When to call it a day?

[Strickimicki]

Lets start with an explanation of the title for people with another first language! The title means on the whole when should one give up and say enough is enough!

I'm going through an on going bad patch, or should I say "mostly" not playing to my best ability. I've gone through all the basics, "stance, cue arm straigh, feathers, grip, inlinement and everything else that generally comes to mind. The thing is, I can't seem to be able to aim correctly, I just don't see where I'm aiming when down on the shot. I'm almost sure that it has someting to do with my left eye taking over the command role when down on the shot even though I am quite right eye dominant. Sounds strange I know, but I have to live with it, and it's no laughing matter.

I'll struggle around for a few frames maybe knocking in a 20,30 or 40 break potting balls like there is no tomorrow. Then this problem creeps in and I can't pott sitters over the bag. Then again I'll play like an absolute novice making the odd depressing 8-16 then pull out a 50,60 or 70 break. There is just absolutly no consistancy at all.

So I'm thinking about saying that enough is enough! It depresses me no end, getting in with a cracker of a shot (The likes of Neil Robertson, Judd Trump) then to miss a simple black from it's spot time and time again. Obviously leaving my opponent perfect or near perfect postion on the next ball.

I've shown some footage of me playing (practising) to Terry Davidson, and obviously there are a couple of minor flaws in my game but on the whole everything looks sound. It's just that I can't aim! Most of the time, the object ball does not look like it is going anywhere near the intended pocket. And as you all know, it is very difficult to play snooker if it always looks like you are going to miss. If I ignore this and just cue the ball, it's bang bang bang middle of the pocket time and time again. But everything looks wrong!

So I've had enough!

[throtts]

You find that so many players do miss after potting a blinding long red because of excitement, not use to potting such balls thus not respecting, say, that easy black off its spot. Best advice I feel is to take a deep breath and recompose and treat every shot with the same respect..

All the best.

[craigslater]

When to call it a day?

I think as far a when to give up is when your not enjoying playing anymore, if the enjoyment is still there play until your a hundred!!! Lol

[mattyshinobi22]

i think craig is spot on with this statement, its the enjoyment which strives us to keep trying to improve. but i am also in the same boat as Strickimicki at min, think having some time out does you good. then you come back to game refreshed and interested again. until another bad game comes along and back to square one! lol

[Chris Bedford]

When to call it a day?

Can I ask how do you do your aiming?

[hotpot]

Are you sure its because of the the way you see the shot , from what youre saying it sounds like its a lot to do with your mindset and more phsychological than a technical issues , it may be both but it sounds like you have a lot of negatives on your mind which are reflecting in your play on the table .
Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the technical side of things that we stop enjoying the game and are constantly looking for solutions and creating problems that are not there .
Ive like you and thousands of others have ben through the same thing , we play our best snooker when we dont think about it dont over analyse things and get a buzz out of it .

Enjoyment is the key and as long as youre looking for problems you wont do that .

[cazmac1]

I personally would say that you don't understand your game as well as you think you do, I'm not saying this in a negative way but just making a statement. Most players in there minds eye see themselves in a completely different way to what is the reality.
There are many players who will tell you that they play better when they play fast and do not think about what they are doing.
This tells me that when they are trying too hard and over thinking they are in fact introducing a fault into their game, which means that they don't know their game as well as they think.

On the subject of giving up I know where your coming from and I have been wrestling with this myself over the years. But as others have said it comes down to whether you are enjoying yourself? I am going through a bad patch at the moment but I love the game too much to give it up and know that I will regret it if I do. You just have to accept that your in a slump at the moment and that it will pass.
Don't give up micki.

[hotpot]

Its impossible to play consistently good snooker when negatives are running through your head , its just impossible . Youre mindset controlles you cueing and youre control over the cue and vice versa . If you think you are cueing bad you will if you feel good inside you cue well .
I think it applies to life in general not just snooker , the older we get the more cautious we get .

[Strickimicki]

Thanks for all your input, it is all much appreciated.

This is the video that I uploaded to Youtube for terry to have a look and give me some input.

This is just so you get my drift. Here I am just getting down on the shot believing in that I am on the right line and letting go with my cue arm. I am not looking at any specific point on the cueball as I would normally aim. The reason for that is that I seem to have lost the plott and haven't got a clue at what to aim for. I have tried the ghost ball way of aiming a few years ago, but that was just terrible.

As you can see, I got on quite well with the line up exercise. Having said that, the angles nessercery are all simple and I do cue quite straight. I think things started going wrong when I tried to get my right eye over the cue a few years ago. Obviously I'm not exactly sure as something must have made me want to adjust my aiming tecnique.

Thanks again,

Brian.

P.S I probably won't give it up, as for some reason I love the game. Even though it gets me more down than than it does pick me up!

[narl]

You cue somewhat like me with the one "address" then hitting the ball, prefer to get on with it rather than seeing if i can grind the wood down to nothing by constantly "waggling" the cue back and forth

[sberry]

Looks robotic to me, did you ever have a natural style of play as that doesn't look very fluent, it's like you're trying far too hard.

[hotpot]

Having looked at part of the video its obvious you can play the game but all i see is uncertainty , it seems you have these negatives on the approach to the shot or even more so to your game in general
I,m no coach but i know when i see a player who can play the game but stops himself doing so and to me thats exactly what your doing , youre not allowing yourself to get into no rhythym or flow rather looking for complications .

[mattyshinobi22]

like all the above replies, i see nothing wrong with your action and ability for the game etc. but then again i dont see the uncertainty people are mentioning. you spot the shot, get the line and cue through ball, all is good. maybe a rhythem thing is missing, i am no coach or anything, but i had this problem and what helped is setting more of a routine. a slight pause may help on every shot, a short one if you would like, just say 1 in your head then cue through. also try making a few waggles, try too to start with, then you are certain what you are trying to do and may give you more confidence.

you can certainly play, you just need to get a routine of confidence and sure you will be fine.

[cazmac1]

Hi Micki, as the above have said, it looks like you are trying too hard the walk in is not natural and is inhibiting your natural game. I can almost see you talking yourself through the pre-shot routine. Try and let your game flow and enjoy the game. Apart from that you have a very good stance.

[damienlch]

Hi Brian, I noticed that you are already getting up on the shot before the object ball has been potted. Maybe you can try to stay down just a fraction longer, i.e. after the ball has been potted. I find that helps with the composure.

Also, as mentioned in the earlier posts, it is obvious that you can play well but you also seem to be introducing some negativity into your play, perhaps in striving to be too perfect with your shots...

At around 5:00min, you went slightly out of position after the pink and there was that hand gesture that revealed you were disappointed with it. I think you missed the next red with that pink still in your mind, coupled with the knowledge that you will be cannoning into the red next to it and hence, messing up the line. So, imo, you missed because your mind was not in the moment.

What I do, or try to do whenever I fail to get the correct angle, is to immediately think how to best position for next the shot to keep the break going. Basically, I try to stay positive and concentrate on the task at hand.

Do remember to enjoy the game, don't let it become a chore... If you feel that you've tire of it, by all means take a break... you'll come back fresher and all the better for it...