How to vary my stance with change in table height .

[aditya_147]

hi guys ,


this will be bit tough for me to explain but please bare with me and try to recommend me what should i do on the same , so it all started like one day one of friend from the same snooker club recommended me of a book on snooker sighting and i was going through it and found about dominant eye concept and then I found out that i am left eye dominant player and a solution to it from one of john parrot's coaching video that i should cue below my dominant eye i started practicing keeping both the points from the very next day and found out that my potting and safety play improved drastically within couple of hours of practice . Then start going into deeper points on the same concept as what is the ideal stance for the same and found out that squarer stance is allowing my cue arm to move freely on the line of aim i.e cueing straight , couple of days went by and one day while getting accustomed to my new squarer stance i found out if i straighten my right leg (i am right hand player) everything automatically became perfect , i started getting tremendous control over the game , game started coming extremely easy to me and nothing looks impossible on table . I was never happier with my game and that too before the qualifying round of world ranking event "Indian open" for the Indian wildcards , i was carrying forward great confidence . Then i went for the first leg of qualifiers where i played decent in the event while loosing to eventual qualifier in the qualifying match in the black ball decider match , but all throughout the tour i never got the same feel which i was getting in my own club . I was not comfortable with my stance in the tour and was not automatically falling on the table , was not getting the same firmness on my bridge hand which i was getting on my club tables , neither the cue action . Then i came back from the tour back to my home city back to my practice table and it was a surprise to me my game was absolutely the same , i came back and again got the same form with which i went in the tour , this brought me to the conclusion that the height of the tables in my club to what i got in tour was varying a bit i.e the tour tables were bit higher and due to which all the magic in my game didnt sparked when i needed it most . So my question is please tell me how to adjust my stance with varying height of table or may be possibly there can be some other issue due to which i didnt got my game in the tour . I know i am cueing straight as i can make 60, 70 s on my will from any were on the table on my club tables , were we have 10 tables all matched to the same height .

p.s: please give your feedback's as they will be more then precious for me . Forgive me if i am not clear with my question phrasing .


thanx
aditya

[aditya_147]

with squarer stance i meant boxer , i dont know exactly if both meant the same or not so pardon me on that too

hi guys ,


this will be bit tough for me to explain but please bare with me and try to recommend me what should i do on the same , so it all started like one day one of friend from the same snooker club recommended me of a book on snooker sighting and i was going through it and found about dominant eye concept and then I found out that i am left eye dominant player and a solution to it from one of john parrot's coaching video that i should cue below my dominant eye i started practicing keeping both the points from the very next day and found out that my potting and safety play improved drastically within couple of hours of practice . Then start going into deeper points on the same concept as what is the ideal stance for the same and found out that squarer stance is allowing my cue arm to move freely on the line of aim i.e cueing straight , couple of days went by and one day while getting accustomed to my new squarer stance i found out if i straighten my right leg (i am right hand player) everything automatically became perfect , i started getting tremendous control over the game , game started coming extremely easy to me and nothing looks impossible on table . I was never happier with my game and that too before the qualifying round of world ranking event "Indian open" for the Indian wildcards , i was carrying forward great confidence . Then i went for the first leg of qualifiers where i played decent in the event while loosing to eventual qualifier in the qualifying match in the black ball decider match , but all throughout the tour i never got the same feel which i was getting in my own club . I was not comfortable with my stance in the tour and was not automatically falling on the table , was not getting the same firmness on my bridge hand which i was getting on my club tables , neither the cue action . Then i came back from the tour back to my home city back to my practice table and it was a surprise to me my game was absolutely the same , i came back and again got the same form with which i went in the tour , this brought me to the conclusion that the height of the tables in my club to what i got in tour was varying a bit i.e the tour tables were bit higher and due to which all the magic in my game didnt sparked when i needed it most . So my question is please tell me how to adjust my stance with varying height of table or may be possibly there can be some other issue due to which i didnt got my game in the tour . I know i am cueing straight as i can make 60, 70 s on my will from any were on the table on my club tables , were we have 10 tables all matched to the same height .

p.s: please give your feedback's as they will be more then precious for me . Forgive me if i am not clear with my question phrasing .


thanx
aditya

[Terry Davidson]

Don't really know what to tell you. A billiards table should be 2ft9.5" to 2ft10.5" to the top of the rail and there is not enough difference that a player is forced to change his set-up to compensate. Everything should be the same.

If there was a difference in these match tables I don't think it could be much but perhaps your club tables are to low and you have adjusted your set-up and have become comfortable on them. Take a tape measure and check out your club and see if they are within the standard.

