Cant hit a straight shot...

[jdavies1]

Hi all,

first post ... so thanks in advance

I've rekindled my love for snooker recently and hoping to be a better player than I was in my 20's (twenty years ago)

So this week I set up to practice a little more than normal.

I set up a path with WB on brown spot and aimed to shoot down the table over black spot and back so the white would remain on brown line .... well everytime it WB would finish left of the line ... I used many OBs on blue, pink and black to assist the line ... I never once finished right always about a ball width left or hit a left ball on the way back

Any suggestions,pactice tech appreciated

jd

[DeanH]

Cant hit a straight shot...

first, welcome to TSF
next, "up and down the spots" as you describe can be difficult and very good as it shows you are aligned on the shot correctly AND delivering the cue correctly
that is to say you are not hitting the cue ball (CB) slightly to the side (adding unintentional side) and/or not delivering the cue straight (again adding unintentional side)

I am not a coach so hopefully a coach will hop on here as well.
What I will say is don't get to hung up on what you have descibed here, just get playing and pot some easy balls and enjoy

[cyberheater]

Is this always on the same table? Because you can't guarantee that the spots are in the correct position. I've known tables where the yellow, brown and green spots were almost a inch out.

Have you tried lining up a completely straight shot on the blue and try to pot it. Stand well back from the shot. Close one eye and ensure the white, blue and pocket are in a completely straight line and then try to pot the blue. If you are aiming slightly to the right the blue should jaw on the left or hit the left cushion.

[itsnoteasy]

Put something on the bottom Cush , chalk block or whatever inline with the spots and play at that, it's easier to have something to cue at rather than playing over the spots.

[jdavies1]

thanks for responses ... not the table as this is the SWSA on Star tables ... I'll try the blue practice but given the blue ball only needs to travel 3ft and the CB in my example wanders 1-2 inches over 20+ feet he blue may still drop

[jdavies1]

I should have said I also put a ball on top of cushion to provide target to aim at.... I repeated this 20+ times

[markz]

Welcome to the forum jd. I do this exercise often now, I tend to stand back, walk in to the shot and put my right leg on the line of the shot (as I'm right handed) this gets me in line. Also agree put some chalk on the black cushion and aim for that.

What helps me is to make sure bridge is firm and cue is just touching the chest as it helps cue to stay straight on the stroke.

[jdavies1]

thanks, I should add I'm left handed and right eye'd

[markz]

With this set up I'd imagine it would be right hand side you would most likely put on cue ball. So it's got to be your not in line with shot perfectly or you are not hitting centre of white. Play shot soft first as this stops your cueing getting out of line then if comes back along spots increase pace.

[MikeTheBigMonster]

get a practice CB (those with dot marked on the CB) and try it out with the dot position properly.
at least 1 dot must be at the middle of the CB.
use dark blue chalk on your tip and try it out.
after u hit the cb, see where it travels and check on the chalk mark on the CB.
if the chalk mark is on the middle dot of the CB, that means u r hitting it straight (if cb travels to either left or right, it should be table balancing problem).
if chalk mark is off middle, u know u r not hitting it straight.

[Terry Davidson]

thanks for responses ... not the table as this is the SWSA on Star tables ... I'll try the blue practice but given the blue ball only needs to travel 3ft and the CB in my example wanders 1-2 inches over 20+ feet he blue may still drop

If you are not cueing straight it will show up when attempting a long blue as the entire shot length is just over 10ft.

The best solution for you is to post a video or 2 on here and let us have a go at it. Also, since you play at SWSA, Paul Mount is a certified coach from the Terry Griffiths school (EBSA qualified) and he is not too expensive and he should be able to spot any problems especially with video analysis.

Terry

[itsnoteasy]

Something to check is, is the cue online, you may be cueing across the line, when you get down check the line of the spots (running back up towards you)and see if it continues right through your tip and just as importantly right up the cue and out the butt end, because if it doesn't it won't matter how straight you cue after that it will always be across the line, then concentrate on delivering that cue straight down that line.
Could I ask at what pace you are playing these shots, because if it's full bore a one inch wander up and down isn't bad at all(well for me anyway)

[magicman]

You're obviously putting a trace of unintentional left hand side on the ball. As it happens over and over again it seems to suggest that you regularly don't find the centre of the white. Concentrate 100% on the centre of the cue ball before delivery and check the result.