Cueing & Sighting

[reverse_side]

no conclusion yet; I've not tried it out.as for close shots - you need to change your technique then. When you're 'looking at the object ball', it should be that the angle you've decided on that should be your aim, not the centre of the object ball anyway, if it's the ghost ball technique, then it's the centre of that.(weird formatting still; anyone else got the problem?

[RaNeN]

OK got it . Steve Davis in one of his CD's says
1) Pause.
2) Concentrate on object ball.
3) Strike confidently.
4) Keep your head down.

Isnt this the best answer for my problem?

[RaNeN]

Is it correct? As my Idol says.

[reverse_side]

this is what anyone should be doing for every shot; not really for specific shots.

It's your aiming that needs addressing; you need to practice them as they're not straight-forward.

[reverse_side]

If I had the problem you're explaining Ranen, I'd make up a practice routine so that whenever a similar close-up shot came along in a match, I'd feel more confident of potting it (or playing safe off it) because I'd've practiced it until I was happy.

I hear you ask what routine, well, just making up one now.... I'd set the shot up similar to one you describe having problems with...

1 Place Blue on it's spot
2 The white 'close up' but at an angle; no other balls.
3 Cue up as though you're attempting to pot the blue.
4 Lay the cue down on the bed of the table on this line just short of touching the white
5 Take another ball out of a pocket and place it touching the blue on the potting angle.
6 Compare the line of your cue with the correct angle
7. do this a few times and then go to the ANALYSIS stage

ANALYSIS
there are 3 options in varying degrees
1. You're accurately aiming
2. You're overcutting (too thin, not hitting the obj ball thick enough)
3. You're undercutting (too thick, hitting too much of the obj ball)

If you try to actually pot the blue when you're aiming correctly and it still doesn't go in; it's your cueing action and delivery of the cue that's at fault and in a seriously inaccurate way seeing as the balls are no distance apart. You would need to go back to basics and try playing the white up and down the baulk lilne until you keep the white on the line for example. If it pots, then you can be more confident of your potting ability and allow yourself to use your energies on getting better and judgement of angles.

When you analyse the angle you're cueing, you can start to see if you're doing one thing more than another. The tendency would probably be to hit the blue too thick. If this is the case, you can learn to hit it thinner until you're comfortable with trusting yourself to aim along of being accurate. Vice versa.

After you've tried this routine a few times, you'll start to see a pattern emerging and you can use the results to improve your judgement of angles.

Seeing as I've never given this out as a coaching routine, I'm making it up as I go along... but if you give this a try, then I could guess your judgement of potting balls close-up would improve a great deal.

Let me know how you get on.... it seems maybe you're expecting to win matches against players that have shown themselves to be better than you, without putting in the practice to improve your game: that's a recipe for potential heartbreak. The next time you feel there's a problem, try and work out what could be wrong first. This way, like I do many times, when you're not playing great, you can feel and think what's going wrong (mid frame even) and put it right then and there.

Narrowing down what's causing a problem is something naturally gifted players find easier and therefore being able to say it's your cueing technique or your judgement of angles needs improving, gives you the knowledge of how you need to progress.

Obviously there's a lot of words, ideas and theories here - not to worry if you're struggling with everything. Try the simple things, ask some questions and we'll lead you the right way.

Regards, Dave.

[RaNeN]

Ummm could you make a picture to explain better please?

[reverse_side]

Erm, a thin blue to middle with the balls 3-4 inches away? that's not too difficult is it?

or is it some other part that's not clear, which is hard to image R?

[RaNeN]

Got it! Let me explain. I need to place the cue ball almost perpendicular to the bluse for a cut in the centre? Then aim the blue in the long, put the cue on the bed of the table in line of the aim. Check be placing another ball touching the blue like an imaginary cue ball where it it would hit the blue? Right?

[reverse_side]

So this picture shows putting the blue on it's spot and the white nearby. Cue up to the shot for potting it into the middle pocket, then, put the cue on the table pointing in the same direction.




You can then look down the cue with it on the table to make sure it's the same angle as you cued up to.
Get another ball ('B') and make it a plant to the middle pocket; like this



now compare the angle of your cue and where you're actually aiming. If you're aiming straight at the centre of ball 'B' - bingo, smack on and you can try potting it too. This picture shows the cue set-up virtually perfect and the cue is directly on the correct angle.

If the cue was pointing anywhere else; it would be too thin or too thick and would make the blue miss on either the left or the righthand side.

The alternative, is to set up lots of shots off the blue to middle and when you miss to one side or the other, correct it until you're perfect. Putting a little chalk mark on the table will allow you to put the white back on the same spot each time; the blue has it's own spot.

Repeating this exercise (whichever way you want to do it) will improve not only your 'close-up' shots, but your blue-to-middle shots.

After you're getting good on this shot, try a ball placed anywhere on the table, or a black off it's spot and practice the same things on these shots. Then whenever a shot like this comes up, then it'll be straight forward to get really close to the pot.

[RaNeN]

WOW , I think this is a great way to correct yourself. I will try it out tomorrow. This is a really great way to find out whats wrong.

[RaNeN]

Actually without the pictures I thought you wanted me to pot the blue into the long pocket. I got it perfectly now though.

[RaNeN]

Oh , Another new thing I noticed about me is the way I hold my cue is not correct. I mean in my palm. When I hold the cue........how do I tell you?
In simple I just dont hold the cue in line with my hand.

[reverse_side]

long=corner then; glad you can imagine eaxctly what I meant.

Missing the pot isn't too important early on, so don't worry. It's your REACTION to what happens that's important.... too thin, stroke it thicker. Too thick a contact, look at why your eyes got it wrong and feel yourself learning and perceiving the CORRECT angle better and better each time.

Keep the technique calm and positive, lively and accurate... vary the object ball's position once you're potting over 80% of them. Pocket pace, firmer and harder - if you really get the hang of it, see what left and righthand side affects the shot.

If there are any other elements to your game that your struggling with; practicing them with iron out your issues.... you may need some guidance though; are there coaches or experienced players willing to have a look at your game?

[reverse_side]

I just dont hold the cue in line with my hand.

does that mean the direction of your fingers don't point in the same direction as the cue? How does this cause a problem?

[RaNeN]

I think its going to be difficult for you to understand but I will try my best. The problem with me holding the cue is that my right wrist is bent a little inwards. I now keep trying to get it straight. For every shot I play I remember to play it with my wrist in line with my hand , I play better ,pot better. I had noticed this from Steve Davis's CD.

I used to miss a few slow shots earlier. By slow shots I mean to say like a few reds around the black and we just need to push the reds slowly into the pocket for the black. I used to miss these simple reds and get damn frustrated. Its better now.