As far as making adjustments for table height they only thing I can think of is to use the bend of the left leg. For tables which seem taller to you straighten the left leg a bit but again I wouldn't think it would be too much. For shorter tables bend the left leg more.

You should keep all other aspects of your set-up the same for the sake of consistency.

Terry

[aditya_147]

hi terry ,

many thanx for the reply , tables in our club are definitely according to the ibsf standards , as 8 out of 10 tables we have are ibsf world championship used tables , and our club is also recognized by the same (ibsf) . So if its not about the table height then what can be the reason for not getting the same cue action in match which i am getting in practice , please tell me what points should i note down from my practice basics on recalling which i will start getting the same cue action in match play. Simple words how to adopt to the new arena and the table setups , if i have the game it should replicate on match tables , there must be some elementary mistake from my side .


thanx
adi

[Terry Davidson]

Aha! Now we get to the real question. First of all let me say WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF COMPETITIVE SNOOKER. There has never been ANY player who has been able to bring his practice game to the match table with the possible exceptions of the odd pro who gets into 'the zone' and plays magical match snooker. Even Stephen Hendry when he was on top of the snooker world said in a post match interview 'I wish I could bring my practice game to the match table'.

So now you know what you are experiencing is NORMAL and happens to every player, but I will try and give you some pointers to set you on the right path to get your match game closer to your practice game. First of all you have to realize match pressure is very different from practice pressure and this comes out as stress which affects your cueing technique and in addition when in a match you will get a lot fewer opportunities for break building since your opponent will be playing you as safe as he can and you will have a lot fewer chances to get fluent.

My advice would be to find a player who is at your own level or ideally a little better than you are and ask him if you can practice with him under match conditions. Play a series of best-of-5 or best-of-7 and if you can afford it play for the table time or a beer or at least something, but first explain to him you will be trying to play under match conditions and will be playing safe when you don't have a 70% chance of a pot on. Do this as frequently as you can as the idea is for you to get use to match conditions and pressure and eventually it will become natural to you and you will find if your safety game improves you will get more chances in the balls to build a break and get more fluent and thus get closer to your practice game.

All this said though please remember it is almost impossible to raise your match game to the level of your practice game and you must expect this and not have it ruin your confidence as believe me, your match game will improve especially if your technique is completely natural and comfortable to you and doesn't have a few flaws which will be amplified under match conditions.

PS - I take it you are in India? If so I will be in Bangalore for the IBSF World Nov 18-29 and it would be a pleasure to chat with you.

Terry

[sealer]

The sooner you will understand that there is no elementary mystake from you the better, you are playing snooker, you will not perform close to your practice standard in a proper match. It will be down to you how you deal with that. Good luck

[aditya_147]

thanx sir ,

i know i wont be playing same game under pressure which i do in practice but what i am worried about is , i should at least play with same cue action under pressure or no pressure , coz what i think is if u have the same basics then u should have the same cue action , and once u achieve this u an play almost the same level. So please can u guys give me pointers on what should i note in my basics on recalling which i will get the feel due to which i will achieve the same cue action .


p.s: terry sir , i live in banglore itself and our association will be hosting the ibsf world championships so i will be there itself and will try to find u out for a chat .


thanx

[DeanH]

PS - I take it you are in India? If so I will be in Bangalore for the IBSF World Nov 18-29 and it would be a pleasure to chat with you.
Terry

p.s: terry sir , i live in banglore itself and our association will be hosting the ibsf world championships so i will be there itself and will try to find u out for a chat .

the magic of TSF strikes again!
hope you can get together at the event

[Terry Davidson]

[QUOTE=aditya_147;799259]thanx sir ,

i know i wont be playing same game under pressure which i do in practice but what i am worried about is , i should at least play with same cue action under pressure or no pressure , coz what i think is if u have the same basics then u should have the same cue action , and once u achieve this u an play almost the same level. So please can u guys give me pointers on what should i note in my basics on recalling which i will get the feel due to which i will achieve the same cue action .


p.s: terry sir , i live in banglore itself and our association will be hosting the ibsf world championships so i will be there itself and will try to find u out for a chat .

The fact of the matter is under match pressure your cueing technique will change and the only thing that helps is to play as much as you can under match pressure both in practice and in tournaments. From what I can see the Indian tournament schedule is quite active so you should be getting lots of opportunities.

