ADVICE NEEDED- Strange cueing problem

[sunny3909]

There is a strange problem that has creeped into my game in the past 4 weeks.
There is an unecessary pause coming while releasing the cue and sometimes I can't commit to the shot and and can't release the cue at all,so I have to address the shot again.
To put it in simple terms,sometimes I'm unable to release the cue at the delivery point and it's affecting my timing and I'm unable to cue smoothly and my confidence has taken a beating.

Can someone Please suggest any practice routines or any other corrective measures to overcome this problem.

[Particle Physics]

Sounds like the start of the yips. The answer is to train to fail I believe. If you start worrying about the negatives (hence the long pause) you won't commit to the positives (making the pot). You need to do some PJ Nolan practice routines (or any other coaches practice routines). When you get down for these routine pots, don't get back up. Once you're down and have made up your mind about the potting angle, force yourself to deliver the cue as you normally would. If you miss, you miss, just accept it. Then find out why you missed, if it happens consistently. Train to fail. Failing doesn't matter; it's finding out why you failed and correcting it that's important in sport.

[hotpot]

Does sound like something has triggered this off , pheraps a lack of confidence etc thats effecting your timing and ice versa which is playing tricks in your head , it does sound like the yips .
Having struggled with this myself i know how frustrating it is . I had it for months and just could,nt hit the white especially under the cush it was really embarrasing .

You just have to forget about form , not worry how well you play and just concentrate on letting the cue go nice and smooth when you intend to .
Nice loose grip , relaxed frame of mind and dont worry about how well you play . Best of luck , i,m sure one the the coaches will have more to add . I,m just speaking from experience .

[hotpot]

Does sound like something has triggered this off , pheraps a lack of confidence etc thats effecting your timing and ice versa which is playing tricks in your head , it does sound like the yips .
Having struggled with this myself i know how frustrating it is . I had it for months and just could,nt hit the white especially under the cush it was really embarrasing .

You just have to forget about form , not worry how well you play and just concentrate on letting the cue go nice and smooth when you intend to .
Nice loose grip , relaxed frame of mind and dont worry about how well you play . Best of luck , i,m sure one the the coaches will have more to add . I,m just speaking from experience .

[sunny3909]

Thanks a lot Particle Physics and Hotpot.Your opinions are very helpful and they show me a light to get out of this cueing mess.
I know it's more of a psychological problem then physical.
@hotpot - How did you manage to get out of it,did u take a break from the game for a while or followed certain practice routines.

[hotpot]

Thanks a lot Particle Physics and Hotpot.Your opinions are very helpful and they show me a light to get out of this cueing mess.
I know it's more of a psychological problem then physical.
@hotpot - How did you manage to get out of it,did u take a break from the game for a while or followed certain practice routines.

It was many years ago so cant remember if i took a break , i do remember putting in loads of solo practice , putting the white under the cush and just concentrating on leaving the cue go through smooth , relaxed and when intended , not worrying about pots , positional play just letting the cue go as relaxed as possible , Eventually it will come back to you , then you can concentrate on potting and positional play .
When you found you have it sussed take note of exactly when you swith eyes between white and object ball as i,m sure that is part of the problem as well as a phsychological and cofidence one .

I would avoid matchplay at this stage as the pessure magnifies the problem , when you think you have it sussed solo then start playing friendly match and finally matchplay .

[hotpot]

Thanks a lot Particle Physics and Hotpot.Your opinions are very helpful and they show me a light to get out of this cueing mess.
I know it's more of a psychological problem then physical.
@hotpot - How did you manage to get out of it,did u take a break from the game for a while or followed certain practice routines.

It was many years ago so cant remember if i took a break , i do remember putting in loads of solo practice , putting the white under the cush and just concentrating on leaving the cue go through smooth , relaxed and when intended , not worrying about pots , positional play just letting the cue go as relaxed as possible , Eventually it will come back to you , then you can concentrate on potting and positional play .
When you found you have it sussed take note of exactly when you swith eyes between white and object ball as i,m sure that is part of the problem as well as a psychological and cofidence one .

I would avoid matchplay at this stage as the pessure magnifies the problem , when you think you have it sussed solo then start playing friendly match and finally matchplay .

[renniwevarb]

Hi sunny, the main thing is to play without fear of getting things wrong.
We can only learn from our mistakes. There has to be some form of fear that you are facing when you play, which only you yourself will know. I've been through something like this, maybe not that serious to not be able to cue through the white, but serious enough to doubt myself so much I couldn't enjoy the game.

For me this came about when I can't meet my own expections. I got my mentality screwed up, and was very negative in my thinking which thus affected my technique and play.

