terry Davidson) method is to COCK THE WRIST OUTWARDS SO THAT THE BUTT OF THE CUE IS DIRECTLY UNDER THE LONG STRAIGHT BONE IN THE FOREARM. This is part of my KISS methodolgy for snooker technique. You should have 3 or 4 wrinkles at the wrist joint if you're doing it right.

GRIP...take your cue apart and lay down the shaft. Grab the butt and hold it just like a hammer and you're going to drive a nail with it. NOTE THAT THERE IS AT LEAST A 60degree (or so) angle between the end of the forearm and the back of the hand, but the hammer is lined up directly below the straight forearm bone.

Now put your cue back together and re-form that exact same grip WHILE YOU ARE STANDING BEHIND THE SHOT AND KEEP IT THERE UNTIL YOU ARE IN THE ADDRESS POSITION and then relax it as a pure hammer grip is too tight for snooker.

Another thing...when you are getting down into the address position KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE OBJECT BALL AND DO NOT LOOK AT THE CUEBALL UNTIL YOUR BRIDGE HAND IS ON THE TABLE AND YOU ARE IN THE ADDRESS POSITION.

Then no more than 2 slow and smooth feathers MAXIMUM, followed by a FRONT PAUSE OF AT LEAST 1sec, then very slow backswing with eyes moving to the object ball and length proportional to the amount of power you're going to use, then a REAR PAUSE if you NATURALLY have one, then start accelerating evenly and smoothly driving through the cueball until the back of your grip hand thumb hits your chest (ideally about 2in above and to the right of your right nipple).

AND REMEMBER THIS VERY IMPORTANT ITEM...what stops the cue from shooting across the table is the thumb striking the chest and squeezing the cue into the forefinger. Most players will try and stop the cue using the 4 fingers or some combination of them and it should be the THUMB AND FOREFINGER WITH THE PRESSURE COMING FROM THE THUMB DRIVING INTO THE CHEST.

Copy this post down and take it to the club and work on each item ONE AT A TIME and you WILL improve, especially if you can manage to stop the movement of the tip to the right which seems to be causing all your problems.

This is a test and I want a report back once you've mastered all the above points

Terry

I agree with all your points and not looking at the cue ball till you get in address position is amazing.

I have one doubt though

About feathers, I dont take into account how many feathers i do. Sometimes more sometimes less. One thing ive noticed on some shots more feathering induces minute body movement and i go off-line which i can notice while i am feathering
And on cushion shots, more feathering helps me potting better. By more feathers i mean about 5-6.
The major issue which I have noticed ( discussed with Nic too ) is if i do not feather at all I get better cue ball control and potting but uncomfortable and tensed stance. When I feather I get better comfort will pot as well but the position is not precise. I think I tend to forget the exact power height combination while feathering or probably the delivery is smoother in no feather mode.

I dont know whats wrong. Any help would be great.

[Terry Davidson]

My own philosophy on feathering is somewhat different from Nic's.

I believe if a player uses a lot of feathers then he is giving his upper body more opportunity to move and also if he takes a long time he might have to breathe in during that period.

So I advocate no more than 2 feathers whereas Nic advocates 2-4, so not much different.

I would say you should go for consistency and get the same number of feathers on every shot no matter what the difficulty. For those 'on the cushion' shots you talk of where your confidence is lower and you feather more, try chocking up on the cue until your grip hand is well ahead of the vertical (by about 2-3 inches) and then complete the stroke with a few feathers only. You will find this will really help your on-the-cushion potting (thanks to Terry & Wayne Griffiths for this tip)

Terry

[The Doctor]

The speed at someone feathers is all down to ones own imaginary and feel.
Some players use the pre-backswing cue action to sight the shot.
My own opinion, I would say the lining up process happens way before then and trying to line the shot up on the shot is tricky.
The cue action should be a means of getting a feel for the shot you are intending to play. The amount of spin and power and as such your cue action should mimic this or at least give an indication that you are intent on hitting the ball in a specific manner.
I see players all the time using the same cue action(feathers) for both soft and power shots and the only difference is when they go to strike the ball.
It is a hugely difficult thing to do.
Thats why i would recommend a player use his speed or rhythm of cue action to build up a picture of the shot they intend to hit.

