Another century missed!! What did I do wrong?

[thelongbomber]

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

Yes, there are mostly asian/chinese regulars at this club but they are all decent gents.

[thelongbomber]

longb: nice decent break you seem to hit the CB with a lot of authority

Thanks! I have worked hard on cue delivery over the past 10 years. I'm working on a smoother stroke these days and trying to hit the ball pure. My friend/coach/mentor and I both believe it's a key ingredient to improving one's game.

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)

Ya, for sure. Same as what Terry mentioned as well. Why I didn't go for that shot earlier is definitely part of the reason why I haven't reached my first century. I know I can make most shots and deliver the cue well enough to do so.

Terry: nice excersise thanks :-) this is where the understanding of the stun line and how spin works comes into play

I can't wait to put some time into the exercise Terry mentioned. Fortunately, the club owners give me some leeway with practice time so I can work on my game.

[thelongbomber]

Well if you dont mind me giving an opinion.

Definitely not! Love to hear opinions. I know a big part of improving this game is having others see what you can't see or feel yourself. Doing the video has already helped me just from watching/analyzing.

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.

Actually, funny enough that's exactly what I'm working on now with my friend/coach. That's a very accurate assessment of timing/cueing 1blonde. Thanks!!

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.

Ya, that's also true. Oddly though, that break I felt like I was taking enough time on shots but I guess only the results can speak for themselves. I will take more time to plan position/pace as you mentioned. That's also something I'm aware of.

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.

Yes, it helps a lot! It confirms something I have already suspected in my game both from watching and getting help from my coach/mentor at the club.

Thanks 1blonde!!!

[thelongbomber]

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!

Wow, thanks magicman! More than once several friends/m8s have said I'm overdue for my first century. Putting this video up has helped a lot because others like Terry, 1blonde, and yourself have pointed out things in more detail than my m8's have been able to. I know I strike the ball well but my cue ball get's out of control cause I experiment too much. I know that I have the "soft" and "hard" strokes, but the medium eludes me.

I'm going to give Terry's exercises a go over the next few days and see how that helps.

Thanks magicman!

[thelongbomber]

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

Yep, working on that right now actually.

[iago147]

Hi i just wondered if you could watch my video and see what you think...? Hope you get a century soon mate you are an excellent potter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p1Ir...el_video_title

Cheers

[Terry Davidson]

iago:

Everything looks VERY good with the exception of two points.

The bad one is you are getting up too soon after you deliver the cue and sometimes that lifting of the upper body creeps into your delivery just as you go through the cueball, which you do very well by the way.

The other thing which I think would help a bit is to get a front pause (remain at address position for .5-1sec before the final backswing)and also slow down both the feathers and the backswing a bit (if you can, some people's natural rhythm is faster and it is difficult for them to get a little slower and more deliberate).

Otherwise, with the cue action you have now and a lot of practice I see no reason why you can't be competitive at the top amateur level if you keep at it.

Terry

[iago147]

Thanks for the feedback Terry, appreciate it alot. staying down after the shot is something I have been trying to over the last few days, and definatly need to work on. will give the pause a go too , I think that the pause would also help me stay down after the shot. anyway thanks again!!

[thelongbomber]

Hi i just wondered if you could watch my video and see what you think...? Hope you get a century soon mate you are an excellent potter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p1Ir...el_video_title

Cheers

Thanks iago. It's painful not having one yet having played nearly 12 years. I only wish I lived near Terry - would have probably had one by now with his help. Snooker isn't what is used to be in Canada. I hear stories from some of the older players that they would see centuries every day before - sometimes 3 or 4 at one time. Nowadays it's non-existent. In fact, I can't remember the last time I saw a century being made. Monkey see monkey do. Monkey no see, monkey no do.

[Terry Davidson]

One problem with the old memories longbomber is in those days yes I used to see a lot of centuries and even had some myself however it was vitalite balls and the 28oz cloths with 10% nylon. The conditions were completely different in those days because in addition a lot of the clubs had Gold Crown or Anniversary tables with huge pockets.

In Cliff's autobiography he says the British conditions were very difficult to get used to and it took him over 3 years to conquer but I had seen Cliff run century after century under the old conditions.

However, with the #10 double shaved cloths they use now on the pro tables and also that they are changed frequently during a tournament the British conditions are getting close to what we used to have in Canada.

So take those old memories with a grain of salt and remember you are playing under tougher conditions. When the super crystalate balls were introduced in the 70's the century count went down since they weren't as lively as the vitalite balls and when BCE Canada started importing the British cloths in the 80's the count went down even more.

Terry

[thelongbomber]

One problem with the old memories longbomber is in those days yes I used to see a lot of centuries and even had some myself however it was vitalite balls and the 28oz cloths with 10% nylon. The conditions were completely different in those days because in addition a lot of the clubs had Gold Crown or Anniversary tables with huge pockets.

In Cliff's autobiography he says the British conditions were very difficult to get used to and it took him over 3 years to conquer but I had seen Cliff run century after century under the old conditions.

However, with the #10 double shaved cloths they use now on the pro tables and also that they are changed frequently during a tournament the British conditions are getting close to what we used to have in Canada.

So take those old memories with a grain of salt and remember you are playing under tougher conditions. When the super crystalate balls were introduced in the 70's the century count went down since they weren't as lively as the vitalite balls and when BCE Canada started importing the British cloths in the 80's the count went down even more.

Terry

Interesting info Terry. So maybe Cliff, The Grinder only got his name cause he had trouble making big breaks early in his career in the UK and opted for a stronger safety game!