Towards Perfect Cue Ball Control - The D Test

[alabadi]

Maybe i'm the only one that tried it...lol, I'm hoping others attempt this so we can to see how they achieve it. it would be interesting to see if it could be done different ways.

[birkirhlyns]

Giving this a go!

[barrywhite]

Giving this a go!

Good man! A lot have had a go, whether they've done it I don't know, only two confirmed so far.

@alabadi; yeah, I might have to try and drop behind the green with plain ball. Might require slightly less angle on the brown (and half an inch of extra screw from the yellow) compared to the stun solution from brown to green we've used. Would be even harder to use plain ball though.

[throtts]

I try it tonight, barry. It'll be a very methodical operation on mine but a good challenge.

[LucLex3119]

You can all make this a little harder and take the colours in order. Yellow, green and Brown. That way depending on the angle left for the Brown you will either have to slam it in the middle and screw off the baulk line, make a tight cut in the middle and come of two cushions or play it with top spin to land on the blue.

It's clearing the colours in order but without the cue ball leaving the D on the first 3 shots.

I would do it but I'm in Africa for 4 weeks.

What would also be good is if when trying these routines is to put the whole video up. It doesn't have to be an hour long but a 5 minute video of your attempts.

[frazz]

Never heard of or seen a pro practise this at any stage of there careers, seems a bit pointless to me really, if anything teaching u silly shots that are realistically never gonna come up in a match. Why not practise pink off spot with 3 or 4 reds either side and play them all in corners or all in middles? Do black off spot with 5 reds above, top one on pink spot and 2 either side pointing to the corners, play them all to corners or all to middles, these are positional shots and break building shots that are gonna come up in a match not having to clear the baulk colours all from within the D.

[LucLex3119]

Never heard of or seen a pro practise this at any stage of there careers, seems a bit pointless to me really, if anything teaching u silly shots that are realistically never gonna come up in a match. Why not practise pink off spot with 3 or 4 reds either side and play them all in corners or all in middles? Do black off spot with 5 reds above, top one on pink spot and 2 either side pointing to the corners, play them all to corners or all to middles, these are positional shots and break building shots that are gonna come up in a match not having to clear the baulk colours all from within the D.

It's just a bit of fun Fraser, you will find lots of posts like this.

You should start a Fraser Patrick Coaching thread with set challenges like clearing the routines you just posted. We amateurs love posting videos of our achievements on the table.

[markz]

Never heard of or seen a pro practise this at any stage of there careers, seems a bit pointless to me really, if anything teaching u silly shots that are realistically never gonna come up in a match. Why not practise pink off spot with 3 or 4 reds either side and play them all in corners or all in middles? Do black off spot with 5 reds above, top one on pink spot and 2 either side pointing to the corners, play them all to corners or all to middles, these are positional shots and break building shots that are gonna come up in a match not having to clear the baulk colours all from within the D.

Seems more a win a pint challenge than a practice routine. I agree, get touch practice in scoring zone with pink T routine and black T routine or cross etc..

[barrywhite]

Never heard of or seen a pro practise this at any stage of there careers, seems a bit pointless to me really, if anything teaching u silly shots that are realistically never gonna come up in a match. Why not practise pink off spot with 3 or 4 reds either side and play them all in corners or all in middles? Do black off spot with 5 reds above, top one on pink spot and 2 either side pointing to the corners, play them all to corners or all to middles, these are positional shots and break building shots that are gonna come up in a match not having to clear the baulk colours all from within the D.

The point not the pint is to complete the test because you can do it. If you can do it, you have delicate and accurate cue ball control. If they can't do this test folk need to work on those shots because they come up all over the table. Soft screws, stuns and stop shots to the middle are important; frames don't evolve with balls lined up, they tend to happen with the pack being broken and when a shot to the black pockets isn't on, a pot to the middle may be necessary to make a big break. It's not necessarily for pros because they have these skills proven but I'd expect Ding to cream it because he's got that magic touch.

[frazz]

So practise a spread with lots of reds round pink and black where u need close control, your never gonna need to clear baulk colours without telling white leaving the D

[LucLex3119]

So practise a spread with lots of reds round pink and black where u need close control, your never gonna need to clear baulk colours without telling white leaving the D

im going off topic here so I apologise but it's a question I and many others I'm sure would like to know.

Fraser, what cue do you currently use? Which cue maker do you prefer or would use in the future?

[barrywhite]

So practise a spread with lots of reds round pink and black where u need close control, your never gonna need to clear baulk colours without telling white leaving the D

If that requires control down to the last 1/2cm fair play. The test is a bit of fun as well, to get folk working on their cue ball control but also to give them something to do at practice that's a bit different so they don't get bored. And if they can do it, to prove to them that they do have the some of the skills needed for tons, even if they haven't yet had one. Passing the driving test doesn't mean you're a brilliant driver but it does mean you've got the potential to become one. Pros don't need to do it but if they did, that would be nice to see their cue ball control as well, to see how they go about it as an instruction to others. And there are times when a red is in the baulk and you need to pot a D colour to stay in baulk and pot that red. I've seen that loads.

Once folk have nailed this test they can move on to stunning or deep screwing D colours into pockets so they can break like Trump and Robbo.

* I'm not suggesting that folk only do this at practice, there's loads of routines they can do that are of greater benefit. That's why I partly said do it once a day, though I only made the 'pressure' reason explicit tbf.

[itsnoteasy]

I think the point is getting missed, we have just had an insight into how a pro thinks, no trivial stuff, pair it down to what's needed to improve at snooker and we seem to be telling him he's wrong, I find this place hard to believe sometimes, and then we wonder why they won't give advice.

[alabadi]

Your spot on Jim, I tried the exercise just to see if I can hold the cue ball in a confined space. I think when you have something visible it focuses the mind.

However as an exercise to break building its not. Frazz is right to improve on break building the exercises should be catered for that situation

[itsnoteasy]

I'm not saying there's no place for a bit of fun in practice and to be fair to BW he did say just try this once a sesh, but I know what folk are like and they will be at this for half an hour ,when all said and done it is trivial ( maybe that's a bit harsh)
I just feel we should maybe listen a bit more, when a top ,top player takes time out to offer us a wee insight into how they go about the game, otherwise they won't bother, I know I wouldn't if I was at the top end of the game, worked my nuts off to get there, been through all the ups and downs learned through the hard knocks, offer a bit of advice and a casual player says, nah your wrong there lol, it would be my last input.