Video of me potting some balls.

[gem]

I had a half hour practice yesterday and took up my camcorder.

This is footage of me putting a few together.

I was just looking for a few observations from others on what you see.

I notice that I lift my head slightly at impact and maybe could cue through more on soft screw shots.

I ended up missing the black when I changed my mind when down on the shot. Was going to play for the red into the middle but changed to a stun for the corner and messed it up.

Here is the link;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DP6Ly26UPY

I know I should be shot for wearing a glove.

[mooneyy]

Looks very nice...

You are lifting your head slightly because you have to (on most occasions). Since you play the 'Davis'-way you keep your elbow up on most of the shots and hit the chest with your cue hand. In order to be able to do that, your chin has to make room for the cue to go through.

Text book technique would dictate to get down on the shot completely before starting your feathers, whereas you start them with your chin off the cue ever so slightly. But I don't think this has to be changed anyway as you seem to be very comfortable and consistent with your style of playing.

EDIT: I wish I could play like that...

[gem]

Looks very nice...

You are lifting your head slightly because you have to (on most occasions). Since you play the 'Davis'-way you keep your elbow up on most of the shots and hit the chest with your cue hand. In order to be able to do that, your chin has to make room for the cue to go through.

Text book technique would dictate to get down on the shot completely before starting your feathers, whereas you start them with your chin off the cue ever so slightly. But I don't think this has to be changed anyway as you seem to be very comfortable and consistent with your style of playing.

EDIT: I wish I could play like that...

Thanks for the comments.
The feathering before I am down properly might be worth keeping an eye on and something I hadn't noticed.
I tend to break down with a careless miss (like the black in the video) which might be due to not settling down on the shot correctly before starting the stroke.

[mooneyy]

I think that has more to do with what you already said: Changing your mind when down, thus taking your eye off the pot maybe just a little bit - that's well enough, you know that.

[Samcheung001]

Maybe a bit side track that I'm interested in what's your cue as it sounds great when hitting.

[gem]

Maybe a bit side track that I'm interested in what's your cue as it sounds great when hitting.

The cue is a Ton Praram III 'Black Bone'. I have just had a Black spin ferrule and the F1 joint fitted as well. Along with it being re-tapered.

I liked the cue before the work but it feels slightly better now and the taper is better.
I changed the tip from the black and red one Mike fitted as I just found it was not keeping it's shape very well. Liked the hit of it though and for most people it would be fine.
The table in the video is quite slow and you have to hit a lot of power shots and this led to the tip deforming. I do hit it a bit hard at times as well.

I have a Kamui MH on it now and the hit is very nice and 'crisp' which gives a lot of feel. Sounds good too.

I like the cue a lot now.

[Samcheung001]

The cue is a Ton Praram III 'Black Bone'. I have just had a Black spin ferrule and the F1 joint fitted as well. Along with it being re-tapered.

I liked the cue before the work but it feels slightly better now and the taper is better.
I changed the tip from the black and red one Mike fitted as I just found it was not keeping it's shape very well. Liked the hit of it though and for most people it would be fine.
The table in the video is quite slow and you have to hit a lot of power shots and this led to the tip deforming. I do hit it a bit hard at times as well.

I have a Kamui MH on it now and the hit is very nice and 'crisp' which gives a lot of feel. Sounds good too.

I like the cue a lot now.

Thanks gem.

Ton PraramIII seems to be a new Thailand brand and the price is not quite expensive if comparing to other famous brand from Thailand like Mastercue.

[Samcheung001]

Thanks gem.

Ton PraramIII seems to be a new Thailand brand and the price is not quite expensive if comparing to other famous brand from Thailand like Mastercue.

Sorry for typo. Should be "......the price is quite expensive......"

[gem]

Sorry for typo. Should be "......the price is quite expensive......"

Yes, they are a bit more than some other Thai cues but they are easy to deal with and take care with the spec. asked for which is not always done by others.

[Terry Davidson]

I didn't notice a hell of a lot wrong here. I did note the lifting of the head right at the strike. The only other thing I noticed is you bend the bridge arm quite a bit and you could straighten that out a little but that's nothing significant. Your timing is good and you get through the ball well.

If you can learn to stay absolutely still during the delivery I think you should see some improvement. The glove shouldn't be needed unless you have sweaty hands as long as you keep the cue wiped down.

Terry

[gem]

I didn't notice a hell of a lot wrong here. I did note the lifting of the head right at the strike. The only other thing I noticed is you bend the bridge arm quite a bit and you could straighten that out a little but that's nothing significant. Your timing is good and you get through the ball well.

If you can learn to stay absolutely still during the delivery I think you should see some improvement. The glove shouldn't be needed unless you have sweaty hands as long as you keep the cue wiped down.

Terry

Thanks for the comments Terry.

I will try and work on keeping the head still. It may be the reason I sometimes break down by missing a careless shot.

I use a 59 1/2" cue and have long arms so I do still bend my bridge arm a bit. I will try and work on keeping it straighter as well.

My hands do sweat a lot and even with wiping the cue I was having to wash my hands every other frame when it is hot. I have now become so used to the glove that it feels strange to play without it even in our winter.

A couple of years ago I had worked on a rear pause but found that it threw my timing way off. I seem to have settled on a slight pause instead.

[j6uk]

It would of taken me 30min to set the camera up lol.
You look good gem.. At this level all you need now is good sparing partners who will put you under pressure because, pressure exaggerates all the frailties in the mind and the technique
I only see on your video in that darken room, maybe hip and balance issues, that could lift the head on shot completion if slightly off balance.

I had a half hour practice yesterday and took up my camcorder.

This is footage of me putting a few together

[gem]

It would of taken me 30min to set the camera up lol.
You look good gem.. At this level all you need now is good sparing partners who will put you under pressure because, pressure exaggerates all the frailties in the mind and the technique
I only see on your video in that darken room, maybe hip and balance issues, that could lift the head on shot completion if slightly off balance.

Cheers.
I am definitely going to try and work on keeping my head still on my next practice game. Not easy changing something when playing a game.
As you mention, maybe this slight flaw in technique could be exaggerated when playing a player that can punish you.

I will try this and video myself again in a few weeks to see how it looks.

[j6uk]

I got sick of picking out balls and counting other players breaks all day so, I ether gave up, changed clubs or improved. I decided to get my head down and learn how to play..
Next time post a video of a different routine. Maybe 10 red lineup from black-blue spot with just the baulk colors to pot after each red
By the way were in the world do you play and who you sparing with?

[gem]

I got sick of picking out balls and counting other players breaks all day so, I ether gave up, changed clubs or improved. I decided to get my head down and learn how to play..
Next time post a video of a different routine. Maybe 10 red lineup from black-blue spot with just the baulk colors to pot after each red
By the way were in the world do you play and who you sparing with?

I don't get as much chance to play as I would like but I have either one or two 1hr practice games on the table in the video which is in Uphall and play in Locarno snooker club, Edinburgh once a week. Usually play against players from our league team.