Videoing Self

[armstm]

hi there,
over the last few months i have had a serious stab at improving my game having played for 15 years without any clue how to play properly.

i've seen terry griffiths and nic barrow - both useful. you always pick something up and i'd encourage people to do this. also surfed the forums and read all terry davidson's posts and experimented with ideas.

e.g. i changed my grip to "ronnie's" grip ie holding butt with last 3 fingers and wrapping thumb around 2nd finger with forefinger wrapped around but not gripping. this solved the problem of missing greens to the right straight away.

having done all this for 9 months, i have got to a 37 break - some progress - but still shocking inconsistency i videoed myself using my iphone.

straightaway i could see my grip arm was not vertical. the real shocker was the fact that my left leg was way too far forward. i looked off-balance especially on cushion shots.

as soon i tried taking a smaller step forward with my left leg - bingo- i cued everything better.

i realise i am just repeating advice terry et al have given but i'd encourage everyone to video themselves. you'll see flaws staring out at you - especially if you've watched a lot of snooker on TV.

[nrage]

If you really want to see all your flaws/warts then make sure you get a well lit shot of yourself from directly in front and directly behind the line of aim, then play it back in super slow motion, or frame by frame. But, be aware that not all movement you see will be detrimental, only movement which occurs before, during or just after the point of contact may be important. Just after is only important if/when you then play a shot where you shorten the bridge without moving the grip hand, in this case movement that occurs after contact on a normal shot will occur before/during on a shortened shot.

[Terry Davidson]

I would also suggest along with nrage's comment that you try and video from the grip arm side, showing the head, top of elbow and down to the grip hand. Also, a video camera with a tripod and some extra lighting for the shots from directly behind and just a bit to the side with the grip hand would help.

What this video angle will (or shoud) give you is your timing on when you tighten the grip, which should happen well after you go through the address position on delivering the cue and hopefully not until the hand hits the chest or completes the delivery.

You should also stay still at the end of the delivery for a second or two as this one thing helps to remove any upper body movement during the delivery

Terry

[damienlch]

Misleading title... lol...

But seriously, it can only be beneficial to be able to watch youself on video. You will often be surprised to see that what you think you are doing... you actually aren't. It helps you understand more about your current style of play and you can only correct or change what you know.

[stanbunker]

I found this useful too! I used to ask my wife if I am playing a shot straight/ moveing on the shot. The point Terry made about when to tighten the grip is very relevent, as having a calm controlled hand through impact wil decrease the chance of re-gripping and pinching the cue through impact, thus sending the cue off line. Many players feel that their table time is long and they are holding up their opponent so they rush, but videoing your practise helps to show up any discreponses with rhythm, tempo, timing and actually average time spent on the shot.