The Les Edwards Snooker Challenge Thread

[itsnoteasy]

It's not the only thing I do Leo, it would drive me nuts lol. It's very good for my concentration as much as anything else and being lazy is my biggest downfall so I am getting something good from it appart from the obvious confidence and knowledge of how to play around the scoring area.
Mostly now I do scatterd Reds ,like you kind of said , I have a few loose ones and a small pack and try my best to clear
On your point about getting to onehundred then only doing twenty, I feel it's all about confidence and knowledge around that area, if I get to my goal , my average will probably be between fifty and seventy, this will mean I have excellent cue ball controll around that area, yeah I could muck it up on three or four but it would be a lot less often than I do it now and it's getting that high consistency I'm after, if that makes sense, to be honest I don't know if that's what J6 had in mind when he talked about this routine but that's my understanding what it's for. I'm not just potting blacks, I'm using the cushions as much as I can either stun on and off same side or on and through to the other side

[lesedwards]

I would like to see a video of you doing 5 reds and blues as you say you've managed so far.

I am going down to run the tournament today but will try and post one tomorrow. Like I said I did it twice but I have tried it a million times. I will see if I can pull another one out of my hat.... great excersise.

[Leo]

It's not the only thing I do Leo, it would drive me nuts lol. It's very good for my concentration as much as anything else and being lazy is my biggest downfall so I am getting something good from it appart from the obvious confidence and knowledge of how to play around the scoring area.
Mostly now I do scatterd Reds ,like you kind of said , I have a few loose ones and a small pack and try my best to clear
On your point about getting to onehundred then only doing twenty, I feel it's all about confidence and knowledge around that area, if I get to my goal , my average will probably be between fifty and seventy, this will mean I have excellent cue ball controll around that area, yeah I could muck it up on three or four but it would be a lot less often than I do it now and it's getting that high consistency I'm after, if that makes sense, to be honest I don't know if that's what J6 had in mind when he talked about this routine but that's my understanding what it's for. I'm not just potting blacks, I'm using the cushions as much as I can either stun on and off same side or on and through to the other side

Oh defiantly see where you're coming from, you seem really determined as well which will help your progress ten fold. Just think you're a better standard then you make out especially with you knocking out a line up which is not easy unless you've got a bit of talent and also chucking in 50 straight blacks which also needs half decent ball control and once you bring this into your game I think you'll reach a half decent standard.

[itsnoteasy]

I get a bit obsessed with things Leo, I spent hundreds and hundreds of hours just doing the line up, but it's just like the straight red line up ,once you have the knack of it, it's only the last few reds that are a challenge, and then a bit of luck and nerve to clear the colours.
Doing the black routine straight away showed me how much I got away with on the line up, I thought it taught me to controll the cue ball, but it didn't really as most of the time you can just play into a general area and be decent on something, even on the colours if you play a bit wrong on the black you can have a decent chance of the pink in the middle.
I think it's fair to say I'm a forty break standard as I get them regularly now, I've had two fifties but I don't get them regularly so it doesn't count, and doing the scatterd Reds with colours I knock in the odd seventy eighty,those are every once in a while though,so in under three years I'm getting there slowly.
One thing I would say and I think you hinted at it with the next challenge is ,I don't find these routines teach you to play snooker, they teach you the shots, but you don't get those awkward cueing ,or funny little holding shots or cannons or splits you need during break building, this is where I am at now, actually learning to play snooker, I never used to play anyone ,just practiced on my own, but in the past few months I have bitten the bullet and I am getting spanked quite regularly off some good players now and trying to learn by watching.

[alabadi]

It's very good for my concentration as much as anything else and being lazy is my biggest downfall so I am getting something good from it apart from the obvious confidence and knowledge of how to play around the scoring area.

On your point about getting to one hundred then only doing twenty, I feel it's all about confidence and knowledge around that area, if I get to my goal , my average will probably be between fifty and seventy, this will mean I have excellent cue ball control around that area, yeah I could muck it up on three or four but it would be a lot less often than I do it now and it's getting that high consistency I'm after, if that makes sense.

i agree here, this is what i am using it for. i am so inconsistent when high on the black. my target is 50 , i'm only half way there at the moment, but its already helping me in games, i have noticed over the last few weeks when i'm in and around the black i am getting more now.

[alabadi]

I get a bit obsessed with things Leo, I spent hundreds and hundreds of hours just doing the line up, but it's just like the straight red line up ,once you have the knack of it, it's only the last few reds that are a challenge, and then a bit of luck and nerve to clear the colours.
Doing the black routine straight away showed me how much I got away with on the line up, I thought it taught me to controll the cue ball, but it didn't really as most of the time you can just play into a general area and be decent on something, even on the colours if you play a bit wrong on the black you can have a decent chance of the pink in the middle.

I concur, iv'e said it before on here , i prefer setting up 4-5 reds with blacks rather than the whole line up because this teaches better cueball control, you can't over do it or you just lose position.
this is why the full line up you find the first 8-10 reds straight forward and then gets tricky the less reds you have.

in regards to obsessive i think i am too, i spend hours doing the colours of there spots and i find i can complete 5-6 out of 10 . i always finish any session with the colours for half an hour. a few weeks ago i thought to myself i'm going to do 2 back to back, once i get to the black to set them up again and try and get from black to yellow and complete it again, well lets just say i got home 2 hours later than i usually do.

i'm very competitive and don't take defeat as an option, if i put my mind to something i don't accept that i can't do it, so i keep on and on until i can do it. i guess this is the reason i am progressing at my age where many would say i would be in decline.

