Positional shots

[greenpen]

hi,
i know the basic shots to play position and can play them e.g topspin,stun and screw.

but I'm unable to spot the shots positions, for example if I'm on a red i wont know how to get onto the black i.e. what route to take or what type of shot to play.

does anybody know of any practice drills i can do to improve positional play.
or any tips in general would be much appreciated.
thanks.

[Cue]

There are some basic shots that might help:

http://www.dunns-cues.com/snooker%20...%20better.html

[dannyd0g]

hi,


but I'm unable to spot the shots positions, for example if I'm on a red i wont know how to get onto the black i.e. what route to take or what type of shot to play.


or any tips in general would be much appreciated.
thanks.

Plenty of Practice but also watching the pros. With this combination you can soon learn how to get from one shot to another. In time you just start to "see" what is possible and how to do it. Often there is only one correct shot to play, and through experience you will learn this. There is no real shortcut though, its just building up experience through playing and watching. It means putting the hours in.

Maybe this abilty might be one aspect of natural talent. Some people seem to get it very quickly while others dont ever get it.

[poolqjunkie]

Good advice.

I also like to practise using the rail and not using the rail for the same shot, just to have confidnece with both routes, when playig a red to a black and vice cersa.

The line up is not a bad drill to practise your stun, concentration, and your 3/4 balls. I like to practise the line up around the black using the bottom cushion, and then just soft screw without touching the cushion.

I also like to put 6 reds, 3 in a row, vertically parallel to each other and the side cushion, with the reds blaocking each other so they only go to one pocket, and try to clear them up with black. This helps you to learn how to go from one side of the black to the other using the bottom or the side cushion.

You can also just put 6 reds horiontally above the black and clear up. Thsi teaches you how to use the bottom and side cushion to play your reds into the corner pockets. You cannot get too low on the black, and you need to have a good angle on the red to keep it going.

The V is a good drill but I have found that to be quite difficult. You put the reds like a V from the pink spot toward the bottom pockets, try to clear the reds with black. You need to be very spot on, and you need to know the angles off the cushion very well. This is difficult because not only do you need to go from one side of the black to another, you only have a samll area to work with, and you do nto want to be on the cushion.

The pink cross is a good exercise to practise your little stun. It can really help you with your control of stun when striking different points along the center axis on the cue ball. The pink cross is just putting the pink on the spot and then 4 reds on each of all four sides to form a cross. The first few reds are difficult but once you get down to three or four reds, then eveything opens up. Thsi drill teaches you to think ahead, and to plan your angle for your next shot. Most shots in this drill will be little stun, but they have to played right.

A simple drill would be to go from the pink to the black and then pink and then back again until you miss. You can also try the blue, pink, black, blue pink black.....

I have found that it is very important to develope a precise sighting and cueing action in order to develope good cue ball control.

Good luck.

[Stunrunthru]

hi,
i know the basic shots to play position and can play them e.g topspin,stun and screw.

but I'm unable to spot the shots positions, for example if I'm on a red i wont know how to get onto the black i.e. what route to take or what type of shot to play.

does anybody know of any practice drills i can do to improve positional play.
or any tips in general would be much appreciated.
thanks.

I'd advise you to play frames with better players and just watch them break build. Even if it means you are picking the colours out of the pockets for most of the game - copying people can help you immensely.

[greenpen]

Thank you all very much
ill try to take on your advice and hopefully become better

[bongo]

If you know how to play top, screw and stun and get different cue ball reactions then it is a start. There is information out there about 'Shot Selection' but about selecting the right shot to play in each situation you come across, you can only get help from a knowledable player or coach. Who can help you in the situations.

[Gimme Danger]

I think the best way to learn is to just go out there and practice.
Set a few little exercises up around the black and pink, spread the reds about, and go through hitting different positions on the white to see how it reacts.

Line a couple of reds up above the black, learn how to get from red to black and back to red.
It's all about progress and learning how the white reacts in regards to where you hit it.

[hegeland]

You have to do three things: Practise, practise and practise!

Only to way learn really.

Oh and don't forget to use your brain too.

So you make sure you learn something from every single bloody shot you play.

Best of luck!

[Semih_Sayginer]

The best thing to do is learn from others who are better than you, be it coaches or players, and use their advice and also advice available from textbooks / the web from good sources, so that when you do practise you are not practising the same mistakes over and over again, but are practising things that will work (in time)

[not everyone plays textbook fashion, but its definitely the way to learn for the majority IMHO]

[Edestaugh]

There are 2 basic rules which apply to all cue sports which will help.

1) 90 degree rule. If you play a stun shot so that the cue ball is stunned when it contacts the object ball the cue ball will leave at 90 to the line of the object ball.
2) 30 degree rule for 1/4 1/2 and 3/4 ball angles when you play with top spin the cue ball will deflect at approximately 30 degrees from its original line

check out Dr Dave info on the above. I bought the book and it helped my game immensely http://billiards.colostate.edu/

[poolqjunkie]

There are 2 basic rules which apply to all cue sports which will help.

1) 90 degree rule. If you play a stun shot so that the cue ball is stunned when it contacts the object ball the cue ball will leave at 90 to the line of the object ball.

Does ths only applied to 1/2 ball?

[Edestaugh]

Hi,

This applies to any cut angle (except a full ball contact where the cue ball is not deflected along a 90 degree impact line).

See this video for info http://billiards.colostate.edu/normal_videos/NV3-4.htm - theres some brilliant stuff on this site. I bought the book and its transformed my game.