Match pressure will assert itself in various ways and there is no one thing I can point to that will help but I will try and explain some of them. If you qualified for the World Championships then perhaps I can see you under pressure in a match. The IBSF will also hold the 'Cue Zone' and although not confirmed as yet it might be Nic Barrow and myself so you can always sign up for that. It is held 9am to 10am for 4 mornings.

Increased pressure might lead to some of these things:

1. The player may lose a little bit of his concentration. This results in him taking his eyes off the object ball at the moment of strike because he is unconsciously anticipating the result and his eyes will wander towards the pocket or perhaps to some point between the cueball and the object ball. Since the hand will unconsciously follow the eye this means the cue will go a little bit off-line.

2. The pressure might cause the player to change his natural rhythm, normally speeding up or shortening the feathers or the backswing and then rushing the delivery or accelerating the delivery too rapidly. This one will lead to further problems, which are:

3. Tightening the grip too early in the delivery.

4. Dropping the elbow too early in the delivery (i.e. - before the strike) so he is actually delivering the cue using the shoulder muscle rather than the muscles in the upper forearm and delivering purely using the elbow as a hinge.

5. Not staying down at the end of the delivery (jumping up off the shot, especially on a missed shot). As the brain will unconsciously plan the whole shot beforehand this will lead to what is called 'anticipatory movement' and the player will have some upper body movement at or just before the strike.

6. Upper body movement might appear which is not present in practice. The entire upper body and the hips MUST remain perfectly still through feathers, backswing and delivery.

7. Movement in the bridge hand, usually the thumb dropping slightly and this will take the cue off-line automatically.

8. Not driving the grip hand to the chest and accelerating THROUGH AND BEYOND the cueball. You should keep accelerating all the way through to the end of the delivery and then remain still with the cue extended for 1-2 seconds after the delivery.

So those are some of the things I've seen in both myself and other players in match situations. It is really hard to both see and understand these problems and what you would need to do is have a video of yourself in a match and look for any of them.

Terry

[aditya_147]

THANX SIR,
I dont think i will be playing in the event as i was not in top 8 of previous national ranking but still be hoping to join the cue zone for sure , can players not participating in the tour be a part cue zone , if yes please tell me the procedure to enroll for the same . Thanx for all the valuable feedback.

[Terry Davidson]

THANX SIR,
I dont think i will be playing in the event as i was not in top 8 of previous national ranking but still be hoping to join the cue zone for sure , can players not participating in the tour be a part cue zone , if yes please tell me the procedure to enroll for the same . Thanx for all the valuable feedback.

I'm not sure if the Q Zone is only open to players and officials or not. The procedure is simple, there is a sign-up sheet in the referee's room and you just put your name down.

If you can volunteer to help your Association out for the event then you would get a participant's badge and that would make it easier. I'm sure if you ask first and you are not a player they will likely say 'no', but if you just sign up I don't think anybody would object.

Terry

[Terry Davidson]

THANX SIR,
I dont think i will be playing in the event as i was not in top 8 of previous national ranking but still be hoping to join the cue zone for sure , can players not participating in the tour be a part cue zone , if yes please tell me the procedure to enroll for the same . Thanx for all the valuable feedback.

Also, I meant to tell you. The host country gets to fill up all the open spots left where players from other countries do not come. I know the last time it was in India there were about 12 Indian players in the men's division and the normal allocation is 3 or 4.

If you wanted to play in the event you should check with your association and see if there will be any open spots available for Indian players. It costs $70(US) to enter and I don't know if your association would normally cover that or not (I have to pay my own entry fee).

The entries are just starting to come in now to the IBSF so your association may not know until the entries close which is around October 31 or so.

Terry

[aditya_147]

yeah i think i will get the volunteer thing easily but for the playing in the event i doubt coz my ranking is not good enough for the same at this point of time . And if not q zone we can meat up may be other then that also and can have a bit of quick private session.

[ace man]

...i should at least play with same cue action under pressure or no pressure...

I'm afraid not. If truly under pressure, i.e. this competition means something to you, then your entire body feels different. High adrenalin level, higher heart rate than normal...even when sitting in a chair, let alone shooting at the frame ball. If you use full dress code, i.e. everything including the waist coat and bow tie, then this makes you make subtle changes...no way this is the same as playing in your comfortable daily casual clothes.

[aditya_147]

hi guys ,

i am afraid that this conversation is getting away from its real concern , which was technicality regarding a perfect stance for a left eye dominant player . For u guys to give me better pointers i am attaching some of my pics , i took it on my office pool table just to give u guys an idea about how i am standing and can make out any possible errors .

thanx