The Les Edwards Snooker Challenge Thread

[lesedwards]

i've been doing the line up extensively lately and Saturday night was gutted. i potted 10 6 with blacks and 4 with pinks reds and was on a relatively easy 10th black 3/4 high had 2 reds just above the pink and the other 3 just above the blue.

took it for granted and played for the top red rather than either and finished short, middle of the two, too close to make the pot, well lets say if i didn't have a valuable cue i would have smashed it to bits, i was fuming this was the first time in a long time every shot i played was spot on, i had a good feeling i was going to get my first clearance.

anyway after calming myself back down i replaced the black reset the shot and played it again potted it and landed where i should have before and from there i cleared the table.

what a shame it would have been my first. i have a feeling with the way i am playing its coming pretty soon.

That is fantastic, I actually gave it shot last night and after an hour I ran 27.... if I owned a cheap cue there would be nothing left of it. I must have gone a half hour making 8's. I seem to lack concentration doing the line up. Miss easy pots and leave myself on the rail or in bad position. All that fun and confidence I had was gone real quick. I had to walk away.

[LucLex3119]

Hats exactly what the line up does for your game.
For you it sounds like a mindset issue and not a potting issue. I'm sure it won't be long before you make the clearance. Good luck

[LucLex3119]

Les,

Start with 4 reds between black and pink. It's a good achievable goal. I know you can do it. Concentrate on each pot and take your time with looking at the angle you need to make every pot as easy as possible. Don't worry about the clearance yet just the reds with a colour

[Leo]

Les don't listen to the poster above the whole point of a line up is to clear the damn thing up nothing else the end!! He's been watching to many YouTube videos

[j6uk]

That is fantastic, I actually gave it shot last night and after an hour I ran 27.... if I owned a cheap cue there would be nothing left of it. I must have gone a half hour making 8's. I seem to lack concentration doing the line up. Miss easy pots and leave myself on the rail or in bad position. All that fun and confidence I had was gone real quick. I had to walk away.

no shame in that. as my mum use to say "some things just arent ment to be"

[tetricky]

I'm miles away from clearing the reds....and I'm even struggling taking the colours off the spots these days. Since I change my contact lenses (and since my prescripion and astigmatism changed), and changed my stance (bent my bridge elbow to get my head further forward for better sighting), everything has gone to hellinabasket. I'm not cueing where I think I am aiming. I'm not seeing the pockets, or the angles where I used to.

It's an absolute mess.

The thing is, I believe the changes are right for me to ultimately progress....I've been stuck at average for years. I've decided what I feel I need to do, and I'm going to stick with it and practice until I get it right. There is no shame in missing balls...no shame in struggling to achieve what others are doing....no shame in not instantly clicking with a stance and action. It's okay to pick the things that you feel will help your game, and working on them. But every change takes a lot of time to re-groove, and lots of practice. Constant change must be almost impossible to manage an improvement.

I don't think you are too far off Les, you hit some nice balls. I would concentrate on duplicating where you currently are, and see if the practice repetition helps your knowledge of angles, position, and consistency - I think it will. If I were to give one possible pointer it would be that you seem to punch/slap/throw a little into firmer, or more difficult shots. Try to keep your timing from the rear pause into the strike. Progressive acceleration into the shot, and hit through nicely....rather than punch-decelerate.

....but with belief, practice, and repetition, you can score nicely.

[alabadi]

That is fantastic, I actually gave it shot last night and after an hour I ran 27.... if I owned a cheap cue there would be nothing left of it. I must have gone a half hour making 8's. I seem to lack concentration doing the line up. Miss easy pots and leave myself on the rail or in bad position. All that fun and confidence I had was gone real quick. I had to walk away.

that's what it is Les Concentration, the lineup is a repetitive exercise, and most shots are the same. the misses i make are not because they are difficult because i've just potted half a dozen shots which are exactly the same.

it's to do with the next position i want the white. it only takes a few centimeters and it makes all the difference, especially when you get down to the last 5 or so reds. i need to keep telling myself just pot the OB one at a time and what will be will be.

i'm hoping the next few months i have my first total clearance to share with everyone, i'll be trying hard to achieve that and will not stop until i do.

[lesedwards]

that's what it is Les Concentration, the lineup is a repetitive exercise, and most shots are the same. the misses i make are not because they are difficult because i've just potted half a dozen shots which are exactly the same.

it's to do with the next position i want the white. it only takes a few centimeters and it makes all the difference, especially when you get down to the last 5 or so reds. i need to keep telling myself just pot the OB one at a time and what will be will be.

i'm hoping the next few months i have my first total clearance to share with everyone, i'll be trying hard to achieve that and will not stop until i do.

I know now I have a lot to learn and patience is a must. I will continue to work on the lineup as I now know when I start reach 80's and 90's that I am improving.

[j6uk]

I know now I have a lot to learn and patience is a must. I will continue to work on the lineup as I now know when I start reach 80's and 90's that I am improving.

i think you will notice long before that, when your making regular 40 breaks in the lineup you will be a different player. 90s are a dream away. an by the rate of things you might need another life

[LucLex3119]

Les,

Ignore pathetic posts by Leo. Not sure why he butted in and said the line is just about clearing the balls like that. Of course the end result is to be clearing the line up but your some way off that. All I was pointing out is by putting 3-5 reds on the table between black and blue you will have a lot of room for error, which will assist you. Once you are confidant and making the reds with colours easy you can start to add more reds to the routine.
That came from Brian Cox professional coach.

[Leo]

Les,

Ignore pathetic posts by Leo. Not sure why he butted in and said the line is just about clearing the balls like that. Of course the end result is to be clearing the line up but your some way off that. All I was pointing out is by putting 3-5 reds on the table between black and blue you will have a lot of room for error, which will assist you. Once you are confidant and making the reds with colours easy you can start to add more reds to the routine.
That came from Brian Cox professional coach.

I ain't having a go and Without starting an argument a line up is all about clearing it up and nothing else, none of this tripe counting a break because it's not a break, its only worth talking about a line up when you've achieved the clearance.

[tetricky]

I know what you are saying Leo. A break, to me, is only something in a frame against an actual opponent (and I include 'in practice' as long as you are both playing to win the frame). Everything else is a practice routine.....now you can practice a line up, and improve such that you can get better (clearly averaging five reds, is better than averaging one, and ten better than that). There is some value in the exercise, even if you are not clearing up....I know doing the line up was something that got me from chasing the balls around, to actually making real breaks (and I've never made a clearance). Of course what you make in a line-up is not a break. It's an entirely false and unnatural situation.

[sealer]

you are simple leo

[lesedwards]

Okay I have read all the posts today and now I have a total different outlook on the Line Up, work on just counting reds cleared. I have been always counting breaks and getting upset but if you work on five reds at a time that make a lot more sense. Thanks everyone. Tonight I am going to play a friendly match at his house. Last week I one 2-1 tonight it's going to be 3-0

[Leo]

you are simple leo

Very original but thanks for your feedback.