Terry's Technique Video

[jrc750]

Terry gives a lot of his time and patience to the coaching area of this forum j6uk, i think you need to apologise, he wouldn't post anything that he doesn't believe in, maybe you understood it wrong who knows

[DandyA]

Terry gives a lot of his time and patience to the coaching area of this forum j6uk, i think you need to apologise, he wouldn't post anything that he doesn't believe in, maybe you understood it wrong who knows

well to be fair to j6uk, I don't think he's done anything wrong or anything that needs apologising for ... as far as I'm aware, he hasn't used any swear words, he hasn't accused Terry of "being a liar and a cheat" as Terry seems to think ... what he has done is question whether words Terry attributed to Frank Callan are verbatim or Terry's interpretation and that seems fine to me ...

since it's getting heated and Terry seems upset, apologies from one or both might be a good diplomatic solution even if not strictly necessary ...

Terry is, of course, probably TSF's MVP (most valued poster) and should be respected for his time and patience offering his excellent advice to all members but that does not make him God ... he who should be obeyed and never questioned ...

[jrc750]

I just scanned the posts quickly and saw Terry upset, maybe for wrong reason
Coaching threads do my head in lol, think i'm too old to learn out new

[mythman69]

I just scanned the posts quickly and saw Terry upset, maybe for wrong reason
Coaching threads do my head in lol, think i'm too old to learn out new

Never too old to learn a new trick or two . . .

[Terry Davidson]

DandyA:

Maybe I am sensitive, but I value my reputation. I took the following statements by j6uk and from them it sure sounds to me like he's calling me a liar or at the very least dishonest. He said:

that I said 'firm up the left side of the body' was on the website when in fact I said the opposite. (I had thought it came from the book but I was mistaken and it came in a separate letter).
he called the firm up statement 'ambiguous nonsense' which Frank would never have said, when in fact Frank did.
he called the list I put up 'rubbish' and 'shameful' and would never have been said by Frank
he accused me of crediting words to Frank which wouldn't have been said by Frank (what could that mean other than me lying?)
he accused me of 'improvising' and to me that means I'm making things up or in other words lying and/or cheating by saying the statement came from Frank Callan when j6uk says it couldn't have.

The actual document I received from Duncan at fcsnooker is attached to post #165 and it is verbatim with the list I published originally and which Duncan said was originally done by Frank. j6uk said this list was 'rubbish' and 'shameful'.

I wouldn't lie and say something came from Frank and fcsnooker when it didn't. I value my honesty and my moral integrity and do not like being accused of anything less.

At the very least he is accusing me of being dishonest and I also think I'm the one that deserves an apology from him, not the other way around.

Terry

[GeordieDS]

Forget everything and start again, pick up your cue as if for the first time, hold it like you would a hammer, look at your target (BOB) before you get down into stance, and as you get down into your stance. Forget about placing your feet, simply let your eyes guide you into position. Forget about the backswing and follow through, just look at BOB and play the stroke without thinking, just like you used to.

Forget that forced follow through to the chest. Ditch it completely, get rid of it for good and simply focus on BOB. Focussing on BOB on the strike will give you a natural follow through as the eyes are looking beyond the cue ball. You don't need to force one so don't think about not having one, you will have one if you look at BOB on the strike, it only needs to go through the cue ball, not all the way to the chest or any other fixed point.

Most importantly, if you play badly at first or at any time DO NOT BRING ANY OF YOUR RITUALS BACK INOT YOUR CUE ACTION, see them for what they are, rituals that do not have any positve effects on your game except to fill your mind with too much thought, which is a negative when playing snooker.

Not sure if you are being serious with this post but this is exactly what i have been thinking lately,i'm now at the stage where i don't know what i should be thinking when i go down for the shot and i am finding that only when i just get down and play that i start potting with any real fluency and confidence.

[j6uk]

Post #140 Your term 'brace the shoulder' that you said appears in Frank Callan's book, DOES NOT or maybe its just disappeared from the pages of my copy. Post #145 'Firm up the left side of the body' is not on Frank Callan's Drill and is not on his website.
So naturally I am questioning These 18 points that you said you got from someone called Duncan.

I personally don't understand the terms above and they have not been used by Mr Callan

Sorry for what?!

[bolton-cueman]

This is becoming soooooo circular that I'm beginning to start that the recent nonsensical spam posts the forum is getting are better reading

[j6uk]

Looking back over the last few pages there have been some good positive things said imo, like:

Sidd, I feel you have the wrong idea about snooker altogether, it's surprising you have a decent high break, with all the chopping and changing. The very very first rule in snooker(this is only my opinion )is surely RELAX, nothing can be achieved without this, aiming ,grip stance ,eye movement, all doesn't matter if you are uncomfortable and tension filled, which you must be if you have pain across the shoulders, you can never deliver a straight cue consistently all tensed up, all things told to you should come with this word attached to the end, so shoulder down, but relaxed. .(from all of us)

[Sidd]

Hello everyone.