Just trust your game, simplify it, go through your routine and deliver your cue straight. Identify your mistakes when you miss or lose position, and be aware of what your body is doing and focus on the positives.

Dare to go for your shots, the worst thing that can happen is losing the frame that is all! It won't cost you a limb, rather you can learn more from trying rather than fearing to try. I know it is not an easy journey, but there will definitely be light at the end of the tunnel. All the best sunny and let us know how you get on with it.

[sunny3909]

ADVICE NEEDED- Strange cueing problem

Thank you very much for the advices.
A SPECIAL THANKS TO TERRY DAVIDSON for suggesting me with certain drills and specifically told me to loosen my grip because I was holding the cue very tight.
I today played with a loose grip and now I'm accelerating through the white well and cueing smoothly.
I can confidently say I have found out what was going wrong.
I will definitely overcome it.

[denja]

There is a strange problem that has creeped into my game in the past 4 weeks.
There is an unecessary pause coming while releasing the cue and sometimes I can't commit to the shot and and can't release the cue at all,so I have to address the shot again.
To put it in simple terms,sometimes I'm unable to release the cue at the delivery point and it's affecting my timing and I'm unable to cue smoothly and my confidence has taken a beating.

Can someone Please suggest any practice routines or any other corrective measures to overcome this problem.

This problem is common in a lot of target sports Shooting "When should I squeeze the trigger" Archery "When should I loose the arrow" even weight lifting has that element of "When should I make the lift" my only suggestion is try and get a sort rhythm going with your feathers, back pause, and strike of the cue ball,very hard to explain on paper, feather! feather! feather! pause! strike! try to get a nice flowing feel. try to think that the cuing action pause strike follow-through have a liquid like quality, hope this does not sound like a contradiction but dont think of the pause !as a pause ! it is just part of a continuous flow. when people learn the cue action they often break it down into segments this can lead to no rhythm and a sort of staccato action and choking up on the shot.make it flow.

[alabadi]

Does sound like something has triggered this off , pheraps a lack of confidence etc thats effecting your timing and vice versa which is playing tricks in your head , .

I agree , this happened to me once, it wasn't on every shot but on shots that when down wasnt confident that i selected the correct potting angle and spent too much time feathering then when it came the the rear pause i spent too long looking at the OB and then lost my focus, and either started feathering again or got up.

you need to trust your instincts that you have selected the correct line of aim and then walk in to the shot and get down as if you can't miss, do your regular feathering and then at the rear pause don't think of anything just drive the cue.

if you miss analyse why, stay down to allow your brain to process all the info it needs and set the shot up again, we all learn from our mistakes, i'm sure with confidence this problem will dissapear

Alabbadi

[Jono857280]

Ah the 'Yips'. After playing for several years I inadvertantly managed to 'self induce' this. Heres how.

When I was around the black spot, I would (successfully) 'hold' the cueball without the use of cushions for the black or next red. I practiced this for many hours and became really good at it. I had the speed of the cueball and 'weight' of the shot down to a tee - I could stop within half an inch of where I needed to be. I even used to practice by (on an empty table) putting the black on its spot and the cueball on the brown spot and then rolling the cueball down to within half an inch of the black. I could do this 9 times out of 10. I was a king "roller" - you may say.

Good for my game right? Wrong - dead wrong!

After about 2 months I developed the yips. I became so sensitised to the 'weight' of the shot - I couldn't bring myself to strike the cueball. And then the problem spread to mid pace shots. And then to power shots.

I eventually cured this by concentrating on the object and stopped the roll-ups (at least for a month or 2). It was made easier for me by the fact I found my predicament comical rather than critical.

Also I realise now, that while there is a place for rollups in the game, its generally discouraged by coaches in favour of stuns or subtle stun-run-thrus since if you get a kick on a slow roll you're done, whilst a mid paced stun shot still has a chance of going in.

Take a look at some of O'Sullivan's games at the crucible this year. Very little rolling about the black spot going on. Stuns/screw only.

Also when around the black spot, professionls will actually use the cushion when they don't really need to, to get a few inches closer to the black or red, whereas the gentle roll will leave them in position ,they will be 4 or 5 inches further away from the object ball than they really want to be.

Moral of this story: Being good slow roller is only a small part of the array of shots you should own as a good snooker player.

Jono

[AKashyap]

Maybe it is because you haven't thought of everything beforehand or probably even thinking way too much??? Try to think completely and just get down and play the shot... the By the way, I think I have played with you at Dwarka.. Nice deep screw in the video...

[AKashyap]

Also, maybe the distance between your hand and the cue ball is more or less than required for the shot ???