[abhi147]

On the topic of breathing

I think I breathe in when I take the back swing and breath out when delivering. Didnt know I was doing it but deliberate attention reveals I was. I checked this because when I was cueing with my cue brushing the chest i was applying unintentional right hand side on cue ball while coming up and down balk and at the same time if I would check without brusing the cue to my chest it would come back pretty straight ( though I cant play that way :P )
Will try to fix it
The other thing I noticed was that the amount of breathe in I do was realative to the amount of power needed, so thats gonna bea little problem working on.


Anyways I was wondering for a player like Jamie burnett who feathers for a long long time, how does he end up not breathing? Or does he breathe during feathers and does not braethe on delivery?

[potter]

If you don't breathe you will die...keep breathing at all times!

If your worried about your breathing while playing the game, then try to practise taking shallow but very slow and relaxed breaths while cueing up, in and out through the open mouth or nose if you have too, just until you get up from the shot.

With regards to the pause in the back swing, then it is "horses for courses". If you can hold a cue perfectly, and have a superior cueing action that allows you to draw the cue back, and push the cue forward without any rocking action, either up, down or sideways, then you don't need the pause. Although, it can be useful if you are having a problem calibrating how much power to put in the shot, for positional purposes.

Of course, I say that so you can understand me correctly, but "power" persay is not actually applied to any shot at all, which is why players constantly get it wrong. What is applied is speed of the cue, which is directed at the tip, sometimes constant and other times excellerating.

If a player has a problem of rushing around the table, or carelessly missing shots by playing too quickly, then a pause in the backswing can also help out.

Feathering is important to focus the tip on the exact point of impact on the cue ball, for the type of shot being played, such as screw back or side etc, and to assist with lining the shot up while the player is already down on the shot. It usually is reduced as a player concentrates more, and tends to line each shot up more precisely before getting down on the table, which is the correct way to do it, by using the correct footwork and approach.




Potter

[abhi147]

Terry I tried stopping breathing after going down on shot with just 2-3 feathers.
It felt like I was going to BURST!!!!!
Whether i kept the breath in or out it was like exploding

Also I have this wierd problem which I need to fix anyhow
1 - If I dont feather I play perfect positional shot with good pot but stressfull stance and less ability to generate power
2 - If i feather I dont get good on position and what i feel is i forget the exact calculation of power height combination my mind had worked out

I tried very slow feathering and i seemed to vibrate

[Freddie Ng]

Terry I tried stopping breathing after going down on shot with just 2-3 feathers.
It felt like I was going to BURST!!!!!
Whether i kept the breath in or out it was like exploding

Also I have this wierd problem which I need to fix anyhow
1 - If I dont feather I play perfect positional shot with good pot but stressfull stance and less ability to generate power
2 - If i feather I dont get good on position and what i feel is i forget the exact calculation of power height combination my mind had worked out

I tried very slow feathering and i seemed to vibrate

Holding your breath for one shot is it so hard for you? How long you take to take a full shot(try view through some of JHiggins games, notice his cueing and feathering and backswing pause) ? The reason behind is to help your makesure no body movement when taking a shot. About the feathering part, think you should be more relax and don't stress yourself.

Cheers
Hope this helps..

[Luke Hooper]

wow, Terry,

thank you very much - its funny because just before my match on thursday that my team mate James (TMOF or the mayor of flair on here) noticed that i was doing exactly that with regards to the wrist comment, i seem to be holding the cue with my knuckles almost underneath the cue?! this caused me to deliver the cue to the right annd also twist the cue slightly just like you said..

he also said to cock the wrist out just like you said so that the knuckles are inline with the cue rather than sort of underneath the cue and to concentrate on it...

i did this and found that i could cue much straighter and wasnt cueing to the side anymore...the only thing that i was lacking was the confidence to naturally feather the ball as i was concentrating on my grip and therefore i was missing pots but not because of the way i cued it i think it was due to the way that i was concentraing on my cue hand and the fact that i was lackming in confidence thinking i was going to miss before i even played the shot which is obviously a receipe for disaster..

im going to print your notes and hit the club and try and sort it out right away because i think we are on to something.

i played a few frames today with a player a division above me and managed to finish the victor and also had the highest break of the match of 28 (yes i know its not great but in 3 frame snooker) - each frame that we played all balls went safe and i finished the first frame with a 25 clearance after being 23 behind to win and then in the second frame managed a 28 break straight away which was decent enough given the circumstances so i feel a little bit happier about it

ok im still not 100% but at least ive got something to work with now..

thank you terry i really appreciate all of your help