My first ever practice video clips... FINALLY

[nrage]

Promise me 72 bisexual sluts and I could be converted and strap on some semtex, but virgins, what good are they ?

Virgins.. well.. there is some debate as to whether that reading is correct, some say it actually means "72 white raisins", others argue for "72 handmaidens" and state that these are not promised to men at all, but to women.

[j6uk]

So as you said, your main aim and passion in life is the growth of the company you work for 9-5. Then you go to the club after work till 9pm, to wind down and play a few frames for a couple of hours, then home.
You mentioned your concern about time with your boy. That would concern me to. Someone I use to play with, who's a very good player, put something into perspective for me one day some time ago when we both had young children. He had a rule of going home for some time to play and bath his kids for 1hr or so. Then he would come out to play or practice for a couple of hours. Another lad would take his boy to the club a couple times a week to try and share his interest of the game with him.

[j6uk]

On looking at the video again I could not help but notice, a kind of casual or even carelessness, the approach you have from the way you were practicing, to how you set up the balls and your positional play. When you set up the 15 reds from black to blue. The first shot you set up was a straight red and you screwed the white back to the cushion.. This is surprising because you to said you've been playing steady for 12 years 5 days a week. That is a lot of snooker you've played, more than me
My overall impression is that you play 'wind down snooker' and you don't structure your time to play proper, focused, improving snooker.
I feel you could possibly play to a good level with regular 50/60s some time in the future but as you know your self not by doing what you have been doing till today.

[horriefic]

j6uk,

Strong words, but lots of truth in it when applied to me myself. I focus on every shot, but still at times my concentration lapses during practice and I 'took my eye of the pot', and I forget to apply my shot routine. Good point, and thanks for bringing this up. Every single shot is important (at least for beginners like me who need to FOCUS hard until we are good enough to be able to play more 'naturally').

Wong

[Sidd]

Hahaha,

Do you think we will be answering God with regard to the amount of hours we put in to snooker, I think that maybe coming, Sidd..

Stay positive as always like you do, the mind set plays a enormous part in our game.

Fantastic thread too...

Thanks Throtts. Well yes that might as well be coming ... no answer to that but just hoping for forgiveness like a spoiled brat !
thanks again.

[Sidd]

Sidd:

Vmax made one very important point just in passing and maybe it was missed by you and other readers.

He said 'Don't put too much emphasis on getting your left foot on the line of the shot and pointing in the direction of the shot. Get your left foot on the line of the shot but pointing about 45 degrees to the left of the line of the shot, ie when potting a straight blue into the middle pocket your left foot should be pointing at the corner pocket.'

.....

So for Sidd and a lot of other players, turn the straight leg foot outwards anywhere from 30-45degrees and save your hip, knee and ankle joints PLUS gain more stability. It also helps the spine to turn a little more freely too.

Terry

Indeed it is very important. But I am well passed that point. When I got in to left eye master thing and moved to square on I read/heard that the straight leg points in the direction of the shot and I tried it but could not go on for more than a week due to ankle pain. It felt bad so even in square on I did not keep it pointed straight but about 30-45 degrees outwardly.

Now that I am back to somewhere in the middle of square on and boxers... my foot points outwardly.

[Sidd]

Virgins.. well.. there is some debate as to whether that reading is correct, some say it actually means "72 white raisins", others argue for "72 handmaidens" and state that these are not promised to men at all, but to women.

You see.. the confusion... !!! so I am right in trading em with a snooker table then eh

[Sidd]

So as you said, your main aim and passion in life is the growth of the company you work for 9-5. Then you go to the club after work till 9pm, to wind down and play a few frames for a couple of hours, then home.
You mentioned your concern about time with your boy. That would concern me to. Someone I use to play with, who's a very good player, put something into perspective for me one day some time ago when we both had young children. He had a rule of going home for some time to play and bath his kids for 1hr or so. Then he would come out to play or practice for a couple of hours. Another lad would take his boy to the club a couple times a week to try and share his interest of the game with him.

Well yes that is true. I used to think so as well but snooker over the passed few years overwhelmed me to a point that i find myself at today. i do not just go there to unwind or else I might have been the snooker enthusiast that I am today. But then we have our own ways of looking at things. I do spend time with him like sundays I am totally off snooker off work and at home with him .. we go out to a park and play together and at home I am mostly playing with him. In the weekdays I do take a day off snooker every now and then and stay home with him or take him out etc.

