Distance from the shot

[armstm]

Hi there,

I haven't had chance to play much snooker recently due to work commitments but I wanted to share my recent coaching experience.

I have a problem with pinks into the middle especially from the green side of the table. I mentioned this to a new coach and he instantly said "you're standing too far away from the shot" (when down on the shot).

He said the way to achieve consistency about this is to practice for a while before each shot to place cue tip just behind cue ball and then walk in with your cue still there and make sure your cuehand is right next to your hip.

I have done this for a while and it feels really cramped but everyone says "your stance looks so much better". I guess it helps in getting that elbow pushed up high.

The other feedback was "you quit on the shot a lot" - ie don't follow through on a lot of shots.


It was disturbing to get this feedback after > 2 years of hard practice and seeing other coaches but I do feel like this was important feedback. Now I try to follow thru hard on every shot and whilst I can see on videos I am not following thru perfectly on some shots, its at least good to have that as a goal.

[magicman]

The 'follow thru hard' comment made me wince, so I felt I needed to comment - You don't need the 'hard' bit! Slow and smooth will do, as long as your grip hand contacts your chest. One shot in ten needs real pace, and that's better generated with a longer cue action and a marginal increase in speed. A slower delivery also makes keeping still an easier thing to accomplish.

[itsnoteasy]

The other thing that worries me, as I agree with the above post ,is how the hell didn't a coach see you were quitting on the shot as its a very obvious thing . Think I wouldn't go back to them.
New things will seem strange at first, but I think this sounds right to me, maybe Terry or Chris will help you better with it.
Wanted to add there is a thread on here about dropping the elbow, and a video of Nic Barrow was posted of him playing from the d, potting a red about a foot from the bottom pocket and screwing all the way back up the table into the d, I have seen lads at the club use more power trying to pot balls from blue spot with ob on pink area, and it's just a stun, but blam it's fired in, for what reason I don't know, as movement gets introduced, ball rattles, couple or curses, scratch of the head, can't believe they missed, nothing learned, same shot next time lol.

[vmax4steve]

Hi there,

I have a problem with pinks into the middle especially from the green side of the table. I mentioned this to a new coach and he instantly said "you're standing too far away from the shot" (when down on the shot).

Ask yourself why this only matters on pinks into the middles. Surely if this was something you did wrong that made you miss you would miss all shots for the same reason.

I would say that certain shots into the middles have been missed several times, causing you anxiety and making you take your eye off the object ball at the moment of the strike, focussing instead on the cue ball or the pocket at the last moment.
Concentrate instead on this and forget about changing your set up and trying for a forced follow through.
Focussing on the object ball, contact point or 'BOB' at the moment of the strike, will keep your cue on the line of aim and also give you a natural follow through as your eyes are looking beyond the cue ball, because the hand follows the eye.

All manner of ills can be cured simply by looking where you should be looking.

[Terry Davidson]

The pink at some pace into the middle can be a difficult shot, especially on some tables if they are near the IBSF template or are older tables with billiard pockets.

My advice would be to do exactly what vmax has recommended here. When you get into the address position and complete your feathers lock your eyes on the pink ball at the front pause and KEEP THEM LOCKED ON THE PINK and do not allow them to shift to the cueball or what I suspect is shifting to the middle pocket before you strike the cueball. You cannot allow yourself to do this.

Start with the most simple pink, dead in with the cueball about 1ft behind it. Make sure it's dead-in to the inside of the far jaw and just roll it in below medium pace. Once you make maybe 5 of those increase the distance to 18" and do it again then increase to 2ft and do it again.

Repeat the whole process using medium pace and then repeat the process again trying to screw the cueball back into the top pocket. Let us know how you make out.

Terry

[armstm]

thank you terry and thanks for all your previous help. thanks also vmax.

I did miss a few again tonight on the practice table much to my extreme irritation. I also focused on slow backswing (no rise at the end which I found myself doing sometimes) and also a very loose grip. By the end I was knocking in some really good balls.

I do quit on some shots and I can tell I ain't cueing some very well, but am aware of this, hence focus on slow backswing, good follow thru (not achieved on some shots on video playback) and loose grip.

It's too early to say after one good practice session, but I felt I was making progress!