Comments on my video - please?

[JoGyth]

Hi.

I'm Jonas, an x-pool player in Norway struggeling to break +20 (record is 32). I'm right handed and right sighted.

Since there are very few players in my area - and only one 10-foot table within a range of 60km, I'm having difficulties with improving my game.

Recently I've, for some idiotic reason, decided to start experimenting with my sighting and "cue-to-chin-placement". I started of playing center chin. Now I've tried playing right chin and center chin with head tilted to the left (due to the right eyedness). After experimenting with this my playing has gone from bad to worse.

Since I really don't have anyone to show/tell me how it should be done - I'm now relying on you guys.

I've compiled a little video with my cellphone (not the best quality obviously). Could you pro's have a look and give me some pointers - if possible due to the quality?

I found it quite useful to make the video since I can spot a couple of weaknesses myself - but I'm eager to hear your input.

Looking forward to thousands of responses that probably will confuse my training even more :-o

[Terry Davidson]

Pick one spot and stick with it. The business with dominant eye is pretty much wrong anyway and if your eyes are even-sighted (or close to it) even with contacts or glasses then use centre-chin

Terry

[JoGyth]

Thank you for your feedback Terry! I suspect your stand on this is slightly controversial, but I do admit that I played quite a bit better before starting to mess with this chin/eye-buisness...

I'm leaning towards going back to center-chin and try not to tilt my head to much to the left. More comfort at least :-)

[JoGyth]

I think that helped actually. Had a good 3hr session today and I think I played quite a bit better. Only one break over 20 thought (28) - but several breaks over 15. Think I'll stick with this method - but still unsure about other steps I should take to get better - except practising a whole lot :-o

[rimmer10]

I find the best way to determine your natural way to aligne your head over the cue is to line up a shot with the rest since your head will be absolutely level while doing so. ideally you would want to do it on your dining table in front of a mirror or get somebody to stand in front of you and help you. when you are happy with your alignment stop and look where the cue is in relation with your eyes. for example my natural alignment is to the inside of my left eye. all you have to do then is to try and get your head the same one a normal shot

[pottr]

Your cueing arm looks all over the place, could do with being a touch more consistent.

I don't think feathering the white before you strike is actually helping your aim as it should. Try and get a more deliberate tempo to each shot so your action is uniform for each shot. Perhaps introduce a pause.

You seem fairly tidy on approach so I wouldn't imagine there'd be a major overhaul in your technique before you start knocking in breaks with a bit more consistency.

[nrage]

I notice as you get down on the shot you are starting your first feather before you've fully settled into the address position. I have found, personally, that there is a good chance of taking the cue off the line of aim when doing this. So, instead, get down into the address position with the cue as close to the white as possible (1-2 cm, < ~1 inch), if you use the chin and/or chest contact points ensure they're made by bringing the chest/chin to the cue, and not the other way round and only once you have this address position, then start feathering.

As pottr has mentioned, consitent slow feathers tend to be the recommended option. I try to feather just twice, but some people prefer more.

Try adding a front pause, that is after the last feather, before the back swing pause and make sure the cue tip is where it's supposed to be addressing the white (as close as possible). Only once you're sure, raise you eyes to the object ball and start the backswing.

The front pause is much harder to add, and I've not yet managed to find a way to do so naturally but the idea is to pull the cue back, then pause, then push through. The idea here is this makes the cue action more controlled/deliberate with less of a rapid change of direction. I think if you can manage a cue action which slows down before stopping at the full back position, then gradually accelerates for the stroke an actual 'pause' is not necessary.

[JoGyth]

Wow. This is extremely helpful. You've pointed out things I was gonna ask next :-)

My cueing arm absolutely needs work. Even I noticed this when wathcing my own video. I guess I also tend to not stop at the chest on the final forward push - but that's maybe not the biggest sin?

And when it comes to feathering, you've pointed out things I've never though about. Until now, the only councious thoughts I've had about feathering is to have a slight pause before the last forward movement and that the tempo should be related to the final power used in the shot (?). All your finer points will be included in my next practice session when I get down from the white and clear Norwegian easter mountains :-D

nrage is also pointing out another thing that I, at least sometimes, do wrong. When not totally focused; I've noticed that I bring the cue towards my chest and not my chest towards the cue. Hopefully that will be relatively easy to correct.

Incredible how much help one can get on the basis of a 2 minute cellphone video!

BTW: my last post was written before pottr and nrage's posts (just after rimmer10), but for some reason I'm still beeing "babied" by the moderators. Is that just me - or is it forum policy to let every x posts from new users be reviewed before made official? I don't have access to my profile either ...

Thanx again folks. This is important stuff for me! I'm gonna book some coaching next time I'm in the UK!

[JoGyth]

What is wrong with this forum? It's not possible to keep a dynamic dialouge gong. Please reply, moderator. Am I doing something wrong? It's not obvious when reading the forum rules anyway...

[JoGyth]

What is wrong with this forum? It's not possible to keep a dynamic dialouge gong. Please reply, moderator. Am I doing something wrong? It's not obvious when reading the forum rules anyway...

I've posted 2 replies before this one. Where are they? I put some thought into them so I can't reproduce them right away...

[DeanH]

Hi JoGyth
As a Junior Member and with no posts (posts in Newbies and Intros don't count ) there can be restrictions to your posts.
Get your post numbers up in "normal" forums, and you will see better consistency of response from the forum
best of luck
:snooker:

[JoGyth]

I've decided to try to recreate the former (lost) replies since I felt that all your comments was extremely helpful!

I tried rimmer10's method and it gave me some more insight. It appears that if i hold the cue so that it just touches the right side of my nose - then my aiming is correct. Basically there is two ways to accomplish this:

A - to align the cue on the right side of my chin
B - to play centre-chin, but tilt my head slightly to the left

Both methods feels equally uncomfortable - as everything does in snooker . Do you think method A or method B is preferable?

pottr commented on my cueing arm - which of course is all over the place. That should be a little easier to correct (I think) and it really demonstrates how useful it is to make a little video of oneself. I never thought it was that bad!

The comments about my feathering is extremely interesting. I've never thought about the feathering much - except from the obvious things concerning the power one plans to use in the shot and focus on the point of contact. I think I have a decent back pause, but a front pause has never been a part of my game. I'll try to incorporate that as well.

I also have a tendency to move my chest towards the cue for that contact point. Thanks for pointing that out so I can try not to

Terry had an interesting test in regards to stance in a different post; trying to go down with your eyes closed to figure out what feels comfortable. I have pretty long legs and I'm not the most flexible guy around, so the standard stance has always felt uncomfortable and left a strain on my right, back, thigh. When I do Terry's exercise, I notice that if I twist my right foot (I'm right handed) approx 20% to the right - the stance feels a lot more comfortable. I'm worried about doing this though since my toe in no way is pointing in the direction of the shot if I do this. Do you guys think it is very important to have your toes pointing in the direction of the shot - or is it more important to feel comfortable in your stance?

Hey - that was one long post, but I guess it had to be that way. Probably, this whole thread should have been in the "Coaching Questions" forum, but for some reason I first read "Newbies and Instructions" when visiting the forum for the first time

Again, thanks for all your comments! It's highly appreciated!!

[nrage]

I've decided to try to recreate the former (lost) replies since I felt that all your comments was extremely helpful!

I tried rimmer10's method and it gave me some more insight. It appears that if i hold the cue so that it just touches the right side of my nose - then my aiming is correct. Basically there is two ways to accomplish this:

A - to align the cue on the right side of my chin
B - to play centre-chin, but tilt my head slightly to the left

Both methods feels equally uncomfortable - as everything does in snooker . Do you think method A or method B is preferable?

Well, first of all you should not do anything that is uncomfortable.

I'm with Terry in that I don't think you need to align the cue under any eye and my reasoning is as follows. The tests for sightedness force the brain to pick one eye, but given the choice the brain actually uses both (unless you're completely blind in one eye). In fact, two points of reference are required for effective depth perception, try catching a ball with one eye closed and you'll see what I mean. Also, even if you appear to favour the right eye in long distance object tests, you might actually be left sighted for short range objects (sometimes a different eye is more effective at a short range and is therefore preferred by the brain (if it has to pick just one)). So, would you then have one set up for long pots and another for short? No, that way lies madness.

