Practice routine for improving timing

[kshgarg]

I was wondering if there is a quantifiable way to test how good your timing is. I am looking for suggestions on practice routines to improve timing. I love the way how Ronnie barely touches the ball and still gets an enormous screw back. I have tried to come up with a routine myself :

Place the cue ball at the brown spot and a red about 12 inches up the table inline with the brown spot. Try hitting the red as softly as possible so that the white screws back to touch the baulk cushion. Meanwhile, the red rebounds off the top cushion and stops just before hitting the baulk cushion. I still have not been able to do this successfully (the red always rebounds off the baulk cushion as well) but i think this is due to my bad timing/cue power.

Any suggestions?

[Maloy]

Interesting... Where did you get this exercise?

[kshgarg]

Well I just made it up! It looks close. So, assuming my timing is not good enough (which it isn't), I thought it might definitely be possible to do it. I am sure Judd or Ronnie could easily do it.

[Terry Davidson]

Timing is a matter of accelerating through the cueball SMOOTHLY. The question being, what defines 'smoothly'? It is a matter of not having any rapid acceleration and this is achieved by Ronnie (and a few other pros) because they use a long backswing and thus have more distance to accelerate the cue over and it appears smooth as there is no rapid acceleration.

So if you use a long backswing, hit the bottom of the cueball, accelerate through AND BEYOND the cueball you would be able to achieve what Ronnie does with the exception that he is playing on a very slick cloth which you may not have access to.

(By the way, I tried your test on my VERY fast Precision cloth and was only able to almost do it with the object ball bouncing back to the pink spot. This is a very hard test to accomplish and perhaps impossible but the only way we will find out is to ask Ronnie to do it I guess.)

Terry

[kshgarg]

Thanks Terry. I have to say I have been really confused about this aspect of the game for quite some time. Everyone says 'accelerate' through the ball which is easier said than done. I like to understand the technique step by step and may be this is the reason for the confusion. I have a basic doubt :

Which technique will give you better access to almost every type of shot in snooker:

1. Lets say the length of the backswing decides how long the cue accelerates for and thus what speed the cue reaches before hitting the ball. Using different backswing lengths for different shots keeping the acceleration constant? or?
2. Keeping the backswing length constant (I think like Ronnie, where the tip almost touches his bridge everytime) and having different strengths of accelerations for different shots? or?
3. Having different accelerations for different shots with variable bridge and backswing lengths (going by instinct like, may be, Alex Higgins) ?

Also, did you get the object ball off top cushion-baulk cushion-upto the pink spot or top cushion-upto the pink spot?

K****ij

[Sidd]

Thanks Terry. I have to say I have been really confused about this aspect of the game for quite some time. Everyone says 'accelerate' through the ball which is easier said than done. I like to understand the technique step by step and may be this is the reason for the confusion. I have a basic doubt :

Which technique will give you better access to almost every type of shot in snooker:

1. Lets say the length of the backswing decides how long the cue accelerates for and thus what speed the cue reaches before hitting the ball. Using different backswing lengths for different shots keeping the acceleration constant? or?
2. Keeping the backswing length constant (I think like Ronnie, where the tip almost touches his bridge everytime) and having different strengths of accelerations for different shots? or?
3. Having different accelerations for different shots with variable bridge and backswing lengths (going by instinct like, may be, Alex Higgins) ?

Also, did you get the object ball off top cushion-baulk cushion-upto the pink spot or top cushion-upto the pink spot?

K****ij

I think he meant off baulk cushion and back towards the pink or else he would have said he did it and it was a piece of cake

If you ask me, for better timing and acceleration the best way is to have longer backswing on ALL shots just like Ronnie however for that matter you have to ensure that the cue is drawn back slow and smooth and straight in order to ensure straight delivery... this induces timing... easier said than done eh

[j6uk]

The black routine or pack opening shots practice, say from black or brown into the pack with a diamond of colors just below the pink. If I practiced for an hour I may exclusively do one of these.

[Terry Davidson]

kshgarg:

I meant when I tried what you explained with brown spot and red one foot away I managed to screw the white back to the baulk cushion and the red bounced off the top cushion and came to rest just above the pink spot (remember I have a VERY fast Precision cloth on my match table).

On your other question...without any doubt whatsoever I can say using a long backswing all (or at least most) of the time is the most beneficial backswing, like Murphy, Higgins, Ronnie and Selby in particular. It gives the player more options and also prevents the player from 'clutching' the cue (which means decelerating through the cueball). As justification for this virtually all the top professionals use a longer backswing and only use a short backswing for very low power shots or else playing off the cushion. Even then, I've noticed when playing off the cushion both Ronnie and Selby will get just their fingertips on the rail so they can still have a bit more cue hanging over the 'V' of the bridge and are thus able to backswing longer.

