Terry's Technique Video

[j6uk]

I feel it was all covered when Siddiqui put up his videos on tsf for us to see. Its obvious, he's in for the life style. And why not

I came across this: http://snooked.wordpress.com/2013/02...erry-davidson/

This was by sid and at the bottom we see sid's real passions. So, its the allegiance to terry and debates and the words that lie at the heart of his blogging on tsf.

You are not Ronnie O' Sullivan, you are not Judd Trump, so never mind what they do. They play the way that's right for them and have all day to solo practise, you do not as you are a working father who plays recreationally. You used to play inconsistantly but made your highest break with your natural action and all that was needed was to find the one thing that was stopping your progress, not to change everything about your game.

My advice to you is to back to your natural game and find a way of not allowing anxiety when approaching a big break, or taking a dolly shot for granted, make you take you eye off BOB at the moment of the strike, for that is the one thing that was holding you back.

[j6uk]

If you did that you could never fall in with the egotists

It's been a long time since i smoked a joint but reading this thread i think i'm going to have to roll one just to see if it makes more sense #hash

[Sidd]

You have said before that you had your highest break of 67 playing naturally, but that inconsistancy made you start to tinker with all the aspects of your cue action.
You have found out many times that your inconsistancy was caused by you simply taking your eyes off BOB at the moment of the strike.
Knowing this it's time for you to go back to your natural action and remember to focus on BOB at the moment of the strike.

All this tinkering has gotten you nowhere, you change one aspect of your game and find yourself having to do something else to offset that and so on and so on.
Driving the cue through to the chest every time has introduced your shoulder into your stroke, so now you are having to concentrate on keeping the elbow high while still driving into the chest.
Giving yourself a long backswing on all shots and relying on steady pace throughout the stroke has probably taken away your feel for the strength of the shot as well as your natural timing of hand and eye.
I'm guessing that everything now feels forced and mechanical and you end sessions drunk with too much thought.

You are not Ronnie O' Sullivan, you are not Judd Trump, so never mind what they do. They play the way that's right for them and have all day to solo practise, you do not as you are a working father who plays recreationally. You used to play inconsistantly but made your highest break with your natural action and all that was needed was to find the one thing that was stopping your progress, not to change everything about your game.

My advice to you is to back to your natural game and find a way of not allowing anxiety when approaching a big break, or taking a dolly shot for granted, make you take you eye off BOB at the moment of the strike, for that is the one thing that was holding you back.

Dear Steve,

I guess you are right. Have I not been here, at this very stage, a few months ago ? I am back to square one again. Even though you told me that this is what I have been doing on this forum since the past two years, yet again, I did it again ! I have no idea what is wrong with me and why I cant stop tinkering whilst at the table.

Last night's performance was real bad again. I played non-stop for about 5 hours. In the first two hours I was really playing well and then in the last three I went bonkers, playing like a child, missing everything even those pots sitting on the centre pocket waiting to be nudged in

I went in and started to play and only did the following, ON EVERY SHOT:

1. eyes on BOB while getting down on shot.
2. relaxed grip, back of palm hitting butt at address, keeping it relaxed and loose throughout the stroke.
3. shoulder locked so that I dont drop the elbow.

Thing went good for me in the start but then when I lost it, I lost my whole cue action and everything went to pieces and I became a man taking up snooker after a 15 years break.

You know what they say about me in the club. This is one statement that the whole club gives:

Sidd is unpredictable. If he plays well he will crush you break you ruin you even if you are a master- if he doesnt play well he will be crushed broken and ruined easily even by a child. And he has the ability to do both in a single day.

And that is so true. yes anxiety is my basic issue and I know that. Not the anxiety of big breaks but the anxiety of maybe not having a good technique and hence missing and playing bad. Once I miss suddenly my mind says its the bad grip change it, or its not the BOB do it, or your elbow dropped, lesser follow through...

I have done everything to control this. literally EVERYTHING humanly possible. This is how I do it DAILY bloody DAILY:

1. Shower and shave before going to club. putting on a nice perfume too
2. I have this alpha brainwave audio that I play in the car while going down to the club, they say its for relaxing the mind.
3. Do my breathing exercise before the start
4. Talk to myself to keep CALM and FOCUSED
5. Watch videos try to learn from this forum.
6. Do some solo whenever possible and try to work on the grip, elbow (mostly these days) and yes slow backswing and back pause. By God I had a nice decent back pause that I loved and others adored ... but guess what its gone really just gone

In comparison to that others would not do ANYTHING but play better. they also would have bad days but would shrug it off and play well next time. Whereas I cant stand not playing proper and do almost EVERYTHInG but no consistency whatsoever. I think I have stoped enjoying? Even if I can do a break of 40 every now and then I would say ok consistent performance that anyone should do at my level but no ... I am far beyond that point.

