Cue Action with or without preliminary feathers

[snooker66]

My snooker game at the moment is really starting to get me down! At 16 I had a highest break of 66 and used to make 50 breaks reasonably regularly. I then went to university at 18 and stopped playing for 4 years. Since then I have really struggled to get back in any form in my league or individual competitions.

For the last year I cannot decide which way of playing suits me. I used to play consistently with 4 feathers before I delivered the cue. When I began doing this again and playing again and really struggled, I began starting to play without any real feathers in the preliminary before the shot ala Wattana, Harold and Williams. I found that my league form improved but I still never got back to the standard I was before. I am now in a quandry each time I turn up for match, unsure of "which cue action" to use almost! I think maybe the lack of feathers is keepign things simple which in a way is good, but at the same time I sometimes feel I am missing balls by a long way because of it. Basically each night is different and I just don't which way to play. Of course all this confusion is not helping my game and I don't look like recapturing my old form as a result. If anyone coaches or has any advice I would really love to hear it, either for or against the actions. Thanks, Jon.

[Mellow Yellow]

Pick one and stick with it, personally i would go with the feathers.

[Darth_Spud]

How often do you practice? Try practising more and try to pick the cue action your most comfortable with. I would personally recommend with feathers as It tends to help accuracy and it prepares you for the shot but to each is own I guess. It may also be a good idea to have your eyes tested as you sight could of changed during the four years you haven’t been playing for.

Hope this helps. :snooker:

[Mellow Yellow]

I was also gonna suggest the eyesight but didnt wanna offend.

Are you using the same cue?

[Darth_Spud]

I was also gonna suggest the eyesight but didnt wanna offend.

Are you using the same cue?

LOL yeah sorry if that came across as cheeky, I assure you that was not my intention

[RonnieJunior]

It sounds like you're too 'in your own head' and thinking about technique, rather than getting down and not worrying about preconcieved notion of what the outcome should be.

Translastion - think about enjoying the game instead!

Either that or you do need specs.

[Belloz22]

hey mate,

i had this same issue before, and i ended up going to see wayne griffiths for coaching to solve it.... so il give you some tips

the reason feathers are used is to allow the player to get a feel for the shot before the play it, for example, if you are going to play a power shot, and you are only feathering about an inch, when you come to draw the cue right back for your final stroke, it will feel strange because it has not matched your feathering. This means your brian has to alter your shot bu trying to get the pace right 1st time, which sometimes means stabbing the shot, or not commiting to the shot.

As you have stated, when you dont feather, you do make things simplier, but you are sacrificing the chance to get a feel for the shot. Likewise, if you dont feather, it can encourage you to stab at the white because your brain has not figured out how the shot will feel.

As you may have guessed, i would suggest to stick to feathering.

The best thing you can do is go away and get some practice on your own, put the blue on the stop, and the white in a straight line to pot the blue into the middle. Now get down on the shot, and feather at the shot, but alter your feathers depending on how hard you hit the shot. For gentle shots you hardly need to pull the cue back, medium shot, feathe the cue half way between the white and thumb, and for strong shots, feather to your bridge hand. You may only need to feather 3 or 4 times, but make sure you feather the shot like you would play your final stroke.

You must practice this until it feels normal because it will feel unusual because you have not played for a while. Stick with it and put your trust in that it will work, if you doubt it, it will fail. And final, stick with it and enjoy the game.

[jimbo]

Sounds to me like you might be thinking about it too much, and that's causing the problem. If you get down and play a few games without any pre-notions of what you must or must not do, and just play and try to enjoy it without caring about your cue action, you might find you adopt some sort of rhythm you're happy with.

I've raved in another thread about about the book "The Inner Game of Golf", and in this instance I reckon it could really help you.

HTH

[bongo]

Hi All,

In practice, I've tried playing with no feathers like Dave Harold and sometimes I end up missing by a long way. You can also wnd up stabbing at the ball, aiming becomes more difficult and stricking the cue ball with the correct power becomes more difficult. If you can play with feathers, I reccommend 100% that you play with feathers. It is a lot better when playing and it should help you. :snooker: