Lineup is a waste of time

[dieselman147]

The line up is a very useful practice routine. my best is 3 147s in a row. I dont practice that much now but can still get a 147 now and then. my hb in a game is 145. It is much easier than match play but does really improve your break building and positional play especially around the black. Even when im struggling with my game if i get in around the pink and black i can still make big breaks just keeping good position and im sure this has come from plenty of line up practice. i do the 4 6 5 setup 4 being between black and top cush. when starting at the line up youre best using less reds and adding more as you improve as its not beneficial to keep putting 15 reds up if youre not getting close to clearing.

[lesedwards]

I started last night with a real solid routine that I am going to stick with it I will let you know by the end of next week. I was running 6 last night from Black to Pink. I also have Terry coming tomorrow.

[Terry Davidson]

dieselman:

That's exactly the same line-up configuration I use although I have never tried for a 147 and more by mismanagement than skill at getting correct position I have managed a 145 as my highest line-up break (2 pinks). I always recommend to my students to take the ball that will give them the best position which is not necessarily the easiest pot and this way it will follow a real frame a little more and they get more practice on those unusual cuts or positional shots.

I also tell them if they miss a pot or get position they can't recover from (like too low on the black) then re-set the shot and keep trying it until they get it correct and that will lead to positive reinforcement and more confidence when they come across those shots in a real frame.

Terry

[j6uk]

You really do go against the grain as a maxi man tel! Everyone I know who's made the max in a frame would've chased for it religiously in the lineup first.. Your a one off fella

dieselman:

That's exactly the same line-up configuration I use although I have never tried for a 147 and more by mismanagement than skill at getting correct position I have managed a 145 as my highest line-up break (2 pinks).

Terry

[j6uk]

That's good going, you must'a flicked the auto switch
I've done two on the bounce and missed the 14th red for three. First was a triangle red max, the second was a sequential red max and the third started sequentially but turned willy nilly after loosing posish..

The line up is a very useful practice routine. my best is 3 147s in a row. I dont practice that much now but can still get a 147 now and then. .

[pottr]

I've done two in a row a few times, only had the time to attempt the third once and missed the first black like a ******...

Terry, is that true? You've never gone for the max on the lineout?

As someone who has never made a maximum in a genuine frame unlike yourself I find that very annoying... haha.

[Terry Davidson]

j6uk & pottr:

I think a competitive player should practice the line-up so it's as close to a real frame as possible. If you're going for 147's in the line-up then you have to choose reds to get on the black and not what you would do in a competitive frame and that is to choose the red which gives you the easiest and most accurate position on any colour.

What does making a 147 in the line-up give you other than bragging rights. They don't count for anything and there's no pack to break, no balls on the cushions and no colours to free up or move. A frame of snooker in competitive play is over once a player makes a break of 10 or 11 reds.

However, if someone plays snooker just for the enjoyment and doesn't play competitively then by all means he can set a target for himself of getting a 147, or even better taking the reds sequentially from either the top end or the one nearest the blue as the first red, or else pocketing all 15 reds in the same pocket.

I do the sequential thing and have done it many times but with that I have to take the colour which gives me the best positional chance at the next red in sequence and this exercise also teaches you to think at least 2 shots ahead. Running a 147 makes the player choose another red rather than the one he played on if he misses position by only an inch or so whereas in a match frame he wouldn't think twice about taking the best red for position.

Besides which, it's only the pros that get any prizes for running a 147 and in the past 2 or 3 seasons even that hasn't been very much compared to what it used to be.

All that said though, if an opportunity presented itself to me to get a 147 in a regular frame in either match or practice I would go for it usually after I've run 8 or more blacks although I haven't had one even in practice for years now, the closest being a 143 awhile ago.

Besides which at my age and playing competitively I just want to win the damned frame and match any way I can since that has always been my primary objective and that in itself is difficult enough.

Terry

[j6uk]

Yeah, I too have twisted my noodles like brutus trying to workout, how the hell tel managed to make a max, taking up the game so late in his 40s. I can only think it must have been years of necking all that canned spinach at sea in the navy

[itsnoteasy]

If I was you Les and I couldn't do a 15 red line and 10 blacks by the end of next week, I'd think about selling the table.

Jeez your a hard man J6 lol.
Diesel man, and all who have done multiple 147s, that is bloody amazing well done to all.

[dieselman147]

When i first started the line up i use to put up less reds and added more as i was clearing the table. once all 15 were up id do as Terry says and take the best positional balls to make the clearance as easy as possible. once i TC i leave the white where it is and set up again and carry on. once you reach a certain standard though the line up become quite easy and aiming for 147s just makes it more interesting. you dont have to take on reds you havent played for to achieve this though as you can generally play for a couple of reds each time so dont limit yourself to just one. definatly agree that its unheard of for a maxi man not to have made a 147 on the line up as it should be very easy for someone who had achieved that. practice hard and keep it interesting!

[j6uk]

Doin maxeen in the lineup is part of a snooker players apprenticeship, 3-5 years of hard graft, watching your game blossom before your eyes, its the natural progression after many willy nilly lineup clearances.
I do admit though, before I put in that hard work, when my highest break was 67 and with no real solid practice behind me, I was telling people I had made a ton, because I felt the 100 was in me and I was 15..

[dieselman147]

i agree and think the line yp should be a main practice routine for all players in what ever form suits there current standard. its also a good judge of a players ability. many many players claim the ton when they havent had one because it sounds good but just watching them play will give them away. when you know its a lie it must not feel too good either, cant fool yourself.

[Terry Davidson]

j6uk:

The reason I was able to become a decent player in my EARLY 40's (I moved to Scotland when I was 39-1/2 as soon as I retired from the navy) was every weekend in those days there was a large pro-am tournament on in either England or Scotland so I was playing top players in matches every weekend.

Every day I practiced with better players too like Jimmy McNellan, John and Julio Rae, Jim Donnelly, Kenny MacIntosh, Eddie Sinclair, Gino Rigitano, and other good amateurs and pros in Scotland and then when I moved to Leicester I still played in large pro-ams and also practiced every day with really great players. Bob Chaperone used to come down and stay with me for 2 weeks at a time and we would practice 8-10 hours every day on my match table, also practiced with Willie and Cliff when he was in town. Also used to practice with Mick Price quite a bit too as he was just down the road and we used to travel together to the pro ticket tournaments (he made it but I just missed).

So all of that match play and prime practice helped me become a decent player but when I came back to Canada the game was very poorly managed and I quit playing and then I moved to the States where there was no snooker at all so I lost whatever I had and am still trying to get some of it back, but at my age it's REALLY difficult.

Terry

[j6uk]

You do love to drop a name tel I counted 11..
Still unbelievable to pickup a cue at that age, bag a max and untold tons, within a few years. I know you said you were no good at the game when you tried it in your teens but, little did you know..
You must be fuming inside. All those years wasted at sea when you potentially could've been lifting titles and pocketing heavy checks

[itsnoteasy]

I have sometimes thought why didn't you play pool Terry, when you were in the states but to be honest I don't think I would if the snooker hall shut down, it just doesn't float my boat, I take it you were the same.
That is some list of playing partners there, even I have heard of half of them lol, must have been great days.
A quick question for the great players on this thread, is competitive play essential to improve, I struggle to get someone better than me to play against, not that I'm good just that they hardly come in, or when they do ,they come in together, so I'm still on me Jack, they probably wouldn't want to play me anyway lol.