Hitting the ball too hard

[AzureFlyer]

Hi guy's,

I am finding in games I am hitting the ball to hard at times, any tips or tricks to eliminate this from my game? It's almost like a rush of blood to the head.

Cheers

[tedisbill]

Just before you play a long shot, which people tend to hit too hard, think to yourself "don't hit this too hard".

Hope this helps.

[AzureFlyer]

It's just silly things if I am honest, for example.. red just above the blue spot, blue spotted... Pot the red and running too far for the blue... silly things. Is there any drills to cure these errors

[j6uk]

have you ever had coaching, if so what did they say?

[AzureFlyer]

Never had any coaching, all self taught. Don't even know of any snooker coaches here. I went tonight and played some frames, forcing myself to play with more control. I was potting well.... I think its just trying to force the white too much... Ill keep doing what I'm doing and see what happens.

If anyone has any tips to try out, let me know.

Thanks

[DeanH]

Hitting the ball too hard

A mate of mine always used to hit too hard as he said that was the only way he could get the white to move around. I said to him it was because he was always hitting the cue ball in the centre. I showed him the top and bottom routine with the blue to the centre pockets and how little you need to hit to get the cue ball to move a lot.
is this something that you could be doing?
He was aiming the tip to the top/bottom of the cue ball but actually hitting centre on delivery.
I then got him to play the blue up and through the baulk area with not too much power.
maybe something to check

[j6uk]

this lad knows a bit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVjIZpY3Yug
enjoy

[Byrom]

Bad tables make bad players - If there is a good table - pay more and play on it. Practicing on a steel blocked table with tighter pockets and faster cloth and heated bed will help - you will soon get in the habit of playing smoother after a few weeks on one of those - as you don't need to wack it for position as much and you can trust them not to roll off more with a thinner nap - I think it would do you good to play on one if you can find one in your area.

[AzureFlyer]

A mate of mine always used to hit too hard as he said that was the only way he could get the white to move around. I said to him it was because he was always hitting the cue ball in the centre. I showed him the top and bottom routine with the blue to the centre pockets and how little you need to hit to get the cue ball to move a lot.
is this something that you could be doing?
He was aiming the tip to the top/bottom of the cue ball but actually hitting centre on delivery.
I then got him to play the blue up and through the baulk area with not too much power.
maybe something to check

That could be exactly what I am doing...

Byrom,

The tables I play on are slate bed, and recently recovered as of last week.

[Granger147]

Hi guy's,

I am finding in games I am hitting the ball to hard at times, any tips or tricks to eliminate this from my game? It's almost like a rush of blood to the head.

Cheers

Maybe you need more of a routine in your cueing or maybe your grip is too tight which is limiting what you can do with the cue ball.

[Byrom]

What I mean is - star table - aristocrat - or a good steel blocker with pro cloth n heated bed.

[AzureFlyer]

I don't know where I would have access to a table of this quality.

As for the routine, I think I could do with something, as when I cue no 2 shots are the same.

[Shockerz]

I had a phase or over hitting the shots a while back. We had a player who was part of the National Billiards Team Winners last year and he advised me to try the 3 fingered grip.

I've been using it for some time now and my positional play has moved on from 20's and 30's to regular 40's through to 70's.

Now I'm not saying this is right as I'm not a coach but it has certainly helped me.

[tommygunner1309]

As for the routine, I think I could do with something, as when I cue no 2 shots are the same.

You could try this. Place a red about 4 inches from one of the black pockets and the black on its spot. Place the cue ball around the pink spot, making sure that you have an angle on to pot the red and come off the top cushion. You should play the shot so that you come off the top cushion and land so that you are dead straight on the black. Believe me, you cannot hit the white much more than quarter strength. when you can complete this shot 10 out of 10, start moving the cue ball a little further down the table. You will still need to hit the ball about quarter strength to get correct position on the black. Make this practice routine about 30 minutes long, then have a coffee for ten minutes. When you restart, place the blue on its spot, and a red about 6 inches from one of the middle pockets. Place the cue ball high on the blue, but able to see and pot the red. Pot the red, but with only enough strength to land dead straight on the blue to the opposite pocket. Again, you will not be able to hit the ball too hard or you will lose position on the blue. Practice this for half an hour. Next place the cue ball on the brown spot. Put a red two inches from the top cushion so that you can pot it into the left black pocket - the object here is to pot the red, but with only enough strength so that the cue ball finishes level with the pink spot. Practice this for half an hour. Go through this routine every time you go to the snooker table.
A boring routine to help you stop hitting the ball too hard is this one. Place the cue ball on the brown spot. Play it up the table to run over the black spot, bounce off the top cushion and with only enough strength for the cue ball to stop on the blue spot. When you can do this regularly, stop the cue ball on the pink spot. This does two things. Teaches you to hit the cue ball without too much power, and also teaches you to hit the cue ball dead straight. Any slight trace of side and you will not hit the blue or pink spots.

Give this a couple of months - and you will find that your game is much more controlled.
Hope it gives you some advancement.

[rovnos]

Hi Azureflyer,
i think a very good technique to improve positional play is one i saw Nic Barrow use. Try this.... have a couple of hours practice on your own and take a circle of thin paper with you . Make this between 1-2 inch in diameter , it's not too important as long as it stands out when on the table. (so make it white !). Now what you have to do is any practice routine you care to do and on every shot, place the white disc of paper where you want the cueball to finish.Then, play the shot and try to land on the paper disc.After the shot, pick up the disc and place it on the next wanted cueball position, and so on... This will give you a true picture of how good your positional play REALLY is but more importantly for you, it will give your brain a clear spot to put the cueball and your sub-conscious mind will start to control the pace of the shot better. After doing this in practice, you must then take this to the match table, minus the disc of course ! lol. Just play as usual but before each shot, pick an exact spot where you want to leave the cueball, rather than just an area like most people tend to do, and picture the path the cueball will travel to land on that spot. Only play the shot when this is clear in your mind. Of course, the longer you do this the more you'll improve but don't be to hard on yourself when you start because getting close to that white disc regularly is much tougher than you might think !
hope this helps, good luck.