Unintentionally taking the eyes off the potting angle: a concentration thing?

[Sidd]

Absolutely...! Well understood- will try it and see how it works for me.
Will let you know of any developments!

By the way, is that the reason why sometimes when the professionals are playing close pockets sometimes their hard hit shot makes the red dribble many times but even then it pots finally!

[denja]

Hi Coach ! I wonder if you could tell us in detail what your procedure is from the moment the other player has finished his shot, if you could break it down into sections 12345 etc I am sure it would make very interesting reading for all newbies and many advanced players. Not giving you any soft soap but my game has improved by reading your articles. THANKS !

[Sidd]

Denja: what you are referring to is called the pre-shot routine and that has to be demonstrated before every shot. Luckily what you asked for is something Coach has already mentioned and taught me previously. Therefore, in order to save his time I am taking the liberty in reproducing what he taught me hereunder for your understanding and follow up:

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Sidd:

From your comments it's pretty obvious you have never tried to develop a consistent method to approach the shot and ensure your whole body is on the correct line of aim. The following is one of the 'secrets' of good snooker and you should try and develop just ONE way to approach all normal shots (Since you are left-handed I will try and change this for a lefty). This is called the 'pre-shot routine'.

1. Stand BEHIND the shot and look at the cueball, object ball and pocket (or pocket to object ball to cueball) and select your line of aim and ensure your nose (actually the eyes) are right on that line of aim.

2. Place your LEFT foot directly on that selected line of aim so the arch of the foot (the laces) is not only on the line of aim but directly under where your grip hand will be when you are in the address position (with the cue tip 1/4" or less behind the cueball) BUT DO NOT BEND DOWN INTO THE SHOT YET!

3. Do one of two things...either lean your body over to the left to keep your nose on your selected line of aim or else place the right foot out to the side of the left foot about shoulder width between the heels, toes pointed out slightly to ease strain on the knee, (if you don't lean to the left your nose will come off the line of aim here but the best solution is to lean over while placing the right foot as it keeps you constantly on the selected line of aim). If you decide not to lean over then let your head come off the line of aim but WHILE STILL STANDING UP bend the right leg and swing the hips to the right and you will find your head comes over to the left and back onto the line of aim.

4. NOW you can drop into the stance and place your bridge hand on the table but ensure you drop your head STRAIGHT DOWN on the line of aim (do not come in from the side which you shouldn't be able to do anyway as I had you getting your nose on that line of aim BEFORE you bent down and WHILE YOU WERE STANDING UP). Another important point...while getting down into the address position KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE OBJECT BALL and do not look at the cueball until you have assumed the address position.

5. When you first assume the address position and before you start your feathering look along the cue which is over your bridge, to the cueball and then to the object ball (and pocket if you wish) to ensure to yourself that everything is on line and the way you want it (DO NOT MOVE YOUR HEAD WHILE YOU DO THIS). I call this the 'preliminary pause' and you will see almost every pro does it but it's very short because they are used to dropping correctly onto the line of aim.

6. Start your feathering, do not allow your upper body to move at all. No more than 2-3 feathers and then stop the cue again in the address position just to ensure everything is still on line, this is called the 'front pause' and happens just before you start your final backswing.

7. The backswing should be slow and SMOOTH as it's vital to keep the backswing straight. At the end of the backswing the 'ideal' technique says your should stop the cue for .5-1sec and this is called the 'rear' pause although there are some players (like myself and a few pros) who don't have one however at least 90% of the really good players in the world do have a rear pause.

8. Keeping the grip loose and relaxed with the cue just resting in the bed of the fingers start your delivery. DO NOT TIGHTEN THE GRIP and start the delivery off slower and build up the acceleration you need WITHOUT tightening the grip and 'drive' the tip of the cue through the cueball AND BEYOND and this is where the grip starts to tighten (just to make sure the cue doesn't shoot across the table and this will happen automatically - don't worry).

9. After you have driven through the cueball and completed the delivery with your hand driving into your chest (for ALL shots) LEAVE THE CUE EXTENDED AND FOLLOW THE OBJECT BALL WITH YOUR EYES ONLY (do not allow the head to move) until the ball either hits the pocket or the cushion. (Watch Shaun Murphy to get an idea of what I'm talking about although he tends to over-emphasize this 'final pause' but it is a MUST for every player).

10. Now stand up.

There are a couple of other finer points and the first is the common question I get 'Terry, you say keep the grip loose but I need to know just how to hold the cue so it is loose' and my answer is this (thanks to Steve Davis) - when you grip or 'hold' the cue the pressure should be loose enough so if you grasped the shaft of the cue with your other hand you should be able to slide the cue butt EASILY within your grip hand' and that is exactly the pressure you maintain all the way through until after the stike of the cueball.

Another question I get is 'Terry, if I keep my eyes on the object ball as I'm bending down how will I know my bridge 'V' is directly behind the cueball' and my answer is this - You won't initially and that is what that preliminary pause is for. When you first do this keeping the eyes on the object ball you may get down incorrectly but then you should stand back up and correct your stance and soon this will happen automatically and also the cueball comes into your peripheral vision as you DROP THE HEAD STRAIGHT DOWN BEHIND THE CUEBALL so it's not really a problem at all.

Your other question on snooker spectacles - if you can afford it I would recommend gas permeable contact lenses as they give you the visual acuity without relying on the moisture content of the eye (although LASIK surgery is best I can't go recommending surgery to my students). Second best is getting a pair of snooker glasses where the focal point of the glases is up higher than a normal pair of glasses since your head is right down for snooker sighting.

OK - long-winded explanation, but I hope this helps.

Now...practice, practice and more practice until you've cemented into your technique what's called the 'pre-shot routine' which is described above

Cheers,
Terry
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[Terry Davidson]

Thanks Sidd. Your other question where the pros rattle a shot but it does drop in fact I've seen cases where it doesn't drop too. In a straight forward shot to an open pocket sometimes a good player will play to one side of the pocket in order to achieve position he couldn't otherwise get but when they are playing to a closed pocket (like a cut-back black) believe me all they are trying to do is make the ball as best they can. If the ball rattles before it goes in that just means they have been slightly inaccurate or else has just a small glitch in their delivery.

Terry

[denja]

What part of the foot should the cue run over (right handed player) if you use the square on stance inside, outside, middle. with the foot square on to the shot.

[Terry Davidson]

denja:

Ideally the arch of the right foot (the laces of the shoe) should be underneath the cue and on the line of aim. I also recommend your right foot should be turned out a little bit instead of straight down the line of aim as the little turn-out takes the strain off the knee joint. Now, depending on your age it might be OK, but if you play a lot with the foot straight down the line you'll pay for that later in life.

It doesn't matter what kind of stance you use, the foot should always be there or close to there (inside of toes to front of ankle somewhere)

Terry