This is just for Les Edwards

[tedisbill]

Practice a good amount each week Les making sure you try properly each time you play and then report back your improvements in a couple of years.

Good luck.

[lesedwards]

It's a tough game Les, that's for sure, I'm sorry it's all getting to you and believe me I know how you feel, sometimes no matter how hard you try it just doesn't come that day. I don't have any answers for you, I think it's all been said, and it's just applying it now. Maybe now you will realise you have to conform to the basics and you can't invent your own way, if you know what I mean, if it were me I would watch snooker pro tips right from the start (as it's free and on tap any time you want it)and do exactly what he says ,to do with stance and grip and contact points and cueing etc, and just practice it,you are lucky ,you could hook the computer up to the big TV, and watch and copy him on your table as you go along, got to be the next best thing to having a coach with you. I don't know what else there is to do, chin up though, and best of luck.

Yes I know your right. Back to the basics. I have the complete Snooker Gym How to make a 100 Break, plus I have the new training ball coming from The Snooker Gym the first week of June. Time to go back to Chapter 1 and work on one chapter a week and not stray away from it. I think Terry hit the nail on the head when he said my basic technique is weak so it works when I am practicing but when I put it under pressure it breaks down. 8 weeks 8 Chapters and I will see where I am at after that.

[tedisbill]

Yes I know your right. Back to the basics. I have the complete Snooker Gym How to make a 100 Break, plus I have the new training ball coming from The Snooker Gym the first week of June. Time to go back to Chapter 1 and work on one chapter a week and not stray away from it. I think Terry hit the nail on the head when he said my basic technique is weak so it works when I am practicing but when I put it under pressure it breaks down. 8 weeks 8 Chapters and I will see where I am at after that.

Les, not being nasty, but you can't do it in practice yet. If your highest break EVER in a frame is 43, then the chances are, you're not gonna get close to that in matches. You're gonna be a 12-16 break player in matches.

You need to be realistic with where your game is.

[lesedwards]

Les, not being nasty, but you can't do it in practice yet. If your highest break EVER in a frame is 43, then the chances are, you're not gonna get close to that in matches. You're gonna be a 12-16 break player in matches.

You need to be realistic with where your game is.

I am being realistic, after a year my game is no where near where I wanted to be and that is why I am back to chapter 1. Back to the basics.

[thelongbomber]

Bringing your practice standard to the match game is the hardest thing to do. Stephen Hendry himself has said he can knock in tonnes on the practice table but fails to do so in the match game. If you have any doubt in your ability, then under pressure you will start to doubt yourself. Keep working at it.

[lesedwards]

Bringing your practice standard to the match game is the hardest thing to do. Stephen Hendry himself has said he can knock in tonnes on the practice table but fails to do so in the match game. If you have any doubt in your ability, then under pressure you will start to doubt yourself. Keep working at it.

Doubt, my major obstacle. After playing for 6 months on my tight table where every shot I would doubt if I could make it and now my game is one big doubt. Going to take a while to get that out if my head and replace with I CAN.

[rightoncue89]

Just forget the pocket sizes, you have potted balls on a tight table, so theres no reason to doubt you can do it.

The way i try to think and what iv told to guys in the past when they get frustrated is, if you can make a break of 8 then you can make a break of 16, if you can make a break of 16 you can make a break of 32 if you can make 32 you can make 64 etc etc...i know its easier said than done but its the way to think.

Iv made 50+ breaks when iv had no idea what iv been scoring, all i did was try to make breaks of 8..or 7..or 6..whatever i could do.

This is what i do in match play, i try ignore the score and my 'real' break.

If you are only making breaks of 8 then theres no pressure, but put 5 breaks of 8 together and youve got a 40.

[itsnoteasy]

I think it's doubly hard for you Les, as all you do is solo practice, and making breaks while doing drills will never replace trying to make breaks in a game where someone else is trying to stop you, or there are consequences if you miss, one thing to hold onto could be, I don't think the players you are playing against are that good either, if you can out safety them and are getting in the balls so many times you lose count, they are not very good(no offence to your safety play) people at our standard don't and can't out safety decent players time and time again, as that part of their game is far superior as well, I reckon if you could make high teen or mid twenty breaks regularly you would win a fair percentage of games, and your not that far away from that.
In general how do the frames pan out? Do you make a mistake then just pick balls out for you opponent , or are they tight affairs say down to the colours with both of you having loads of chances.

[lesedwards]

I think it's doubly hard for you Les, as all you do is solo practice, and making breaks while doing drills will never replace trying to make breaks in a game where someone else is trying to stop you, or there are consequences if you miss, one thing to hold onto could be, I don't think the players you are playing against are that good either, if you can out safety them and are getting in the balls so many times you lose count, they are not very good(no offence to your safety play) people at our standard don't and can't out safety decent players time and time again, as that part of their game is far superior as well, I reckon if you could make high teen or mid twenty breaks regularly you would win a fair percentage of games, and your not that far away from that.
In general how do the frames pan out? Do you make a mistake then just pick balls out for you opponent , or are they tight affairs say down to the colours with both of you having loads of chances.

