Players endorsing SightRight

[hotpot]

Yes, hotpot. A straight long pot will usually be missed on the left.

This was happening to me until i started experimenting with my stance . Used to put my right foot on line the gradually i put my right leg more to the right to see what happened as it was obvious my stance was too open . I found that putting my right groin on line has helped this a lot and i,m no longer missing to the left all the time .

[damienlch]

... I found that putting my right groin on line has helped this a lot...

A bit too much detail there Hotpot...

[nrage]

This was happening to me until i started experimenting with my stance . Used to put my right foot on line the gradually i put my right leg more to the right to see what happened as it was obvious my stance was too open . I found that putting my right groin on line has helped this a lot and i,m no longer missing to the left all the time .

Interesting, I'll have to try this too. I suspect my body will get in the way. I think Mark Williams probably stands a bit how you describe and to me it looks like his body is further over/above his grip hand than other players.

@Mick where does your back foot point? Is it down the line of the shot? Or outside/inside this line? I found that when I had my foot pointing down the line of the shot it closed off my body/chest and forced my cue out from my body, resulting in me cueing around it and across the ball. Simply pointing my toes 10-30 degrees outside the line (without moving it on the floor) opened my chest (twisting it enough for the cue to come closer and in line) and helped resolve some of the problems I was having.

[hotpot]

Interesting, I'll have to try this too. I suspect my body will get in the way. I think Mark Williams probably stands a bit how you describe and to me it looks like his body is further over/above his grip hand than other players.

@Mick where does your back foot point? Is it down the line of the shot? Or outside/inside this line? I found that when I had my foot pointing down the line of the shot it closed off my body/chest and forced my cue out from my body, resulting in me cueing around it and across the ball. Simply pointing my toes 10-30 degrees outside the line (without moving it on the floor) opened my chest (twisting it enough for the cue to come closer and in line) and helped resolve some of the problems I was having.

My right leg is not as straight as it used to be in fact its a lot more angled , but i do tend to twist my body a bit more now .

[Terry Davidson]

I don't know what Nic recommended but I would suggest this solution for the following reason:

If you start moving the cue in relation to the chin/head then this will mean you will have to make other adjustments in your set-up to balance this off. For instance the elbow and shoulder will now be out of the natural alignment you've bocome used to and with which (hopefully) you've learned to deliver the cue reasonably and consistently straight.

My suggestion would be to get into your normal address position at the baulkline without a ball there and aim straight at the very edge of the leather on one of the top pockets (the edge on the top cushion). Now close one eye only and see if the cue is lined up perfectly to the edge of the leather and then open that eye and close the other eye and see if it's very hard to judge where the cue is aimed. The eye that shows the cue aligned perfectly is your preferred eye.

What a lot of people assume is based on Joe Davis who was almost blind in his right eye and therefore had his cue running directly under his left eye. With players who can see out of both eyes usually one eye is sharper than the other eye (closer to 20/20 in layman's terms) and the correct line of sight down the cue is usually some distance between the two eyes and every person is different depending on the difference in acuity between the two eyes.

Once you determine which is your preferred eye DO NOT move the cue over on the chin but rather turn the head in very small increments, moving the preferred eye more over towards the cue until what you see appears to be correct (using both eyes open of course). It will most likely be just a very small head turn to bring the preferred eye a little more over the cue and this method will not result in the need to change your set-up to re-balance everything out. If you wear corrective lenses of some type and are 20/20 or even 20/15 in both eyes you will still have a preferred eye however the eyes will be almost equidistant to the cue. If you have one very sharp eye and one quite a bit weaker and prefer not to wear glasses or contacts then the head turn will likely be more to bring the sharper eye more over the cue.

This is what the SightRight accomplishes, getting the two eyes into 'balance' for optimum binocular vision where the player will see an accurate representation of what is actually there when down in the address position and sighting along the cue like a rifle and seeing the correct angle for the pot. Also remember, you should select your line of aim when standing up over the shot and when you get down into the address position you are just actually CONFIRMING to yourself the line of aim you selected is correct. If you are not seeing a true picture of the actual pot as your eyes are not in balance over the cue this will cause you to re-adjust your aim while you are down on the shot and the most common way of doing this is to shift the hips very slightly to the right or left and on a long pot with little room for error this slight shifting of the hips, which is barely detectible by the way, will cause you to miss (provided there are not other problems in delivering the cue straight).

Terry

[renniwevarb]

There are so many things that can and do go wrong on the shot and to play well everything has to be in sync . Steeping into the shot on line and consistenly is vital when you can do that the grip seems to be an area that causes a lot of headaches for a lot of players , even good and experienved ones . Having a relaxed grip and experimenting where you place your fingers around the cue that feel comfortable and deliveres the cue straight is as important too . When your grip feels right you always seem to cue weel and straight , if not it causes nightmares .

Yeah most of the time it is the grip that is actually a good indicator of whether you are getting down comfortably on the shot.

We tend to talk about parts of our set up in isolation, but often the combined effect of everything falling into place can be felt by a single entity. It may be different for each person, for me it is very clearly my grip. If my grip feels right most often the rest of my setup is right. If somehow I can't get a comfortable grip, I know there is something wrong in my stance (i.e. not getting my cueing arm shoulder up, or addressing the ball with my cueing arm less than vertical etc..)

And when you don't get a nice grip... you know what happens...

[x53]

Sight right is definitely working and if you think that you not sight the shot correctly i would recommend it strongly. I have been told that i am right eye dominant player and after proper test i ended up to be even eye which is some bonus for me. I was able to play using my left or right eye thats why i decided to test my eyes and drove down to Norwich to meet Stephen. After 3 minutes test Stephen told me that i must trust and believe in my eyes not my stance. I couldn't believe how bad i was sighting the shot concentration more on were my right foot goes. Now i stop thinking were my right foot goes just pick up the line and go down using my eyes and pot the balls all over the place. Have to admit some of the shots looks fat to me on the begging as i was sighting shot to thin and was compensating by applying little bit of side on the cue ball. I was able to make some good breaks including century when i am around the black spot but my long game was rubbish.


I blame snooker coaches who in my opinion should begin coaching with the eye test and than build the stance around your sighting. I went to see some of the top coaches in the uk and none of them been able to tell me that i am even eyed. Actually they carried out simple test with the circle or chalk on the opposite side of the table and when you shut one eye the object move to the left or right WHICH IS NOT CORRECT!!!

You can purchase equipment on the net but it doesn't help if you dont know how to use it. Definitely recommending to see Stephen it will only improve your game and much more important will not damage your game. Most of the snooker coaches trying to make you play like some pro or using a text book example as we all know but it has to be said that all this is old school snooker today. Nothing wrong with it but noting good if you can't sight the shot straight.

[cazmac1]

Hi x53 can you put up some contact details for Stephen....

[CoachGavin]

I'm thinking of going for a lesson to see if it helps with my problem. I struggle to find the centre of the white and always play with right hand side. I am right eyed and a right hander. My long game is terrible but when someone tells me where the centre of the white is it looks like im playing with left hand side!
Cazmac, the website is

http://www.sightrightsnookeracademy.com/

[cazmac1]

Hi Gavin, that's sounds similar to me, I managed to get his details and his prices seems reasonable so It has to be worth trying to solve a 20 year problem.
Here a video showing my cue alinement problem.

comments please.

[hotpot]

I would like to go and see him , was thinking pheraps three of us could meet up and share the costs , anyone interested ? .

[alabadi]

I would like to go and see him , was thinking pheraps three of us could meet up and share the costs , anyone interested ? .

it seems a much better price, 100 pound for an hour on your own or 125 pound for 4 people for 3 hours.

sharing would cost each person 31.33 each and would get you 45 minutes.....BARGAIN.

i could be tempted

Alabbadi

[cantpotforshíte]

it seems a much better price, 100 pound for an hour on your own or 125 pound for 4 people for 3 hours.

sharing would cost each person 31.33 each and would get you 45 minutes.....BARGAIN.

i could be tempted

Alabbadi

ermm.. are you sure it's not £125 per person for the 3 hour session? It looks that way to me..

[alabadi]

ermm.. are you sure it's not £125 per person for the 3 hour session? It looks that way to me..

I didnt see it that way, although I could be wrong , it wouldn't make sense to pay the £125 each when u could pay £100 yourself. Unless each stay for three hours.

Even if it was that u would probably get less than an hour one to one training.
the PayPal link say £125 next to it, maybe if they had an email address we could ask, I couldn't see on on their site.
Alabbadi

[cazmac1]

OK guy's I rang him today but just got through to his VM, I left my number for him to give me a call.
I'm up for doing the 3 man session Hotpot if Gavin is in we have are three. I read it as £125 for 3 people for 3 hours, I would imagine the first part of the session would be done as a group then he would set us up correctly and then flit between us making adjustments and monitoring ( I guess).