ready to quit , think my eyes are telling lies

[pcb]

hi all , was hoping someone can help. i have been playing this wonderful game for 20 years , ( highest break 138 years years ago ). i have had all the coaching advice going , read all the books , watched all the dvds and done everything to find out why i cant play to the standard i expect . i stand behind the line of aim as explained by coaches , i put my left foot on the line of the shot and look at the object ball on impact . i am sorry to say nothing the text book snooker says has improved or helped me in my game , so my only theory to why my game is now at at a all time low is that my vision is picking out the wrong line of the shot and not picking out the middle of the cue ball with my tip. ,therefore causing me to miss . I AM CONVINCED MY EYES ARE NOT FEEDING BACK TO MY BRAIN THE CORRECT LINE OF THE SHOT . i am left handed but right eyed dominant , (tried right eye over the cue but still no consistant improvement ) . 1 thing i do is pot the straight blue from on its spot with cue ball on the baulk line into 1 of the top pockets but never able to follow the white into the same pocket, i pot the ball but the white always after contact with blue goes of to left or right , this surley means my eyes are not telling me the the correct straight line i need to select the correct line to send the cue ball , i am considering one last attempt before i quit is to try snooker glasses to see if it corrects the problem . MY IDEAL on this great forum would be advice from snooker players / opticians LOL FOR THE BEST ADVICE ON WHETHER I AM BARKIING UP THE WRONG TREE. SORRY FOR THE LONG RANT BUT DONT REALLY WANT TO HANG UP MY CUE BEFORE FINDING THE ANSWERS, IS IT BECAUSE MY EYES HAVE A PARALEX ERROR SO HAVE NO CHANCE FINDING A STRAIGHT LINE . ANY HELP WILL BE GREAT .

[itsnoteasy]

I would say it means you haven't got the balls in a line. I don't mean that to sound flippant but if you are potting the blue you are picking the right line, and hitting the point you have picked, so that only leaves the balls being ever so slightly out of line. Can you play up and down the spots ? If yes then you are cueing straight and finding the centre of the white. Sorry I don't know how to fix anything, but it must be very very frustrating being at that high standard, and it slipping.

[cyberheater]

If you the balls are not blurred but are sharp then there is nothing wrong with your vision.

I think you need to bite the bullet and go and see a proper snooker coach. It would be cheaper then a pair of glasses anyway and they should be able to correct any cueing errors you've got.

[j6uk]

iv had sighting and alignment issues like most players who've played for a while at a good level, though mine was due to a sighting accident. i found standing behind the shot, weight on the balls of my feet, and dropping the head straight down with my eyes fixed onto the part of the ob i want to hit, helped me greatly

[itsnoteasy]

PCB, I have thought of a little exercise you could try it may prove one way or the other if you are cueing exactly where you want.
Put blue on the spot, put white on the yellow or green spot, doesn't matter, pot the blue into the bottom corner with a touch of follow , hard enough to reach the bottom end of the table,, mark with a red where the white stops or makes contact with the Cush.Now replay the shot lots of times, you will have the exact same starting position all the time as the balls are on the spots so if you cue consistently you should canon the red with the white every time, might be worth a try.

[macmaw]

It could be as simple as cue action, you will get days where you cant miss a ball but unless you have a consistent cue action then you wont have consistent results
HTH.

[vmax4steve]

1 thing i do is pot the straight blue from on its spot with cue ball on the baulk line into 1 of the top pockets but never able to follow the white into the same pocket, i pot the ball but the white always after contact with blue goes of to left or right , this surley means my eyes are not telling me the the correct straight line i need to select the correct line to send the cue ball

What you are doing is playing with unitentional side. The shot is lined up either with you not addressing the centre of the cue ball, or the cue arm is coming across the cue ball on delivery, making the cue ball push out off the line of aim, come back in to contact the obejct ball on the line of aim, therefore potting the object ball, but as the cue ball has reached the contact point of the object ball from outside the line of aim it doesn't follow through on the line of aim.

Some players have subconsciously learned to play this way on every shot, I know of more than one bloke at our club who does this, one of whom is a very good potter, except on straight shots as he can't seem to work out the throw of the cue ball unless he has an angle to judge.
The consensus for such players is they need to aim every shot thicker than needed than when using centre ball striking, which is what happens when intentional side is used, the differing degrees of which alter according to pace of the shot and whether the shot is against, across or with the nap of the cloth.
On a straight shot there is no angle so how does one aim thicker ? That confuses a lot of people.

An awful lot of players simply can't cue dead straight and this is how they get by.

You could accept that you play this way and embrace it, but seeing the cue ball goes left and right after contact I would say that as it's not consistantly one side then you are simply cueing badly or lining it up wrong, or you could try to stop it and learn to cue straight.
If you want to learn to cue straight then first of all get your vision sorted by an optician, tell them that you need optimum sight in the field of between three and twenty feet for snooker purposes and they will supply you with a prescription for this. Glasses or contact lenses, it's your choice.

