Long potting advice

[alabadi]

I am having real problems with long potting, forget straight shots its everything.

When the OB is more than 5 foot away and more than 2 foot from a pocket i just cant seem to spot the contact point, so what i tend to do is try to work out how much the cue ball should cover the curve of the OB to pot.

i am having very mixed results and can't get any consistency no matter how much i practice, even when i make a couple of pots i can still miss the next 5 or 6. it doesn't seem that i learn from any successful pot. the margin for error is so small.

for me its just black or white nothing in between, either i pot or miss dramatically, what i mean by that is if i get a thick contact to one side of the pocket any adjustment will be a huge swing the other way not just slightly closer, so i am constantly going from one extreme to the other.

i was wondering what is the best way or system to practice long pots? is it just from experience and more practice as i can't seem to find a way to nail it down.

any advice or stories of success much appreciated, i just can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, i need some hope that i can get better.


Alabbadi

[sharkster63]

Good Day, I am not a coach but have much playing experience, I have had problems with this before, I suggest that you spend a few more seconds or minutes observing the pot, during this time try to observe the direction of the white after pot is completed, in you mind, visually, this takes you mind off the angle and gives you a realistic view, depending on your ability this is where you will decide to stunn follow etc. ( I find that looking the ball down alone does not give accurate angle, need to seed path of white.)
Hope this helps, need a bit more concentration but it works for me.
Cheers,

I am having real problems with long potting, forget straight shots its everything.

When the OB is more than 5 foot away and more than 2 foot from a pocket i just cant seem to spot the contact point, so what i tend to do is try to work out how much the cue ball should cover the curve of the OB to pot.

i am having very mixed results and can't get any consistency no matter how much i practice, even when i make a couple of pots i can still miss the next 5 or 6. it doesn't seem that i learn from any successful pot. the margin for error is so small.

for me its just black or white nothing in between, either i pot or miss dramatically, what i mean by that is if i get a thick contact to one side of the pocket any adjustment will be a huge swing the other way not just slightly closer, so i am constantly going from one extreme to the other.

i was wondering what is the best way or system to practice long pots? is it just from experience and more practice as i can't seem to find a way to nail it down.

any advice or stories of success much appreciated, i just can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, i need some hope that i can get better.


Alabbadi

[jim evans]

if he spends any longer over his shot place will have closed down lol get in club more and practice

[Terry Davidson]

alabadi:

Lookit...SIGHTING IS NOT NORMALLY THE PROBLEM!!! Unless you are one of those VERY rare individuals who cannot figure out a potting angle my own assessment (not seeing you play) is that you are moving on the shot. On long pots even a very small head movement, even less than 2mm up and to the side will cause you to miss although by the sounds of your post I would suspect your movement is in the 5-10mm range.

Get out the video camera and tape yourself and watch for any movement of the head during BOTH the backswing and delivery. 90% of the problems in the delivery are caused by a fault in the backswing by the way. A lot of players don't bother checking the backswing and that can be a fatal error.

One really good way to tell is to play long straight blues with the camera over the pocket you are potting towards and have the camera placed such that it covers from the top of your elbow down to 6" in front of the cueball on the baulkline. When watching the video (use 'Kinovea', a freeware) use the frame-by-frame option and CAREFULLY watch the butt of the cue over the leather of the yellow pocket (green if you're a lefty) and look for ANY sideways movement in the butt of the cue from the time you first address the cueball until the time you finish the delivery.

Virtually EVERY player will have some lateral movement in the butt of the cue and it comes down to when this occurs. If it's in the backswing then you will have to work to get rid of it. If it's in the delivery then try and see just where it occurs. If it's before the strike then you will have to loosen your grip and keep it loose THROUGH THE STRIKE and also keep your elbow up as high as possible through the strike and then ONLY let it fall after the strike. (Watch for when the cueball starts to blur.)

By far the most common issue here is movement on the backswing, closely followed by tightening the grip too soon in the delivery or else dropping the elbow too early in the delivery.

The only way to determine the actual problem is by frame-by-frame video analysis. Of course you could fly over to Toronto for a few days and I can work with you in my facility and you can see all your problems (if any) on my big screen HDTV and I can post the video up for all the members to see either what TO DO or what NOT TO DO!:uncomfortableness:

Terry

[alabadi]

if he spends any longer over his shot place will have closed down lol get in club more and practice

haha cheeky...ce u tomorrow Jim

Alabbadi

[alabadi]

alabadi:

Lookit...SIGHTING IS NOT NORMALLY THE PROBLEM!!! Unless you are one of those VERY rare individuals who cannot figure out a potting angle

i don't think its a problem selecting the angle, its more where to aim to make the pot, yesterday i was practicing potting the blue off its spot with the cueball on the yellow spot, i try 21 shots from there and then 21 shots from the green spot. the average is 8/21

One really good way to tell is to play long straight blues with the camera over the pocket you are potting towards and have the camera placed such that it covers from the top of your elbow down to 6" in front of the cueball on the baulkline. When watching the video (use 'Kinovea', a freeware) use the frame-by-frame option and CAREFULLY watch the butt of the cue over the leather of the yellow pocket and look for ANY sideways movement in the butt of the cue from the time you first address the cueball until the time you finish the delivery.

with regards to movement u might be right Terry, i will have to get the video camera out to make sure. what frustrated me was that some times i had 4-5 shots in a row hitting the same point on the jaw which made me question myself because on each of the shots i was attempting i thought i made some adjustment from the previous shot so not sure what to make of that.

The only way to determine the actual problem is by frame-by-frame video analysis. Of course you could fly over to Toronto for a few days and I can work with you in my facility and you can see all your problems (if any) on my big screen HDTV and I can post the video up for all the members to see either what TO DO or what NOT TO DO!:uncomfortableness:

Terry

well Terry would love to come to Toronto to spend time with you it would be an experience even if just to visit the country, at the moment i couldn't travel to London i'm that broke.

I heard you might be coming to Sheffield early next year to the Star Snooker Academy, i practice there once a week maybe i'll see you when you come over.

Alabbadi

[throtts]

haha cheeky...ce u tomorrow Jim

Alabbadi

Oh, his not one of those is he, Jim. My mate gave me enough time to take a slash..

haha.

[Gerry Armstrong]

I am having real problems with long potting, forget straight shots its everything.

When the OB is more than 5 foot away and more than 2 foot from a pocket i just cant seem to spot the contact point, so what i tend to do is try to work out how much the cue ball should cover the curve of the OB to pot.

i am having very mixed results and can't get any consistency no matter how much i practice, even when i make a couple of pots i can still miss the next 5 or 6. it doesn't seem that i learn from any successful pot. the margin for error is so small.

for me its just black or white nothing in between, either i pot or miss dramatically, what i mean by that is if i get a thick contact to one side of the pocket any adjustment will be a huge swing the other way not just slightly closer, so i am constantly going from one extreme to the other.

i was wondering what is the best way or system to practice long pots? is it just from experience and more practice as i can't seem to find a way to nail it down.

any advice or stories of success much appreciated, i just can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, i need some hope that i can get better.


Alabbadi

Get some white chalk (blackboard chalk) and carefully mark the spot you need to aim for to pot the ball on the cloth behind the OB.

You should also mark the spot where the OB should be placed so it goes back in the exact same spot each time. Then just aim for the chalk mark and push the cue through as smoothly as you can and see what happens.