Yippee Ki Yay

[Dredd46]

I sure hope theirs a Yips clinic or someone actually made there way back from them.

Mine have got worse recently to where I can barely hit the CB let alone pot a ball. Last week I fell off the table and hit the floor, a new low boom boom. It felt like the gas pedal was through the floor and the handbrake was on. I had one leg up on the table stretching for a pot and just couldn't move the cue to strike the CB. Started shaking and the tension around my shoulders etc is horrible. Screamed in my head to go go go and finally launched the cue through the CB. Suffice to say CB and OB took off like rockets. Only good thing was OB flew into the pocket. Barely managed to hold on to my cue to stop it flying into the pocket. Doing that sort of twisted me around and I fell off the table and hit the floor. I should mention I go to the club once a week for around 8hrs and take my Dad with me. This means I don't do any solo practise which is not helping. All this triggered a uncomfortable conversation with my Brother Monday gone. My Dad has Parkinsons which is a ****ty disease and of course he has watched me shaking for the last few months at snooker. The highlight being last week when I fell off the table. Dad is upset as he thinks I have Parkinsons and Brother is worried I'm going to have a heart attack because of the stress the yips is causing at snooker. Have to say didn't see any of that coming. Might be time to join that knitting group i've always dreamt of :dispirited:

[Mr.Bean]

Sorry to hear about this, sounds awful and I know that pain, although never experienced anything like that.

What helped me A LOT was to eliminate the pause between the 2 or 3 practice strikes and actually striking the cue ball for a while. It won't help you pot more as you effectively strike the cue ball on a practice swing but it did eliminate my yips. So that told me there was something wrong in my head when I paused.

I did that for a couple of weeks and naturally went back to a pause after then and the yips were gone! I guess it just needed a bit of brain rewiring and it did the trick.

[guernseygooner]

Try pointing and shooting Drago style - no feathers

[Mr.Bean]

Try pointing and shooting Drago style - no feathers

Yep, similar sort of thing. I realised I must have been tightening up during the pause or something.

[vmax]

It might help to spend an hour or so simply playing balls directly into pockets to try and get that object ball anxiety out of your mind.
Start off with a full pocket and drift the ball directly in at pocket weight from various distances.
Remember to pull the cue back slowly just a couple of inches, focus on the pocket and deliver the cue while still looking at the pocket.
Then do the same from acute angles, then hit them harder while increasing the length of your backswing until you reach full power with maximum backswing.
Then drift them in pocket weight using side from all angles with and against the nap, again hit them harder and then harder again.

Forget about potting balls with the cue ball for a few weeks and just do this.





While doing this learn to keep your head very still and only get up from your stance when the ball drops.

[Dredd46]

Sorry to hear about this, sounds awful and I know that pain, although never experienced anything like that.

What helped me A LOT was to eliminate the pause between the 2 or 3 practice strikes and actually striking the cue ball for a while. It won't help you pot more as you effectively strike the cue ball on a practice swing but it did eliminate my yips. So that told me there was something wrong in my head when I paused.

I did that for a couple of weeks and naturally went back to a pause after then and the yips were gone! I guess it just needed a bit of brain rewiring and it did the trick.

I suppose there are worse things in life but at the moment this is proving to be a real pain. The pause is definitely making things worse. I'm staring at the tip and then a battle of wills ensues. Tried without the pause and end up stabbing at the CB but early days yet so will persevere.

[Dredd46]

Try pointing and shooting Drago style - no feathers

Tried it briefly and wasn't great. Felt like I was doing a quick in and out on the CB so to speak and was glad the shot was over. If at first

[Dredd46]

It might help to spend an hour or so simply playing balls directly into pockets to try and get that object ball anxiety out of your mind.
Start off with a full pocket and drift the ball directly in at pocket weight from various distances.
Remember to pull the cue back slowly just a couple of inches, focus on the pocket and deliver the cue while still looking at the pocket.
Then do the same from acute angles, then hit them harder while increasing the length of your backswing until you reach full power with maximum backswing.
Then drift them in pocket weight using side from all angles with and against the nap, again hit them harder and then harder again.

Forget about potting balls with the cue ball for a few weeks and just do this.





While doing this learn to keep your head very still and only get up from your stance when the ball drops.

Yep this is on my list of to do's, got to keep that head still.

[blahblah01]

Go Back to Basics, but keep your trousers on, and avoid women called Edwina :wink:

[Dredd46]

[QUOTE=blahblah01;936794]Go Back to Basics, but keep your trousers on, and avoid women called Edwina :wink:

Damm, way to ruin all my fun :tongue:

Any idea who the guy in the video is? I've watched this and part 2 before. If only it was as easy as he says it is.

[Catch 22]

[QUOTE=Dredd46;936916]

Go Back to Basics, but keep your trousers on, and avoid women called Edwina :wink:

Damm, way to ruin all my fun :tongue:

Any idea who the guy in the video is? I've watched this and part 2 before. If only it was as easy as he says it is.

Alan trigg

[Dredd46]

[QUOTE=Catch 22;936936]

Alan trigg

Thanks Catch 22, I can't say i've heard of him before.

[blahblah01]

He is on the Coaches List at the Star Academy in Sheffield.

I would need some of the stuff in the 2nd Vid explained a bit more (and the "Trick" type Shots are a bit pants): but I like his almost First Principles way of explaining.

For the Yips: it is definitely a good idea to do a bit of that 2 Reds on the cushion thing; then scatter the balls and do the same with potting ie stand behind the white do all the prep stuff then go down and fire (we may be erring back to Edwina here )

[Dredd46]

He is on the Coaches List at the Star Academy in Sheffield.

I would need some of the stuff in the 2nd Vid explained a bit more (and the "Trick" type Shots are a bit pants): but I like his almost First Principles way of explaining.

For the Yips: it is definitely a good idea to do a bit of that 2 Reds on the cushion thing; then scatter the balls and do the same with potting ie stand behind the white do all the prep stuff then go down and fire (we may be erring back to Edwina here )

Bit of coaching in Sheffield? Ok so we can trust in what hes saying? :wink:

Yep some more explanation would be nice and his trick shots are old tricks. Bit pants is being polite

I have a feeling i would be knocking ten ton of the brown stuff out of those 2 reds. Still I think would be a good idea along with scattering the reds. Not sure I'm going to keep a straight face when I go down and fire, Oh Edwina :biggrin:

I've been trying to keep it simple and almost do as he describes. At the moment I'm struggling to get my chin on the cue without becoming fixated on the CB.

Thanks for the reply

[Little Reggie]

Dredd,

I'm no expert but it sounds like your issues might be handled well by a sports psychologist. Some snooker coaches have training in this area, most don't, so you'd probably have to do some digging to find the right one. I could say simply understand that potting or missing doesn't matter, it's not life and death and even death is inevitable so who should care about the CB anyway? But it's obviously about not just understanding but feeling and actioning this truth; emotions are important to all of us.

Part of the preparation as a coach tells me is to get one's mind right before we enter the room with a plan of action, reasons and routines, objectives all in place. But most importantly, a calm and collected mind. In your case there are a few extra things to prepare. Don't know if you've tried mediation but many a high performance sports star finds it useful as a way to focus but also as a way to relieve tension and get into a peaceful zone. It doesn't sound like ramping it up and pumping more testosterone is helping you. There's many a meditation technique on youtube you can try for free. I could give you a simple technique that anyone can learn. Meditation can do no harm and it's a useful tool for other areas of life as well.

Big yourself up for writing your honest, painful feelings. That took the guts that will help you overcome your issue I feel. We all have trouble with this game we love so it's good for everyone to know they're not alone. Thankyou for your post.