If you're dead set on aligning closer/under one eye then something Terry recommends (as he has partial loss of sight in one eye), which I've not tried myself as I appear to have 2 fully functioning eyes, is to turn the head to the left or right while keeping it upright. This has the effect of moving the appropriate eye the desired direction without tilting everything.

pottr commented on my cueing arm - which of course is all over the place. That should be a little easier to correct (I think) and it really demonstrates how useful it is to make a little video of oneself. I never thought it was that bad!

The cueing arm is the most common fault people have and the area where you will see the most improvement if you really work at it, but, it's also very hard to get right because it's so dynamic. I've found setting up long blues or similar, walking into the shot normally, then closing my eyes and really concentrating on feeling the movement of the cue, keeping it in line and on a level plane (dropping the elbow if necessary at full extension to achieve that) and then playing the stroke and trying to feel whether it went through straight or not is the best way to realise what you're actually doing currently. Once you do it "right" a few times you start to learn what that feels like, and you can immediately tell (even while playing a match with your eyes open) when you've done it wrong, and sometimes what it was you did wrong. It's invaluable feedback for improvement.

The comments about my feathering is extremely interesting. I've never thought about the feathering much - except from the obvious things concerning the power one plans to use in the shot and focus on the point of contact. I think I have a decent back pause, but a front pause has never been a part of my game. I'll try to incorporate that as well.

Moving too much while getting down on the shot, or intentionally adjusting/aiming too much while down on the shot are frequently the cause of cueing across the ball - resulting in unintentional side etc. It's worth filming yourself from the front, up close enough to see details (short blues across the table) and watching particularly for the line of the cue as you get down, and bring the chest down, and feather etc.

I also have a tendency to move my chest towards the cue for that contact point. Thanks for pointing that out so I can try not to

Chest to cue is /correct/, cue to chest is incorrect (as you'll often move it sideways as well as up and end up cueing across the white.

Terry had an interesting test in regards to stance in a different post; trying to go down with your eyes closed to figure out what feels comfortable. I have pretty long legs and I'm not the most flexible guy around, so the standard stance has always felt uncomfortable and left a strain on my right, back, thigh. When I do Terry's exercise, I notice that if I twist my right foot (I'm right handed) approx 20% to the right - the stance feels a lot more comfortable. I'm worried about doing this though since my toe in no way is pointing in the direction of the shot if I do this. Do you guys think it is very important to have your toes pointing in the direction of the shot - or is it more important to feel comfortable in your stance?

Comfort and stability are the two primary concerns. As long as you consistently place the same part of your foot on the like (ball, or middle, or heel) and it's comfortable, and stable, then it's a-ok. I've found myself that pointing the foot outside the line of the shot relieves tension on the back leg as you say. Interestingly you may find it also allows a different chest contact point (as it relieves tension in the lower back and allows more of a upper body twist). Usually it allows you to get the cue more central on the body, as opposed to having less twist and being more front on and the cue being further out/right of the body.

Lastly, don't make the mistake I did and spend too much time focussing on minor details. Instead, find a comfortable stance which does not prevent you bringing the cue through straight, then spend some of your time doing straight cueing exercises (over the spots, pot blues into middle/long following with the white) and the rest of your time working on potting, angles, power, and position.

[Terry Davidson]

I agree with nrage's coments here. The other point is...I don't know where the fact that the straight leg foot MUST point along the line of aim came from. I teach my students to turn their right foot out slightly for comfort as it takes the strain off the knee and hip.

As nrage correctly states, COMFORT is the most important consideration in the stance however of course STABILITY is also very important

Terry

[DeanH]

I agree with nrage's coments here. The other point is...I don't know where the fact that the straight leg foot MUST point along the line of aim came from. I teach my students to turn their right foot out slightly for comfort as it takes the strain off the knee and hip.

As nrage correctly states, COMFORT is the most important consideration in the stance however of course STABILITY is also very important

Terry

Some time ago I had a coaching session with someone how had been trained by Del Hill, and he said that Del advocated the 'align foot with the shot', and I must say it was very uncomfortable, so I forgot that part of the coaching as soon as he left the building!
Be comfortable (and still) on the shot is paramount