I think it's fair to say I'm a forty break standard as I get them regularly now, I've had two fifties but I don't get them regularly so it doesn't count, and doing the scatterd Reds with colours I knock in the odd seventy eighty,those are every once in a while though,so in under three years I'm getting there slowly.
One thing I would say and I think you hinted at it with the next challenge is ,I don't find these routines teach you to play snooker, they teach you the shots, but you don't get those awkward cueing ,or funny little holding shots or cannons or splits you need during break building, this is where I am at now, actually learning to play snooker, I never used to play anyone ,just practiced on my own, but in the past few months I have bitten the bullet and I am getting spanked quite regularly off some good players now and trying to learn by watching.

i think you are probably a few years ahead of me Jim. i'm sure with your attitude and the will to improve u will certainly get there.
i like the fact that you are now playing with better players, although you are getting spanked i think you will learn a lot from it.
i myself have started to come out of my shell and play a few of the lads at the Star Snooker Academy, some top amateurs and pros who practice there. i'm hoping to play them more often now and get my Ar** kicked if i want to improve further

[lesedwards]

i agree here, this is what i am using it for. i am so inconsistent when high on the black. my target is 50 , i'm only half way there at the moment, but its already helping me in games, i have noticed over the last few weeks when i'm in and around the black i am getting more now.

I have found the exact same thing. I use to run a Red n Black n maybe one more red and that would be it. Now I find myself running 16 to 24 when in the same situation. That's what these challenges have done to my game. I played my first tournament yesterday since starting the challenges and I won my first match. Ran a 22 the first game.

[lesedwards]

No challenge today Ted? What happened?

[tedisbill]

You said earlier in the week that you should have a week with no challenge and just go back over the ones you already have. So I didn't bother doing one.

[lesedwards]

You said earlier in the week that you should have a week with no challenge and just go back over the ones you already have. So I didn't bother doing one.

Okay that is perfect give all of us a chance to complete what we feel we need to. Mine is to complete the 15 red. I just wanted to make sure you did not abandon us.....

[cyberheater]

You said earlier in the week that you should have a week with no challenge and just go back over the ones you already have. So I didn't bother doing one.

I wonder if we should try monthly challenges. I think we've got more then enough to be going on with.

- 3 reds, 3 blacks mini line up.
- 3 reds, 3 blacks T line up.
- Colour Clearance.
- 15 reds.
- 2 reds and a blue.

I would also add in blacks off the spot.

Yep. More then enough to be getting on with. Quite honesty. I could just use these routines for the rest of the year and it would be enough for me. If I could regularly clear them I would be well on my way to being a decent break builder.

[lesedwards]

I wonder if we should try monthly challenges. I think we've got more then enough to be going on with.

- 3 reds, 3 blacks mini line up.
- 3 reds, 3 blacks T line up.
- Colour Clearance.
- 15 reds.
- 2 reds and a blue.

I would also add in blacks off the spot.

Yep. More then enough to be getting on with. Quite honesty. I could just use these routines for the rest of the year and it would be enough for me. If I could regularly clear them I would be well on my way to being a decent break builder.

Cyberheater I agree with you. These five challenges have already improved my game and I am know where close to completing all of them on the first or second try. Maybe a new challenge once a month would do it. What's everyone else think? At this point the guys that are doing the challenges like ourselves need to keep up the thread and report in as we inspire each other to keep working on them. Maybe if Ted pops in once a week with a post just to keep pushing us that would do it. Look forward to hearing everyone's thoughts.

[DeanH]

Hi Les
can you start a new thread about the tournament you and TD had at the weekend, giving us all the juicy bits and gossip

[Leo]

Cyberheater I agree with you. These five challenges have already improved my game and I am know where close to completing all of them on the first or second try. Maybe a new challenge once a month would do it. What's everyone else think? At this point the guys that are doing the challenges like ourselves need to keep up the thread and report in as we inspire each other to keep working on them. Maybe if Ted pops in once a week with a post just to keep pushing us that would do it. Look forward to hearing everyone's thoughts.

My thoughts are is you'll soon need to start doing some real-time break building routines that you're more likely to encounter 99% of the time in matches. What you're all doing now is OK not great in terms of routines and in a word not real snooker if that makes sense.
Split the pack up or even spread 10 reds under the pink, look for gaps, kissing other balls, etc etc. This is where you'll get your points at the business end of the table, you'll be surprised how much you will learn doing this and they'll come a time where hopefully mixing the Reds and blacks up will come quite naturally.
Clearing the colours or knocking in the blue and 2 reds really ain't where you need to be.

[Terry Davidson]

Hi Les
can you start a new thread about the tournament you and TD had at the weekend, giving us all the juicy bits and gossip

Les WON HIS FIRST MATCH EVER!!! He beat Pat Graham 3-2 (after being up 2-0). I lost my second match to Robin Petersen 3-2 after being up 2-1.

I haven't checked yet this morning but tournament results will be put up at 'ontariosnooker.club' under the 'News' link. This is our new website and we're looking to make some improvements as we've discovered snooker players need a website which uses the 'KISS' principle since there were a lot of questions regarding playing times (2 players showed up an hour late) and other questions regarding rules and all of that is on our website but the players just don't check it out very well.