If i stop worrying about these things and only focus on BOB thing would improve but then what to do now? i have practiced locking my shoulder to eliminate elbow drop to a point that it has started to hurt a little and my bridge arm tendinitis is back again ... I have pain in both shoulders now !!! I plan to go odwn tonight and only focus on BOB and nothing else but this newly introduced shoulder lock I know I just know I will do it again and hence start tinkering again.. It has happened so many times that I cant stop myself or at least dont know how to ?

Sidd.

[Sidd]

I feel it was all covered when Siddiqui put up his videos on tsf for us to see. Its obvious, he's in for the life style. And why not

I came across this: http://snooked.wordpress.com/2013/02...erry-davidson/

This was by sid and at the bottom we see sid's real passions. So, its the allegiance to terry and debates and the words that lie at the heart of his blogging on tsf.

WOW !

So there isn't any snooker in me then ? I dont have a passion for the game and just come here on TSF to keep my writing passion alive and merely to blog ? hmmmmmm this is new for me

So what on earth do I do at the club 5 hours a day 6 days a week.

By the way everyone; I just had a daughter a couple of weeks ago I am so so happy that I cant express myself clearly and completely

Cheers.

[Terry Davidson]

Sidd:

Cut out the perfume (I assume it's aftershave) and only work on one thing at a time. If you have decided you do not want to drop the elbow then just work on that, and that ALONE. I would suggest though that you can work on not dropping the elbow and also at the same time concentrate on BOB as you strike.

Once you feel you have the elbow mastered then you are left with about only 2 other things to work on but ONE AT A TIME PLEASE! That would be getting or at least finding a grip that you like and can keep relaxed through the entire delivery.

I would say after that if you are keeping the elbow up at time of strike, staying still on the shot, eyes on BOB at strike, keeping your grip relaxed while accelerating through the cueball and then staying down and still at the very end of the delivery then your constant fine tuning of your technique should be FINISHED as with practice just doing these things will lead to improvement.

If you are still having problems with turning your wrist at the start of the delivery then work on that AND THAT ALONE until you find the grip that stops that but still stays relaxed.

Also, I find that j6uk tends to be somewhat harsh and sarcastic in his comments so I would imagine diplomacy is not really his forte. His comments also do not impart a lot of knowledge as to what a student should do to correct problems, but are just critical of other responses for the most part.

Terry

[humperdingle]

Sidd:

Cut out the perfume (I assume it's aftershave) and only work on one thing at a time. If you have decided you do not want to drop the elbow then just work on that, and that ALONE. I would suggest though that you can work on not dropping the elbow and also at the same time concentrate on BOB as you strike.

Once you feel you have the elbow mastered then you are left with about only 2 other things to work on but ONE AT A TIME PLEASE! That would be getting or at least finding a grip that you like and can keep relaxed through the entire delivery.

I would say after that if you are keeping the elbow up at time of strike, staying still on the shot, eyes on BOB at strike, keeping your grip relaxed while accelerating through the cueball and then staying down and still at the very end of the delivery then your constant fine tuning of your technique should be FINISHED as with practice just doing these things will lead to improvement.

If you are still having problems with turning your wrist at the start of the delivery then work on that AND THAT ALONE until you find the grip that stops that but still stays relaxed.

Also, I find that j6uk tends to be somewhat harsh and sarcastic in his comments so I would imagine diplomacy is not really his forte. His comments also do not impart a lot of knowledge as to what a student should do to correct problems, but are just critical of other responses for the most part.

Terry

I tried changing my grip hand to CB distance after posting my critique video... Just changing that one aspect had me missing pots all over the place! I ended up moving it back to where I was comfortable and GRADUALLY moving the two closer together over the course of a 3 hour session.

So yes, one thing at a time otherwise you won't know what's working and what isn't.

[itsnoteasy]

Did it work out for you in the end Humpy?

[j6uk]

I don't know but from what you've said before: Chatt, 20-40mins knockabout practice then, play a few frames, chatt and home?

Congrats m8.. No more knockabouts for you then

WOW !

So there isn't any snooker in me then ? I dont have a passion for the game and just come here on TSF to keep my writing passion alive and merely to blog ? hmmmmmm this is new for me

So what on earth do I do at the club 5 hours a day 6 days a week.

