Long potting practive advice required please

[GasMonkey]

I'd do the long blues test to see if you're cueing across. If you're not cueing off line it could be that you've learnt the wrong angles for long potting through never becoming proficient. It may purely be a case of doing long pot drills to ingraine the correct angle recognition.

Drill I use is cueball on green spot, balls in a line across the table half way between pink and black spots. 1st ball is dead straight and work to right in sequence with the final ball being a 1/4 ball cut back into the same pocket. Once you can pit them without missing hitting plain ball, swap to the mirrored drill using the yellow spot for the cueball. Next step is to repeat with top on the white, then a soft screw/stop shot type action. The angles you hit WILL change to make the balls. If you're a natural player you will subconsciously learn and adapt. There are systems to sight the correct angles but I'd guess it'd ruin your natural fluency trying them.

[marriott]

I'd do the long blues test to see if you're cueing across. If you're not cueing off line it could be that you've learnt the wrong angles for long potting through never becoming proficient. It may purely be a case of doing long pot drills to ingraine the correct angle recognition.

Drill I use is cueball on green spot, balls in a line across the table half way between pink and black spots. 1st ball is dead straight and work to right in sequence with the final ball being a 1/4 ball cut back into the same pocket. Once you can pit them without missing hitting plain ball, swap to the mirrored drill using the yellow spot for the cueball. Next step is to repeat with top on the white, then a soft screw/stop shot type action. The angles you hit WILL change to make the balls. If you're a natural player you will subconsciously learn and adapt. There are systems to sight the correct angles but I'd guess it'd ruin your natural fluency trying them.

Yeah it might be I've learnt the wrong angles for long pots. When in i just automatically see it on the front of the object ball, should probably work back from the part of the pocket I want to pot it in for the longer ones

[sharkster63]

I think I increase my long potting success by hitting the white only hard enough to old the cue ball. I think allot of poeple hit the shots with too much pace. With practice you will be able to hold white at long distance with very little pace. Cheers

[Dave_marsy]

On long pots the tolerance is a lot tighter and any slight variance in your delivery can cause a miss. In better players this is usually caused by slight movement of the upper body with reason 2 being not driving through and beyond the cueball (despite what some on here say about follow-through being a non-issue after the strike.)

My recommendation would be 2 things. First of all try potting 10 long blues and when you miss is the OB going to one side of the pocket? If you're a righty and you miss to the left of the pocket then you may be delivering the cue right-to-left. It could be something in your backswing or it could be 'clutching' the cue by tightening the grip too early, before the strike. Usually 90% of delivery problems originate in the backswing. Slow it down as much as you can while keeping your natural rhythm.

Best solution would be to video yourself with a camera on a tripod behind the pocket and taking in from 6" in front of the cueball to the top of your elbow. The problem should be visible when you miss. Download Kinovea (freeware) and look at each missed long blue frame-by-frame and watch for upper body movement during either the backswing or delivery by looking at the shaft of the cue over the yellow pocket leather (or green if lefty) and then watch to see if your tip is in the middle of the cueball at strike and where the tip ends up on completion of the follow-through.

If you're seeing the cue move sideways even a couple of millimeters then put the camera beside your grip hand and do 10 more long blues and go frame-by-frame again to see if you can tell where in the delivery the grip is tightening. It's hard to see and very blurry due to the speed as the camera is running at 30fps or sometimes 60fps.
Good advice
For the basic 'to do' list, ensure you have no upper body movement and be sure to leave the cue extended at the end of the delivery or in other words stay down and still. Imagine trying to hit the OB with your tip and be sure to accelerate all the way to the end of the delivery, do not try and slow down the cue.

Good advice specially holding on to the shot after the strike in power shots or long pots

[Terry Davidson]

Good advice specially holding on to the shot after the strike in power shots or long pots

One thing I noticed not only with myself but also most of my students too. Watch out for any sideways movement of the hips. I got down into the address position and tried moving my hips left and right only a fraction of an inch and the tip moved sideways on the cueball. Not something a lot of players think about.

[Dave_marsy]

One thing I noticed not only with myself but also most of my students too. Watch out for any sideways movement of the hips. I got down into the address position and tried moving my hips left and right only a fraction of an inch and the tip moved sideways on the cueball. Not something a lot of players think about.

I think daily practice is the key ....then everything comes naturally ....if I stop playing for a week I have to start thinking what I'm doing and my timing goes

[Ramon]

I think daily practice is the key ....then everything comes naturally ....if I stop playing for a week I have to start thinking what I'm doing and my timing goes

You're not the only one .

good post !!

[Ramon]

I'd do the long blues test to see if you're cueing across. If you're not cueing off line it could be that you've learnt the wrong angles for long potting through never becoming proficient. It may purely be a case of doing long pot drills to ingraine the correct angle recognition.

Drill I use is cueball on green spot, balls in a line across the table half way between pink and black spots. 1st ball is dead straight and work to right in sequence with the final ball being a 1/4 ball cut back into the same pocket. Once you can pit them without missing hitting plain ball, swap to the mirrored drill using the yellow spot for the cueball. Next step is to repeat with top on the white, then a soft screw/stop shot type action. The angles you hit WILL change to make the balls. If you're a natural player you will subconsciously learn and adapt. There are systems to sight the correct angles but I'd guess it'd ruin your natural fluency trying them.

Me too my friend , very good routine.

Also use the baulk line sometimes. using the CB only.

[marriott]

Well looks like a potential breakthrough last night. A beginner 20 break player new to the area asked if he could observe me practising and must have watched me play 200 long reds. He told me that he noticed when my cue was lower/more parallel to the table I tended to pot more then when it was more raised (natural position). And lo and behold my success rate went through the roof. Looks like I've been subtly striking down on the cue ball over distance all these years and being imparting unwanted side in the process