Missing the same shot the same way

[armstm]

1st e.g. if i have cue ball near middle pocket and try to pot the pink on its spot to a corner pocket i almost always overcut.

2nd e.g. if i have cue ball on baulk line and try to pot a red near the middle pocket to the corner pocket i almost always overcut it.


my question is this a) a body position fault (ie my stance is incorrect) b) a sighting problem c) some twitch that happens when cueing.

[cue1]

Do you always over-cut to the same side? Or just over-cutting thin pots in general?

[armstm]

sorry it isn't a thin cut... say cue ball on green spot. imagine red ball on the same line as the middle pockets... straight ahead of the cue ball. tend to wildly over cut this when potting to the corner... especially if put any kind of screw on it.

[cue1]

If you're always over-cutting to the same side, I believe you're applying unintentional side on the cue ball!

When I haven't played for a while, I always seem to over-cut long pots to the left (left as I look, be it to the right corner or left corner). I've always thought It's a cueing problem (applying unintentional side to the cue ball) cos once I start focusing on centre ball striking, the problem just disappears!

Hope this helps :snooker:

[nrage]

sorry it isn't a thin cut... say cue ball on green spot. imagine red ball on the same line as the middle pockets... straight ahead of the cue ball. tend to wildly over cut this when potting to the corner... especially if put any kind of screw on it.

Try this.. set the shot described above up. Then play it at 'pocket speed' which is defined as fast enough to get the ball to the pocket without drifting, but slow enough so it drops in without hitting the leather. It should make only a swish sound on the netting, then maybe a clunk as it hits the railing under the pocket.

Do it without screw to start with, but add screw in later. Play the screw shots only a touch harder - or the screw will take too much speed off the white and red. You're not trying to screw back a long way on this, just get the speed of the red right.

The idea is that playing the shot softer will reduce upper body motion on the shot, it will give you more time to really feel what your arm is doing, detect any movement in the action etc. It will allow you to soften your grip up as much as possible, as one very common cause of unintended side etc is a hard grip pulling the cue off line.

You can test if your grip is the problem by gripping the cue just with your forefinger and thumb tip .. yes, make a round O shape with finger/thumb and just grip/put the cue between the tips of them both. There should be a huge air-gap above the cue, between the finger/thumb. Try playing the shot with this grip.. do you still overcut on every shot? Notice how even with this super light grip on the cue you can still hit the ball, this is how light you can make your normal grip and still play snooker.

As for shot #1 that you have trouble with, is the white near the rail/pocket, are you playing this shot off the rail? The closer the white is to the rail, and given the angle of the rail, there is a chance you're not striking the center of the white.

In both shots above, when feathering, really concentrate on each shot to make sure the cue tip is addressing the center of the white. It sounds like one possible cause for both faults is striking the white off center.. as cue1 asked; "Do you always over-cut to the same side?"