Whats Happening? Need advice

[dfis444]

I notice on missed shots especially shots slightly off centre that I nearly always missed to the left of the pocket.

I cannot figure this out hence the thread!

To be perfectly honest I feel i nearly cut across the cue ball (not by much) but enough to send the cue ball slighlty right of straight. I find this occurs alot more frequently around the 3-6 foot pots and always missing to the left.

Heres my observation: from what i can see when i am in position to strike the cue ball, when i take the cue back in a straight line its fine, Then on the follow through i believe i try and get my hand to twist slightly (twist nearer the hip). Why I do this god only knows but One of two things occur:

1. I don't twist the hand and make the pot or

2. Most commonly i feel i nearly twist my right hand (in towards my hip) which I feel leads to me cutting across the cue ball ever so slightly. Hence missed pot.

Now if anyone has experienced or heard of something similar to this,can this be sorted out? If so what do i need to do?

If someone believes this is not the reason (which may very well be the case) can you specify what you believe to be the reason?

Sorry for the long winded thread, i'm finding it hard to get across what is happening.

Thanks in advance for any replies!

[RocketRoy1983]

I would suggest that you are simply sighting the ball ever so slightly wrong. When you say your missing them to the left it could be, depending on which pocket you are playing into, your over or undercutting the ball. I would recommend you watch a bit of the snooker on TV this week but more personal to you, would suggest you maybe spend a couple of hours playing a player in your club of slightly better talent at present than yourself. Tell him to watch your game and make any minor suggestions that may improve your game.

Failing that its simply plenty of practice on similar shots you might miss in matches and trial and error.

[dfis444]

Thanks,

I read on the thread somewhere to check for a dominant eye, after standing on one end of the table, neither eyes appears to be dominant, maybe the right eye is slightly more.

When i closed by left eye, my right eye ended up an inch or so to the left of the object ball i was pointing at. When i closed my right eye, my left eye ended up about 3 inches to the right of the ball i was pointing at. Basically my left eyes appears to be 3 times further away from the object ball every time compared to my right eye???

It the same from 12feet, 8 feet, 6feet etc....

Any ideas?

By the way i tend to have the cue directly under my chin with both eyes over the ball.

[Andy911]

Whats Happening WELL YOU COULD BE?

I Would suggest that you may be moving on the shot
90% of players move on the shot even when they think they are not
especially on the strike or follow through and beyond

Try just concentrating on keeping the head down and eyes on line as you strike and after on every shot
Slow your game down ie cueing and see if the fault is still there
worth a try?

Best wishes

[CoachGavin]

Without actually being there i cant say for sure. However if you are cueing across the ball it could be similar to what RocketRoy suggests in that you have not lined up the shot correctly and your sighting is out. If you are getting down to the shot and you are not cueing on the line of aim then sometimes you are liable to correct yourself and cue across which soon becomes a habit.

You need to get a friend to check you are cueing the centre of the white and make sure you are getting your cue down along the right line. When these are correct you can work to grooving a straight cue action.

Hope that helps

[Mauricio]

Thanks,

I read on the thread somewhere to check for a dominant eye, after standing on one end of the table, neither eyes appears to be dominant, maybe the right eye is slightly more.

When i closed by left eye, my right eye ended up an inch or so to the left of the object ball i was pointing at. When i closed my right eye, my left eye ended up about 3 inches to the right of the ball i was pointing at. Basically my left eyes appears to be 3 times further away from the object ball every time compared to my right eye???

It the same from 12feet, 8 feet, 6feet etc....

Any ideas?

By the way i tend to have the cue directly under my chin with both eyes over the ball.

dfis444,

I don't understan very well what did you do to find out your dominant eye, so I'll tell you what you should do, in my opinion.

Both eyes opened, target an object with your finger. Try to cover the target with the tip of your finger.

Close your right eye, if your finger keeps covering the target, you have your left eye dominant.

Then close your left eye and verify what happens with your finger.

However if you close your eyes and both sides keep the finger on the target, it means you don't have a dominant eye.

Find your dominant eye but don't be too much worried about it, because it's not the most important aspect to consider.

I practice shooting and I'm right handed, left eye dominant. When I'm shooting with rifle, it's almost impossible to target with my left eye aligned, so I have to target with both eyes opened (the right aligned) and this is not a big problem, although left eye is dominant.

