Hello after long... BoB consideration

[Sidd]

Dear Mates,

It has been a long time since I have been here. I hope everyone is doing great with snooker... and yes everything else as well Well I have been trying to avoid coming here honestly because when I am here I learn something new or see something posted by someone I start tinkering if I am doing that or not and then goes the same old story

So I have been playing snooker almost regularly. I am back to the same track. Eating sleeping playing thinking talking seeing snooker thing No more anything for me right now. I have been playing pretty much ok with usual dips in form every now and then but overall I am pretty much relaxed and play better. No big breaks coming my way yet, I seem to break in 30 odds every time. I think my biggest challenge is my fight against my brain my personal challenge in this game is to try to control my mind and keeping that constant dialogue positive, very hard to do. Even these days if I miss my mind says hey is the grip ok and I start thinking about it but then suddenly shrug it off and say I wasnt concentrating on BoB and hence the miss.. Hard but an improvement for me personally. My mates have noticed this change and they tell me that while off the table you were constantly busy cueing and looking at your grip hand and now you do not do it that often which to me means a small victory

Ok now here it is:

I have been busy dictating my mind to keep my focus on bob at the time of strike and nothing else and I think it is this over emphasis on BoB that now I am having this confusion. Sometimes I think I focus too hard on BoB but even then at the time of strike I am not looking at the exact point of contact...

This is what I do, my routine is to lock my eyes on BoB at front pause and then keep looking at it during back swing and back pause and delivery ... however I sometimes think if that is too much? I keep my eyes for so long on BoB that I might be giving them a chance to wonder off while striking ? or is it just one of my nonsense thoughts?

Let me know... If it is true then should I lock eyes on BoB during back swing or on final back pause? I do have a back pause and I have observed that when I am playing well I have a back pause and when missing I normally rush the delivery without the well pronounced back pause that I normally have and hence missing starts.

best and warmest rather hottest regards (summers are on in Pakistan),
Sidd

[j6uk]

i like to switch my eyes to ob on most shots say halfway through my bs, that way my eyes aren't wondering off because of looking at any one thing for too long, also with good tempo and timing, i'm seeing the whole stroke all the way though to completion.
then i feel confident i can make the necessary adjustments if im cueing across the ball or my timings out

[itsnoteasy]

Sounds reasonable, what you say about your eyes wandering as you spend too long locked on, I think it's individual to everyone, you will just have to figure it out yourself through trial and error.
Oh, and nice to hear from you again Sidd.

[Sidd]

i like to switch my eyes to ob on most shots say halfway through my bs, that way my eyes aren't wondering off because of looking at any one thing for too long, also with good tempo and timing, i'm seeing the whole stroke all the way though to completion.
then i feel confident i can make the necessary adjustments if im cueing across the ball or my timings out

Yes indeed I also was thinking the same. I shall go and try to alter my eyes on BoB locking sequence, lets see... Also as you say it helps you in understanding if your timing is out, what do you mean by that? How can one know if one is not timing correctly and how does one tries to better time the ball...

[Sidd]

Sounds reasonable, what you say about your eyes wandering as you spend too long locked on, I think it's individual to everyone, you will just have to figure it out yourself through trial and error.
Oh, and nice to hear from you again Sidd.

Thanks Mate, its good to be back.

I shall go today and try it and see what works best.. not sure but will certainly try.

[Terry Davidson]

Sidd:

Although you might be locking your eyes on the object ball for too long it really turns out to be related to the natural rhythm of the eyes which control your physical natural rhythm. When you try and change the movement of the eyes you will be altering your natural rhythm and that is a very tough thing to control.

Most coaches recommend moving the eyes to the OB somewhere during the backswing, rear pause or start of the delivery with the rear pause being the most popular idea.

My recommendation would be for you to try to think back to how you moved your eyes BEFORE you started tinkering with everything. That would have been you most natural rhythm and it will likely be the one you will be most comfortable with.

Remember, there is no 'correct' eye rhythm that will work for everyone and as has been said you will have to discover your own individual rhythm that works best for you just as long as your eyes are focused on the OB at the time of strike.