Terry

[Sidd]

kshgarg:

On your other question...without any doubt whatsoever I can say using a long backswing all (or at least most) of the time is the most beneficial backswing, like Murphy, Higgins, Ronnie and Selby in particular. It gives the player more options and also prevents the player from 'clutching' the cue (which means decelerating through the cueball). As justification for this virtually all the top professionals use a longer backswing and only use a short backswing for very low power shots or else playing off the cushion. Even then, I've noticed when playing off the cushion both Ronnie and Selby will get just their fingertips on the rail so they can still have a bit more cue hanging over the 'V' of the bridge and are thus able to backswing longer.

Terry

Exactly... I try to use the longer backswing method on almost all shots. However, my problem is cueing straight while doing so. Its just very hard ot keep the cue straight through this method. But i am trying... I think the key here is nice and slow very slow backswing... nice backpause... slow start of delivery ....!!! Lets see

[Terry Davidson]

If a player elects to use a longer backswing most of the time for most shots then he has to teach himself to keep that backswing SLOW and ABSOLUTELY STRAIGHT otherwise it's of no use whatsoever.

Keeping that backswing straight all the time is a difficult thing to do and takes a lot of practice and a lot of patience. I am one of those players who has a lot of issues with keeping a longer backswing straight. My problem is I have to think about it and keep my chin on the cue during the backswing and this screws up the rest of the pot, especially the positional side.

Terry

[j6uk]

I liken the back swing and delivery to the way the aperture and shutter speed work on a manual camera. The back swing is likened to the aperture and the delivery would be the shutter speed.
If you have a short back swing you can still create a lot of power by opening and closing the back of the hand as you snap through the white:snooker:

[alabadi]

If a player elects to use a longer backswing most of the time for most shots then he has to teach himself to keep that backswing SLOW and ABSOLUTELY STRAIGHT otherwise it's of no use whatsoever.

Keeping that backswing straight all the time is a difficult thing to do and takes a lot of practice and a lot of patience. I am one of those players who has a lot of issues with keeping a longer backswing straight. My problem is I have to think about it and keep my chin on the cue during the backswing and this screws up the rest of the pot, especially the positional side.

Terry

I find the advise on backswing length much of a dilemma, I use to have a long backswing for all shots, now maybe I wasn't perfect but it was consistent. then I had a coaching session and the coach told me that I need to shorten my backswing as I don't need to draw it that much back especially on lower powered shots, he explained that on these low powered shots I was possibly decelerating. so I changed my backswing to a shorter one and when I need a power shot I lengthen it.

recently well just last week I had another coaching session from a different coach one I am going to stick with for the next few months, and you've guessed it he told me to lengthen my backswing, because on some shots I was using my arm for power rather than the length of the backswing.

I myself do prefer the variable length backswing as it makes more sense to me, different lengths for different powers of shot. I am hoping I can now stick to this method because all the changing and chopping is doing my game no good at all.

Alabbadi

[Terry Davidson]

alabadi:

I tend to agree with your new coach, that a longer backswing is the way to go with the exception of very short and low power shots. I notice even Ronnie and Higgins, who normally have long backswings will shorten it for those short low power shots around the black but I have also noticed even on some of those shots that are fairly straight in they prefer to use stun run-through and a longer backswing. I believe the advantage is with a short and low power shot a player is just rolling into the pocket the tendency will be to decelerate the cue.

I have always had the problem of lifting my head a bit on a longer backswing and had ended up using a shorter backswing and my arm and shoulder muscle for more power. Just in the past week I've discovered if I lock my left shoulder (I'm right-handed) against my left cheek it really helps me to keep my head and shoulders very still and I've noticed an improvement in my potting and also position play as the potting is more accurate. Yesterday I started experimenting with using a longer backswing and locking the left shoulder in position and I found it worked very well so I'm going to try this method out for a few more days and see where it gets me.

Terry

[alabadi]

thanks Terry Interesting the thing about locking left shoulder to the cheek, I think that is where I am going I seem to be unconsciously doing this on some shots, I do notice that it puts some strain on the neck after a while.

perhaps I will experiment too to see if it is better. then I can make it part of my setup.

Alabbadi

[Terry Davidson]

alabadi:

No matter what any coach tells you (including myself) do not try something which introduces discomfort in your set-up or technique.

Along this line I checked this morning to see what I'm actually doing to get the left shoulder locked and it turns out I'm actually pushing my left elbow out as far as I comfortably can along the line of the shot (this follows what Joe Davis said years ago about thrusting the bridge arm out as far as you can). This does bring the left shoulder close to the left cheek but I'm not consciously trying to push the shoulder into the cheek. It sure does keep everything solid and still but I find I can still keep the bridge arm bent a bit and still push the left shoulder forward.

Of course if you keep the left shoulder solid and stable then the right shoulder, as it's connected, will also stay still and should be a little more behind the head and a bit higher so there must also be a little more twist in the spine but I don't find it any more uncomfortable and it's not introducing any discomfort at all for me. It also (at least for me) brings my right elbow right over the cue whereas I used to have the elbow slightly outside the cue, perhaps 1-2 inches and this was introducing right-to-left cueing especially on power shots.

Terry