Some sort of trouble forcing myself to cue nearer to cue ball on Pre-Shot

[blinker]

Greeting folks,

How can i force myself to push my cue tip while feathering much closer to the cue ball (half to 1 inch maybe) in pre-shot routine? I have been playing with many years feathering it to 1 cue ball distance away (didn't even realized it was this far myself) when only recently my mate whom is a regular 30-60 break player pointed out i will be much better player if i feather and did my front pause with my cue tip very much closer to the cue ball.

True enough i tried and force myself to feather all the way till my tip touches the cue ball and push my bridge the same amount of distance forward and instantly i'm getting very good effect when striking the cue ball, my screw back can goes back at least 30-40% more. Less margin of error on unwanted sides and follow through becomes a breeze pushing the cue straight through.

The hard part of this, i have to feather at least 5-6 times and it has to be in my head "push it nearer, push it nearer" also having to focus looking at the tip and cue ball on everytime i did my pre-shot routine, became such an unnatural process if you get what i mean, where normally i would just drop my head down on line of aim, front pause, feather 1-2 times and shoot without even bothering about anything else.

The trouble comes on the moment i forget (almost always when i don't think about it grrrrr) about it and it's back to square one as my instinct of where to stop the cue takes over and it went back to 1 cue ball away. It's so annoying that of anything i tried to change but this is among the hardest ever. Not to mention to feather on and looking at the cue ball everytime i did it takes all kind of rhythm away from my game and slows it down so much it feels so unnatural but then it seems like a flaw that is compulsory for me to change to bring my game up another level .

Did probably 2 days of 3 hrs training each but not having good progress so far....

Just looking for any tip from anybody that has successfully managed to sort this out before or any exercise i can actually do just to have it engraved in my head...

Cheers

[Master Blaster]

Morning. Place the cue over the ball, so that it appears to protrude an inch or two past the front edge of the ball (on your walk in) with the butt close to your hip and your bridge hand holding the splice points. Then get down. You should now be about 10 inches away from the ball (if you have a 57-58" cue). Being closer is good, it's what the top players do. Getting used to being closer is all about changing your grip and opening the hand properly so that you can still cue straight when you take the cue back. If you touch the ball don't fear, it's just something you'll have to adjust to. I'm feathering right up to the ball, maybe just 1/4-1/2" away. When you drive through the ball from a closer range, you will actually develop more spin and power than when you cue long to the ball because more cue is going through the ball. When you pull the cue back on power shots, the ferrule and tip should come right back and you should see some chalk on your bridge. This is counter intuitive as we grow up being told not to get our hands dirty so the last thing we want on our bridge of all places is sticky chalk but that's what is necessary on power shots. You'll see pros wiping their hands with towels to remove chalk and dirt.

[Terry Davidson]

An exercise from Nic Barrow which is used to correct this...set the brown on spot with cueball about a foot behind it and in direct line with the green or yellow pocket. Now move the cue up to the cueball until it just touches it without moving the cueball.

Now try to do this 3 times...so get down into your address position normally and then very slowly and carefully move the tip to just touch the cueball and repeat that 2 more times and then pot the brown. Repeat as necessary until you 'get' it

[billabong]

I have the same problem, due to my eyesight being crap.

I have glasses for driving, and different glasses for reading.

I have no glasses for snooker / pool, and as such, I suspect my poor depth perception

leads me to struggle to get the cue close to the cueball.

When I'm right down on the shot, and think I'm almost touching the cueball, if I stand up,

I'm about 1.5 - 2" away from it !!

Now I cue up, then move the cue forward through my fingers by what I feel is a repeatable amount.

I'll try the Nic Barrow excercise next time.

[jono*]

Are you uncomfortable with contact lenses? even using dailies which are good as you can carry them about and just put them on before you play

[billabong]

never tried.

My prescription still changes every 2 year free eye test ( maybe to get me to keep buying glasses ? ).

Maybe ask about them, althought I'd then need different glasses for driving with snooker / pool contacts in. .

[piper74]

Are you uncomfortable with contact lenses? even using dailies which are good as you can carry them about and just put them on before you play

The last time i worn contact lenses to play, the balls look odd.

They don't look round but looks kind of elongated.

I used to wear contact lenses everyday until 2 years ago when i switched back to glasses.

[Neil Taperell]

Exactly the same as me .......Struggle in glasses but contacts were a nightmare

[mikeyd100]

never tried.

My prescription still changes every 2 year free eye test ( maybe to get me to keep buying glasses ? ).

Maybe ask about them, althought I'd then need different glasses for driving with snooker / pool contacts in. .

You should be able to get free trials from decent Opticians, contacts take a bit of getting used to but they are good.
I remember the first time I wore them, its like everything is in super 3-D haha

[mikeyd100]

Are you uncomfortable with contact lenses? even using dailies which are good as you can carry them about and just put them on before you play

Good tip, I always have a spare pair of dailies in my cue case as well.

[fbook]

Do Just as Terry says

touch the center of the cue ball with your tip an try to pot the brown or just push the cue ball to any pocket to get the feel..
if u hear a noise when u push the ball that means ur tip was not touching the ball..
it does take sm time to adjust to any changes coz we play the game subconsciously n to ingrain any new technique will take time..

[blinker]

Thanks guys for the kind replies. I will definitely give it a go later and try to practice the routine as you all mentioned, I possibly took it far too quick and tried to ingrain it directly on my line up routine and during frame play.

Shall update on the progress as i go along. Cheers!

[DeanH]

some years ago I used to be about 2" away from the cue ball on address, by adjusting my bridge distance (also used to be too big as well) and moving my stance forward a bit, I now have about .25-.5" from the cue ball, but it did take time (months) for this to become a natural part of my setup.
good luck and let us know how you get on

[blinker]

some years ago I used to be about 2" away from the cue ball on address, by adjusting my bridge distance (also used to be too big as well) and moving my stance forward a bit, I now have about .25-.5" from the cue ball, but it did take time (months) for this to become a natural part of my setup.
good luck and let us know how you get on

Thanks for the encouragement Just curious to know after you switched over to being closer to the cue ball what difference has it made to your game as compared to when you were cueing 2" away?

[DeanH]

the combination of a shorter bridge length and closer to the cue ball; my stance and address felt nice and compact and confidence of potting and cue ball control increased greatly, the feeling that the cue was going to go and do what you envisioned became hugely apparent. Now it is naturally part of my setup and not consciously aware of, the confidence of the shot is also natural
not saying I don't miss pots but that's another story