playing the right shot

[itsnoteasy]

Hi, i practice the line up constantly and some times i just cant find the right shot to play, my hardest ones are 3/4 blacks taking white off bottom cush, how do you get the white back into a decent position i have tried middle bottom top , screw and stun and just cant figure it out in fact most blacks with white off bottom cush are a bit of a mystery to me and have ruined many a good chance of a decent break so much so that i now play for just low on the black , but i would like to know how to play these type of shots, are there any videos on you tube showing how to do it? any advice is welcome, maybe one of the good players on here could do a video explaining this mystery to me lol.

[jrc750]

Try using plain ball striking, practice makes perfect

[CoachGavin]

Play the shot with extreme screw and watch the white. Play with heavy topspin and watch the white. Then you can experiment playing at different spins between those two. Watch where the white lands and adjust the spin to get better position. Don't be afraid to experiment and like has been said practice makes perfect.

[Stevie]

Try using plain ball striking, practice makes perfect

Yep, this is what i was thinking, to alter the white's path you need to know what it will do naturally to begin with, then you can adjust with the screw and spin malarkey :-)

[travisbickle]

Hi, i practice the line up constantly and some times i just cant find the right shot to play, my hardest ones are 3/4 blacks taking white off bottom cush, how do you get the white back into a decent position i have tried middle bottom top , screw and stun and just cant figure it out in fact most blacks with white off bottom cush are a bit of a mystery to me and have ruined many a good chance of a decent break so much so that i now play for just low on the black , but i would like to know how to play these type of shots, are there any videos on you tube showing how to do it? any advice is welcome, maybe one of the good players on here could do a video explaining this mystery to me lol.

The two easiest ways I would play this shot would be...1. Heavy stun shot (one cushion) 2. Running side (two cushions).

[travisbickle]

Hi, i practice the line up constantly and some times i just cant find the right shot to play, my hardest ones are 3/4 blacks taking white off bottom cush, how do you get the white back into a decent position i have tried middle bottom top , screw and stun and just cant figure it out in fact most blacks with white off bottom cush are a bit of a mystery to me and have ruined many a good chance of a decent break so much so that i now play for just low on the black , but i would like to know how to play these type of shots, are there any videos on you tube showing how to do it? any advice is welcome, maybe one of the good players on here could do a video explaining this mystery to me lol.

The two easiest ways I would play this shot would be...1. Heavy stun shot (one cushion) 2. Running side (two cushions).

[itsnoteasy]

Went and played this shot for half an hour yesterday, and this is what i found , plain ball striking white just ran into reds, which i knew already, but started with this to get a reference as had been suggested. heavy centre ball stun was ok but even properly walloping the black in it would only be effective for balls just above the black.
Heavy follow through good for getting the white on the other side but a bit "wide" so between mid and heavy top was the winner for that one.
Heavy screw, pointless far to wide an angle and cant get white right round the angles.
light screwy stunny type shot lol not bad again for reds round the black but no good if red is mid pink and black.
The winner was mid striking running side plain shot which i was trying to avoid, as i dont like playing with side but it did give a very natural angle with the white landing in a nice area of the table most times.
I would add the table i play on is dead as a dodo, when i went for coaching i played on a table that was described as medium paced and i could stun white off the black right round the table and land on a red back on the top cush(just mucking around at the end, was just being shown how much natural cue power i had by coach) when i try this shot on this table i cant get past mid baulk line and blue spot,around 9 feet less running, so it may be the table,(more likely the cushions).
Travis is that deep screw with running side for the 2 cush shot.
What is the best angle in general to leave on the black ?,i know every shot is different but as a general rule when round the black what is the angle to try and play for to make it easiest to get nicely back up around mid to high between black and pink spot.

[jrc750]

...... What is the best angle in general to leave on the black ?,i know every shot is different but as a general rule when round the black what is the angle to try and play for to make it easiest to get nicely back up around mid to high between black and pink spot.

I think it's always best to leave yourself high on the black as it gives you more options to place the white. If you play low on the black the white can only go in one direction !!!

