Shot making in practice vs. Shot making in a match

[lesedwards]

Yes that is exactly what I do. I watch it on Livesport TV and guess every shot and of course I am not right all the time but a lot of the time. I live for the game and I guess that's why I get so frustrated. I don't want to be an average player I want to be a good player. Now you will ask what do I figure as good, if I am left in the reds and there are few shots open I want to be able to run 50. My high break in a match is 43 which was two blacks and the colours. Like I have said before I do not have a problem with colours because they are straight forward no shot making decisions to make.

[j6uk]

Les, from were I'm sitting you seem a bit all over the place, regarding your whole approach.. You say you became a good golfer. You know what it takes?! you need to put into action the same principles and disciplines necessary for playing good snooker.

[Byrom]

Les, from were I'm sitting you seem a bit all over the place, regarding your whole approach.. You say you became a good golfer. You know what it takes?! you need to put into action the same principles and disciplines necessary for playing good snooker.

You mean when he misses throw his cue in a lake?

[Byrom]

Golf and snooker is a good analogy J6uk and there are similarities in the timing and the consistent approach needed and there are a lot of good snooker players who are great at golf too Williams, Stephens, Murphy - his pal in the Noddy car and a few that dont play on tour any more like Stephen Hendry, Thorburn and I am told one of the best players is actually John Parrot.

If I compare my snooker game to a golfer it would be this fella.

[md5299]

The nice sound you hear when you practice means your timing and cue ball striking is good if you get nervous in matches any flaws in your technique will soon let you down.When your timing in good you don't feel the cue ball so much as what you would if your were playing badly,like golf or cricket if you time the shot you don't really feel it.I find to keep my timing I alter where I grip the cue also alter the distance of my bridge from cue ball depending on the type of shot.Not everyone can play from the textbook you would go nuts,we are all different one flaw may cancel out another and so on,find what suites you best and work at it.Look at it this way someone who perhaps has played for 20 years with a touch of lefthand side has been aiming at the wrong angles for 20 years but has played well, if they then strike centre ball their angles would have to change,20 years worth.

[Byrom]

Only Joking Les - here this guy has a good tip for you that might help a bit with your progression. Most players problems stem from the grip I would say which I think is the basic bit to try and get right first because anything goes wrong here and it effects the swing and can become habitual as you progress and so it is so much harder to break a bad habit in this area of your game. He does not relate it to timing but it does relate to it and I thought it might be useful for your golf.

[lesedwards]

Les, from were I'm sitting you seem a bit all over the place, regarding your whole approach.. You say you became a good golfer. You know what it takes?! you need to put into action the same principles and disciplines necessary for playing good snooker.

Yes I do agree. I guess I look at my golf game and take it for granite. I never had a coach because of my bad arm I was self taught and was never one for practicing I spent every minute I could playing with better players. But when it comes to Snooker I spend two hours a night practicing because I am obsessed with game and there is no one to play with except when I go to our quailfiers once a month or get up to see Terry which is where I am going tomorrow. We have a qualifier this weekend. I started taking the game serious last year so I guess at 50 you can only expect so much. I have 40 years of golf in.

[j6uk]

http://www.147academy.com/index.php?...e-mind-fitness

Yes I do agree. I guess I look at my golf game and take it for granite. I never had a coach because of my bad arm I was self taught and was never one for practicing I spent every minute I could playing with better players. But when it comes to Snooker I spend two hours a night practicing because I am obsessed with game and there is no one to play with except when I go to our quailfiers once a month or get up to see Terry which is where I am going tomorrow. We have a qualifier this weekend. I started taking the game serious last year so I guess at 50 you can only expect so much. I have 40 years of golf in.

[j6uk]

Could do! But would open the window first, wouldn't wanna draw the attention of the Mrs

You mean when he misses throw his cue in a lake?

[Terry Davidson]

OK everyone:

Les came up to my place today as one frustrated player who was almost ready to chuck his cue out the window or into a lake.

After watching his videos posted in this string I noted it really looked like he was lining the cue up to the right at address and then compensating for that during the more dynamic delivery, so the first thing we did today was to check his sighting. The first time I set up the laser he was bang on with the laser hitting the middle of his tip and going up the shaft.

However, we did the same thing a couple more times and it turned out he was lining up to the right at address, so I determined we had a slight sighting problem. I had also noted from the videos his cue was to the left side of his chin and the cue was well off his chest so the cue only had 2 points of reference and no 4-point channel.

