Most Important Fundamentals

[bolty]

Evening chaps.

As a newb, I would like to know what you guys think is the most important fundamentals to get right to when working to become a decent club player - and any practice routines to work on this.

Personally I'm having trouble getting my angles right... straight or just off straight pots come fairly easy, but those tricky cuts can be difficult to judge... For some reason I lose confidence in the line I've chosen when I'm down on the shot and start to lean away which usually ends up in under-cutting it. plus I always seem to hammer them in and completely lose the cue ball!

[Master Blaster]

Evening chaps.

As a newb, I would like to know what you guys think is the most important fundamentals to get right to when working to become a decent club player - and any practice routines to work on this.

Personally I'm having trouble getting my angles right... straight or just off straight pots come fairly easy, but those tricky cuts can be difficult to judge... For some reason I lose confidence in the line I've chosen when I'm down on the shot and start to lean away which usually ends up in under-cutting it. plus I always seem to hammer them in and completely lose the cue ball!

Don't worry about losing the cue ball. Try and pot the cuts first at medium pace with just plain ball. If you can't help but put too much on the ball then use some screw/drag to slow the cue ball down a bit. The key thing is this. YOU know what the potting angle is, you can see it standing up and before you get down, you walk into the shot and maintain that angle. That means putting the cue where you saw the imaginary line that your mind works out when you're stood back. You can pot em with your eyes, so it's about making your body and the doubting monkey understand that you must carry this through and that playing the correct angle is not about bravery, it's simply more important than potting the ball itself. To play the correct angle and miss with no fear is success (should something else go wrong on the shot). It doesn't matter if you miss the pot. The first hurdle is to commit. Once you've committed, you've begun to trust your own judgement. If you don't trust yourself and undercut the angles you will miss the tough pots anyway, so you may as well commit, you've got more to gain.

Don't be tempted once you're down to change the angle because of doubt. You must learn by missing if necessary. One of the best things is to get down in practice, realise the angle is wrong and miss the shot. It proves your eyes are working and that you've made an error in how you got down, i.e. you've moved out of the alignment you saw when standing up. Though the correct solution is to get up, stand back and get back down again. Repeat this until the shot looks 10 out of 10 when you're down.

[blinker]

Evening chaps.

As a newb, I would like to know what you guys think is the most important fundamentals to get right to when working to become a decent club player - and any practice routines to work on this.

Personally I'm having trouble getting my angles right... straight or just off straight pots come fairly easy, but those tricky cuts can be difficult to judge... For some reason I lose confidence in the line I've chosen when I'm down on the shot and start to lean away which usually ends up in under-cutting it. plus I always seem to hammer them in and completely lose the cue ball!

Like MB has said, it is a very bad habit to only do the actual aiming when you are down and adjusting, which usually causes missing the shot in any case. Correct way is always to stand up to re-aim again...

It seems you need to work more on your pre-shot routine consistency especially on how you get your cue in place directly on whatever you are aiming while standing up, so you see the same angle exactly the same once you get down for the shot.

Repeating this ritual for every shot is what makes it difficult as often tension, nerves, laziness and complacency etc can take over and you simply skip some steps and drop down to the shot and doing half of the aiming again only when ya down. This also occur often if you are undecided on what to do with a shot because your focus and concentration is taken away.

[mikeyd100]

Have a look at how Fergal OBrien prepares for a shot.
I just noticed other day when he played Bingham.
He seems to have a steady consistent stare at the ball / shot.

[bolty]

Thanks guys, I'm having a few frames tonight so I'm going to be focusing on taking my time to step into the correct line of the shot - and then committing to it. I blame ROS - I think nearly every beginner aspiring snooker player wants to mimic his speedy style, but lets face it, very few can pull it off. I'll be Ebdonning it tonight!

[pottr]

Remember the roars and fist pumps when you win a frame... Ebdomania 2015 !

[mikeyd100]

Thanks guys, I'm having a few frames tonight so I'm going to be focusing on taking my time to step into the correct line of the shot - and then committing to it. I blame ROS - I think nearly every beginner aspiring snooker player wants to mimic his speedy style, but lets face it, very few can pull it off. I'll be Ebdonning it tonight!

Dont Ebdon it bolty... once you go to the dark side you will never come back :P

[Master Blaster]

Thanks guys, I'm having a few frames tonight so I'm going to be focusing on taking my time to step into the correct line of the shot - and then committing to it. I blame ROS - I think nearly every beginner aspiring snooker player wants to mimic his speedy style, but lets face it, very few can pull it off. I'll be Ebdonning it tonight!

If it looks right, 10/10, you take the shot. If you still miss, something else is wrong which we can address later. If it doesn't look 10/10, you have to get up and reset. Don't be tempted to move the cue to accommodate a correction once down. Just get up walk around a bit then get back down. Good luck mate.

[bolty]

Wise words guys and I must admit, it's certainly increased my confidence. Now i just need to reduce the tension in my cueing hand and relax it a bit. I seem to get the best results when I hardly grip the cue at all - does this sound about right?

Also I couldn't quite mimic Edbon's pace, I just don't have the patience...plus the table was 5 quid an hour and I'm not made of money!

[mikeyd100]

Wise words guys and I must admit, it's certainly increased my confidence. Now i just need to reduce the tension in my cueing hand and relax it a bit. I seem to get the best results when I hardly grip the cue at all - does this sound about right?

Also I couldn't quite mimic Edbon's pace, I just don't have the patience...plus the table was 5 quid an hour and I'm not made of money!

Haha, good one... yes indeed, 5 minutes for a 12 break = could be a lot of money to win a frame
You would go bald trying to win a match at that pace too.