When to call it a day?

[cazmac1]

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...

very good advice, and sorry for calling you Micki, I didn't realise that your name was Brian.

[Strickimicki]

Hi all,

Strickimicki is a name that came from my brother-inlaw, and a long story so I'll leave it that.

I'm at the club right now as I have a match day starting about an hour, and I wanted to see how things are going! I filmed myself and I have noticed that me head is tilted very much to the right even on the shot, which isn't allowing my right eye to get over the cue. A little bit of neck stretching and hey presto things look much better. If this is the whole problem and I haven't noticed it all this time then I'm a dick! Time will tell! I'll keep you informed.

thanks for your time and efforts,

Brian.

[poona]

Ok, I've watched the first few mins..

1) Your grip appears to be beyond 90 deg on some shots? Perhaps this is camera angle. Try going a few degrees inside the 90 to see if it tightens up your shot as it seems quite loose if that makes sense.
2) You're starting to feather before you're even down and settled on the shot i.e. before you have addressed the cue ball and lined up your aim - this means when down on the shot (which in your case is pretty damn fast with minimal feathers... nothing hugely wrong with this approach however.. ) if you're so fast 'on the shot' it means you MUST ensure you are perfectly addressing the shot before you are down. I would suggest approaching the cue ball with static cue - i.e. approach and take your aim and once down and settled to minimise movement then begin your feathering.
3) As said previously, force yourself keep your chin on the cue until the ball drops into the pocket. This is extreme but it gets you in the habit of not moving on the shot. Remember the shot is not complete until the ball drops.
4) Your backswing is much too long for such soft delicate stuns. It is forcing you to decelerate on your shots which is critical!!! (Trust me, I had the same problem) If you shorten your backswing, it will reduce the potential problems that can go wrong. Shorten backswing and cue through to hit chest wall on each shot. For the majority of your pots, you only need to have a 5/10 (50%) backswing. 1 being shortest and 10 longest.

I'll take a longer look at the vid when I have more time. I am no coach but I promise these suggestions will improve your game.

Danke und bis bald mein freunde.

[Terry Davidson]

Brian:

Can you please do another video but put the camera behind the top pocket? I've looked at the video again and I noticed a few more things. I can also agree with some of the comments above in that it appears you've managed to take all the natural rhythm out of your technique.

For instance you do not feather at all, which is perhaps not a really bad thing, but that forces you to have a really long front pause then you backswing and deliver. Does that rhythm feel natural to you? It sure doesn't look very nice and smooth, which is what you should be driving for.

The other thing I noticed (see the black at 28sec) is you are stopping the cue short and actually drawing the cue back after you strike the cueball and this is VERY VERY BAD!!! Always, always drive the grip hand through to the chest and LEAVE IT THERE until the ball drops or hits a cushion (as has been said above).

The reason I would like to see a video from over the top pocket is I want to see just how you are dropping into the shot. It looks to me as if you are not dropping straight down but it's very difficult to tell with this video as you are never aiming into the camera.

The other thing I noticed is there appears to be a great lack of confidence during your pre-shot routine. You should be placing your right foot on the line of aim, left foot wherever it's comfortable but KEEPING THE NOSE ON THE LINE OF AIM and then dropping the nose (head/eyes) straight down and assuming the address position and all the time the eyes should remain on the object ball until you are in the address position. Don't worry if you don't happen to be behind the exact spot you wanted to hit on the cueball as eventually this will become automatic and you will naturally fall down into the correct position behind the cueball (if you're not then do as you are doing and stand back up).

Terry

[Strickimicki]

Hi all,

again thanks for your comments and criticism.

I have just been over the video again and yesa few points you make are right and should be looked at. When I made this video, I was just getting over the chicken wing that had developed over the past few months. So that may cause the robotic approach to the shot. Anyone who has had to get rid of chicken wing, knows that a lot of concentration is going into "where exactly is my elbow right now". As to the no feathering before the shot, that has to do with me not exactly aiming! I did know that I was cueing straight if my elbow was up, so I was just concentrating on cueing as straight as I could and believing that the line was right. Believe me, I do know that all sounds strange the not aiming, but I know what I see and believe me the "ball on" always looked like it was not going in the pocket. Me getting up and down on certain shots, was me just checking the line as everything looked worse than normal. I find that when things are not good and my aiming is not good at the moment, then it is better to release the shot without to much feathering. I say this because one tends to correct that which doesn't need correcting.

When I am seeing the ball as I think I should be, then I have a lovely back pause which feels wonderful. Trying to hold the back pause when I dont have much belief in what I see is next to impossible. Everything just feels wrong!

If you have noticed, I hold my head (Not intentionally) to the right. It is always tilted and I now think that this could be the reason that I am not getting my right eye where it should be. I did a little neck stretching yesterday before my match and it felt much better. I then didn't have time to film myself and see if I had my head up right or not but I will get to that very soon.

Terry I'll get that video sorted out for you and of course for me, sometime during this week.

P.S I won both matches (best of 5) going two behind in the first match. Going one behind in the second before going 2 in front, then it been taken into a final frame where I potted myself out of trouble numerous times and left my opponent with I think 5 points and depressed at the end of the match. The first chap wasn't to happy either, I think he thought he had me in the first matcht being 2 up!

[damienlch]

Nice going Brian, coming from behind to win is a test of character. Keep it up!! ... I mean ride on the win and keep the momentum going, not keep dropping frames then staging a comeback... Lol...

[Strickimicki]

Hi again,

I have got it, i know what's causing the problems! It is definatly the head tilt!

Now, how to get rid of it and where did it come from? I'm open to anything, since I've already though of sticking a tooth pick to my neck (I was thinking it would get very uncomfortable if I tilt my head to the right)!

[Terry Davidson]

Outside of a neck brace why don't you try getting the left check as near to the left shoulder as you can. One of my bits of advice was to drop your left armpit down to the level of the cushion and once you do that bring the cheek to the shoulder (NOT the shoulder to the cheek) and then your head should be squared away.

Terry