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( A observation from someone who has not been playing that long) You spend ages playing over the spots your heart drops each time the ball returns from the top cushion with loads of unwanted side, but you stick at it and bingo ! ball returns dead on cue tip, You spend time on half ball shots to the top pockets and straight pots off the blue spot, and must walk a marathon re-spotting the ones you miss, You do all the little routines round the black, pink, and blue and think the pocket must have some invisible wall (Lets face it you are only about 2 feet away how can you miss "But you do") Then you enter your club match and get whitewashed by Mr Upright stance (Beer belly wont allow him to get down on shot, bridge about 3 inches from end of cue you know what I mean,) You get P*****d off. Then slowly over time the shots you practiced start to come up more and more on the table, A red splits off from the pack and ends up on that half ball position you have driven yourself mad trying to pot, you go for it and its in the pocket, Hello ! I am into my round the black routine Three blacks and a pink ok ! its not anything special. Its down to a black ball game and low and behold the black is almost on the blue spot (You have walked a marathon trying to practice this long pot) Wham ! its in you have won the game. Yes practice does help this is a observation based on my own learning curve. Hope it helps new players not to get down-hearted.
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Last edited by denja; 3 February 2012, 10:30 AM. -
You need to be careful what you practise because practise makes permanent . If you are not walkin into the shot , lining up properly , staying still on the shot & delivering the cue straight. You have to be working on all these things in practise if you've just started otherwise your developing what your not doing right and it gets harder to get rid of. -
Eaxactly - practice doesn't make perfect, it makes permanent. If you are practicing a fault all you are doing is ingraining that fault in to your cue action so you need to be careful what you practice.Originally Posted by Playboy View PostComment
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Still, what denja says is true - it's nice when all your practice pays off.
I had a lesson in January and have practised 3 times a week since - starting to come together slowly and it's good to draw encouragement from this.
Stick at it denja - you're not alone mate!Comment
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def agree.... practice makes habit.... good habits win frames..... thus good habits from practicing = more winning frames
you can practice all you want, unless its constructive and technical sound practice, it wont help to much in the long run for consistencyComment
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I find my improvement does not follow a a constant curve I practice at least three times a week and get rather P***** off with my improvement then suddenly (More than often in a match) I make a sudden leap ok ! nothing mind blowing but even if I lose I come away from the table thinking "I played some good snooker" I even got a couple of rounds of applause from the judge and jury who sit near the no 1 match table and pass their judgement on everything from your back swing to your underpants (I think most clubs have these guys sort of armchair snooker players)) still its good training for those match nerves. Come hell or high water I will win that final one day!Originally Posted by steve clarke View PostComment
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I can totally agree with the op to some degree as I've been practicing the 'T' break with 5 reds either side of the pink and 5 between pink and black... I'm yet to complete it lol... but in a match a few weeks ago, I'd potted 2 reds and pinks... then all of a sudden, it clicked in my head... the balls, although somewhat misaligned, were lying in my 'T' break formation... and low and behold... I'm hitting a 50 break.
It's nice when the practice pays off... but it's also a nice feeling when you suddenly realise that the layout of the balls on the table is similar to a routine you practice as it sort of takes the pressure off a bit as you know what to do.
This routine has helped me so much in my short game as it really builds not only in your touch game, but also how hard you need to hit the ball (as soft as possible mostly) to get the white off one or two cushions, avoiding other balls to get ideal position. I always try to clear the reds either side of the pink first just to add to the difficulty.
Adding that to long reds and holding for the black as a routine... I suppose it's a start
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I expect you already do it but I practice with just the cue ball on the table knocking it off various cushions and trying to make a note of the angles, this has helped me when I have got into snookers can be a bit boring but it pays off. also practice with the rest.Originally Posted by jarcher View PostI can totally agree with the op to some degree as I've been practicing the 'T' break with 5 reds either side of the pink and 5 between pink and black... I'm yet to complete it lol... but in a match a few weeks ago, I'd potted 2 reds and pinks... then all of a sudden, it clicked in my head... the balls, although somewhat misaligned, were lying in my 'T' break formation... and low and behold... I'm hitting a 50 break.
It's nice when the practice pays off... but it's also a nice feeling when you suddenly realise that the layout of the balls on the table is similar to a routine you practice as it sort of takes the pressure off a bit as you know what to do.
This routine has helped me so much in my short game as it really builds not only in your touch game, but also how hard you need to hit the ball (as soft as possible mostly) to get the white off one or two cushions, avoiding other balls to get ideal position. I always try to clear the reds either side of the pink first just to add to the difficulty.
Adding that to long reds and holding for the black as a routine... I suppose it's a startComment
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