Pause at the back

[NonStarter]

Interesting posts and sub-discussion about the mind and thoughts there. It's made me think.

What I find, personally, is when I introduce something new or a change, focus on that makes things difficult. When I focus on something already hard-coded into my game or unrelated, let's say the feel and position of my grip - the change feels more natural. Once I start to get used to the pause, trying to think about something else will hopefully help!

[Richard pincott]

I introduced a pause into my game back in the 80s when Steve Davis first hit the scene. Ok it took away some of my natural game and introduced a more steady approach but didn’t really improve my game.
If you are a free flowing player like say Alex Higgins, Jimmy White, Judd and Ronnie who didn’t have a pause but has one now, it’s different and difficult to stop your shot half way through.
With me I got to the stage where I started getting a cue stutter then I couldn’t let go of the cue. In golf and darts they call it the yips. I believe Hendry got it at some point. I have managed to control it now and play my shot and pause from the front ( pause at the white ) then smoothly back and accelerate forward
I can only suggest that the eye timing is probably the most important part of the overall shot.
I firmly believe that the line of the cue is the least important part of the shot because if you do your preparations correctly, track the path of the balls and are 100% sure of the complete shot you are going to play before you get to the table your eyes won’t let you get down offline. If anything is going to go wrong it will be from then onwards. So pause or no pause check you are cueing the white where you want, cue smoothly but make sure you are looking at the target ( spot on the ball or imaginary plant ball before you start your back swing. If not you may find your timing will change and that can result in all sorts of problems.

[Richard pincott]

Hi mate! Hope you had a good Christmas and New a year!

I have tried to slow myself down with my feathers and have a longer pause… I now have around 3 or 4 more deliberate feathers (I don’t count, this is a guesstimate), then a long pause at the cue ball, a slow pull back, slight pause on the backswing, then a gradual acceleration and strike through the cue ball. I’ve noticed I have a longer pause on my backswing with power shots or long pots followed by a more exaggerated acceleration. This happened after watching the likes of Tom Walker & Stuart Watson at work on my table.

I think it has helped me improve, I now feel like I have quite a solid and reliable cue action and if you combine that with trying to really focus on the pre-shot routine I think you will also notice an improvement! I remember from our game together that you had a long bridge and the cue butt was quite high. If you can somehow get yourself lower on the shot this will keep your cue more parallel with the table. I use to have quite a long bridge and noticed almost immediate difference in my game after shortening this up by an inch or so. Probably a more significant difference than the pause!?

My downfall at the minute is putting myself under way too much pressure and trying to deal with being watched while I play. Once I can overcome this Gremlin I’m sure I’ll start to bring more of my practice game to the match table! That said I did clear up in a final frame last week to make a 54 while playing on table 1 at Stratford Snooker Club’s ‘6red social night’, and there was around 8 or 9 people watching! Once the break reached 20ish and I could see the balls where nicely spread I started to physically shake, Mark Selby stylee! This continued pretty much up to the last pink. I actually don’t know how I managed it really, but afterwards I did get a small round of applause and I felt really great! Maybe this could be a breakthrough moment? I’ll see on Thursday when I go back for the next 6 red comp.

Some interesting posts here 👍
The pause is a very controversial subject really and something that only started when Steve Davis burst onto the scene. It’s something that he obviously practiced and introduced into his game for whatever reason. He was probably the first person who actually tried to dissect snooker into a geometrical straight line game. His perfect looking cueing , keeping still , exaggerated staying down etc produced a generation of robotic copycat players lol.
However what’s good for one player is not necessarily good for another. I have probably tried every single thing possible on the table over the last 50 years or so in pursuit of improvement including the pause. If you think of it logically when you pause you are actually stopping the natural action half way through and probably confusing the eyes and brain. Especially if you are not a high class player. It messed me up for years with timing etc. causing a stutter and the yips 😱
It might be perfectly fine for you but just beware of potential problems.
Try watching Ronnies 5 minutes 147 closely that’s as good as it is possible to play and completely free from any technical influence whatsoever.
He does have a NATURAL pause now which has crept into his game over the last few years which suggests to me that his natural eye hand coordination timing is taking slightly longer before he is able to pull the trigger. Old age I suppose 🤣
If the pause fails or is not for you then when you play try to
Be sure
Be natural
Be fluent
Be smooth
Be still

[Danger Steve]

Richard, in your experience do you think most players start off with the intention of playing their natural game but like with me, when there is some pressure or the pots just aren’t going in, we naturally revert to a more robotic style of play?

