Can't get through the lineup - tips and ideas

[Terry Davidson]

In the Mizerak video I notice he does have a long front pause. I've never really watched any of the pool players before. He does feather though, but a couple of short ones

Terry

[vmax4steve]

After reading through the first chapter I have already come across a major flaw. This flaw shows up in any games I play but does not show up in practice.
TOP THREE BASICS
Stand behind your cue ball aiming line.
Put your nose on that line!
In your mind, see where you want the cue ball to finish.
What is your next ball?
What is your desired angle and distance from the next ball?
In your mind, see and hear the cue ball move at the correct speed from where it is now, then to the object ball, then to the desired position. In your mind, feel how to play the shot.
Know correct height to strike the cue ball.
In your mind, feel the correct speed of striking the cue ball.
In your mind, see and hear the object ball going into the pocket at its correct speed.

Now when I practice I am always thinking this like practicing blacks and playing the cue ball up for a blue or yellow. I notice I hit the ball solid and drive through the cue ball. Now when I play a game or a big match my thinking changes I don't think.LOL I am never sure where the cue ball is going and there is no plan on how hard do you hit it and where should the tip hit the cue ball, so with no plan I roll the ball instead of a nice stun shot. I stab at, I lift up all for the simple reason I have no plan for the cue ball. Funny after a match I drive home thinking what went wrong and the whole match is a blur.

SO WHAT IS THE SIMPLEST WAY TO PUT THIS INTO USE WITHOUT TAKING HOURS AT THE TABLE AND PISSING OFF MY OPPONENT.

Way too much to think about Les. Simply practise the line up with all the reds on the table and pot the balls by looking at the object ball. Subconsciously you will learn where the cue ball goes and then you will not have to think, you will simply see it and know what to do when looking at the situation of the balls as they lie.
Do not keep on replacing every ball you miss, carry on as if the pot has been made until only the black is left.

Stop standing behind the shot as if you're lining up a six foot putt on the 17th at Augusta. There are no borrows or dips on a snooker table, every shot is a dead straight line to the pocket. Speed it up and find your rhythm.

[lesedwards]

Way too much to think about Les. Simply practise the line up with all the reds on the table and pot the balls by looking at the object ball. Subconsciously you will learn where the cue ball goes and then you will not have to think, you will simply see it and know what to do when looking at the situation of the balls as they lie.
Do not keep on replacing every ball you miss, carry on as if the pot has been made until the only the black is left.

Stop standing behind the shot as if you're lining up a six foot putt on the 17th at Augusta. There are no borrows or dips on a snooker table, every shot is a dead straight line to the pocket. Speed it up and find your rhythm.

LOL Is that really what I look like. How appropriate with the Masters on this weekend.

[itsnoteasy]

Hi guys thanks for all your great comments, now it's my turn to respond...LOL
1. Eyes, I agree I am spending to much time over the ball and I know my eyes are wondering all over the place and deffinatly moving towards the pocket when they should not.
2. My bridge, Terry has worked with me on this and he also knows that sometimes because of the position of the cue ball I find it really difficult to get my bridge where it should be due to my bad arm which has little movement and my wrist also does not move like normal.
3. Tight pockets, this is a big topic. Some people say make them bigger, Cliff says your pockets can never be too big when you are working on your game, Terry says larger pockets will give me a chance to work on positional play and boost my confidence. Then Floyd says the table plays great one of the best tables he has played on. Says it really tightens up his game but I need a game to tighten up...LOL others say I am better to leave them alone also. I have mixed feelings on what I should do.
3. Punching not sure if this was the correct word to use, I am trying to say that I must accelerate through the cue ball.
4. Long back swing, I guess this stems back to my golf days.....when you are putting or chipping long back swings will destroy your game. Short back swing and accelerate through the ball. I watch golfers take big back swings then de celerate when they get to the ball which causes them to either thin it across the green or hit behind the ball. I find if I go to the big long back swing I have the same problem with snooker.
Not sure if I covered everything and I am sure Terry will add some very good points when he wakes up and watches the videos. I will practice all your suggestions and post more videos later this week.
Thanks.

