Magical 100

[tomxlisa]

I play snooker about 3 times a week sometimes, but then there can be times when i go weeks without playing, the question i ask will i ever make the magical 100 break, i often hit 30 and 40 breaks but then miss or go out of position, i just think maybe my cue action isn't consistent enough to make 70s 80s and maybe the magical 100, i see lots of people in the snooker hall with there cheek pressed up against there shoulder, does this help in a way, also i never seem to cock my grip hand cause i don't really know how this works or if it even makes a difference?.

[thelongbomber]

To answer the first question, will you ever make a tonne. The answer of course, depends on how badly you want it. The fact that you seek to refine and develop your mechanics indicates to me that you are open to change. That's crucial as without change, you won't grow and improve. Admitting that something needs to be worked on is crucial. I see too many players believing that a goal is out of reach and so never develop the courage and will to fight through their own limiting beliefs.

Mechanics plays a huge role but while working on it, I suggest that you look at your break building knowledge and ball selection as that will often be the determining factor. You can take an average potter with great ball selection, and they will make tonnes vs a superb potter with poor ball selection and positioning. Murphy and White are good examples of great potting ability but poor break building skill, vs Yu Delu who is a great break builder, but an average (average compared to the other two) potter.

I recently achieved my first tonne on a 5x10 which I posted here on the forum. I was always told by many that I was great potter, but I often fail to see positional patterns and choose the wrong balls to develop the break further.

One thing I did recently was to come up with my own game plan on break building whereby I would choose reds in a particular order:

1. Remove reds stopping black from potting into both pockets (unless they are on the cushion and hard to gain position from)
2. Remove reds preventing your hand from being down on the table when potting the black. These are the reds that are between the triangle and side cushion and in open play. Removing these and the ones in the black pockets allows you to achieve full cue action and so reduces misses on the black/pink.
3. Once the above are removed, work on the triangle and opening more reds.
4. While working on the above reds, play to knock a few more reds into play.

Of course the order above isn't set in stone as sometimes you have to play recovery or choose secondary reds to keep the break going. There is an art in break building whereby you are increasing your chances of potting colors but still maintaining position. The above isn't a rule book but a guide that highlights some important considerations.

A good 4-part video series to watch with some very important commentary is from Nic Barrow here:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...AqSL8z2wdS97xU

Also, my commentary on ROS here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnYYJcIHTas

Also, some additional videos I put up here: https://www.youtube.com/user/snookerdelight/videos

One thing my m8 always said was that you will likely make your first tonne after working your way up from a 50 break. You will make a few 60's, a few 70's, and then something close like a 90+. Depending on your ability to stay focused and not get unnerved, you may fail to pot the ball that gets you over the line because you know you are near the tonne (or someone tells you). Nerves will play a huge role.

To get over the nerves, what I highly recommend is to get to the practice table. Your nerves are like a muscle that needs to be built up over time. Setup up 3 reds (not the lineup) randomly placed between pink and black and clear the table for a 45+ break. Do that 3 times successfully. Then setup 4 reds for a 60+ break. Then 5 reds and so on and so on. When you get to about 7 reds, setup a 4 ball cluster below the pink that will require you to open them. Setup these routines like you would see in a typical match scenario. When you get to around 8 reds, you are on a 90+ break. If you can get through 8 reds several times on the practice table then add 2 more reds that will get you into century territory. All that experience working up from 3 to 10 reds will aid you in seeing patterns and getting the tonne in match. Personally, I made a few tonnes in practice before ever getting it in match play.

Hope that helps.

[thelongbomber]

I play snooker about 3 times a week sometimes, but then there can be times when i go weeks without playing, the question i ask will i ever make the magical 100 break, i often hit 30 and 40 breaks but then miss or go out of position, i just think maybe my cue action isn't consistent enough to make 70s 80s and maybe the magical 100, i see lots of people in the snooker hall with there cheek pressed up against there shoulder, does this help in a way, also i never seem to cock my grip hand cause i don't really know how this works or if it even makes a difference?.

Oh also, very importantly, start video recording yourself, watch it and compare yourself to the pros. Post your video up here for some feedback as we all can provide guidance. Regarding the cheek pressed up, it depends on eye dominance. Just press your cheek up doesn't necessarily fix anything and can make it worse. You can experiment with your idea on the practice table running the cue ball up and down the spots to test if it helps you or hinders you in aiming/accuracy. Grip hand is also very complex. It's meant to be subconscious, but if it's not correct needs to be worked on consciously first so that it becomes unconscious.