I can play a more natural game when I’m potting well, but I just don’t find it consistent and it doesn’t hold up for me under pressure! So because of this I have slowed my game to try and be more consistent.

[NonStarter]

Hi guys

So. It's been a strange few weeks. Struggled with back spasms and have not been able to play much and then visited Stu at Green Baize and got a new cue. A lovely 1 piece Asia cue. 59" (my previous was 57" which was just too short).

A few of you have offered advice in the past. I was playing around with the phone tonight and made some short clips. Apart from the top spin shot, they were all first attempts! I know much can't be diagnosed from these but it's a start, right? Never been one for the camera! As you can see, I'm left eye dominant and right eyed and this is my 'sightright'd' stance. I seem to take the cue through straight but finish with it going right to left. Advice on that would be great. I'll also post my thoughts on sightright if anyone is interested.

Be kind but be honest.

https://youtu.be/6TC2q2GVByA

https://youtu.be/CsrsHj5z-9w

https://youtu.be/laB58_UEHbU

I've struggled with the step in, and having my feet right. I believe I'm sighting on the right line stood back and when on the cue but you guys may see something I'm missing. Hoping to make more videos eps around the table to get your views and help

[mikee]

Looking pretty solid I would say .probably if the cues moving off line ,it’s well after the shot has gone so doesn’t matter .If your improving and making decent breaks then probably just keep playing your normal game ,and see how the new length cue feels over the next few weeks .The main thing is ,and I’m no coach ,your keeping still on the shot which is good .

[NonStarter]

Thank you mikee. All feels solid at the moment but inconsistent. I can't figure out why and assumed I'm cueing across. When I play up and down the spots I consistently have the white return 1" right of the brown spot.

[Starsky]

Hi guys

So. It's been a strange few weeks. Struggled with back spasms and have not been able to play much and then visited Stu at Green Baize and got a new cue. A lovely 1 piece Asia cue. 59" (my previous was 57" which was just too short).

A few of you have offered advice in the past. I was playing around with the phone tonight and made some short clips. Apart from the top spin shot, they were all first attempts! I know much can't be diagnosed from these but it's a start, right? Never been one for the camera! As you can see, I'm left eye dominant and right eyed and this is my 'sightright'd' stance. I seem to take the cue through straight but finish with it going right to left. Advice on that would be great. I'll also post my thoughts on sightright if anyone is interested.

Be kind but be honest.

https://youtu.be/6TC2q2GVByA

https://youtu.be/CsrsHj5z-9w

https://youtu.be/laB58_UEHbU

I've struggled with the step in, and having my feet right. I believe I'm sighting on the right line stood back and when on the cue but you guys may see something I'm missing. Hoping to make more videos eps around the table to get your views and help

When you picked up your cue with Stu did you spend the day there ?. If you did was Stu able to give you any pointers with your technique ?. I know he played to a decent level previously but not sure if he gives any advice with technique as well as with what cue to get.

I don’t mean to come across as negative but if your going down the Sightright route then I’d suggest sticking with that and not to seek advice on here . The methods are different to normal coaching techniques. You need to stick with one or the other otherwise your going to be all over the place .

[NonStarter]

I did spend a couple of hours browsing. I didn't know Stu did coaching prior to my visit. As it happens, he's also well aware of and endorses sightright for alignment. Feedback I got from him was to shorten by bridge length which I'm working on. I feel as though I'm slightly at an angle left to right in my stance but can't for the life of me break it down into tangible steps to put it right. Sightright coaches may be the way but the rates are eye-watering for an average income household like mine!

