Nic Barrow's: How To Make a 100 Break

[Leo]

Well I suppose you can teach a tone deaf woman to sing a certain song to some degree but you do know from the off that person will never be the next Whitney Houston no matter how much she tries.

Very good anology there Byrom. Same at school with football, you would grow up playing with the same people all through school who put their bags down at the same time as you every break time yet they never improved when others did. I always believe you are born with a natural talent like some people are born very bright and can normally complete most tasks in front of them and those less bright who struggle with most tasks.

[Tony Morgan]

David you're in the same boat I was up to 2 years ago. I stopped playing for nearly 13 years. First time back I thought I needed binoculars to see the other end of the table lol. It seems that you know your way around a table though if you've had a 97. My advice to you would be is to just get back practicing, practicing & practicing. Check out Fergal O'Brians website. He's got some very good practice routines on there. And the best thing is they're FREE. When you're back to or as near to your old playing level. Then I'd go & see a coach to iron out the problems. Good luck

[alabadi]

David , as you are in Scotland why not try Chris Small, he was a top pro and now he's coaching, some of the lads on here have had coaching from him and they speak highly of him. He is a member of this forum as well, but I haven't seen many posts from him lately.
I know if I lived in Scotland I would have seen him. I probably will one day, however it's a bit far for me at the moment

Also there is Graham Dott too, but I wouldn't think he is available much as he is still on the pro circuit.

[itsnoteasy]

If you think you have faults, go and see a coach, if you are just starting out go and see one(get shown the basics and what you're trying to acheive,could save you years of experimenting). If you have stalled in your progress could be worthwhile having a coach take a look.
BUT you have to put the work in, and then put more work in, once you have done that put some work in and you will start to improve. I don't think you have to see one once a week or even once a month, a couple of times a year, work really hard at what they tell you for six months at least, then go back, you may go backwards before you go forwards especially if you have been playing for a few years and have some faults that get corrected ,they may take some time to bed in, but it's the end result you are after, you want to get better, you don't need a sticking plaster.
I don't think we can all be good, most can reach a reasonable standard for a club player, some will make good high standard armatures, and a tiny fraction will make a living from it.
I would recommend going to see Chris Small, he's very good indeed, I have also heard Steve Bailey is very good, if your over on the west coast.

[CoachGavin]

Nic Barrow's: How To Make a 100 Break

i think some things are to do with physical or mental attributes. Usain bolt is 6 foot 5 or whatever and has a long stride perfect for running. However he was also born in jamaica, one the finest sprinting nations on earth and so he was trained as an athlete. If he was born in England he would probably have played football and been average. Look at Ronnie. His dad left him to play down the club for long hours when he was young, top professionals were invited to play him and he had the backing to enter lots of tournaments. That provided a great foundation to build on. Not many people get that start. As a coach i think it's positive because i can say to players that if you put effort in then in most cases you can improve. many players come to me and falsely say that they are not a natural player and will therefore never be good. In all sports you can see that effort and circumstances often lead to success.

[CoachGavin]

Nic Barrow's: How To Make a 100 Break

In some sports such as golf and tennis the parents have actually decided very early on or before someone was born that they would be great. The players look natural twenty years later but that's not surprising when they play subconsciously after all that practice. My view is if its all down to natural ability and you find something difficult then there is no point trying but that can't be right.

[DG GIBERT]

Hi Guys

I seem to have opened the proverbial can of worms here LOL. OK here is my situation. In my teens I was in the snooker hall 6-7 days a week and I was at a level where I was knocking in regular 50,60 and 70+ breaks with a highest ever of 97 (jawed a high black off the spot for the ton aaaarrrgggh - I'm sure my bottle went!). Havent played much in the intervening years up until about 6 months ago when I started to play regularly again. My highest break in this time has been a 56 in play and a 71 in a line up. I am now free to devote as much time as I want to snooker and intend to do so. I am playing and practising but I feel I need a structured and progressive plan for practice rather than just knocking balls in on my own. I am keen to get some coaching to identify the flaws in my play and hopefully suitable practice routines to address them. I would also like to look at my safety game as I hope to maybe start entering some amateur leagues/ comps in Paisley or Glasgow later this year (unfortunately our local league folded a couple of years ago). My thinking was that if I got a day or two's coaching at regular intervals with a plan to follow in between it would give me something concrete to work on and subsequent coaching sessions could measure my progress. I don't have a target in mind and I'm not desperate to knock in a ton though it would be nice. I just want to practice smart, play a whole lot of snooker and see how far I can get. I am in a fortunate position that I can afford some coaching and have the time work not withstanding to practice a lot. I admit I am a bit baffled by the amount of coaches that are out there / available in the West of Scotland but I am drawn to the idea of someone who has played the game to a decent standard. No insult intended to those coaches who haven't and I am well aware that to be a good coach does not necessarily mean you have to play your chosen sport to a high standard. Anyway thanks for all the replies and I'll let you know how I go (probably to take up dominoes or summat )

Cheers

David

I did a video of my self for the first time this week end, it was an eye opener i did not realize how often i jerked on shots head movement, steering shots in etc.. and this was on a 105 break on a line up!

maybe you should try that first to see if there any obvious errors

[DG GIBERT]

with the amount of movement i thought i was watching a Alex Higgins vid

[Leo]

I did a video of my self for the first time this week end, it was an eye opener i did not realize how often i jerked on shots head movement, steering shots in etc.. and this was on a 105 break on a line up!

maybe you should try that first to see if there any obvious errors

IMO No such thing as a break in a line up, you either complete it or you don't.

[itsnoteasy]

i think some things are to do with physical or mental attributes. Usain bolt is 6 foot 5 or whatever and has a long stride perfect for running. However he was also born in jamaica, one the finest sprinting nations on earth and so he was trained as an athlete. If he was born in England he would probably have played football and been average. Look at Ronnie. His dad left him to play down the club for long hours when he was young, top professionals were invited to play him and he had the backing to enter lots of tournaments. That provided a great foundation to build on. Not many people get that start. As a coach i think it's positive because i can say to players that if you put effort in then in most cases you can improve. many players come to me and falsely say that they are not a natural player and will therefore never be good. In all sports you can see that effort and circumstances often lead to success.

Surely Ronnie was showing promise for these pros to play him or to get any type of backing , I doubt if I invited them they would turn up to watch me make a forty break every now and again. So I rekon his talent was showing first then the rest followed. You could have left me locked in a club when I was younger and I wouldn't have been as good as Ronnie.
If it's fair to say he's the best and you can rank others behind him, I think it's fair also to say he has the best aptitude for the game, it can't just be because he's worked harder.

[CoachGavin]

Nic Barrow's: How To Make a 100 Break

obviously i doubt other pros played him when i was a beginner but i did read his autobiography and top players were paid to play him. He also played in an area where there were a lot of very good amateurs and professionals for him to learn from. Not saying everyone can be as good as him but put the right circumstances in place and your chances of being very good improve dramatically.

[jonny66]

I agree with Gavin, I think 'natural talent' is overestimated by a lot of people, I would say a fair amount of people on this forum have natural ability, it just hasn't been nurtured and honed as much as Ronnie's, because we went to school and not the snooker hall.

[DG GIBERT]

IMO No such thing as a break in a line up, you either complete it or you don't.

And your point being?

[Leo]

And your point being?

I wasn't making a point, I was demonstrating the fact that the sole aim of a line up is to complete it not count your break.

[DG GIBERT]

I wasn't making a point, I was demonstrating the fact that the sole aim of a line up is to complete it not count your break.

What if i complete it with a 72?