[tomxlisa]

Thanks for the info, the one main reason i just don't think i will ever get the 100 is i break down too often, lots of times i find myself in the zone area around the black spot with lots of reds to pot and easily a 60 plus break waiting to be had but my potting lets me down, i think to get anywhere with the 100 i need to get that more consistent, my eye dominance is my right eye but i often cue in the centre of my chin, i find putting the cue under my right eye is unconfortable, is it also important to rub the cue against the chest as when i cue i always find that my cue is free and not really touching anything, can this cause a problem in the consistency of my potting, i also play with a pause in my backswing, i have read that taking the pause out of the backswing can help but i have tried it and found i potted better at first but then found myself potting worse than i do with a pause, hope you can make sense of all that.

[thelongbomber]

Thanks for the info, the one main reason i just don't think i will ever get the 100 is i break down too often, lots of times i find myself in the zone area around the black spot with lots of reds to pot and easily a 60 plus break waiting to be had but my potting lets me down, i think to get anywhere with the 100 i need to get that more consistent, my eye dominance is my right eye but i often cue in the centre of my chin, i find putting the cue under my right eye is unconfortable, is it also important to rub the cue against the chest as when i cue i always find that my cue is free and not really touching anything, can this cause a problem in the consistency of my potting, i also play with a pause in my backswing, i have read that taking the pause out of the backswing can help but i have tried it and found i potted better at first but then found myself potting worse than i do with a pause, hope you can make sense of all that.

I can make sense of it yes. Regarding eye dominance, it isn't an exact science. Simply placing your cue below the dominant eye doesn't fix it like magic because humans use both eyes for vision. Although one eye plays a more dominant role, it doesn't mean we are meant to place the cue directly below that eye. Sometimes a head tilt may bring your into center (like Neil Robertson), and sometimes shifting your head slightly over the dominant eye (Ronnie OSullivan is left eye) will fix it. Primarily, what you want happening is that when you strike the cue ball, you can actually SEE it travel directly down your centre line of vision. Almost as if you can see it travelling from your nose straight towards a target. Many players actually see the cue ball travel down the left or right side of their head, but they don't realize it.

Keep the pause if its beneficial to you and feels right. Getting down low as you can is beneficial because then you can aim with the most accuracy.

If you are missing pots, then figure out where the problem is. Is it misjudging angles? Maybe this helps: http://snookerdelight.com/snooker-ar...es-in-snooker/

Is it an alignment issue? That can be worked on. Do some drills in this area.

[tomxlisa]

Thanks, what would you say about the cue against chest question?.

[justf]

Good advice bomber, any one would appreciate and benefit from reading and following your excellent post.

[thelongbomber]

Thanks, what would you say about the cue against chest question?.

There are a few camps in this regard. Some say it's an essential part of the 4-point aiming system - hand, chest, chin, bridge hand. There is a coach in Thailand that promotes this idea and it seems to work. More info here: http://www.thesnookerforum.co.uk/boa...light=thailand

I tried the suggestions in the above link, but I found that I was putting mental focus into touching my chest and it seemed to be detracting away from my timing and focusing on the ghost ball (which is where I believe we need to be focused in large part). I'm convinced after trying that it's not important. Where I think it comes into play is as a guide in your stance. Ideally with the cue to chest, then the result will be that your head and chin are down low. I think cue to chest is actually a RESULT of an optimized stance, rather than the CAUSE of it. Also note that in many situations, cue to chest wont happen when you are bridging akwardly.

Others say it doesn't matter and they don't even consider it. Look at Marco Fu and Alan McManus. Both play at a high level but they lift up on delivery. I guess you could say these are bad examples as these two are not World Champions. Ronnie OSullivan in some cases even has major body movement during his feathering. Mark Selby seems to be all over the place in his feathering. Joe Perry seems to be very still on delivery with cue to chest. He nearly beat Ronnie this year. He isn't a World Champion. It's too hard to say whether it is or is not important. There are too many examples of world champions that both do and don't have cue to chest. Like I said, I think it's a RESULT, not a CAUSE of good stance.

I would say if you can do cue to chest naturally, then keep it up but don't obsess over it. Obsess over timing the cue ball strike and aiming as the primary focuses. Develop the hand eye coordination so that you KNOW immediately if you are off or online.

Regarding your first post, can NOT touching the chest cause inconsistency? Perhaps only in that if your cue is not chest, then that's an indicator you are not down LOW enough, which then indicates you might be missing the odd pot - which you mentioned. If you want the fix, work on your stance, hip and lower back, and the chest will happen automatically. If you have to FORCE it, then your mind will not be focusing on the stuff thats important.

[thelongbomber]

Good advice bomber, any one would appreciate and benefit from reading and following your excellent post.

Thanks very much I appreciate it. Getting this feedback helps me write more articles and teach where I can.

[tomxlisa]

Thanks for your info, i will have to try some stuff when i am next in the snooker hall, it is just so annoying at times this game, as some of my friends get 100 plus breaks all the time, and make it look so easy.

