Lineup is a waste of time

[Leapfrog11]

In my opinion the lineup is a complete waste of time unless you are a really accomplished player.
I used to spend hours at lineups 98 being my best but 50 odd was my regular lineup break.

However when it came to matchplay a 30 break was a real struggle.
I gave up doing lineups and sprayed the balls all over the table and found my game improved immensely because I was hitting "real" shots.

What are yere thoughts Snooker Geniuses?:snooker:

[Neil Taperell]

A mate of mine , who used to be a Pro , said this was good to do . Think Hendry was an advocate of the line up he said .

Personally ,i find it frustrating but mix it up with other routines . Such as scattering the balls around as you do .

[mattyshinobi22]

its the shots within the line up you learn from, obviously in a real game you never get reds all nicely in a line.

however you do need to learn to play the back off the top cushion for the next red etc, stun, soft screw, using side to get on the other side of the reds etc.

all are key to high end break building.

I always play it by trying to get on a selected red, not just dropping on a red etc. a lot harder that way and you seem to learn more.

hear a lot of people complain about line ups, but this people don't hit regular tons in it. until you are doing this I would say stick at it has there's loads to be learnt from it.

[Leapfrog11]

Thats my point exactly Neil.

They were Pros and it is a good exercise for the really good players.

I think it is a confidence killer myself m8!

[jrc750]

... I think it is a confidence killer myself m8!

Surely it's a confidence booster ??? as all the shots are in theory quite straightforward, gets your arm going before a match

[Neil Taperell]

Still think you need to practice it as Matty says , as it does help your game .

Just mix it up a bit .

[greatwhite]

I can understand your frustration I have had loads of 100 breaks on the line up but in a match my highest is 74, I know use the line up for drilling in techniques, e.g stance head on the line of shot, feathers and pauses etc,
then I try long straight blues, then on to positional play,
the line up really helps me in working on consistency of my technique,
and I don't really count them as breaks any more, just a practise routine, so theres no pressure,

[bolton-cueman]

it should be part of a your practice routines, IMHO. I use it all the time - like Matty said its a challenge to aim for specific reds rather than just dropping into areas (which is what I do and do in real frames).

I find it great when I'm not feeling confident, sometimes only putting 7 or 8 reds on and giving me a relatively straightforward target to go for.

My practice time usually starts with the balls spread around the business end so I can loosen up then I do the line up, then reds in a line either side of the pink, then the balls in a cross, then 'last black' to yellow and colours clearance. etc

Its good to mix things up

(and Im really happy as today I made a 106 on the line up - my first ever ton!)

[humperdingle]

It really does need to be mixed with other routines... If I play solely line-up, it seems to kill my long game through lack of practice. Lesson learned.

[tedisbill]

It's very good IMO for getting consistent cueing in your game.

I had loads of centuries in the line up before I could ever do it in a proper frame.

If you can't even do it in the line up, then you've got no chance in a frame.

So I'd say stick at it. It's very useful.

[denja]

I agree a full line up can be a waste of time as in theory you should go back to the start if you miss ! I think a much better routine for the average player is just two reds above the black on its spot and four reds between the black and pink, If you can complete this simple routine and clear the table with no misses you are well on the way to being a good player, another simple routine is to place the colours in order opposite the center pocket in a line starting with yellow try to pot all balls in order into center pocket,to make it hard try to pot all balls from just one side of the table eg screw or maybe soft stun onto the next ball in line you need to start with a slight angle on the yellow to make this work.

[butch75]

what about ... colors on the spot ... one red above the black. Then you pot of course red and black. If you got it, you start over with two reds above black ... and so on ... you got the idea. But if you miss a red you have to restart with the ONE red above black. It's a good way of practising with pressure.

[cyberheater]

I agree a full line up can be a waste of time as in theory you should go back to the start if you miss ! I think a much better routine for the average player is just two reds above the black on its spot and four reds between the black and pink, If you can complete this simple routine and clear the table with no misses you are well on the way to being a good player

Yes. I've tried this quite a few times. I've never completed it yet. It's a tough one for me but I'm a 20 - 30 point break builder at the moment.

[DeanH]

I find it better (for me) to do a spread first, to get the eyes and arm moving well before then doing a line up.
Line up I can find confidence-draining as the "precision" of the shots just a tad too much sometimes.
Even then I do not let myself get too hooked on the line up and quickly move onto other practise routines, or just another spread to get the confidence back
I think the line up does have a place in a "serious" snooker-player's gamit of practise but just don't gte hung-up on it.

[Terry Davidson]

The line-up is a good practice routine for any level of player as there's always a relatively easy pot on and it's a good way to get the cue arm going and also learning positional play around the pink and black. Like any other practice routine though players can over-do it at the expense of other practice routines however.

I disagree with the 'rule' that if you miss a pot you have to re-set the whole thing and start over. I believe it's much more effective to replace the one ball you missed and keep trying it until you get the pot and the exact position you were playing for as this will add positive reinforcement to your practice. Also, always have a target positional spot and always try and think 2 pots ahead and if you make the pot but miss the position badluy then you should also re-set the pot until you have mastered the positional play.

If you spend 30 minutes a session doing the line-up that is plenty of time and will prevent boredom and then you should move on to other routines, especially practicing shots you miss on a regular basis. In my case I found for some unknown reason I was missing 3/4 pink ball pots from the green side of the table into the top pocket and also pinks into the middle green side pocket, so I practiced these until I got them down pat.

Another shot I practice is a cut-back black cueing from the jaws of the other top pocket and then moving the cueball progressively along the top cushion to make the cue even more fine. With practice this can become an important tool in your game but watch the in-off to the middle pocket which happens about 8" from the jaw along the cushion. Practice these from both sides of the table as I did find again I seem to be less accurate from the green side for some unknown reason.

Another important shot to practice is a thin yellow off its spot and holding for the green. You are using check side sideways on the nap and this shot is hard to judge sometimes, especially with a strong nap and also getting the green straight in or nearly so.

Terry