speed drill please help

[swestlife]

hello i have a problwm regarding to control the cueball what are the drills to test a cueball speed for positiong play everytime i hit cb to ob dont know where the cueball go i also hear about the speed they use like speed 1,2,3 etc can you please help

[alabadi]

there is no one answer, it all depends on how you play, for me i use the same back swing on most shots and i vary the acceleration during delivery of the cue, others may vary the length of the back swing and use the same speed for every shot.

so its up to you how you play the shot, you may choose one of those or a combination of them. with regards to how much power, you should experiment. set up lets say 3/4 ball blue to the middle place the cueball about 12 inches away and try and get the cueball to go to a particular spot you want it by selecting a height . once you are comfortable and can get it within a couple of inches every time move the white back 3-4 inches at a time keeping the same angle and see if you can get the white to the same spot. you will find the further back you go the more power u need to get the same position.

i use a scale 1-5 where 1 is my gentle shots, and 5 my max. however it could be different for others in terms of my 3 and some one else 3 could be different, it all depends on the individual, so create your own and practice, practice, practice. eventually you will get a feel for each shot.

[Master Blaster]

I think I use a combination of the two, which is probably wrong and I think coaches recommend picking one or the other as the control mechanism. Maybe they can advise us here. I guess it would be easier to adopt a constant acceleration and alter the backswing because this would result in smoother cueing, less miscues and less tendency to jab/punch the ball? Does Higgins do this and use deceleration to avoid applying too much force to the ball? I'd be interested to hear some views on this. But when we're close to the object ball, acceleration has to be tempered as well to avoid a double hit so it's a tricky one. There were occasions the other day (ok I was testing my shot to the limit) where I potted a red into the black pocket and wanted to stun round the table to test cue power. The angle on the red was maybe 10 degrees off straight. Ok, the shot was extreme but doable. But I had to use a bigger backswing and a lot of acceleration and force. If I'd used constant acceleration/bigger backswing or increased acceleration/same backswing I would have only got to the top of the table. Sometimes it seems, we need to vary both.

Come in Terry!

[DannyG]

I used to just practice trying to get as much backspin as possible, till I realised it was pointless.

Now I practice backspin by trying to land on 7 different spots, once I've done that that's the drill done.

Took a long time the first time, but I'm doing it a lot quicker now.

Don't forget to follow up with the same drill using forward spin.

[Terry Davidson]

OK, here's my take on either varying the length of backswing or having the same backswing length and varying (or controlling) the acceleration.

First of all I will have to admit I am a player who uses the variable length of backswing however I've found in general my backswing is generally too short for the amount of power I need and I therefore accelerate the cue too rapidly. This is why I play like crap on our very slow club tables.

In saying that I've noticed that ALL of the best pros (except Graeme Dott) consistently use the long backswing and control the acceleration and my problem is I've always advised players to do what the best pros do in general, so I feel I myself should change my backswing length and I'm working on that right now.

My advice would be this. If you are a brand new player just starting to play then try and adopt the longer backswing (with a defined rear pause) and learn to control the acceleration for the power you require. The advantage is you get more power without having to accelerate too rapidly but the disadvantage is you MUST learn to keep that longer backswing PERFECTLY STRAIGHT. You are better able to keep everything SMOOTH.

If you have already been playing snooker for awhile now it's very likely you've adopted the different lengths of backswing (Terry Griffiths teaches this method) and unless you learn very easily it will be very difficult for you to change over to the longer backswing method. HOWEVER, I think you should experiment with it and see if you can do it as it appears to be the way most of the top pros play. The SECRET is you must keep the backswing slow and straight all the time.

On the other topic, when we use power graduations where do those come from? I use a scale of 1 to 10 (as per Nic Barrow) with 10 being the maximum power you can impart WHILE UNDER CONTROL. I use the method that with a P10 shot when I'm shooting the spots I can get almost 5 lengths on my table (in some clubs using same power I get maybe 3 lengths). So on this basis each 1/2 table length is one graduation in speed however this makes a P1 power shot when shooting the spots a shot from brown to just before the pink spot and that's a little silly but realistic.

So get on a decently fast table if you can find one and practice getting the cueball to different spots on the table. I would forget the P1 but try for P2 by getting the cueball to the top cushion and back out for the black, then P3 to the blue spot, P4 to around the baulk cushion and P5 back to the baulkline or around there and so on. It doesn't have to be exact as this exercise is only to give you a power grade when you're standing behind the shot and trying to decide how hard to hit the cueball. It's also handy when being coached as the coach can say 'hit this shot with P4/H3/R2 which is shortform for Power = 4 with Height slightly below centre and and bit of righthand stuff.

[Master Blaster]

The biggest problem that players face with the long, fixed backswing is cue rotation. I used to miss a lot of shots a year ago because of this issue. When you take the cue back and rotate it, you move it onto a different trajectory then deliver it along that trajectory and miss a shot that was unmissable you thought. The solution is to fully open you hand when you take the cue back. Don't take your fingers off the cue but open the hand. I find (but Terry may be able to suggest something better as a coach) that the cue butt rests in the first joint of my little finger when the hand is fully open and backswing is at max length. Then close the hand gradually (no jerks or snatches please) as you accelerate forward. I have a red dot (artists acrylic) on top of my cue at 9 inches. This serves two purposes, to make sure I'm taking the cue back and delivering it with zero rotation and also to stop myself overcueing on my bridge when I get down. It won't penetrate or harm the cue and you can push it off with your fingernail. Some coaches don't like markings but I find they help so it's good for me. When you're in the zone you won't even think about the dot but when you start missing consistently, you look at the dot as you take the cue back or forward and if you miss the shot you will notice rotation. I have fast eyes/brain so I can take all this info in but it may not be appropriate for all players, to be thinking about extra things, certainly not in matches, but practice is a good environment to check this stuff.

[swestlife]

I am begginer in this game trying different stance stroke grip etc,,i watch nic barrow on youtube picking up some good stuff or tips right handed thanks for the comments ill try it all at the pool club near