By the way everyone; I just had a daughter a couple of weeks ago I am so so happy that I cant express myself clearly and completely

Cheers.

[j6uk]

I think the opposite. Go back and look at my posts on Siddiqui's videos and tell me what was wrong with that. That's the help I got from some of snookers best
Besides I was asked by members on her to help you with your game! I smiled it off thinking 23yrs military man needs help but, I pm'ed you to offer a helping hand. Anyway..

Sidd:

Also, I find that j6uk tends to be somewhat harsh and sarcastic in his comments so I would imagine diplomacy is not really his forte. His comments also do not impart a lot of knowledge as to what a student should do to correct problems, but are just critical of other responses for the most part.

Terry

[humperdingle]

Did it work out for you in the end Humpy?

It's a work in progress I only get to snooker once a week so will continue trying on Monday. If I can automate it instead of having to think about it, it'll be better.

[DeanH]

By the way everyone; I just had a daughter a couple of weeks ago I am so so happy that I cant express myself clearly and completely

Congratulation Sidd, a little princess to command your every waking hour for years to come
Your first child?
It is my little boy's 2nd birthday today (4th child - you would have thought I would know by now how this happens )
the time just flies!
Enjoy you little bundle of joy and try to remember every little thing that they do - even the naughty times

all the best

[itsnoteasy]

Is it really possible to play from the elbow down?, my understanding of how we work is its the bicep and triceps that move our forearm up and down(or back and forward), so it's actually the top of the arm that moves the cue, the muscles in the forearm are for grip. I understand this is said to keep everything as relaxed as possible but is it technically true?
Sorry I'm bored, I can't get out to play today

[Terry Davidson]

itsnoteasy:

My wife isn't here right now (Physio) and I don't know the names of the muscles, but you contract the muscle on the top of the UPPER arm to backswing and then contract the muscle on the bottom of the UPPER arm to deliver. So you're technically correct in that the muscles you use to move the cue are on the upper arm however the forearm (bone) is the fulcrum being used and that is from the elbow joint which should act as a pivot and should remain as still as possible in space (no sideways or up/down movement).

Keeping the elbow still in space is not possible when using a longer backswing and a powerful delivery but if you think about it, the only way you can move the elbow joint around is using the large muscle on the outside of the shoulder joint. The more you use this shoulder muscle the more movement you have to precisely coordinate in order to return the cue to the exact address position at the time of strike.

I advocate using the least number of muscles in the cue action (KISS principle) and I point at Steve Davis' technique when he was in his prime as his elbow hardly moved at all on any shot, no matter how powerful. Note that Steve managed to compete into his 50's and is still competing not too badly and I believe that is because he has never had to do a lot of coordinating in his cue action.

Terry

[itsnoteasy]

Can't argue with that Terry, the less moving parts, the less can go wrong, and even if it does, the less to fix.

[vmax4steve]

Dear Steve,

I guess you are right. Have I not been here, at this very stage, a few months ago ? I am back to square one again. Even though you told me that this is what I have been doing on this forum since the past two years, yet again, I did it again ! I have no idea what is wrong with me and why I cant stop tinkering whilst at the table.

You have OCD Sidd, it forces you to set yourself rituals that you must abide by because there is a subconscious belief in you that these rituals have a real effect on your life.

Forget the preparation ritual that you go through before going to the club and playing.

I bet you did this once and played great and somehow it leaked into your subconscious that it was this that had an effect on your performance. It didn't, you simply did the basics that night and it all came together, nothing to do with perfume.

Go down there smelling of sweat and in dirty clothes (figuratively speaking) , in other words free your mind of the childish beliefs that started this OCD after the loss of your sister. Nothing that you did then was the reason for her leaving this world, and no rituals you set yourself now have any effect on any outcome in your life.
This is the real base of OCD behaviour, the setting up of rituals that you subconsciously believe will have an effect on your luck, health and happiness in all things. There is no such thing as magic, no such thing as lucky charms and no such thing as god.

We live in a natural world and any belief in the supernatural is simply an expression of the natural fear of knowing we are not entirely in control of our lives, and the basic instincts of dominance and submission that we inherited from our ape ancestors makes a high percentage of humans submissive to leaders and invent gods for our leaders to submit to.

There is nothing that you can do about your past and nothing that you can do to absolutely control your future. Some things are out of your hands mate, sh*t happens, accept it.

I plan to go odwn tonight and only focus on BOB and nothing else but this newly introduced shoulder lock I know I just know I will do it again and hence start tinkering again.. It has happened so many times that I cant stop myself or at least dont know how to ?

Sidd.

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.