Sight Right Snooker Aid..

[alabadi]

Yeah I like that and it all starts from the feet..

i'm not sure about this feet thing on the line of aim that some say is important, I'm not sure if this is what you are mean j6uk or not but, many players have different stance positions, if you take Mark Williams for instance he places his foot outside the line of aim.

what I see consistently though is the pros get there nose/head on the line of aim, I feel this is the crucial bit. as long as the head/ nose is on the line when standing behind the shot and stays on it when getting down into the shot, the cue and cue arm should be inline too. therefore if the cueing is straight everything should be ok.

I think a better way looking at it is to get the feet into a position that allows the head/nose to remain on the line of aim

[nrage]

Surely if you place 2 reds either side the brown, blue, pink and black spots with half inch to an inch gap either side, play the cueball off the brown spot onto the top cush with enough speed to bring the white back to baulk you will see if your not cueing straight??

I can do this quite comfortably, however it doesn't aid sighting, all this demonstrates is cueing straight.

It demonstrates more than that, you had to get down on the correct line to play directly over the spots. If you got down on the wrong line, the cue ball would have hit the top cushion left or right of the center and come back to the left or right as well.

the problem I have is I can cue straight and hit centre white, but if I am not on the correct line to pot i will miss.

There is also another subtle possibility. If you get down on the correct line of aim, but place the cue slightly across the line of aim then the tip can be appear to be center white, and appear to strike center white (from your perspective).

But, because you're cueing across the white the cue's line of aim and the cue's center white are different. The cue is actually striking left or right of center white relative to it's line of aim, so you're basically playing with a touch of side. The side will deflect the white onto the line of aim you were expecting (or thereabouts) but imparts some side spin as well.

Playing over the spots should detect this, the white should come off the top cushion with side. Playing with enough power to achieve 3-4 lengths of the table will show this for certain, but be aware that adding power itself may highlight another fault with playing with power

I think this is where there is confusion. Straight cueing and getting on the correct line of aim are two different things. I feel that the sightright might be of help to get onto the correct line.

I agree, they are different. I feel that SightRight will help you get your head/eyes on the correct line. But may not help so much with getting the cue on the line as well.

I suspect you're already seeing the correct line and getting down on it (getting your head/eyes on it). This is what SightRight tests/shows you, but it's worth giving it a go to see.

Whether your cue is on the line of aim, and whether you are cueing straight are much harder to be sure about. Caz's laser line experiment to detect if the butt was off the line of aim was good, something like that with a high-speed camera and slow motion replay for a bunch of shots would do it nicely.

the baulk line exercise again demonstrates straight cueing, as its a solid line when you get down it doesn't matter if you are slightly left or right what you see is a straight line anyway, yes cueing over the line will show if your cue moves off line, but that is a cueing issue. the sight right has an advantage as it can show you immediately if you are cueing across as the line on the lower step will be broken.

I don't think SightRight can show whether you are cueing across the line, only if your head/eyes are left/right of the line when you're down. You will be looking at the cue and trying to determine if it's on the same line, but you only see the front portion of the cue so this makes it hard to detect small errors.

[nrage]

Please tell in detail what you have done a million times on the bulk line?

Place a white on the brown spot. Get down on the shot. Check the tip is center white. Check the V of the bridge is on the baulk line. Check the cue is directly above and following the baulk line. Play the white into the opposite cushion, check it strikes on the baulk line, check it comes back to the tip.

Where am I going wrong?

[Terry Davidson]

nrage:

Cueing along the baulkline from the brown spot doesn't give a lot of cueball movement to detect any errors and shooting the spots will give 10ft, whereas brown spot along baulkline will give only 3ft (approx). The other thing is players will not use high power on the baulkline exercise.

Much better to shoot the spots starting with the cueball just coming back to the tip and then using more power to get 4 lengths of the table. Mind you, it's the rare table that has no rolls and on the 4th leg the cueball might wander a bit. Using the higher power you just need to check if the cueball is still on or near the brown spot the first time it returns as the pace should negate table rolls unless they are severe. You also have to check and ensure the cueball does hit the centre of the top cushion as it is possible to hit with slight side and miss the centre of the top cushion but the side might correct that and the cueball will still return to the tip of the cue.

Using the higher power shot should show any side at all, either missing the centre of the top cushion or coming back on the first leg to the side of the brown spot. You should also spot the cueball just ahead of the brown spot to eliminate any effects there might be from a pit on the brown spot.

Terry

[Terry Davidson]

alabadi:

The most common set-up for the feet is to have some part of the straight leg foot on the line of aim and that acts as a 'foundation' for the rest of the set-up. It makes everything consistent although I will admit there are some very good players who have their straight leg foot in some other position other than directly below the grip hand.

The question then becomes...'do I want to play as alabadi or as a copy of Mark Williams (or some other pro)'? If you can place the straight leg foot somewhere else other than on the line of aim AND you can do it consistently and still get the eyes/head/nose on the correct line of aim then there shouldn't be a problem. It just means you are making it that much harder on yourself to be consistent.