[Starsky]

I did spend a couple of hours browsing. I didn't know Stu did coaching prior to my visit. As it happens, he's also well aware of and endorses sightright for alignment. Feedback I got from him was to shorten by bridge length which I'm working on. I feel as though I'm slightly at an angle left to right in my stance but can't for the life of me break it down into tangible steps to put it right. Sightright coaches may be the way but the rates are eye-watering for an average income household like mine!

As far as I’m aware Stu doesn’t coach but he played to a high standard previously. He will know enough to give out advice to certain players if he wants to. It seems he gave you some advice so I would listen to it.
If you reread my previous post I didn’t say either way was the way to go but said to just pick one way and don’t mix the two.
I would recommend spending some money on one or two lessons with a qualified coach ( Sightright or not ) and get them to have a look at your technique to make sure you’ve got the basics right .
It will save all the guess work and posting on here hoping for an answer and will speed up your development.

[Danger Steve]

I spotted a couple of things on your videos mate. I see your lining the shot on with your left eye when standing which looks fine.

1. On video 2 you can see at around the 12sec mark your cue hand and elbow are nicely tuck back behind your head and body, yet as you play the shot (13sec’s in) your elbow moves away to your right and your cue hand also comes out to the right away from your body! Try keeping the elbow tucked in and the cue hand should hit your chest after delivery, don’t worry about trying to keep the elbow high, if it wants to drop then let it, otherwise it will swing out like that! I’d say this I s what’s giving you this right to left finish on your cue action. I think this 2nd video is the most exaggerated version of the three.

2. Your lifting your head immediately as you strike the cue ball! You do this very slightly in vid 1, more so in vid 2 which I think is the worse of all 3, vid 3 looked Ok generally but I think you lined the shot up wrong to go in-off from the angle! Try keeping your head still until after the object ball has disappeared into the pocket.

[NonStarter]

Danger Steve Thank you mate. I clearly see that having watched back. Think I'll have to also make some videos side on and from behind the cue arm to understand what's going on here. Not sure if I'm going around the body or the elbow is solely controlling that movement. Ps why don't you move up here mate? Could really do with some good playing partners! Hope you're well mate

NB. I think a lot of people, myself until recently follow the traditional methods. Point of note is the sightright way is to not have the elbow verticle until after the shot has been played rather than having it vertical at the point of contacting the white. Might be why I'm getting away with it in the potting but still want to get that delivery better

[mikee]

I wouldn’t try and get to technical,there’s a lot of different cue actions out there ,repetition is the most important thing once everything starts working ok .My elbow sticks out to the side like Ray Reardon ,I’m not sure if it always has or if it’s since I broke and dislocated my right arm playing golf 8 years ago ,but the cue goes through straight between my eyes and just touching my chest so I’m Not too bothered .A mate of mine who I’ve played with for years has been going through a bad time on the table ,he’s watching you tube ,reading up on anything he can find , trying different methods and bought a new cue ,his game has totally gone to crap ,no confidence and he can hardly pot 3 balls in row now

[Starsky]

I wouldn’t try and get to technical,there’s a lot of different cue actions out there ,repetition is the most important thing once everything starts working ok .My elbow sticks out to the side like Ray Reardon ,I’m not sure if it always has or if it’s since I broke and dislocated my right arm playing golf 8 years ago ,but the cue goes through straight between my eyes and just touching my chest so I’m Not too bothered .A mate of mine who I’ve played with for years has been going through a bad time on the table ,he’s watching you tube ,reading up on anything he can find , trying different methods and bought a new cue ,his game has totally gone to crap ,no confidence and he can hardly pot 3 balls in row now

Great post Mikee and should be a sticky as a warning to all going down the technical route on here…… of course it will be totally ignored as it’s not what people want to hear 🙄

[NonStarter]

Thanks guys. Some great points there Mikee. Appreciate the comments on the video and also the can of worms when it comes to introducing changes. I'm just looking for some advice to take note of and to try to understand areas where I may be able to improve. I agree the coaching videos on YouTube etc are not always the best as we all play, move and feel differently. Hence the sharing of my cueing for tips and flaws I may not be seeing.

Not ignoring or dismissing your point starsky.. I agree with the coaching for obvious flaws but I also rate a lot of members here very highly for their knowledge and wanted to get some opinions.

Thank you