Another century missed!! What did I do wrong?

[thelongbomber]

Hi everyone! Been a few weeks but I finally got around to putting up a video on Youtube of one of my breaks. I added some narration with my thoughts and what I was thinking about during the break. Would love to hear some feedback!

Thanks!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eNgp2c6Vd4

[Terry Davidson]

longb:

Which club is this in Vancouver? The tables look pretty good.

You did make the right comment when you said you should have played a cannon into the two reds to the left of the black. Also in that shot you could have played for the pink in the middle (instead of going up to baulk for the blue) and you would have had your choice of 3 reds to get on the black, which was then free to both corners.

When you're on a break like this remember the best way is to keep close control of the cueball and this means not traveling half a table length for the blue in this instance but keeping the white down near the remaining reds and you definitely didn't need to get the blue back on spot to score a high break here as you could have easily gotten another 4 blacks or maybe 1 pink.

Also, I don't think Eddie looked very well (although he took a long time over the shot) when he thought he was trapped and smashed the balls all over the place and missed the pot. He had 2 reds between black and pink (to the right of the black) which were automatic outs back to baulk. Show him the video and let him know

Terry

[thelongbomber]

Which club is this in Vancouver? The tables look pretty good.

It's High Break Billiards in Richmond. The tables are very well maintained by the staff and re-clothed regularly by Tom Lee - probably one of the top table mechanics in the city. See www.highbreakbilliards.com. It's my nearly daily hangout.

You did make the right comment when you said you should have played a cannon into the two reds to the left of the black.

Good to know. I think I waited until too late to get to those two reds which both went without issue. Instead of playing onto them or into them, I opted to navigate the cue ball around into a tricky spot instead. For those watching the video, see the 5:28 mark.

Also in that shot you could have played for the pink in the middle (instead of going up to baulk for the blue) and you would have had your choice of 3 reds to get on the black, which was then free to both corners.

Yes possibly. I remember considering that option at the time but the angle was such that I would need to either roll in the red that I played or screw into the two reds to hold the cue ball. And as I had wanted blue on it's spot I guess I passed up either of these options.

When you're on a break like this remember the best way is to keep close control of the cueball and this means not traveling half a table length for the blue in this instance but keeping the white down near the remaining reds and you definitely didn't need to get the blue back on spot to score a high break here as you could have easily gotten another 4 blacks or maybe 1 pink.

Excellent advice. I have to really think differently about breakbuilding. It's about cue ball control ultimately and that also means not having it travel everywhere. Doing the odd in/out of baulk is fine when you have no option I guess. I think playing soft cannons is something I shy away from because it's an unknown. Need to practice that somehow.

[B]

Also, I don't think Eddie looked very well (although he took a long time over the shot) when he thought he was trapped and smashed the balls all over the place and missed the pot. He had 2 reds between black and pink (to the right of the black) which were automatic outs back to baulk. Show him the video and let him know

Definitely will. Thanks Terry!!! As always, your advice is appreciated!!!!

[thelongbomber]

After looking at the video several times, and then seeing your reply, I believe you have helped me discover a flaw: I have this idea in my head that I can't play precise cannons and cue ball position and so I avoid trying because I think it's out of my reach.

A good example of this error in judgement is when I cannoned the blue at 9 points. Oddly enough, If I have the ability to cannon the blue, why didn't I play for the pink into the green pocket instead and leave the blue on it's spot? I know the pink was needed because the black was tied up. I remember thinking about this idea only momentarily but passing it up instead and using the blue as a stopper. As Terry pointed out, trying to re-spot the blue was an unnecessary distraction and that may well have stopped me from making a bigger break.

[thelongbomber]

Oh by the way Terry, that table I played on wasn't even their top match table. It wasn't even steel block. High Break has 3 match tables with steel block and faster cloth. For all tables, the balls are cleaned daily and tables are brushed after every customer finishes. Iron and vacuum are used several times a week. I'm sure they have the best tables in town.

High Break has 10 snooker tables and will soon have 6 gold crown 4.5 x 9 pool tables.

[arbitrage]

[QUOTE=thelongbomber;596999]Oh by the way Terry, that table I played on wasn't even their top match table. It wasn't even steel block. High Break has 3 match tables with steel block and faster cloth. For all tables, the balls are cleaned daily and tables are brushed after every customer finishes. Iron and vacuum are used several times a week. I'm sure they have the best tables in town.

