Snooker Breaks:

[tommy_boi]

Is this game really that easy, it seems to be when I play my friend, was playing a friend tonight who I know is really good at pool he has won loads of tournaments and I always used to hear about him being good at snooker but never seen him play, so give him a game tonight and he was knocking the balls in pretty much like he was on a pool table, he said he made a century the other day and has made more than that, but was talking about it like it was easy and what is the big deal, if I made a century it would be a dream come true, the best break he made tonight was a 67, but on most frames he was getting 40's, 50's, am I just totally rubbish, why do I find it really hard to get over a 30 but he doesn't, he even seems to knock most hard shots in like they are over the pocket, I seem to struggle he doesn't most of the time, am I just not striking the ball properly, I asked him where does he think I am going wrong, and he just said, "it's all about the touch" it is getting the touch right, well that doesn't help, where am I going wrong, what Is the touch, would love to make high breaks at this game?.

[cally]

Practice practice practice and then.................................. practice some more, it's the only answer.

[tommy_boi]

My friend hardly ever plays though, but when he does he gets high breaks, tonight he made that 67 and he hasn't played in weeks.

[Predator314/2]

Touch is definitely important as I'm finding out. I can't speak for English 8-ball but american pool cloth isn't napped so as long as the table is level, the ball will stay straight whether it's whacked or hit softly. But in snooker it's completely different. What makes it harder is that every table is different.

So its either hit it hard so it stays on the line you are aiming, or aim off to compensate for the nap and get your pace perfect.

This is only my very brief experience...

[magicman]

The truth is that over the years he's put in thousands of hours more practice than you have. As Einstein said "1% inspiration, 99% perspiration."

[Terry Davidson]

Playing pool is still playing a cue sport and as magicman says, your pool-playing friend very likely has many more hours/days/maybe years playing. If your technique is sound then all you need is the hours on the table.

I have no idea what your friend means by 'touch'. Perhaps he means timing or accelerating through the cueball or something similar. When we say a player has a good 'touch' in the balls that usually means he drives through the cueball, stays still and controls the cueball very well. You can only learn these things through practice.

Terry

[throtts]

When a player uses the term its in the touch he means in his head "that's all I'm going to tell you because it taken me years to learn", he could tell you more than that but he wants to beat you and others. "Touch" is used though when a player can score very well in and around the black spot where there are lots of little delicate shots needed to stay in on the black and pink, Neil Robertson comes to mind..

[tommy_boi]

Or maybe he is just a natural when it comes to cue sport and just has the eye for pool and snooker, its odd though cause at pool i hardly ever miss a ball if i am going for it, but with snooker its very different, but if he gets in and around the black spot he can make a 60 + very easily, and seems to get the cue ball where he wants it, i was looking at his cue action and it seems very similar to mine, i think at times i am cueing wrong cause i sometimes try potting the blue of its spot and putting the white on the yellow spot and sometimes i am way off but lots of times i do get near the pocket or in it, i think maybe i am sighting the ball wrong sometimes or my grip is letting me down, heard on here that using just the three fingers is a good way forward, basically the thumb and the two fingers next to it, and leaving the other two off the cue until you deliver the cue, i might try this as normally i put them all on the cue until i pull the cue back and then i lift them off until i deliver the cue, maybe i need to look at the way i sight the ball too, heave read loads on dominant eye, i am right eye dominant but find it very awkward to tilt my eye over the cue, it feels weird, also another thing which might not be helping me is my cue, if my cue is slightly off/bent would that affect my game or not, i had not played snooker in months, probably about 8 months but back playing again now and seem to hit 30 breaks all the time now but cant get higher, is that good, cheers for your help.

[jaikba]

I don't mean this to sound derogatory in any way but it seems like you have a slightly suspect cue action, do some exercises to help with straight cueing and build up from there, cue ball control etc.

[tommy_boi]

Don't know what it is to be fair, wish i knew, maybe i am cueing straight and maybe it is just practice practice practice like the other person said, maybe i have everything right as it is and it is just that, wish i could get someone to look at my cue action and point me in the right direction if they did see where i was going wrong, gonna try messing around with my grip tonight, but won't be playing snooker, will have to try it playing some 8 ball pool.

[chrissmall147]

hi mate

how long have you played snooker for? how often do you play in a week? do you ever play any solo practice? those 3 questions come in to it big time, if your technique is sound then you just need to put in a good few hours like your friend is doing or on the other hand if your technique is a bit suspect then you need to see a coach to point you in the right direction and once your technique is ok then put in the hours on the practice table and one day you could be hammering your mate hopefully. good luck mate

cheers chris small