On a BAD cueing day, what is the best way to "comeback"?

[Ramon]

Let me share abit of my experiance..
The main reason why sometime we playing good and bad was is the feeling.. most coach or shark player will say fit in mentally & psycology, i use to belive before that i have no luck in winning any game and talent to play at all in snooker game until 3years ago one guy from the club who not that good in potting or positioning but very strong in mental power, he teach me how to flick that coin and recover from the struggle. Its all about the mind and practice, let say like this when young age your mother give you a spoon to eat, and that time you are still struggle to hold the spoon and feed yourself with it, right, then later you grow older u using that spoon/fork/knive to feed your self like nothing and dont even notice it was at your hand, but your eye still need to see what you are doing.. the same goes to snooker.. you must been wandering you have training for years and you are doing so good at practice table but when come to match with other person you start to suck with it, even loosing to ***** guy in club who not even playing that often. Think again what wrong when that happen.. you start to realise that most player who training allot they actually create thinking that im a good player so in game they take it to hard in mind, try to remember potting spot and line, then stance, then hand positions, look at tip contact, grip, speed and all of that actually give load to your brain and nerve. Human always make mistake and the funny part our brain to small to adapt so much focus, so my advice just try to relax only focus on your Ball potting spot and the rest just let it flow naturally (this is what we call Sub-Conscious Skill it grow better when you practice more).. if you struggle you need to feel the table and the cue.. try with the lowest speed at beginning and slowly working it up.. just focus on what happen on match attack or defending plan on your side but not on your knowledge or disipline when you do in training like cueing, stand or how to do it properly..

regards;
fairuz

Good post !!

[Ramon]

I was playing badly lately and my confidence was going downhill these past months. Then I decided to shorten my backswing to have more control over the cue and I immediately saw great improvement in my potting and cueball control, I realized this automatically made me accelerate through the cueball which gave me better control of the white and a more positive cue action (rather than having a long backswing and decelerating through the ball). So now I got my confidence back and gradually I am lengthening my backswing with more control on shots that require more power (deep screws and forcing stuns). So this would be something I would try if I were cueing badly on a certain day.

+1
the shorter the backswing, the less room for error. wise decision.
especially if you have a lack of -confidence, it is wise to do that to get more confidence during the match , imo .

[Shockerz]

Just keep snookering the bugger and playing safe. As your oponent gets frustrated and starts whacking at everything on the table your confidence builds and with a smug smirk on your face you begin to pick of the easy shots again

Yep that's me. Snookers an all round game with tactics. If one part of your games suffering, try the other and try and tilt the odds in your favour that way.

Lost 6-4 the last 5 weeks to my playing partner who's knocking in breaks all over the place but I'm potting awful, safety and tactics aren't too bad though, just being patient whilst practicing line up and exercises on the side.

[throtts]

If I have had a bad day at the office this can reflect in my snooker session. In this case I extend the front pause to try and settle myself.

[Csmith]

If you are in a match, accept that you aren't playing well and focus on tight safety play. Don't push the boat out too far with your shot making, just play the percentages and keep your opponent tied up. As you put frames on the board, you'll probably start to relax and find your timing again.

I've found getting worked up about playing badly seems to make the situation worse. If you just relax eventually, hopefully, your muscle memory should take over and you'll start playing at least passably.

[Tony Morgan]

I've been at this crazy game for over 35 years. For me now, if in practice 'I couldn't hit a barn door with a shovel'. I go home before I use my cue as a javelin. Been there & done it. Even smashed a few cues in the past too. Now I try to forget about playing for a few days & go back feeling hungry for it. When you're potting balls with ease. It's the best game in the world. But when you're struggling. It's a nightmare. There's no magic formula. Some will play through it. I used to. But now I'm mid 40's. I just ain't got the patience for hour after hour of line ups. At times snooker does my head in more than the wife. And that takes some doing lol