The Les Edwards Snooker Challenge Thread

[Master Blaster]

I give you the most basic challenge my snooker coach gave me, and it requires straight cueing, precision and cue ball control down to the last mm.

Pot the blue off its spot as many times in a row as you can in any pocket. Put the white ball anywhere to begin. The second pot is played from where the white ball lands. Most people can't do 5, how many can you do?

I managed 20 eventually but with a lot of mid-range blues to the corner, stuns and stun run-throughs to recover position back to the centre line. We need to be able to pot these blues in a break anyway, so it's a good exercise and your medium range pots will improve. You may also need to stun down off the top/bottom rail and back to the blue, another good skill. It's amazing how quickly you can run out of position even if you put the white ball on the centre line to begin with, just 1 degree off straight and things begin to ho awry.

This is a great exercise because you HAVE to play for just one ball so it teaches you the touch and feel that Ding has.

When it becomes easy, you play the blue to the corners instead.

[Leo]

Ok Les no worries carry on what you're doing and listen to others but I feel this thread has turned into the blind leading the blind.
When you start wondering why none of you can't put a decent break together try thinking it might have something to do with not practicing excercisis amongst the Reds, because at the moment I'm pretty sure a couple of you would be pretty clueless in that situation in a match.
That's me done had enough of talking to the wall

[lesedwards]

Ok Les no worries carry on what you're doing and listen to others but I feel this thread has turned into the blind leading the blind.
When you start wondering why none of you can't put a decent break together try thinking it might have something to do with not practicing excercisis amongst the Reds, because at the moment I'm pretty sure a couple of you would be pretty clueless in that situation in a match.
That's me done had enough of talking to the wall

Leo I am with you on this point. I always finish with a routine in the business end. Yesterday when I ran my 40 I started with a red about 12" from a corner then played the cue ball from baulk then onto black then next red which I left in the open then black into pack. I agree you need to be able to see your way around which has always been my problem. That is why I always finish with a ho in the business end.

[Terry Davidson]

It's very sad it's died away Terry, this may be a daft question but was snooker popular all over Canada at one point or more in the English speaking bits and not so much the French parts.

Montreal has always been a hotbed of snooker and there have been a lot of really good players from there. Alain is from there too. Snooker was popular everywhere, with tables in virtually every community from Nova Scotia to British Columbia. Not unlike Wales there were snooker tables in the small mining communities in Cape Breton.

However, it was all about gambling in those days and parents (including mine) didn't want their sons going to those 'dens of iniquity' as they were called in the press. However, that environment did generate a lot of good players, some of whom turned pro in the 80's and went to the UK.

[itsnoteasy]

Cheers Terry, I just wondered if the slightly different cultural take on things made any difference to who played snooker in Canada. I think the idea of snooker halls being dens of iniquities was pretty much the standard over here as well, I'm not sure when it changed, maybe when snooker hit the big time on the telly. I think there has always been money bets on the snooker, in halls up and down the country.

[j6uk]

don't syce me cus i know the rory, get on the black cus its the best, for the winners and the losers..

[lesedwards]

get on the black cus its the best, for the winners and the losers

That's what I am doing.

[j6uk]

okay so stop slaging around and do 50, im not stopping you

That's what I am doing.

[Ricky2112]

Ok Les no worries carry on what you're doing and listen to others but I feel this thread has turned into the blind leading the blind.
When you start wondering why none of you can't put a decent break together try thinking it might have something to do with not practicing excercisis amongst the Reds, because at the moment I'm pretty sure a couple of you would be pretty clueless in that situation in a match.
That's me done had enough of talking to the wall

Les it would be good if some off your mentors put up a video of themselves playing to see how far ahead of you they are. I think you have come on leaps and bounds Les, keep it up, I thought I was on par with you Les but with the work you are putting in I am way behind.

Cheers Ricky

[jonny66]

I haven't really kept up with this thread, but I have a week off in vienna , which it turns out has some awesome snooker tables. So I tried the first two challenges, I think, clear the colour and a 3 red line-up with just pink and black. Failed at both, I think I have a shot selection problem.

I made a video of me failing to clear the colours, it's terrible quality, mainly due to the light, can any of you see what I'm doing wrong? I also have a cold.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2ibuca3lH4

[sealer]

I haven't really kept up with this thread, but I have a week off in Vienna, which it turns out has some awesome snooker tables. So I tried the first two challenges, I think, clear the colour and a 3 red line-up with just pink and black. Failed at both, I think I have a shot selection problem.

I made a video of me failing to clear the colours, it's terrible quality, mainly due to the light, can any of you see what I'm doing wrong? I also have a cold.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2ibuca3lH4

You seem to know which ball comes next but you play the wrong shots so there you go, cheers

[jrc750]

Lol .............

[itsnoteasy]

What do you think went wrong there Jonny? Starting from the first yellow where do you think you go wrong or right on each shot?

[jonny66]

First yellow I should have screwed back properly to be on the green, but I hit it wrong and stunned it, should have played top across the table twice to save it? instead I tried a drag shot which I hit too hard, then I missed the brown. Second time round I tried to screw the white across the face of the brown, hit it too hard, that fecjed everything up.

[jonny66]

where's the best place to put the white for the first yellow?