A day with Chris Small

[alabadi]

Hi Chris
I was solo practicing on Saturday night and tried this 1 2 count pause at the end of the back swing. To be honest It felt like i was holding so long and therefore didn't feel natural at all. My pot success felt ok not sure if it was better if I was honest, but I was able to control the white more.
I did take a video of this and will upload so it can be analysed. I want to stick with this for a bit to see if I can get more control because it did feel I had more control but as I said it seemed laboured.

Alabbadi

[chrissmall147]

stick with it and see how you feel. It takes time to get used to changes like this its not a 2 minute thing. Another thing I used to do was on completion of the backswing I would say the word bang then deliver the cue and this helped me get a sweet strike on the cue ball. Remember this is what suited me and my game but wont suit everyones game. This is a bit of advice for the rear pause for people who struggle with this aspect.

Cheers chris small

[alabadi]

stick with it and see how you feel. It takes time to get used to changes like this its not a 2 minute thing. Another thing I used to do was on completion of the backswing I would say the word bang then deliver the cue and this helped me get a sweet strike on the cue ball. Remember this is what suited me and my game but wont suit everyones game. This is a bit of advice for the rear pause for people who struggle with this aspect.

Cheers chris small

Thanks Chris, i will stick with it for a while as i said just to see if it makes a difference, as i said i hope that i can upload a video to youtube that i took soon so you can give some feedback.

one question the 1,2 count do you do that once the cue has stopped on the back swing or as it is approaching the rest position. a i said it seemed to me personally too long so maybe my count was too slow or i'm just not used to it yet.

alabbadi

[Leekaway]

We should have some games in Portland. My name is Gary.

[Garylee]

Are you playing competition on this Sunday? Shall we have some games one day? My name is gary

[chrissmall147]

Hi when the backswing is complete and cue has stopped count 1 2 and it will feel laboured if u count too slowly so count 1 2 at medium pace then deliver the cue. You could even try counting 1 2 quickly and this may suit u better but not slowly as you will probably be pausing too long but its all about experimenting and finding the technique that suits u best. As I said everyone is different so this is were the hardpractice comes in. Good luck

Cheers Chris small

[luke-h]

stick with it and see how you feel. It takes time to get used to changes like this its not a 2 minute thing. Another thing I used to do was on completion of the backswing I would say the word bang then deliver the cue and this helped me get a sweet strike on the cue ball. Remember this is what suited me and my game but wont suit everyones game. This is a bit of advice for the rear pause for people who struggle with this aspect.

Cheers chris small

just wondering what areas you operate in? and what are your rates for coaching?

thanks
luke

[chrissmall147]

Hi luke h

I operate in all departments mate as I was once a top pro go to my website for rates and there is a link at my posts underneath

Cheers Chris small

[Wayne G]

Hi luke h

I operate in all departments mate as I was once a top pro go to my website for rates and there is a link at my posts underneath

Cheers Chris small

Chris,

Out of curiosity, I did go to your site. Very interesting site, lots of background info, etc. I was not familiar with your professional achievements. Quite impressive resume. Good on you.

[chrissmall147]

Hi wayne g

Thanks very much for the kind words mate

Cheers Chris small

[Terry Davidson]

Chris:

Are you giving any thoughts towards offering out-of-country players some kind of package deal which includes a reasonably priced hotel or B&B (maybe within walking distance of one of your coaching venues) and some kind of special rate for coaching plus perhaps a table rate so they can put into practice what you're teaching?

Reason I ask is I have booked a 3-week vacation to Britain twice now to the SouthWest Snooker Academy and did both give and receive coaching both times. I would like to have other options available where I could get say a 2hr daily coaching session and then practice the rest of the day. The SWSA and Star offer accommodation + practice for a daily rate with any coaching as an extra charge and I would certainly consider although I know Edinburgh is quite expensive as I have lived there for a short time.

Terry

[chrissmall147]

Hi terry

Yes I have mate I can give any of my clients a practice table for a great deal. I can get a table for £8 for 8 hours 10 in the morning till 6 at night and would look in to hotels for clients aswell at a cheap rate. I also tell clients that I can alter my prices from my website depending on what they are after as I like to give clients value for money. Even though im a business im not in coaching just for the money I really enjoy helping players with their game when they are struggling a bit and get pleasure from seeing them happy when they learn something new or correct a fault in their game.

Cheers Chris small

[chrissmall147]

hi everyone,

thats me back from holiday now so i will be able to reply to more of your posts now although im very busy this week coaching but will do my best.

cheers chris small

[itsnoteasy]

A bit of an update, When I went to see Chris , I would say I cued straight but aimed like Sevie Wonder with his back to the ball (yes it was that bad).During the day I was shown how Chris aimed , to be honest it felt really strange and wrong and when down on the shot felt nothing short of weird but it worked and I understood new things can feel strange for a while, anyway I came home and practiced and was doing ok but my brain got in the way and i got myself a bit confused. Much to my surprise Chris had read something I had posted and phoned me about it(what a great fella he is) and I got to ask about the aiming again, he told me basically to just trust the method as its correct ,(I still don't know how it works i think it's magic or voodoo or something) since then it's been a slow inch by inch improvement until today, it just all clicked , I was potting pinks off the spot from one side of the baulk line along to less than quarter ball then the same from the other side, most pleasing was the clean way they went in, getting that lovely noise as the ball hits the back of the pocket , I hope it lasts, as I would guess I had an eighty percent pot rate today and if I keep this up for a couple of months to make sure it's not just a form spike, I will be going back up to learn the rest of the stuff I need, thanks Chris.

[Terry Davidson]

Chris:

Unless you consider it a trade secret I would be quite interested in your aiming and/or sighting method 'itsnoteasy' refers to above.

There are a large number of players on here who believe the reason they are missing pots is because they can't aim or sight correctly and of course there's also the argument on preferred or dominant eye with regards to alignment (which I don't agree with unless a player's vision in one eye is really degraded, like Joe Davis) and it might be helpful to some if you have developed a method or system where a player can accurately aim and sight correctly (as long as you don't mind revealing it).

I guess the other thing would be if it can be explained well using this medium too.

Terry