Have You been coached ?

[dannyd0g]

I would be interested in hearing from players of all levels, what experiences, if any, you have had with coaching.

Judging by the high break board on TSF, there are a lot of very good players here. I'm sure some of you will have had coaching, but have any of you reached the century break level without coaching ?

Those who have been coached, did you fing it a great help, a slight help, or not a help atall ?

Also, how about players of more modest achievments, maybe approaching the 20-30 break category (like myself), have you, or when you were you at this level, did you think it worthwhile to see a coach ?

And did it help/ can anything be done for average/struggling club players ?

[Burwat Champ]

Hi,

I have had a few coaching sessions and found it to be a great help with my game recently. I had managed to get myself to century break standard without any coaching and thought I knew every shot there was to know and assumed as I had had several centuries knew what I was doing which as I soon found out was not the case.

I havnt been able to practice as much as I used to since having kids and my game had dropped from making regular 70 & 80 breaks to making 40 & 50's so I decided to have some lessons to make sure that the little amount of practice I got was quality practice and not just knocking the balls around with my mates.

My coach changed my stance and the way I gripped the cue which was a little strange at first but I persevered and can already see an improvement in my game, after 8 lessons I am much more consistant with the mid range breaks than I used to be (40-80's) and am sure the odd ton will come back my game soon enough.

Even more impressive is a mate of mine who visited the same coach, he had never had a break over 30 but has always been ultra keen, hes had about 3 months of lessons and now has a high break of 69 which is quite an improvement.

I would reccomend coaching to anybody looking to improve their game but would advise you to seek out an acredited coach, a list of coaches can be found on the world snooker website.:snooker::snooker:

[dannyd0g]

Thanks for your reply Burwat Champ. That was exactly the sort of thing i was looking for.

Anyone else wish to add anything ?

[bongo]

Hi there,

I get coached by an official English Amateur Billiards coach but is also a Snooker coach. The main aspect of my game that has improved is my break-building, I have learnt the art of break-building a lot more than before, I have improved at the important touch and feel shots, as well as the important soft stun and screw shots, which, when break-building, are far from easy. As it is the end of season and a long summer in front of me, when I get coached from him, we are going to work and change things and see if they work, just experiment really.

As a result of the great coaching that I have been getting, my highest break in line-up has gone from 52 to 64, only 12 points, but I feel so much more confident in my play.

Of course, if you are being coached by somebody who has no idea what they are doing, then you game will not improve as much as it should. But a qualified coach will really help, i'm sure of that.

[bongo]

Also, it will benifit a struggling club player, definately, I thought it would be worthwhile seeing a official coach that I could actually work with, as I have learnt the basics, I am getting into the regular 70 break standard, I have been playing for 2 and a half years, so coaching has improved my game.

EDIT - I am not trying to increase my post count by making two seperate posts, but I wanted to add to my answer!

[Djamil]

HI mate,
i remember i had 104 in line up and my 88 break in a match without coaching.i just learned the game while playing and little help here and there from my practice partners.
i have a very good friend who has been number 1 in my country for many years,we started to play together and he made me realised how many mistakes there were in my game also i was making 50+ breaks.He changed my stance and showed me how to strike the ball in the centre.
i'm not making very big breaks but i feel more comfortable on my shots now.
well 30+ is still very obvious and easy.
unfortunately i am not practising much lately but when i play the game even after 1 month rest ,i miss less balls that i was long ago.
my conclusion is that a coach is very important.He can see the mistakes you are making to improve your game.

happy potting ,
djam

[snookerdad]

So very true, Djam. A dedicated player can learn and develop and improve with self-coaching. But...many of the things that one learns while doing this can be pointed out in five minutes by a coach.

Tim Dunkley

[Z-E-N-I-T]

Exactly. I reached a century from practise positions but I often struggle with my technique which I think would not happen THAT often if I had a coach who would say "now you did that and that wrong etc." The only problem is that there are NO coaches in the Czech Republic... Some, lets say, decent players here but they all live in the capital city (Prague) which is on the other side of the country (400km)... So i have to practise with worse players than I am which also doesn't help at all cause when it comes to a real league match I struggle with confidence as I don't get so many chances...
If there was a coach here I would DEFINATELY get one !

[bongo]

I have recently changed my stance too, You game can suddenly go bad for a short time while you get used to it.

[Snookeraddict147]

Yes,I`ve been coached,too. You really need it to know where your mistakes are and how to get them out of you, I think it is neccessary to get quicker to your targets, without coaching you`ll have to try longer til you found it out...but of course...that`s based on my opinion...that`S quite different at every person...

[maximumbreak]

Exactly. I reached a century from practise positions but I often struggle with my technique which I think would not happen THAT often if I had a coach who would say "now you did that and that wrong etc." The only problem is that there are NO coaches in the Czech Republic... Some, lets say, decent players here but they all live in the capital city (Prague) which is on the other side of the country (400km)... So i have to practise with worse players than I am which also doesn't help at all cause when it comes to a real league match I struggle with confidence as I don't get so many chances...
If there was a coach here I would DEFINATELY get one !

Have you thought about hiring the services of a coach from the UK to travel for a week long coaching session? We have coaches at MaXimumbreak Snooker who would be interested so long as there is a group of interested players.

Perhaps you could organise something through your club (if you have one)?