[arbitrage]

Oh by the way Terry, that table I played on wasn't even their top match table. It wasn't even steel block. High Break has 3 match tables with steel block and faster cloth. For all tables, the balls are cleaned daily and tables are brushed after every customer finishes. Iron and vacuum are used several times a week. I'm sure they have the best tables in town.

High Break has 10 snooker tables and will soon have 6 gold crown 4.5 x 9 pool tables.

nice club. apparently, there's someone speaking chinese in the background.

[Terry Davidson]

longb:

An exercise for you to learn those soft screw shots required for close cannons. Place blue on spot with a 3/4-ball pot into either middle pocket, cueball somewhere around 18" or so (maybe slightly less to start so it's easier). Now initially attemp to get the cueball to come to rest within one ball diameter of either the pink or brown spot, in both distance and line.

Once you feel you've mastered that then using the baulk spots, try and get to the yellow and green spots (this takes a real good delivery and you must accelerate THROUGH the cueball (the Del Hill 'drive').

As where this happens the most is around the black spot, take 6 reds and place them in a straight line about 1 ball width apart and 6-8" above the black with 3 on each side of the table centre-line. Now just try to gently cannon each of these reds with the cueball level with the black for that roughly 3/4-ball black pot.

To get it even better, do that same black exercise but with a 3/4-black pots when above the black and use the top cushion. In this exercise side spin is not required although you may be more comfortable using it but always remember when you cannon the reds they should only move 1-3" (this is so you don't snooker yourself on the intended red).

Terry

[simoncapon]

Hi, Really great that you are looking for quality feedback and you will. Can i also suggest a MP3 download available from Amazon.co.uk or amazon.com Its called world class snooker and although its about match play snooker it will help your mind focus. Let me know how you get on. Simon

[ADR147]

i would say your analysis is good, blue red in baulk was the way to go!

[snookergr]

longb: nice decent break you seem to hit the CB with a lot of authority
it seems you should have taken blue and red in baulk like you said, at the end of the break for sure
however, you also had a chance to deal with these 2 reds near the black (@6:27) like you mentioned
i.e. pot one red and try to get on blue or pink in order to open the path for the black in the top pockets because you would have been forced to deal with that issue at some stage anyway, so why not do it when the chance is presenting itself (the angle was there to go behind the black using the top cushion and the red was fairly easy)
Terry: nice excersise thanks :-) this is where the understanding of the stun line and how spin works comes into play

[1blonde]

Well if you dont mind me giving an opinion.

I think you rush your shots and have not much of a pause/timing, using to much speed when cueing and you constantly overhit the ball as a result, try pulling the cue back slower to aid your timing of the shot. Another benifit of this is that it looks smoother and you are allowing your eyes a fraction longer to focus on the line of the shot and (then) also when you accelerate through the ball if you also use a slight pause on the backswing of your shots this will help your timing setting you better for the shot and in turn this would also aid a more consistant straight cueing approach because you are pausing setting yourself slightly before accelerating through the white.

You currently pull it back as fast as it comes forward ala Jimmy White and yet unlike him there does not seem to be any comfortable rythem/timing to your game as a consequence of this super fast action and your position is very poor. Screwing back powering the ball all over the place on and off cushions makes it look like your positional play is over egged at times.

I think a slight adjustment in this regard would add 20-30 points to your game at least and you will begin to feel more comfortable and relaxed about your game because developing a timing method like this will make your game so much more consistant and controlled to both play and watch.

Good luck and I hope this helps.

[magicman]

It's quite amazing to see a player who looks more than capable of break-building yet chooses so many wrong shots. You look like you could knock in a century yet in just one 43 break you missed so many opportunities to make life easier for yourself. For instance on 26 you could have removed a red blocking the pink from potting into the corner pocket, instead of which you chose to pot a red with little consideration of which colour would follow it. On 37 you should have taken brown and then the red in baulk, as the cue-ball remains under tight control. Similar story for the two reds to the left of the black, where it looks as if you had the absolute perfect angle to just drop the top red in and kiss full ball on the lower red to hold for the black which then pots into both corners - happy days, century here I come! Then on 43, landing the wrong side of the blue, the red in baulk should have been the obvious choice to you. On a positive note, you hit the ball with conviction and with a touch more thought, less travel on the white, you could easily start posting much higher breaks on YouTube!

[Luke Hooper]

nice breaks, you have a very fast cue action.... slow it down a bit maybe?

[cuebru]

You missed the pink. Sorry couldn't help myself.