Players endorsing SightRight

[mick farrell]

On page 18 of this months Snooker Scene is a list of pros saying how much SightRight has benefited their game. The players have all got one thing in common. They are all sight predominantly with their right eye ( they are all right handed ). I have believed for years that right handed players with a stronger left eye ( and the reverse for left handers ) have a much better advantage. The World Championship has been going for 86 years and has only once been won by a right handed player (Murphy 2005) who's sighting has even slightly favoured his right eye. When I was younger, I was even sighted but over the years my left eye has gone weaker (I am right handed) and I have found that I was looking across the shot in my natural position and realized that I need to alter my head position to be able to sight down the cue. I tried playing with the cue under my right eye (John Virgo, Patrick Wallice, Matt Gibson style) but found the cue was hanging away from my body so I abandoned this. I next tilted my head to put my right eye over the cue (Rory McLeod, Stuart Bingham style) but found I was beginning to lift the butt of the cue instead of having the cue very close to the cushion rail. Watching Rory I noticed that he tends to cue down on the ball too. In a nutshell, I am probably 50% the player I was. I am just wandering if any other players out there have had my problem. I have to go now and will Check on this thread later. Thanks.

Hi. I'm back again. I forgot to add before that I read Frank Callan's book years ago and it goes into sighting (master eye etc..) and mentions that when he was working with Doug Mountjoy that one of Doug's faults was that although he was predominantly right eyed, he had more of his left eye over the cue! My point here is that Doug did not change the position of his head even after discovering this. Doug changed lots technically in his game after being coached by Frank - but NOT his head position.

[hotpot]

Interesting post , i believe a lot of players problems are to do with eye dominance which happens gradually with age and without you realising it . i,m right handed and right eye dominant and one of the hardest things i find in snooker is hitting the middle of the white , maybe because like a lot of players i think i,m addressing the white dead centre but i,m not .

[NorthWestJunior]

I am right handed with left eye dominance and I often cue across the ball when I'm playing with power or just not concentrating enough. I never even noticed to be honest, to me it looked like I was striking dead centre. A coach once noticed the problem but I have never been able to completely eliminate it from my game. When I was playing often it became less of a problem for some reason but I have rarely played over the past 12-18 months and when I pop down the club on the odd occasion I find it is much more of a problem than before.

[mick farrell]

Interesting post , i believe a lot of players problems are to do with eye dominance which happens gradually with age and without you realising it . i,m right handed and right eye dominant and one of the hardest things i find in snooker is hitting the middle of the white , maybe because like a lot of players i think i,m addressing the white dead centre but i,m not .

I checked my alignment about 15 years ago using a mirror. Basically, you put a mirror on the table and you cue at the reflection. I was even sighted then. Like you say hotpot, the weakening of my left eye is something that has gone unnoticed by me until recently. I was in the club practising long blues off their spots and missing by the same margin (left of corner pocket) every time. It was the first time I had done this exercise in years and it felt as if I was trying to play with my left eye shut.

[tommygunner1309]

Mick, I can't believe that you think Shaun Murphy is the only right handed player to win the World Championship!!!!!!!! Terry Griffiths 1979, Steve Davis 6 times Ken Doherty and Stephen Hendry 7 times are just a few examples of RH players. I could give you a full list but it would take up far too much space.

[tommygunner1309]

In fact - Mark Williams was the FIRST left handed player to win the WC - and that wasn't until 2000 !!

[DG GIBERT]

Mick, I can't believe that you think Shaun Murphy is the only right handed player to win the World Championship!!!!!!!! Terry Griffiths 1979, Steve Davis 6 times Ken Doherty and Stephen Hendry 7 times are just a few examples of RH players. I could give you a full list but it would take up far too much space.

Right handed and slightly right sighted................

[mick farrell]

My post is about right handed players with a DOMINANT RIGHT EYE! (and the reverse of course for left handers).

[mick farrell]

Right handed and slightly right sighted................

Thanks DG GIBERT. This thread has had very few replies and I was beginning to think it was a too confusing to make any sense of!

