position play

[chesterr]

This is great forum... i have one question...how can i improve my position play....i now it is playing playing playing and playing...thank you

[damienlch]

Hi chesterr, by position play I suppose you mean breakbuilding? Not sure if there is a straightforward answer to your query... Some people seem to have a knack and it comes matter-of-factly for them, whereas others develop their awareness around the table through much practice and experience.

As a start, you can watch a lot of snooker on TV, play the shots in your head and listen to the commentaries. On the table, you should think about getting on the correct side of the object ball to make it easier for you to get to the next ball. Even the pros will find it tough if they land on the wrong side and that's often how their break ends. Play the cue ball in areas away from the cushion wherever possible. Do not take on a pot just because it is the easiest; usually, a player should be thinking 2 shots in advance, for e.g. in potting this red, what angle should I position on the colour in order to get to the next red. But don't overthink, snooker is not rocket science, and always make up your mind on what you intend to do before getting down on the shot.

Also, practise the simpler basic shots, for e.g. stuns, soft screws, follow around the black and pink spots because that's often where the action happens. The key to maintaining good position is to keep the cue ball under tight control and you need to be proficient in these basic shots to keep the break going.

There are any number of drills for you to practice; for e.g. you can spread 5 or 6 reds below the pink spot and with all colours on their spots, try to clear as many reds. The objective is not so much to pot the balls but to think your way through them. In this exercise, you have to be honest with yourself if the shot you played to get on the next ball is as intended. Imo, this is a better exercise that the line-up... how often do you find yourself during play time with the balls lined up nicely in one straight row? Lol... only joking though, line-ups have their usefulness in familiarising yourself in getting on to certain areas of the table but they are quite boring.

Hope this helps...

[natamlata]

nice practice routine to get familiar with positional play around black spot is to put three reds between pink and black spot,and each time after you pot the red you must pot the black. Also after you pot the red just re-spot it so that you have option to finish on 3 reds after the black. Good luck

[Bigmeek]

Zillions of practice routines are available. It depends on your abilities as to which ones are best. If you're an absolute beginner then clearing the colours would be a good start. Clearly concentrating on getting perfect position each time is what you're after as opposed to just potting balls from all over the place. To make it easy try doing blue, pink and black loads and loads of times till you've got it perfect. Then do yellow, green and brown till perfect. Next practice the brown to blue shot which is the one that usually goes wrong. When you've mastered clearing the colours then introduce some reds as mentioned in the other post. Just an idea. As I said loads of routines available.

[DeanH]

check out PJ Nolan's site and the practice routines, starts off reasonably easy and the results are better positional play.
http://pjnolanschampionsacademy.com/