[itsnoteasy]

Not 100% sure what you mean JRC.
If high on the black you go off bottom cush and back up table either side of black, you can do the same when lowish on the black just not off the bottom cush.
I watched a coaching video(cant remember by who)that said try not to use the cushions unless you have to,is this shot the exception to the rule, or is it better to play just low on the black and that way the white doesnt have contact with cushions.

[jrc750]

I think leaving yourself low on the black sometimes makes it hard to hold for next red, i would rather play a more forceful shot off cushions, or better still maybe just above level with black so can stun across or gentle screw back, anything but low for me
Hard to put into words this ain't it lol, every shot is slightly different

[itsnoteasy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozoyc...hannel&list=ULfound this on youtube not a bad example of what i was after.
I agree JRC its very hard to explain on here especially when you are down to technical aspects of shots, its ok to for things like ,dont grip the cue to hard, or put in a pause, but as you say since every shot is different how can you describe it.
I was just wondering if there was a general "nice" angle to leave, say half ball would cover most shots, its just so i know what i am a
after when doing the routine.
I am adding there is no way i could play those shots at that pace on the table i play on the white wouldnt bounce half the distance it does on these clips

[vmax4steve]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozoyc...hannel&list=ULfound this on youtube not a bad example of what i was after.
I agree JRC its very hard to explain on here especially when you are down to technical aspects of shots, its ok to for things like ,dont grip the cue to hard, or put in a pause, but as you say since every shot is different how can you describe it.
I was just wondering if there was a general "nice" angle to leave, say half ball would cover most shots, its just so i know what i am a
after when doing the routine.
I am adding there is no way i could play those shots at that pace on the table i play on the white wouldnt bounce half the distance it does on these clips

I wouldn't use 'snooker tips' on youtube as a teaching aid if I were you. The bloke can obviously play, but he is a poor teacher; plays screw shots when saying stun and doesn't know check side from running side. Snooker pro tips on youtube are far better teaching videos.
Best angle to leave when around the black spot is anything half ball, either high or low, as the cue ball can be more easily controlled.
You will find that as you get better then you will be more able to make the cue ball go where you want it to go because you will be striking the cue ball more accurately and getting the spin you believe you are putting on it.

[itsnoteasy]

Again i agree Vmax, with me not cueing consistently, went today with my son for a knock about, twice got into the 30s and both times ruined it by getting to much action on the cue ball than i intended, gutted there was lots more to be had the second time.
On the plus side i was high on the black on both breaks and played the right shot so there is hope for me yet.

[alabadi]

Hi Itsnoteasy me and you have a similar problem, that is getting from black to the next red. i so often miss place the white which ends the break. i sometimes would rather take a harder pink just to gaurentee position.

As you said if you have a 3/4 ball on the black there are only a few options to you and mainly i would be looking to get on reds that are just below the black, i.e between black and pink. i prefer to be low on black if i wanrt to get further down the table. otherwise it would have to be 1/2 if high.

all in all i hate playing the black because at some point on a decent break i will miss, i realise i need a lot more practice on the black just to be more confident , however at this moment in time i am playing more pinks which has improved my potting to the center pocket, which is a good thing.

Alabbadi

[vmax4steve]

Striking the cue ball at the right pace is very important but meaningless unless you learn to cue accurately. Getting more spin or less spin with the same effort tells you that you are not hitting the cue ball where you think you are. Could be any number of reasons why but to start with try holding the cue with a relaxed grip all the way through the stroke, ie try not to tighten the grip during the stroke as you could be lifting the tip of the cue at the moment of impact on some shots but not others.
Also don't point the cue down for screw and up for top, instead lower your bridge hand by flattening the fingers and raise it by pulling in the fingers, all the while keeping the heel of your bridge hand on the table. This not only helps to ensure accurate cueing but also means that your cue action/stance is the same for all shots.

I played beautifully in my two hour practise session today, cleared the line up twice and made 10 straight balls off the blue spot in a row. The first hour though I was crap and was constantly resetting the line up after making three balls and missing, four balls and missing, missing the first ball and disturbing the line up, it just went on and on.
Went to the bar for five minutes, had a drink and a chin wag, back to the table and it all came together. have no idea why it came together, have no idea why it was crap, but essentially the second hour my mind was empty and I was just doing it. like breathing and walking.