Terry

[alabadi]

because you're cueing across the white the cue's line of aim and the cue's center white are different. The cue is actually striking left or right of center white relative to it's line of aim, so you're basically playing with a touch of side. The side will deflect the white onto the line of aim you were expecting (or thereabouts) but imparts some side spin as well. .

you could be right, I will have to check this out using video evidence as I have not noticed it.

Playing over the spots should detect this, the white should come off the top cushion with side. Playing with enough power to achieve 3-4 lengths of the table will show this for certain.

I have a video on YouTube, all be it a few years old now, it shows I am cuing straight the cueball comes back to the tip, I even played the shot with drag cueing low which would have definitely showed any side. I still do this exercise each time I solo practice but without the reds either side, I use it just to warm up and to get my cue arm going. I don't use a lot of power however I can get the cueball to go up and down and back again fairly accurately. see link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUPd6zdmCpQ

I don't think SightRight can show whether you are cueing across the line, only if your head/eyes are left/right of the line when you're down. You will be looking at the cue and trying to determine if it's on the same line, but you only see the front portion of the cue so this makes it hard to detect small errors.

I agree with this, its merely a sighting aid

[alabadi]

alabadi:

The most common set-up for the feet is to have some part of the straight leg foot on the line of aim and that acts as a 'foundation' for the rest of the set-up. It makes everything consistent although I will admit there are some very good players who have their straight leg foot in some other position other than directly below the grip hand.

The question then becomes...'do I want to play as alabadi or as a copy of Mark Williams (or some other pro)'? If you can place the straight leg foot somewhere else other than on the line of aim AND you can do it consistently and still get the eyes/head/nose on the correct line of aim then there shouldn't be a problem. It just means you are making it that much harder on yourself to be consistent.

Terry

Thanks Terry

its the old dilemma, do you try and learn in a style that most pros do or have your own individual style. I think we are all guilty of this, we see the pros getting results and think if it works for them it should be the right way to do it and should work for us.

I agree we should have our own style that suits our own body type build ...etc.

I still learning this game although 4 years now however I feel I am still in the infancy, my age might contribute to the pace I am learning, my brain and body are at different speeds on the learning journey.

I feel I should be further on but my form or for a better word consistency isn't.

well all I can do is plug on and hope one day not in the distant future things start to gel

[nrage]

nrage:

Cueing along the baulkline from the brown spot doesn't give a lot of cueball movement to detect any errors and shooting the spots will give 10ft, whereas brown spot along baulkline will give only 3ft (approx). The other thing is players will not use high power on the baulkline exercise.

Thanks Terry. I know all that. j6uk keeps posting comments like "Cue along the baulk line, yes, cue along the baulk line" and I was wondering if there was something I didn't know

[spike007]

Try 8-10" and straight cueing on the baulk line.
I cue 6-8.

I meant 6-8 being either side of the 7" step of the boards, i have tried shortening my bridge to 8-10 for about 3 months but it didnt work for me. although i am now more 9-11. some of the pros ive seen have a long bridge so it cant be that bad

[j6uk]

No, not if you've been playing like it since your where 9years old six hours a day

some of the pros ive seen have a long bridge so it cant be that bad

[j6uk]

I see a contradiction in this post. So the pros get there feet set first or their headnose?

i'm not sure about this feet thing on the line of aim that some say is important, I'm not sure if this is what you are mean j6uk or not but, many players have different stance positions, if you take Mark Williams for instance he places his foot outside the line of aim.

what I see consistently though is the pros get there nose/head on the line of aim, I feel this is the crucial bit. as long as the head/ nose is on the line when standing behind the shot and stays on it when getting down into the shot, the cue and cue arm should be inline too. therefore if the cueing is straight everything should be ok.

I think a better way looking at it is to get the feet into a position that allows the head/nose to remain on the line of aim

[j6uk]

Put the white in the pocket and then where getting somewhere
No ball needed here, just the line. Think sight right without the step.

Place a white on the brown spot. Get down on the shot. Check the tip is center white. Check the V of the bridge is on the baulk line. Check the cue is directly above and following the baulk line. Play the white into the opposite cushion, check it strikes on the baulk line, check it comes back to the tip.

Where am I going wrong?

[nrage]

Put the white in the pocket and then where getting somewhere
No ball needed here, just the line. Think sight right without the step.

ok.. and what am I checking/looking at when I use the line by itself that I can't check with the ball there?

Or am I missing the point of doing this?

[j6uk]

Yeah I think your missing it. I could go into it but you know me 'I like to keep it short Plus we'll start getting dragged-off somewhere else.
I may have asked you before but have you had coaching yet, actually at the table?

ok.. and what am I checking/looking at when I use the line by itself that I can't check with the ball there?

Or am I missing the point of doing this?

[nrage]

Yeah I think your missing it. I could go into it but you know me 'I like to keep it short Plus we'll start getting dragged-off somewhere else.

I'd rather you just explained it.

I may have asked you before but have you had coaching yet, actually at the table?

You've asked before.