Dartfish Video Analysis - Shot Approach

[alabadi]

Keep working on the straight shot until it's consistently 9 out of 10.

A wee tip for the angled shot - don't be afraid to "cheat" i.e. make chalk marks on the cloth to put all the balls in exactly the same place each time and another chalk mark at the back of the object ball so you know exactly where to aim for each time. Then just concentrate on pushing the cue through and see what happens.

I do the chalk on the cloth to make sure the OB and the cueball are in the same positions, however i don't mark the OB, i try and find the spot myself this is to help my learn.

i have in the past but on closer shots say around 2-3 feet marked the cloth with chalk where a ghost ball or plant ball centre whould be and aim my cue at that point.

it does help with the potting however, it is unlikely in a match i could do this or that the balls would end up exactly in the same position, so i have stopped doing that and i try to rely on my judgement.

thanks for your tips.

Alabbadi

[Gerry Armstrong]

I do the chalk on the cloth to make sure the OB and the cueball are in the same positions, however i don't mark the OB, i try and find the spot myself this is to help my learn.

i have in the past but on closer shots say around 2-3 feet marked the cloth with chalk where a ghost ball or plant ball centre whould be and aim my cue at that point.

it does help with the potting however, it is unlikely in a match i could do this or that the balls would end up exactly in the same position, so i have stopped doing that and i try to rely on my judgement.

thanks for your tips.

Alabbadi

Apologies, I didn't mean mark the OB itself, I meant a mark on the cloth behind it where the cueball should hit.

And you should keep doing it until you KNOW where to hit it. If you still have to try and judge it then keep using the marks. You will eventually KNOW where to hit it, judgement doesn't come in to it. Trying to hit where you're aiming is the tricky bit, knowing where to aim is the easy bit!!

[Gerry Armstrong]

alabadi:

I'm not sure just what you expect to achieve or what your expectations are. As I understand it you are attempting to pot a 10ft or so shot to a closed pocket and are COMPLAINING?? because you are only getting 4 out of 10!

Keeping the nose on line simply means keep the eyes and head on the line of aim as you fall down into the shot but most people relate easier to the nose reference.

Gerry probably has it correct. In trying this shot a player must be absolutely certain he is delivering the cue straight 100% of the time and not even the pros can do that. They are just a bit more consistent than the rest of us. Whenever a pro misses a shot the cause is that he hasn't delivered the cue straight.

Remember, potting to a closed pocket from near the cushion only gives about 1/8th" room for error as there isn't a pocket opening from that angle that is anywhere near one ball width and the shot must be potted off the far jaw, missing the near jaw by 1/8" or less and at speed on a templated table these shot are almost impossible and likely wouldn't be a 70% shot for the best players.

If you want to know if you deliver the cue straight all the time then do long blues where you are potting both balls into the same top pocket. If you can take all 21 object balls and pot 21 blues and cueballs into that top pocket then I would say you are cueing consistently straight. Steve Davis in his PRIME said he struggled to make 10 in a row and said if you did make 10 in a row your cue action was as good or better than his.

Terry

My record is 11 in a row - only done it once tho'!!

[alabadi]

alabadi:

I'm not sure just what you expect to achieve or what your expectations are. As I understand it you are attempting to pot a 10ft or so shot to a closed pocket and are COMPLAINING?? because you are only getting 4 out of 10!

better than 3-4 out of 10 i guess.

to be honest i was just practicing the shot because it seems that this shot comes up a lot, the distance was my choice however the same angle but closer about 5-6 ft is still a problem.
the whole purpose was for me to learn the angle and where i would need the white to strike the OB to pot it.

funny enough i was better at this shot just 4 inches off the cussion that i was with a similar shot 6-7 inches off the cussion, i thought that i would be better because i had more pocket. it seemed that on the first one i hardly overcut it when i missed i hit too thick, where as the other shots, the 6-7 inches off the cussion i was over cutting.

i do these solo practice sessions so i know what my limitations are. unless i can pot a ball 7/10 in practice i won't go for it in a match.

i use to go for everything, but with experience i quickly found out is the quickest way to lose. so now i use my solo practice for this purpose to better my accuracy until i can pot a shot with consistency.

Alabbadi

[Terry Davidson]

alabadi:

Yes, I had one fantastic day while I was trying to pot both balls and had 17 in a row and 20 out of 21 successful, so I figured at least I was delivering pretty straight but still don't think my cue action is better than SD in his prime. I remember the next day I tried it and the best I could do was 6 in a row. Back down to earth I guess.

It's still a very good practice to check your straight cueing however it wears a line in the cloth and club managers will hat you for it.

My suggestion is this...most pots are missed not because the player has selected the wrong line of aim of the cue but that he hasn't delivered the cue straight. Anyone can determine either the correct BOB or else the correct arc on the object ball to pot a ball, however with closed pockets sometimes they will unconciously adjust the aim when they're down as it just doesn't seem quite right. You will see them shifting their hips either right or left while in the address position and usually they will miss the pot.

The only common instance of a player selecting the wrong point of aim is always to a closed pocket and usually they will catch the near jaw when in actual fact they have to aim a little bit OFF the pocket opening in order to catch the INSIDE OF THE FAR JAW. This usually happens with corner pockets and doesn't happen as often with middle pocket cuts since players will automatically hit those shots at near dead weight knowing they can't pot a ball at any speed at all to such a closed pocket.

But for some reason when playing to a closed corner pocket a lot of players will hit the shot with more power and this will cause the ball to juggle since the only way you can pot the ball is to hit the far jaw at slow pace.

In your case my suspicion is you are not delivering the cue consistently straight along the line of aim. Not to worry, as the pros do this too but just not as much or as bad as the rest of us common players.

Your 70% figure is bang on and a very good guide for match play as long as you remember in the first few frames of a match you probably have a little kink in the cue action and it's a good idea to lift that to 80% or so until you get fluent.

Terry

[alabadi]

Thanks Terry

I had another go today, and got 6/10 a couple of times i could have had 7 or 8/10 very close jaw rattlers.

before you say i have improved, yesterday i was practicing on a Star pro table, at the Sheffield Snooker Academy so the pockets on these tables are very tight.

today i was at my local club, the pockets are more forgiving, the cloths are terrible though.

anyway i just wanted to test myself to see if i still remember the angles and i was pleasantly surpriced as these were tough shots.

Alabbadi

[Terry Davidson]

alabadi:

6/10 is pretty good on a Star table with manufacturer's pocket sizes. If the tables are templated for WPBSA pro pockets they would be slightly easier I believe (but not a whole hell of a lot).

Terry

[Suke]

I am still not so sure about what do u mean by lean forward before moving the right leg.
Can you do a video shooting from the side?