[Mauricio]

I Would suggest that you may be moving on the shot
90% of players move on the shot even when they think they are not
especially on the strike or follow through and beyond

Try just concentrating on keeping the head down and eyes on line as you strike and after on every shot
Slow your game down ie cueing and see if the fault is still there
worth a try?

Best wishes

I agree. This is the first thing I would check in order to improve my cue action.

Very well stated.

[Andy911]

A game of pose,observation and conception or is it misconception for some

Some players pay a lot off attention to sighting and potting perhaps if they paid as much attention to keeping still on the strike in fact even more so they would learn a lot more and be better players as a result.
pose on the shot there's nothing better than seeing a player do this at least they are incorperating a good habit which all pro's do most of the time.
Dont just keep still on a few shots make it a rule on every shot.

All you need to do is look around your snooker hall most players are moving on the shot all the time.
They sometimes talk about the complications of sighting, striking, potting and so on LOL,
But how many actually keep still on the shot and i suspect only a very few a simple complication to put right and add to your technique on every shot but so easy to overlook and forget.
Make it an hard rule that you will not move on or during or after the strike on every shot were possible and you will improve and learn quickly.

Watch the head movement as a player strikes it tells you a lot about the player
Move the head even slightly and your perception changes keep it still then it will be the same for every shot.
This game is so difficult you need to aim and sight in fractions and yet players are throwing themelves about whilst striking

make no wonder they miss they take all the care in the world to address the ball and then overlook the simple KEEP STILL ON THE SHOT RULE

The next time you play a game of snooker try to remember the above to keep still the head down and so on and during every strike you make.

its more important to keep still than half ball ,quarter ball and which eye you are sighting from.

if you dont keep still on the shot then you cant get the proper feedback from your strike and how can you make micro adjustments to your game if your head is making major movements on the shot.

KEEP STILL ON THE SHOT AND LEARN THE MICRO ADJUSTMENTS NEEDED TO FINE TUNE YOUR GAME MOVE YOUR HEAD ON THE SHOT AND FORGET ABOUT REAL CONSISTANCY

IN REPLY TO WHAT ABOUT ALEX HIGGINS AND THE REST WELL YOU AINT NO ALEX HIGGINS and nor am i lol.

Just keep the head still and observe the shot and the result.

if you do move the head then you aint got nothing to observe because your perception and conception of the shot will change the moment the head moves

Hope this helps

BTW You can still play reasonable snooker moving the head on the shot but you can and will play better and be more consistant if you dont move the head

[Mauricio]

Very good post, Andy911. Thanks for that.

Till now, my experience guides me to this conclusion too.

I shouldn't agree more.

[dfis444]

First off thanks for all the replys!

Regarding the dominant eye, i carried out the same method as "Mauricio" described, neither eye ended up covering the target. The right eye was nearer the target than the left though.

Also thanks guys for all the advice, I'll try and make my goal to keep still before, through and after a shot.

I'll post my results on how i'm getting on over the next few days, fingers crossed!!

[Andy911]

Good remember keep the head down and still throughout the stroke and beyond add this to your thought process on every shot dont attempt to rush/hurry.
There will be occasions when you move but you will be aware of it and you can dismiss the results to a certain degree on your visual feedback because you have moved the head.

Good luck

BTW Watch the other players around you when you are not playing and see the head movement and the lack of the pose at least you will have that classic unhurried style starting to take root in your technique

[vmax4steve]

Practise playing the white off the brown spot, over the blue, pink and black spots to return to the tip of your cue to check if you are putting any unwanted side on it. If the white goes to the left then alter your stance to stand slightly more to the left, if the white goes to the right then alter your stance slightly to the right. If this doesn't work then it is not your stance that is wrong but your cue action.
Use this same practise routine until you can make the white return to the tip of your cue. The harder you hit the white the more difficult it is but if you can get it to within six inches of your tip at maximum power you will have a great action.
Remember to focus on the point on the cushion behind the black spot at the moment of striking the cue ball. Mark this point with a little chalk to make it easier to focus.

[wzrd]

If your hand twists the problem could lie in your grip too. Make sure that your grip opens enough on your backswing and don't snap the grip shut too tightly when delivering the stroke, this creates a snatch. I had a problem with opening the grip, and I noticed that when pulling the cue back, I gripped a little too tight and that caused misalignment of the cue. I'd also recommend a little back-pause before the final cue delivery.

[poolqjunkie]

Yes, I was thinking about the grip possibly having something to do with it as well. For me, if I hold the cue too tight I will hit across or hit off center.