I have something interesting to share. I have played for the last two days pretty good and again pretty outstanding. On first day I went in and played 11 frames and won 7 of them. Yesterday I went in and played 9 frames and won all of them. Ob both days I played a few frames with different players. However, my actual form was back and I played really well. no big breaks yet not even a 30 odd but that silly missing was gone and I was potting decently and winning. I am not complaining about breaks, I know those will start to happen if I can retain this form, its just that I loose form and hence cant think about breaks if you cant pot 5 in a row right. If I can retain this for a week (not my top form but just my usual self) I can again start making breaks, whether big or small.

I would like to share what happened suddenly that did the trick. After reading all comments, I am responding to them hereunder as well as sharing my observations:

DeanH: My daughter is my second child. I have a 3 year old boy as well who has this spactacular ability to keep me on my toes all the time However, I do feel very lucky to have been blessed with a daughter too and yes she is my joy my happiness- my little angel.

Vmax: So were so very right and so has been Terry; its just me not helping me at times though. The misery of being an OCD I guess. I went in to the club and promised myself before entering that today I WILL NOT THINK- no matter what happens and shall only concentrate on BOB. I am playing bad so what could be worse than that. So I went in and disciplined myself that if I miss or keep missing, I wont tinker and only would do my BOB consistently. My first frame was scrappy and bad but then in the middle of the second frame I started seeing the balls and the angles started becoming clearer and from that time till the end- there was no stopping me getting those balls dissappear from the table. Hence I conclude it finally that it is merely my mind that plays tricks on me.

Yes When I get a particular sort of girp on day 1 I play well and think that is the grip i was looking for and then I concentrate on making that grip all the time and then it does not happen again so I change it. Same is the case with getting in to over-stretched boxers playing well and thinking this was missing and then missing again and trying to consciously get my feet correct on every shot and then miss miss and miss and then my mind goes to hey the grip is tight so its the grip business again.... this cycle keeps going on and on.

What I noticed in these last two days is incredible and something I can rely on and try to get some confiddence out of it. When I only id BOB I felt that my grip got perfect my stance went fine and all my movements during the stroke tuned themselves without an effort. This is amazing but true. My follow through this and that everything was ok. I have noticed another thing that while correctly doing BOB my timing improved greatly and I kept potting em all. Amazing enough indeed is the fact that while doing BOB and playing well I COULD NOT REMEMBER AFTERWARDS WHAT WAS MY GRIP LIKE OR ANYHTING ELSE... I guess this is the key. While doing BOB you forget about the rest like the hold on grip follow through shoulder position etc and then your instinct take over and you play properly. This is what happened to me.

i did let my eyes guide EVERYTHING... I stood behind the shot and locked my eyes on BOB and then went down keeping eyes locked and played the shot keeping them locked on BOB and suddenly my stance grip cueing everything fell in to its correct spot and thats it !!!

I did play bad during the session yes but I did not let those rituals take over my mind and kept saying to myself I am not doing BOB when I would I will play better and then suddenly after loosing a couple of frames I CAME BACK with a much greater force

Last but not the least; for some reason after playing for two days only doing BOB and nothing else not only that I played better and proper and decent snooker but also miracleously and dramatically the pain from both my shoulders is gone I did apply some ointment no doubt but the pain is getting feeble every day now and its just nothing more than the pain you might feel if you play a lot every day and being a lazy arse like me you dont exercise, aged 36, overweight and take a lot of soda. So I am pretty relieved that the pain from both shoulders is going away !!!

Terry: Yes I did overdo it. Sort of artifically did it and did it wrong. After reading more of your posts I know my fault and have corrected it. I was trying to lock my grip shoulder by artificially keeping it held up high and then trying to freeze it there so as to eliminate the elbow drop. It worked for me on day 1 so I thought this is it and then everything went bonkers on day 2 and the pain came in. However, I have understood the right method now in terms with bracing the shoulder. What I did then was to stretch my bridge arm further out, made my ear lobe touch the shoulder, and tried to keep my shoulder out and ahead of my face (comfortably though) and I knew it would brace my other shoulder and take it back of my head and help reducing elbow drop but I achieved it without thinking about it and finally it worked. I kept doing BOB while having this stance and hence it worked. i would still be dropping the elbow I guess but I am not thinking about it anymore and hence I feel more and more confident in the shot and in my overall game.