So I had Les change a few things and he has taken a list home with him to work on the following things:

1. His grip was way too tight and also he had his wrist joint bent forward (similar to Willie Thorne's grip) but because of this grip being well into his palm and using the back 3 fingers tight the butt of the cue was lifting on the backswing, even a short backswing. So I had him reconfigure his grip to get it more towards the middle pad of the fingers and also up against the web between forefinger and thumb and then on the backswing have the cue push into the web while at the same time releasing the back 3 fingers.

2. For the sighting problem I had him turn his head slightly to the left but only about 10 degrees or so and this placed the cue on the centre of the chin and also brought his right eye (his preferred eye which is also stronger) more into line with the cue. I felt it was important to get the cue to centre chin rather than outside the chin as he had been doing.

3. Les had devoted a lot of time to watching and trying out the Nic Barrow coaching DVDs. Nic is an advocate of not having the cue against the chest unless the player has already developed that habit. Les was consciously trying to keep the cue well off his chest so I explained to him that with a new player attempting to learn to cue straighter it was much, much better to go with Del Hill's idea of having the cue fairly tight onto the chest and chin so there is a 4-point channel to keep the cue straight.

4. I also had Les try some long blues and working to keep the cue on the chest and chin during BOTH the backswing and delivery. I did this by having him get into the address position and pushing the chin and chest onto the cue really hard until the cue actually bent (you can see the tip rising on the cueball a bit) and then easing that off but still keep the cue firmly against the chest and chin.

Just in the short time Les had to work on these things before he left we noticed a definite improvement. As he said in his post he was missing straight in pinks off the spot to the left of the pocket every time, just catching the outer edge of the jaw. After the above changed he was potting the pink centre-pocket every time and he was also a lot more accurate on the long blues.

But to be perfectly clear, Les has a LOT of work ahead of him to get these changes to become a natural part of his technique. He can now sight accurately, he now has a straight backswing if he keeps the cue on the chest and chin and also a straight delivery also if he keep the cue against the chest (he does drop his elbow slightly so the cue does come off the chin a bit near the end of the delivery but well after the strike).

Once Les gets his table re-done next week and has his pockets cut correctly I think this will also help him gain some confidence which his poorly cut pockets were draining from him.

But if anyone else attempts to try these things out, or indeed any technique change at all, remember the golden rule is ALWAYS start with very easy shots for awhile until you become familiar with the change and develop some confidence in it but only work on ONE thing at a time.

Terry

[lesedwards]

Well I spent a couple hours with my coach this afternoon (Terry Davidson) we worked on a lot of things but mainly stance grip and my delivery and most important keeping my chest and chin as points of refference. I have a bad habbit of letting my cue free wheel meaning out from my body. Now i have my chest and chin on the cue through out my delivery. Stay tuned I will work hard on this and I hope to play half decent in our Qualifier this weekend.

[tedisbill]

Sounds like Terry has given you a lot of things to work on there Les.

Just remember, it will take time. But as long as you practice the things Terry has shown you, you will see steady improvement in your game. Good luck. Look forward to hearing about your progress.

[ADR147]

If i knew how to make players take their shot making in practise to the match table I would be a coaching legend! same as any sport this is the difference between the good and the great. I have seen hundreds of players on the club table that could comprete with anyone in the world but the tv table is a different world. i bet you know people that throw regular 180's at darts but try doing it against phil taylor for £100k !!

[Terry Davidson]

ADR:

Very true. Even Hendry complained when he was in his prime that he wished he could bring his practice game to the match table.

I have a story about Hendry and Higgins a few years back. A Canadian ex-pro was over visiting and went to Sterling to meet up with them and they were having a best-of-19 practice session. At the end of it they had 11 centuries between them!

Terry

[lesedwards]

Sounds like Terry has given you a lot of things to work on there Les.

Just remember, it will take time. But as long as you practice the things Terry has shown you, you will see steady improvement in your game. Good luck. Look forward to hearing about your progress.

Yes lots to think about but when it all comes together I look like a well oiled machine....LOL I have been practicing all morning and will continue for the rest oh the day. As long as I put Terry's points into action the results are amazing. The cue into my chest is the biggest improvement of all. Once I have sighted and make my final pause providing I have sighted correctly it's in all I have to worry about is position.