For example my match on the weekend, first game one red left on table down by 10 and I leave him behind the brown he hits the red and leaves it over the top corner pocket. I make the red and leave myself a perfect angle on the black, I miss the the black and leave perfect shape on the yellow which he runs Yellow, Green, Brown & Blue game over. Second game I break the pack open on a black shot then make a great shot on a red with the long rest for perfect shape on a pink with reds all over and I miss the Pink and he runs 36. When someone gets a head of me by 30 or 40 I really break down knowing I cannot run more then three balls it is tough to catch him. By the third game he is going after everything knowing that I cannot make more then a couple balls at a time if I am lucky and it was over before the colours. The last game I tried something different, I made a red and knocked the black up in baulk then the blue then the pink so all colours in the baulk and reds at the top...LOL I just picked away at one red at a time until we got to the colours then missed an easy yellow and he ran out to the blue. Similar story to most of my matches. Floyd told me you have to scare your opponent into making mistakes by making a few balls then they know they have to get the cue ball safe but hard to scare them with 11....LOL as games go on they get more confidence and I get less. This was our Armature Championship so I should have had a very good chance to win a few games. I know another problem which I think stems from loosing almost every match this year 4-0 we get into the Third game and my concentration is gone I am feeling sorry for myself, why am I here, am I ever going to win, I am done I time to sell my table. Just totally frustrated.

[thelongbomber]

For example my match on the weekend, first game one red left on table down by 10 and I leave him behind the brown he hits the red and leaves it over the top corner pocket. I make the red and leave myself a perfect angle on the black, I miss the the black and leave perfect shape on the yellow which he runs Yellow, Green, Brown & Blue game over. Second game I break the pack open on a black shot then make a great shot on a red with the long rest for perfect shape on a pink with reds all over and I miss the Pink and he runs 36. When someone gets a head of me by 30 or 40 I really break down knowing I cannot run more then three balls it is tough to catch him. By the third game he is going after everything knowing that I cannot make more then a couple balls at a time if I am lucky and it was over before the colours. The last game I tried something different, I made a red and knocked the black up in baulk then the blue then the pink so all colours in the baulk and reds at the top...LOL I just picked away at one red at a time until we got to the colours then missed an easy yellow and he ran out to the blue. Similar story to most of my matches. Floyd told me you have to scare your opponent into making mistakes by making a few balls then they know they have to get the cue ball safe but hard to scare them with 11....LOL as games go on they get more confidence and I get less. This was our Armature Championship so I should have had a very good chance to win a few games. I know another problem which I think stems from loosing almost every match this year 4-0 we get into the Third game and my concentration is gone I am feeling sorry for myself, why am I here, am I ever going to win, I am done I time to sell my table. Just totally frustrated.

Generally, the saying goes that if you can make regular 50 breaks in practice, expect to make on average 20-30-40 in match considering the additional pressure. But this is just a general rule that accounts for most people not having the stomach for match play.

Some players get so scared of missing, that's what they actually end up doing. My m8 always says that "how you play snooker is how you play life" and I think that might apply to you. You constantly talk about fear of missing and difficulty in your snooker game, so that probably translates to that kind of thinking in match play also. But that doesn't mean you can't overcome. Of course you can, you're a thinking intelligent human, not a robot that only duplicates past programming. Overcoming requires going back to the practice table time and time again improving upon the last performance - not just doing lineups and routines for the sake of doing them.

Success in match play requires that you overcome your own fears first, and then overcome your opponent second. If you know you can make a 50 break in practice (not the lineup but with random setups), then you simply (well not simple actually) need to overcome fear and negative mindset in match play so that you can produce your best form. But making just one 50 break in practice isn't enough. You need to make many dozens, or maybe even a hundred 50+ breaks with reds scattered randomly (within reason). You have to get so comfortable with break building and potting that it's entirely automatic and natural and pain-free. The main job of practice is to hone and refine the mechanics and positional play so that you become more and more automatic until you no longer even really have to think and you just know what to do.

HOW you practice is important also. Don't just practice, practice as if you were in match. Don't be lazy with misses (not suggesting you are just pointing out). When you miss, take 5 minutes away from the table. Also do your practice in 30 minute sessions, and then take a 2 minute break. All of this is designed to duplicate typical match play. The pressure of missing and forcing a 5 minute break is also designed to stop you from missing. In match play, the negative consequences are potential loss of frame, so try and duplicate that as best you can in practice.

It's been said that the first thing you must learn about driving and avoiding accidents is to look at where you want to go, not at the looming crash in front of you. This is actually why people hit telephone poles on straight icy roads. Their car slips, and they focus there eyes on where they DONT want to go, but the hand moves the car that direction anyways. Related read for you Les: http://www.turnfast.com/tech_driving...ng_visualfield

[rightoncue89]

This is just for Les Edwards

very good point!
The same thing applies in golf, if you have out of bounds or water on your right, you have to ignore it because as soon as you get the idea in your head of going in the water 9/10 it will happen, because your subconcious is only focusing on the water or out of bounds.

You should be focused on where you want the ball to go..not where you dont.

[thelongbomber]

Les, watch this over and over until it's ingrained

[thelongbomber]

Also, go listen to Nic Barrow about mindset

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...uw4vFyW7LHCIeR

[lesedwards]

very good point!
The same thing applies in golf, if you have out of bounds or water on your right, you have to ignore it because as soon as you get the idea in your head of going in the water 9/10 it will happen, because your subconcious is only focusing on the water or out of bounds.

You should be focused on where you want the ball to go..not where you dont.

All great points, I understand the golf for sure and that is where you trust your swing. I guess with only a year of Snooker under my belt it is tough to trust the swing and when the negative thoughts creep in I am in trouble. My mental side to this game is not good.

[lesedwards]

Also, go listen to Nic Barrow about mindset

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...uw4vFyW7LHCIeR

I actually bought Nic's CD Snooker Hypnosis.... Listen to that when I find time.