[lesedwards]

Thanks very much I appreciate it. Getting this feedback helps me write more articles and teach where I can.

Some great info you just posted, my Son and I had one game tonight and of course you know how I have been playing and the frustration I feel but something good came out of our game as you said in your post and also told me earlier today in regards to starting with a couple reds and working up from there. After are game tonight where I missed shot after shot until I got to the last red which I made with a yellow and then ran out. My son stopped me on the black and said hold on, how many times have you run the colours on me but you cannot run two balls during a game? All the time and the reason is because you know your task at hand. There are no decisions, you must make them in order. When there are reds scattered all over the table you must make a plan and add to it as you make balls always staying a couple shots a head. I really think I miss easy shots because I really have no plan after the shot I am on. Does this make any sense?

[chessking]

Great advice Longbomber. You have now given me a plan of attack. Start from the end and work backwards, increasing the difficulty as the last challenge has become comfortable. I'm going to stop playing on the computer and pick up a stick.

[thelongbomber]

Some great info you just posted, my Son and I had one game tonight and of course you know how I have been playing and the frustration I feel but something good came out of our game as you said in your post and also told me earlier today in regards to starting with a couple reds and working up from there. After are game tonight where I missed shot after shot until I got to the last red which I made with a yellow and then ran out. My son stopped me on the black and said hold on, how many times have you run the colours on me but you cannot run two balls during a game? All the time and the reason is because you know your task at hand. There are no decisions, you must make them in order. When there are reds scattered all over the table you must make a plan and add to it as you make balls always staying a couple shots a head. I really think I miss easy shots because I really have no plan after the shot I am on. Does this make any sense?

Uhhh.. no actually I didn't completely understand. Feels like you missed out on your usual periods and punctuation Les! Haha.. are/our seems misplaced in a few spots?

Creating a plan is very very important in break building. At first you will find it very hard with 12 reds, so the only way is to build up from 3 reds. With 3 reds, the path is clear: "OK, take this red, high on black, one cushion to here, stun that red, hold for pink, run it through, make the last red, take a blue, run the colors, etc".

With 12 reds, you WILL get overwhelmed. The only way to get through is to run a 3 ball pattern that goes like this: "OK, take ball #1 and play with shape to get high/low on ball #2, so that I can take that ball and play on ball #3 in this way.. etc".

This 3-ball pattern should really be followed for EVERY shot. If you are on a red, look for the next red you plan to take. If you are on a color, look for the next color you are planning to take. Plan it out advance like you are going to build a house. If you get off shape, re-formulate. This may be over simplistic but once you have done it enough, patterns will start to emerge and you will just KNOW what to do even 3 or 4 reds in advance. Nothing will need to be planned or guessed or artificially constructed each time. If you have built 20 houses, you can build the next one with your eyes closed. The first house takes a while.

Nerves will kill the best players. Start with 3 reds, get comfortable and happy and then move on. Don't advance until you can do 3 full clearances without missing in a row. Seems hard at first, but it gets easier to deal with later.

[thelongbomber]

Some great info you just posted, my Son and I had one game tonight and of course you know how I have been playing and the frustration I feel but something good came out of our game as you said in your post and also told me earlier today in regards to starting with a couple reds and working up from there. After are game tonight where I missed shot after shot until I got to the last red which I made with a yellow and then ran out. My son stopped me on the black and said hold on, how many times have you run the colours on me but you cannot run two balls during a game? All the time and the reason is because you know your task at hand. There are no decisions, you must make them in order. When there are reds scattered all over the table you must make a plan and add to it as you make balls always staying a couple shots a head. I really think I miss easy shots because I really have no plan after the shot I am on. Does this make any sense?

I read this again. Now I do understand. So running the colors is obvious because there is a sequence vs earlier in the frame with so many reds there are no patterns to follow. Read the #2 reply above again where I talk about narrowing your choice of reds so that you take the high priority ones first. I faced this issue many years until I decided that I needed to come up with a decision matrix on which reds to clear first. In part this helped me achieve my first century and continues to be a reliable decision system for the moment. Clear the path for black and then start working the pack from the outside in. Sometimes, if the shot allows, work from the inside of the pack out (ie: opening with a cannon). You have to do some advance thinking about opening more reds if you want to clear the table at a single visit. Its possible to play a conservative break and only take whats there without getting adventurous (Stephen Lee), but it's also possible to be too aggressive and blow the pack at your first opportunity (Murphy) which can just create a big mess of reds everywhere. Top pros can blow the pack at their first opportunity and often clear up (Ronnie, Higgins, Hendry, etc), so its worth trying every so often.

[itsnoteasy]

Sorry forgot quote