Terry

[j6uk]

Yes indeed I also was thinking the same. I shall go and try to alter my eyes on BoB locking sequence, lets see... Also as you say it helps you in understanding if your timing is out, what do you mean by that? How can one know if one is not timing correctly and how does one tries to better time the ball...

i'd rather not get into this with you sid. im not a one to disrupt a student by getting between them and their coach. if he hasn't done so a few times before, quite sure your coach terry will be more than happy to go through this with you

[itsnoteasy]

Yes indeed I also was thinking the same. I shall go and try to alter my eyes on BoB locking sequence, lets see... Also as you say it helps you in understanding if your timing is out, what do you mean by that? How can one know if one is not timing correctly and how does one tries to better time the ball...

I would like to know the answer to the timing thing as well Sidd, as when mine goes, sometimes I just have to ride it out until it returns, it would be nice to have the knowledge on how to get it back. I have found some nice long follow through potting helps some of the time, just gets my arm coming through nice and relaxed, but it doesn't always work.

[Sidd]

i'd rather not get into this with you sid. im not a one to disrupt a student by getting between them and their coach. if he hasn't done so a few times before, quite sure your coach terry will be more than happy to go through this with you

Now that Itsnoteasy also wants to know about this, and that he does not have a coach like me, I believe you might consider sharing your knowledge about timing with us please do...

[Sidd]

Sidd:

Although you might be locking your eyes on the object ball for too long it really turns out to be related to the natural rhythm of the eyes which control your physical natural rhythm. When you try and change the movement of the eyes you will be altering your natural rhythm and that is a very tough thing to control.

Most coaches recommend moving the eyes to the OB somewhere during the backswing, rear pause or start of the delivery with the rear pause being the most popular idea.

My recommendation would be for you to try to think back to how you moved your eyes BEFORE you started tinkering with everything. That would have been you most natural rhythm and it will likely be the one you will be most comfortable with.

Remember, there is no 'correct' eye rhythm that will work for everyone and as has been said you will have to discover your own individual rhythm that works best for you just as long as your eyes are focused on the OB at the time of strike.

Terry

Dear Coach: nice to hear from you after long. Well to tell you the truth while I used to play in the very begining I used to look at the cue ball at the time of strike and had made a couple of 40 odd breaks with that, trust me. Then I got hold of Steve Davis's book and learnt about looking at the OB and I changed to that. It took me a little time but I got used to it.

If I try to remember what I used to do at that time was that, first of all, I had nothing in mind to think about (I still miss that feeling) and as far as I can remember I have always looked at the OB. I would go down and look at CB only for a second or so initially and address my cue tip to where I wanted to strike and then after that split second I have always looked at the OB like during feather front pause back swing rear pause delivery throughout I was looking at the OB. So I would only look at the CB for a second or so lets say at the first initial brief pause and maybe first feather and then afterwards i went to OB and never thought of anything else. I still remember I did not have to concentrate on the BOB and play shots like an amateur and still get some small breaks and played well. Perhaps because I had nothing to think about.

I still do that in a way, I never concentrate too much on the CB to be honest- with the exception of trying to look at it on the final front pause and that is where I switch to OB. I tried looking at CB on back swing and then switching to OB on rear pause but looking at the cue and ferrule and cue tip coming back with my eyes seems so wrong to me. Perhaps because I have never done that.

I personally think switching at rear pause would be great as it will give me a natural time for rear pause, which is what I do have in my set up and whenever I am missing I have noticed that I am rushing the rear pause.

[j6uk]

Now that Itsnoteasy also wants to know about this, and that he does not have a coach like me, I believe you might consider sharing your knowledge about timing with us please do...

terry has advised you not to mess with your setup so, once your coach has gone through it with you id be more than happy to respond

[Sidd]

1782104_10152855347119447_5971879175003378712_n.jpg

I am pasting this picture here taken by a friend last night without telling me, so this is my most natural stance these days. i personally think it is quite ok as the arm pit is pretty much down on the shot, or is it still uppish? also the head position, what do you think?

Thanks!

[j6uk]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]16433[/ATTACH]
I am pasting this picture here taken by a friend last night without telling me, so this is my most natural stance these days. i personally think it is quite ok as the arm pit is pretty much down on the shot, or is it still uppish? also the head position, what do you think?
Thanks!

looks fine.. anyway now your back and playing again, when you gonna do that easy 15red lineup you promised last year?

[Sidd]

looks fine.. anyway now your back and playing again, when you gonna do that easy 15red lineup you promised last year?

Hopefully this weekend. i just have a few reports on me that would take most of my time this weekend but as soon as I get free I shall do your 15 red. I think after one year of posting my last video it is about time I do it again and see if things have improved or not.

so please stay put, 15 red line up coming soon.

cheers.