With vision sorted practise playing the cue ball from the brown spot, over the blue, pink and black spots to come back to the tip of your cue. Give your self something to focus your eyes on right behind the black spot on the top (black) cushion like a chalk mark or even a block of chalk on the rail, and keep the eyes focussed on this at the moment of the strike.

If the cue ball comes back to the tip of your cue then you are cueing straight, if it doesn't then see where it actually goes and adjust your sighting to compensate.

Stand behind the cue ball again and focus on the mark on the cushion or the block of chalk on the rail, switch your eyes between this and the cue ball and see the line of aim. If neccessary turn your head and body, adjust your feet, to find the greatest clarity of vision that gives you the clearest view of the line of aim and approach your stance from that position.
Don't think at all about where you are placing your feet, simply get down into your stance while focussing on the chalk mark or block of chalk (the target) with the cue ball in your peripheral vision, or what I do which is focus on the cue ball with the target in your peripheral vision, or switch your eyes between the two when getting down. One method will work better for you so find out which.

Play this exercise making minor adjustments to your stance, body/feet/head position until you find the correct stance that puts the cue on the line of aim in conjunction with your eyes as they see a straight line.

I don't think you have a problem finding a straight line, you know you have a dominant eye and it's only those who don't have a dominant eye that can't sight a straight line.

[Terry Davidson]

In nearly all of these cases it's normally the cue delivery which is at fault. If you believe you have a problem go and visit a good optometrist first and see if you have any vision errors. The reason I say this is doubtful is because in everything else you do on a daily basis (driving, watching TV, walking, etc.) if you had a vision problem you would notice it.

The most difficult thing to do in snooker is to deliver the cue consistently straight and no matter what anyone says I believe this is the reason for most missed pots. It could be you're not focused on the object ball at the time of strike, as j6uk says it could be because you are not dropping your head down perfectly straight on the line of aim as you assume the address position.

The easiest way for you to check this out is to get a video camera and set it up over a top pocket so it takes in your left elbow down to about 6" in front of the cueball and then record about 10 long blues. Use a stop shot so you have a little power in the shot. Then download 'Kinovea' and look at the video frame-by-frame and stop the video at the time of strike to see if you are going through the centre of the cueball IN A STRAIGHT LINE (which can happen if you are cueing left-to-right which is very common).

Also check the backswing against the leather of teh green pocket and ensure it's perfectly straight and then do the same with the delivery to make sure the cue stays on the centre of the pocket leather.

If you see the cue move AT ALL against the leather of the green pocket either during the backswing or delivery then that is your problem.

Terry

[AveshR]

I was also convinced at some point that my sighting was a problem. Exact same symptom as you, where the cue ball would deviate off the line after impact on a straight in shot. Also missed a lot of long straight pots and noticed unintentional side on most shots, even when I was potting the balls.

Only after a close video inspection, as suggested by Terry above, did I realize that I was not cueing straight at all. I found that my CCP (chest contact point) which I always relied on to deliver the cue straight, was actually not on the line of the shot, but slightly to the left of that line when I got down into my stance. This was causing my grip to go from right to left during the stroke, in attempting to finish the shot with my grip contacting my chest. A small adjustment of making sure my chest contact point was always on the line of the shot made a big difference.

Agree 100% with Terry that you should first ensure you are cueing straight on line before assuming your eyes are deceiving you.

Good luck!

[itsnoteasy]

Could someone explain how the blue is getting potted all the time with a wonky delivery and side on the white?

[jb134]

Just play mate. I've never been able to see but it doesn't matter, it's a memory game. Put a it of time in, remember where the bags are and enjoy it, you're never going to make a living at it so enjoy the good shots and good frames, if you punish yourself when you miss it'll kill your enjoyment.

If you're knocking in straight blues who cares where the white goes? You're close enough and you're not ding or Neil Robertson. Sounds to me like you've done too much solo practice and you've done your own brain in.

Hope your eyes are good enough to read this.

Just enjoy the game!

[alabadi]

It was actually not on the line of the shot, but slightly to the left of that line when I got down into my stance. This was causing my grip to go from right to left during the stroke, in attempting to finish the shot with my grip contacting my chest. A small adjustment of making sure my chest contact point was always on the line of the shot made a big difference.
Good luck!

i have had this problem for a while. and haven't been able to cure it completely yet, i have good days and bad days, i'm interested what adjustments you made to cure this problem

[AveshR]

i have had this problem for a while. and haven't been able to cure it completely yet, i have good days and bad days, i'm interested what adjustments you made to cure this problem

For me, the adjustment involved a slight shift of my stance to the right. As a guideline to ensure i do this consistently, i found it helps to now place the heel of my right foot on the line of the shot, whereas previously it used to be the toes on the line of the shot. This works for me because my right foot is turned out slightly. The small adjustment of the foot brought the rest of my body more in line, especially my chest.

[itsnoteasy]

For me, the adjustment involved a slight shift of my stance to the right. As a guideline to ensure i do this consistently, i found it helps to now place the heel of my right foot on the line of the shot, whereas previously it used to be the toes on the line of the shot. This works for me because my right foot is turned out slightly. The small adjustment of the foot brought the rest of my body more in line, especially my chest.

Shhh! Don't tell everyone they will all be doing it lol.