[Sidd]

On looking at the video again I could not help but notice, a kind of casual or even carelessness, the approach you have from the way you were practicing, to how you set up the balls and your positional play. When you set up the 15 reds from black to blue. The first shot you set up was a straight red and you screwed the white back to the cushion.. This is surprising because you to said you've been playing steady for 12 years 5 days a week. That is a lot of snooker you've played, more than me
My overall impression is that you play 'wind down snooker' and you don't structure your time to play proper, focused, improving snooker.
I feel you could possibly play to a good level with regular 50/60s some time in the future but as you know your self not by doing what you have been doing till today.

I might partially agree with you on this. In the video while on the reds lined up I was thinking more about getting the video right rather than clearing the reds honestly. The boy helping me video told me he had never used a camera before and did not know how to capture a video from a mobile phone... so while getting down I had to ensure he was covering the grip the line of shot with the grip elbow shoulder pocket etc etc ... I was mostly focusing on him rather than my practice. I was not a real practice routine to be honest... it was mostly to get the video of my technique correct for the forum so people can point to me my problems and hence I can focus ONLY on areas where I am wrong. For instance, I used to think I wasnt doing a good follow through and hten used to watch Ron as welll and this induced me to use shoulder in the shot and I got in to problems... now that I know I drive the CB pretty well as people have mentioned I can totally forget about it. So yes my approach might have been ill-focused so to speak.

But at least I know now that i only have to focus on 3 major areas and rest of the technique is pretty much ok I feel relaxed.

the Area where I totally agree with you is the fact that I dont structure my time properly in focusing and improving. Yes indeed that is true unfortunately. I need to have targets in practice as I normally get bored in max 30-45 minutes on my own and then tend to play friendlies etc but now that i have targets I will focus on achieve them.

[Sidd]

Dear Terry and Steve,

I went in yesterday for a short time. I was tired and could not spend much time. Played 5 won 4. No big breaks except for a 41 and a 44 but even this is great. However, I did score heavily like I would so a 30 and then after a couple of safeties did another 27. Can you believe I won ALL the frames without going to the colours I won all four frames making the opponent concede them.

These are my findings:

GRIP: Terry you were right. Just working on this area along with the wrist gave me immediate results. While down on the shot I tried to keep the wrist position same throughout the stroke until end of delivery. I gave my wrist an extreme outward cock and it did wonders. Once I have a hang of it I will reduce the intensity and see where is my perfect lock. It did feel unnatural at first and would do so for a couple of days I know that... like on the backswing I felt my little finger sliding off the butt and it did not feel right ... but given tha due ot the wrist cock my butt is more in to finger pads this may happen and when i reduce the cock a little it will be gone. But overall my potting consistency improved a lot in just one night.

STANCE: switching back to boxers has been a sweet surprise. Now I can feel the whole thing. I switched to boxers with right leg just a few inches above the left but opened wider than shoulders width gave me more room to get down more than before even without intentionally getting the hips to the right a lot.

CUE ACTION: with the stance as above I could be more down on the shot and this helped me in straightening my bridge arm and guess what no weird pain in the shoulder anymore now that i normally used to feel at work. So this also helped me in bringing the shoulder nearer to the neck and brace it and in turn since I was completely down I think my other shoulder went back and up against the head and I could feel the elbow hanging freely ... I do have a feeling that this has reduced my elbow drop considerably however video would only tell correctly.

========================================

I will play like this for some time and monitor progress and then will shoot a video again and share for comparison and comments. However, this time I will have to manage a camera with tripod so I can practice freely without having to give directions to the film maker

CHEERS!

[vmax4steve]

Last but not the least all those freakin Taliban and al-qaida etc think they will be greeted by the virgins after their suicide bombings well well well they will be greeted by the devil with a cup of coffee filled with hell fire for it is in the Quran and Allah says "if you fear God and are righteous and pious then you should not be afraid if you die a Muslim, a Christian, a Jew or a Sabieen (dont know its english, its a race not anymore)" and this very verse advocates global peace and international harmony.