In my last frame (decider) I took a pink off green spot (three quarters) having white inline with green spot towards the side cushion. The black was on the same side cushion near to the centre pocket ... I took the pot with bottom-left side and went to the side cush top cush and came back to cannon the black half ball and take it in the corner pocket

I do still tighten the girp of a few shots and will try to control it... But rest is fine and I am happy again

Itsnoteasy: Well well now- who told you putting up with an OCD taking on snooker was an easy thing to do I did my 67 and 53 and 54 breaks before coming to this forum and without knowing about technique so that was just hard work and love for the game... I have recently accomplished a 55 and I am sure I shall beat my target pretty soon !!

thanks everyone for your support and guidance and advice.... and in particular;

Terry: your advice and tips make me a better player and I play with much awareness than ever before.

Vmaxforsteve: Well what ot say, if it were not for you to tackle my psychological pressures and anxiety, I might never have done it- no matter how hard Terry must have tried. An OCD can easily make another OCD understand things that anyone else can't

J6UK: You too dude! the actualy point of stress hidden in your sarcasm sometimes motivates me more than discouraging me. I am a kind of a person who takes criticism and sarcasm and then wants to come back with a greater force; so thanks mate

Cheers guys, I am going in tonight and making a 50 plus break- hopefully !!!

NOTE: I have also observed that slower back swing and final back pause improve accuracy. When playing a safety I used to hit a bit thicker than required but when I play with slow slow back swing and a small tiny back pause and I have started hitting where intended 100% and this has improved my safety dramatically.

[j6uk]

Your a friendly guy siddiqui but I don't know what you mean! I got to know you through (your video thread) and If you look back on that thread, I was only positive, supportive and realistic regarding your play.

I feel the key to playing good snooker is (to know 'realistically' were your at) and what you need to do to walk that ascending path of improvement.

enjoy

J6UK: You too dude! the actualy point of stress hidden in your sarcasm sometimes motivates me more than discouraging me. I am a kind of a person who takes criticism and sarcasm and then wants to come back with a greater force; so thanks mate

[Sidd]

Your a friendly guy siddiqui but I don't know what you mean! I got to know you through (your video thread) and If you look back on that thread, I was only positive, supportive and realistic regarding your play.

I feel the key to playing good snooker is (to know 'realistically' were your at) and what you need to do to walk that ascending path of improvement.

enjoy

Thanks a lot J6UK. What I meant was that I can take that positive message from your posts all the time ... I was referring to the fact that I am here just for writing and blogging etc and not really for snooker ... but well lemme cut the crap I am too happy right now to talk about that and am back to enjoying my game again I just hope and pray it lasts ummmmmm well say for a lifetime, is that asking too much

[j6uk]

Yes it is

I know how you feel right now in your family life and I'm sure the disciplines you'll get from having two little ones to care for will somehow transfer onto the table.
Btw I'd really have a Doctors check up if I were you in regards to your shoulders. I wouldn't take these pains coming and going for granted.

I just hope and pray it lasts ummmmmm well say for a lifetime, is that asking too much

[Terry Davidson]

Sidd:

Some principles to remember regarding your snooker:

1. There is no 'silver bullet'.
2. Constantly changing your technique will for sure mean you will NEVER improve much at all.
3. Pick one overall technique you like and are comfortable with and STICK WITH IT.
4. The only true 'silver bullet' in any sport, including snooker, is PRACTICE, practice and even more practice but done with a consistent technique and disciplined.
5. Every player who has ever taken up this game has his/her ups and downs. The real trick is if you have a bad day do not get discouraged and change things but stick with your technique and don't change it on a whim or on a daily basis.
6. Sometimes when you do try something different you will play better for a little while but this is likely more due to the fact that you are parking your brain by concentrating on the new thing and the rest of your technique is flowing unconsciously.
7. Remember the very foundation and basic rule of the snooker set-up is COMFORT. (As an example, I just can't get my elbow over the cue, it's impossible for me unless I really strain my spine and my right shoulder and push it into the middle of the back but of course that introduces strain so I allow the elbow to seek the most comfortable spot which happens when I feather.
8. With your family responsibilities, job and other activities there is no way you will ever be able to reach the pro skill level and that is something you likely recognize. You have said you would like to be able to run the odd century however there is no way you can reach this objective if you keep changing things up all the time. In addition you would have to get at least 15 hours per week of DISCIPLINED PRACTICE, around 50% of it solo and when you do play someone ALWAYS play a match like best-of-7 or something in order to get some kind of match pressure.

Terry

[itsnoteasy]

Sounds to me by concentrating on aiming you relaxed everything else and played better.