I missed this bit about the long backswing destroying your golf game when putting or chipping, but I feel you missed the point, the long backswing is for power shots (, screw backs or full follow through, and full forcing stun shots),like a drive at golf, you don't have a little jabby half swing that stops at the ball, you have a full back swing and accelerate through the ball, just like snooker. Putting and chipping could be equated to playing round the pink and black spot where you need touch shots so these require the appropriate swing length for the shot but as you said you would still accelerate through the ball and end the shot in a natural position,not stop in an abrupt fashion as you hit it.
If it were me I would just play straight pinks with follow through , stun and screw into the bottom bag from around the middle bag(far enough in to get my hand on the table comfortably, at different paces ) that's all I would do until I'm potting them at a very high consistency and staying still and down after the shot and checking my grip at the end of the stroke is the same as at the beginning, making sure I'm opening the back of my hand, so my cue stays on that level trajectory ,for me until you get rid of the tension and let the cue do the work so that cue comes through nicely ,there is no point trying to do anything else, technique first breaks will follow.
With this exercise the pocket size won't matter as much, as if you hit it full in the face as long as the pocket is bigger than the ball it will go in, once you feel you can do this try potting three quarter pinks then half ball etc, then move on to potting them and following through a certain distance , then screw back to a certain point or stun run through, this will teach cue ball control, it may sound easy but master this with the three basic pots (full ,half, quarter ball) and get the white in the area you want and you will be well on your way, but it won't happen overnight.

[luke-h]

Sometimes what's needed is to forget about everything else and take one pot at a time and just pot balls and get a bit of rhythm going

[lesedwards]

Sometimes what's needed is to forget about everything else and take one pot at a time and just pot balls and get a bit of rhythm going

Yes you got that right, now I understand when I see a guy on the range trying to hit balls. Keep head Down, take back slow, check grip and so on. Must be very frustrating. Time to just start potting and forget about everything for a while.

[vmax4steve]

Yes you got that right, now I understand when I see a guy on the range trying to hit balls. Keep head Down, take back slow, check grip and so on. Must be very frustrating. Time to just start potting and forget about everything for a while.

I was watching The Masters last night and Peter Alliss said something very interesting, "First you learn to hit the ball, then you learn to play the game, then you learn to get your head and heart together".

You haven't learnt to hit the ball yet Les and already you're thinking about the game and your head and heart.

[itsnoteasy]

I was watching The Masters last night and Peter Alliss said something very interesting, "First you learn to hit the ball, then you learn to play the game, then you learn to get your head and heart together".

You haven't learnt to hit the ball yet Les and already you're thinking about the game and your head and heart.

BANG right on the button.

[j6uk]

Here you go

this table don't look like its been stet up right. the pockets do look a bit nippy, more so than a aristocrat. it dont look unplayable but it just looks a bit hoch poch/ make shift, like the old and new have been pushed together

[itsnoteasy]

Think Les tried to open it up already j6, could be this you have spotted.

[j6uk]

its all a wee bit bey the bey, once i saw les cueing over the middle pocket to pot pinks in the corner i new he was a lost cause.
what has become amusing though is every thread he's involved in turns into another one of his mad coaching session..
don't get me wrong, i still enjoy it

[lesedwards]

I was watching The Masters last night and Peter Alliss said something very interesting, "First you learn to hit the ball, then you learn to play the game, then you learn to get your head and heart together".

You haven't learnt to hit the ball yet Les and already you're thinking about the game and your head and heart.

Yea I know what you are saying....LOL I have heard them all from Terry, you have to walk before you run, there is no such thing as a quick fix, there is no Majic that will make you great in days, you need to learn how to hit the ball before you start looking at all the rest of the game. Sometimes don't you wish you could turn back the clock and start again. I just love the game and want to be a good player. When I say good I am talking being able to run 50 and 60's when given the chance and at least be able to run regular breaks of 30's. Played last night with a friend that stopped by and my high run was 13 and I tried what Terry was saying by hitting the ball firm and stunning it. I actually felt like I played pretty good. Made a lot of single reds with no colours in fact the second game I made 10 reds with only 3 colours.

[lesedwards]

Think Les tried to open it up already j6, could be this you have spotted.

Yes I did, I have a table fitter coming hopefully this week to fix them. The problem is there is not a lot of room in the corners but even another 1/4" would help and a little off the radius on the middle pockets.

[lesedwards]

its all a wee bit bey the bey, once i saw les cueing over the middle pocket to pot pinks in the corner i new he was a lost cause.
what has become amusing though is every thread he's involved in turns into another one of his mad coaching session..
don't get me wrong, i still enjoy it

Lost cause that's a tough one to take on a Sunday morning... I was only doing that video to see what was happening to my follow through. My worst shot is a simple dead in follow through and the further I move the cue ball from the object ball the worse it gets so that was the reason for the video.

[Terry Davidson]

Les:

When I recommended to you to try hitting the ball harder all the time I guess I forgot to say 'during solo practice'. When you are playing with another player there is too much going on for you to concentrate on your technique as you should be concentrating on the match and scoring points.

The other point I should make is I still believe you are trying to do everything at once. Walk back and start working on ONE thing at a time. Pick the one thing you feel is effecting you the most and work on just that and once you feel you have it then work on the next most serious thing. These are dynamic thing though, as things like loose and relaxed grip, stance and how you drop into the address position are static things.

In order to improve you must get your self to the point where you are delivering the cue consistently straight. Without that improvement will come very slow.

Terry