I'm building bridges on which no house may stand
I'm painting pictures on walls across the land
Burn down the prisons in which your children grow
See no illusions, the truth behind the show

See no illusions, no martyrs and no kings
No trains to heaven, the kingdom lies within.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4f9T42KSpo

Rock n roll should have saved the world from all the divisions that keep us at each others throats, It saved me.

[j6uk]

This thread has been great and I really liked your introduction, very open and kind. You make me think I can speak my mind

So, sincerely I feel to take the game you have now to - the 100 break maker who dishes if you leave him in.. Is a pipe dream.
Its not about tweaking a few things here and there, eat less, gym, on tsf, change me grip. No imo,
It would be a life changer because, that player you wanna be, is a bread apart.

I can tell you as a player who took that road of improvement, the changes it made in all areas of my life, were immense.
I gave the table my time, focus, dedication, respect and it rewarded me in not only playing well and scoring heavy but, I started to see possibilities on and off the table. Developing a strong mind and positive outlook..

Okay enough for now:snooker:

I might partially agree with you on this. In the video while on the reds lined up I was thinking more about getting the video right rather than clearing the reds honestly. The boy helping me video told me he had never used a camera before and did not know how to capture a video from a mobile phone... so while getting down I had to ensure he was covering the grip the line of shot with the grip elbow shoulder pocket etc etc ... I was mostly focusing on him rather than my practice. I was not a real practice routine to be honest... it was mostly to get the video of my technique correct for the forum so people can point to me my problems and hence I can focus ONLY on areas where I am wrong. For instance, I used to think I wasnt doing a good follow through and hten used to watch Ron as welll and this induced me to use shoulder in the shot and I got in to problems... now that I know I drive the CB pretty well as people have mentioned I can totally forget about it. So yes my approach might have been ill-focused so to speak.

But at least I know now that i only have to focus on 3 major areas and rest of the technique is pretty much ok I feel relaxed.

the Area where I totally agree with you is the fact that I dont structure my time properly in focusing and improving. Yes indeed that is true unfortunately. I need to have targets in practice as I normally get bored in max 30-45 minutes on my own and then tend to play friendlies etc but now that i have targets I will focus on achieve them.

[ace man]

Much better than I thought. You move less on a shot than me. I don't think you have any reason to feel frustrated technique wise. You're not a pro, are you?
What worries me is your nonchalant approach to the shot, and it is obvious that you don't pay enough attention to destination of the cueball. Now I know you weren't 100% concentrated because of camera etc, but look at how often you ended up by the cushion?
I do think you have very nice natural rythm, and have potential to score big breaks, but from videos posted one could only see how you basically shoot and stand. It is impossible to tell how good you are with: one cushion position, two cushions, maintaining right angle on the black, being on the right side of the blue, in and out of baulk position, spins, the rest, long pots, shots to nothing, shot selection...etc.
Perhaps it would be a good idea to try a video with a drill which requires more demanding position and thinking. Also some long pots where you avoid a pack of reds and colours and send the cueball to the baulk using the angles.

[j6uk]

Agree, like the tempo, delivery of the cue though, it will need 'some work' to tame it!
From those vids I believe I have the measure of the overall standard of play but still, the drill you suggest is a great idea, for Sid or any player on the road to Improvement.

I do think you have very nice natural rythm, and have potential to score big breaks, but from videos posted one could only see how you basically shoot and stand. It is impossible to tell how good you are with: one cushion position, two cushions, maintaining right angle on the black, being on the right side of the blue, in and out of baulk position, spins, the rest, long pots, shots to nothing, shot selection...etc.
Perhaps it would be a good idea to try a video with a drill which requires more demanding position and thinking. Also some long pots where you avoid a pack of reds and colours and send the cueball to the baulk using the angles.

[j6uk]

For me Wong its always one ball at a time, no matter if its 9 or 139 break, a match or a 45 min practice session

j6uk,

Strong words, but lots of truth in it when applied to me myself. I focus on every shot, but still at times my concentration lapses during practice and I 'took my eye of the pot', and I forget to apply my shot routine. Good point, and thanks for bringing this up. Every single shot is important (at least for beginners like me who need to FOCUS hard until we are good enough to be able to play more 'naturally').

Wong