[tommygunner1309]

Ok Mick - Sorry if I read it wrong - However I would say that in a discussion with Steve Davis and Terry Griffiths we went through the dominant eye (March 2011 it was). I am very heavily Right eyed, and I am sure, if I remember correctly that both Steve and Terry said the right eye was theirs too. I may have remembered incorrectly but I don't think so

[mick farrell]

Ok Mick - Sorry if I read it wrong - However I would say that in a discussion with Steve Davis and Terry Griffiths we went through the dominant eye (March 2011 it was). I am very heavily Right eyed, and I am sure, if I remember correctly that both Steve and Terry said the right eye was theirs too. I may have remembered incorrectly but I don't think so

Hi tommygunner. Both Steve & Terry both had even sighted head positions on the shot. In fact, Terry's head position seemed to favour his left eye very slightly. I was coached by Frank Callan for 2 hours 9 years ago and I chatted with him afterwards about players who had seen him. He told me that although Steve had an even sighted alignment that he did have a stronger eye (I can't remember which eye) and that Steve wasn't prepared to alter his head position to favour the stronger eye. I mention Shaun Murphy as the only right handed World Champion with a right eye as his master eye. It may be more accurate for me to describe him as The only right handed World Champion who notably uses his right eye as his master eye. Thanks for the response.

[tommygunner1309]

Hi Mick Yes I think Steve is adamant that changing his head set up would change his game. We had quite a long discussion about where the eyes should be in relation to the cue and never came to a satisfactory conclusion. I tend to move my head in different positions when I am practising to see what difference it makes to the shot. Funny enough, that is a bit inconclusive as well. If only there were a magic formula. However, I do normally play with R eye over cue. Its an interesting subject, and I am sure that it really comes down to the player in the end.

[franksandellsnooker]

Mick Farrell,
In your first post you mention that Left eyed/right handed players or of course the reverse may have an advantage over players whose dominant eye is the samed as their handing. I am fairly sure that this is a good summation. Many years ago now I spent time with dear old Frank Callen who despite a strong degree of single mindedness was acknowledged as one of the greatest thinkers in our game. The finest example of left eye right handed play came from the man who started it all ie. the great JOE DAVIS. his book How I Play Snooker used by Bill Davis in the development of a certain Steve's game was without doubt the standard work for coaching the game and in many repects still is. The only real flaw in the book is summed up in the title How I (Joe Davis) play snooker. Joe was Left eye right handed and the result was a super compact stance, cue brushing waistcoat and over tie knot. Frank Callen noted this flaw in general coaching and very often without messing with the stance would point out sighting alignment changes that he felt were needed. Having coached over 2000 players over the last thirty odd years I always check for master eye. I only suggest occasionally a change of head position or squaring of the stance for same sided players and always make the point that whatever happens what feels best naturally and does not cause ANY discomfort is the best way to go. I am sure Joe Davis received advice as his game developed from childhood but his (slightly narrow) stance was purely what felt right for him.
Tommy.When you come over we can chat about this.:snooker:
The sight right method is obviously an asset to many as it is building a confidence in some already very fine sports people whose belief is building this confidence.
.

[tommygunner1309]

Hi Frank Yes I look forward to that. Bryan is still umming and aaarring about a cue, but I would definately like to come over to you for a coffee and a bit of a discussion about coaching. I still feel like I said to you before, that teaching an absolute beginner is about my mark, and much more needs to be accomplished. I tend to sight down the middle with sometimes a very slight right eyed preference, but I still feel it is a little inconclusive. I bet you can put me right when we have a chat.

[mick farrell]

Hi Mick Yes I think Steve is adamant that changing his head set up would change his game. We had quite a long discussion about where the eyes should be in relation to the cue and never came to a satisfactory conclusion. I tend to move my head in different positions when I am practising to see what difference it makes to the shot. Funny enough, that is a bit inconclusive as well. If only there were a magic formula. However, I do normally play with R eye over cue. Its an interesting subject, and I am sure that it really comes down to the player in the end.

Hi tommygunner1309. Steve was right saying changing his head set up would change his game. When I spoke to Frank Callan about Steve (& Doug Mountjoy) regarding their unwillingness to change their head positions our conversation never came to a satisfactory conclusion either. I found that favouring my right eye makes sighting easier but it makes my cue action worse and completely dislocates my timing. Thanks for your response.