Break building psyche: A question requiring an elaborated comprehension

[Sidd]

I have never had a technique and that is what Coach Terry helped me develop. he worked hard with me and finally came up with my worst problem, which was not driving through the cue and since I have started doing so my bad habits have been broken by him and now I can concentrate on driving the grip hand and hence can see it has helped me greatly in getting back to track and and now I am okay with my technique...

Thanks God I have had developed a good stance and was able to get my head and shoulders frozen on the shot already or else this would have been rather difficult all together. For all of you learning the game; Terry is one gem of a coach, do get his professional services, as that will reward you...!

So, after developing all that and making my technique my second nature now I can pot and play properly with consistency, as never in my life before.

This calls for concentrating on break building because that is what is required to win matches whenever one gets a chance. So I will get a chance and after potting two or three blacks or black/pink etc I would still miss an easy pink or black. Some club mates have told me I have a bad shot selection, I dont think so but then you never know...

Also, related to the above, whty one misses and easy colour after a hard hard red??? I can play hard reds and place beautifully on a black with an easy pot and ha-ha miss it... why is that so?? How to improve break building in matches and what to do...???

Any ideas on break building psyche would be welcome... I have seen some videos on that including Nick Barrow's but then I need more explanation and understanding to practice on... especially I would love to hear, knowing me, what coach Terry has to add in ...!!!

[Terry Davidson]

Sidd:

It's a matter of letting your concentration lapse after potting a difficult shot and then you miss the next easy one which you've played perfect position on.

But don't worry, as you get your improved technique cemented into your natural technique the lapses in concentration and also the lack of confidence in your ability will go away.

One thing I've found that has helped me is using the line-up, but not in the way people normally do it. The 'rules' of the line-up generally are you're not allowed to touch another ball and also once you miss you have to re-set the balls. My problem with this is for a new player he would be spending more time re-setting the balls than actually practicing.

So what I've always done is when I touch another ball (usually because of poor positional play) I carry on if I can and if I can't then I re-set just that one shot and play it over and over until I get it exactly the way I wanted to play it.

I also do the same when I miss a pot...re-set the shot and try it over until you get it right. It's my belief this adds what the head-doctors call 'positive re-inforcement' rather than the negative effects of always re-spotting the balls which is basically a time waster to me.

So, when you practice by yourself do maybe 10 attempts at the line-up and eventually you will notice your high breaks going up and this will give you the confidence you need when you get into a possible break situation in a match. Also, when you do practice the line-up sometimes you do get that difficult shot and you play it perfect and get good position, just the same as an actual frame of snooker

Terry

[DG GIBERT]

It seems to me that you need to break up the reds at every given chance, look at Hendry's, ROS and Trump's style of play
high break builders, by opening things up early in the frame.

Trumps match yesterday had a chance to break up a cluster in the last frame, turned it down, then tried later in the break on the wrong side of the blue,missed the cannon, end of break and match.

Judd at that point was negative trying not to lose rather than trying to win.

[Sidd]

Very well pointed out coach; line-up routine is the best answer to this. And yes you are right about the colour too I think a hard red is potted because its hard and hence one concentrates more and then after potting it one takes the easy placed on rather for granted and hence concentrates less eventually ending up missing it. I will try to keep that in mind next time I play and will also invest more time in solo line-up...

Gilbert: well yes mate that is right one needs to develop reds earlier so that one has more options while placing balls but well its easier said than done and requires patience and practice.

Coach I played well tonight as well- made a 26 and 32 in two consecutive frames. It is not that big but the real thing is that I have started developing small breaks with some consistency, which is what one always looks for. If this continues I am sure I will be able to develop bigger ones

I am happy that I my stance is now pretty stable and it would take some force to push me off balance. My grip is better and I try not to tighten it, although it will still take some time in perfecting it. I can see the line of aim before the shot and hence place myself properly... And above all, my biggie I know play with a nice folow through by driving the grip hand through to the chest on almost every shot, as much as possible and when I do that it seems the ball is potting itself automatically and I have another feeling too that is that it feels like I am completing the shot or else I am playing complete shots!

I think the best tip in that regard coach was to play as it I am hitting the object ball with my cue tip; that dummy/sweet thought helps me more than anything else really.

ADIOS