Increasing the amount of feathers.

[Reptile1]

Hello,

Whilst on a snooker coarse I attended recently the coach pointed out that I need to increase my feathers, he is probably right as I in general am only feathering once (ish), therefore not giving me enough time to settle on the shot (in his opinion)

I have tried to work on increasing this in practice since, but found it quite difficult without effecting the whole timing of the shot!

Does anyone have any suggestions of the best way of going about this?

Regards Repy.

[Particle Physics]

2-3 seems to the optimal amount for most pros, but Marco Fu gets away with almost none. It's all about grooving the arm I guess, between shots, so no definitive amount is suitable for each player. I do loads, but that's me. The most important thing is the front pause before the backswing. If you do this, the amount of feathers can't affect your timing, because you've drawn a line between the feathers and the shot. The feathers are a warm up and shouldn't be part of the shot, according to the coaches I've heard from.

[john woods]

Hi Repy,

it's true that we coaches generally encourage at least 2 - 3 feathers before delivering the cue, although there are some great players like marco fu, who dont feather at all, while players like peter ebdon can feather considerably more than 3. The important thing is to make what you do consistent. A top player will always stay true to their own cue action regardless of the shot in front of them. Try timing your feathers with your sighting and pauses in your cue action. So first pause at the cue ball to check you are on the correct line, begin your cue action, 2 - 3 feathers is a reasonable amount, a final front pause at the cue ball, looking one last time to see if you are still on the centre of the cue ball, then a smooth back swing, slight pause at the back, focus onto the object ball and deliver the cue. Hope this is of some help.

John Woods (World snooker coach) www.gone2pot.net

[john woods]

Hi Repy,

it's true that we coaches generally encourage at least 2 - 3 feathers before delivering the cue, although there are some great players like marco fu, who dont feather at all, while players like peter ebdon can feather considerably more than 3. The important thing is to make what you do consistent. A top player will always stay true to their own cue action regardless of the shot in front of them. Try timing your feathers with your sighting and pauses in your cue action. So first pause at the cue ball to check you are on the correct line, begin your cue action, 2 - 3 feathers is a reasonable amount, a final front pause at the cue ball, looking one last time to see if you are still on the centre of the cue ball, then a smooth back swing, slight pause at the back, focus onto the object ball and deliver the cue. Hope this is of some help.

John Woods (World snooker coach) www.gone2pot.net

[DeanH]

Well that's a first to me, a coach saying to increase the number of feathers, the coaches I have seen tend to be not that bothered about the number of feather (or if any) as long at they do not interfere with the cue alignment and cue delivery.
Currently I am not doing any feather at all, as they were introducing sideways movement in my drawback from the front pause to the back pause.
Often the coach will on say that if you do feathers they must be natural, unforced, and unconcious; strange that a coach would tell someone to increase the number of them, which would entail a very concious effort on the players part.
Time to settle on the shot - as mentioend I have no feathers in my action at the moment and I still have time to focus on the tip-position on the cue ball and then the object ball.
Did the coach think you play the cue ball relatively quickly after you get down on the shot, so trying to slow you down?
I await comments from the coaches on TSF

[willtyson]

As long as the amount of feathers works for you and allows you to time the shot well it, probably doesn't matter how many times you feather. I personally don't feather at all as I don't feel it adds anything to my shot. Once I've aimed (above the shot) and got down on the shot, I don't feel I need to do anymore. As long as I'm cueing straight and not moving whilst I'm down on the shot, in theory, I can't miss as long as I've aimed properly and walked in on the right line. A lot of it's personal preference and can vary player to player depending on their style of game. Like Dean, I await comments from the real coaches :snooker:

[john woods]

There is no right or wrong answer to this, as i said there are many different players with varying methods although it is true that in general, the number of feathers has been cut down in recent years. but most top players will have some form of feathering. John Higgins the 4 time world champion feathers around 2 - 3 on most shots, While Stephen hendry used to feather between 3 -5.
The most important thing is to keep your action consistent, dont change depending on the shot. And also make sure that you action gives you time to feel settled and to sight the cue ball and object ball correctly

[NorthWestJunior]

In my opinion you should be striking the cue ball when you're comfortable on the shot. There is no optimal amount of feathers for players as a whole, it's an individuals' thing. I tend to feel comfortable after 3-4 feathers but sometimes on pressure shots when I'm more unsettled I can take up to around 6 feathers. If you feel comfortable after only feathering once then keep it to one feather. If not, then try increasing to an amount where you're a little more comfortable.

[alabadi]

In my opinion you should be striking the cue ball when you're comfortable on the shot. There is no optimal amount of feathers for players as a whole, it's an individuals' thing..

you've hit the nail on the head there NorthWest feathering is used to get one settled, some might suggest it is used to check that the cue is moving in a straight line too.

i myself would not count the amount of feathers i do, even Pros sometimes vary the amount of feathers depending on the shot difficulty and importance.

i myself sometimes when not comfortable will increase the feathering however it is not consciously though and if i can't settle i would stand up and start again. i find that when everything is going smoothly i would feather between 3-5 but that's me.

we are all different.

Alabbadi

[Terry Davidson]

Just a note on this number of feathering thing. Ronnie, when he's flying, does one long one and then a short one and the final backswing. In watching a Ronnie vs Hendry match where Hendry started a little shaky, he was feathering 5-6 times (WC 2010 I think) and he lost that session 8-0. Next session Hendry started motoring and his feathers dropped down to one long one and one short one.

I believe he re-captured his natural rhythm as I think he had 2 centuries in the third session but too late as he was down 12-4 after the second session.

It all depend on personal rhythm and timing and even that can change depending on how confident the player feels on the day.

Terry

[Samcheung001]

Just a note on this number of feathering thing. Ronnie, when he's flying, does one long one and then a short one and the final backswing. In watching a Ronnie vs Hendry match where Hendry started a little shaky, he was feathering 5-6 times (WC 2010 I think) and he lost that session 8-0. Next session Hendry started motoring and his feathers dropped down to one long one and one short one.

I believe he re-captured his natural rhythm as I think he had 2 centuries in the third session but too late as he was down 12-4 after the second session.

It all depend on personal rhythm and timing and even that can change depending on how confident the player feels on the day.

Terry

Totally agree. Besides, I've read a book saying that after you lie on the table, you should deliver the cue within 6 seconds. I quite believe it as I've tried a longer time would lower my accuracy.

[Particle Physics]

Totally agree. Besides, I've read a book saying that after you lie on the table, you should deliver the cue within 6 seconds. I quite believe it as I've tried a longer time would lower my accuracy.

You need to coach Peter Ebdon. lol

[Samcheung001]

You need to coach Peter Ebdon. lol

I've time his shot that is around 9 seconds. I think he's special in many aspects like his stance and his machine spliced cues.