What am I doing wrong?

[Smeeagain]

I'm moving up gradually from pool to snooker. On a pool table (albeit with lighter balls), I can screw back the length of the table (so 6ft) put on top side etc etc all to a degree I'm happy with. On a snooker table I can put on top, only a little bit of side and almost no screw back at all (like max 15 inches)

What do I need to do to get noticeably more screw back and why am I finding it so difficult?

[nevets]

Timing. Your cue must be accelerating right through the cue ball on impact.

[Smeeagain]

Ok, thanks I will certainly give it a shot, but why do I find it easy on a pool ball/table and not on a snooker ball/table?>

[vmax4steve]

Ok, thanks I will certainly give it a shot, but why do I find it easy on a pool ball/table and not on a snooker ball/table?>

Little table and little balls vs bigger table and bigger balls

[Smeeagain]

Little table and little balls vs bigger table and bigger balls

yes I get that but just surprised how much of a difference there is when trying to screw back is as there isn't that big a difference in ball size ??
Maybe I'm still aiming at the same place on the cue ball (relatively speaking) as I would on the pool cue ball - so lets say for example on the pool cb Icm for arguments sake aiming 1cm below centre (I'm not), but perhaps Im also aiming 1cm below centre on the snooker cb and I need to be lower maybe (as well as timing/acceleration etc but I seem to have that nailed already on the pool ball - its English pool for clarification not American pool)

[perpetualboredom]

The cue ball is smaller than the other balls at pool, so it natually comes back (even if you hit the middle of the white).
It's usually one of two thing: you're not hitting the white where you think you are (trying to whallop it and the cue rises), or you're not following through the cue ball.
Also noticed that pool players tend to cue down at the white, rather than lower their bridge hand.
We get the kids setting up straight blues accross the table to show how gentle you can hit it and screw in the opposite centre pocket, its like mind over matter if you stop thinking about hitting harder to move the white further, and concentrate on hitting the white low and timing the following through, then the cue ball will soon be pinging back all over the place.

[eddy147]

Make sure you are ceuing straight, meaning, the tip of your cue ends a bit lower after the shot (as straight as possible).
If the tip ends a bit higher then you aimed, you will hardly get any screw.
Also, you do not have to aim totally at the bottom. About 3/4 top down is good enough for a deep screw.

Trump & Ding are excellent advocates on this.

[Smeeagain]

Make sure you are ceuing straight, meaning, the tip of your cue ends a bit lower after the shot (as straight as possible).
If the tip ends a bit higher then you aimed, you will hardly get any screw.
Also, you do not have to aim totally at the bottom. About 3/4 top down is good enough for a deep screw.

Trump & Ding are excellent advocates on this.

Yes I think I don't get low enough. So for clarification, when you say aim lower is the trajectory of the cue almost parallel to the slate of the table such that when you follow through the tip doesnt touch the cloth, or am I aiming downwards on the cue ball with follow through and touching the cloth of the table after delivery?

[Master Blaster]

Yes I think I don't get low enough. So for clarification, when you say aim lower is the trajectory of the cue almost parallel to the slate of the table such that when you follow through the tip doesnt touch the cloth, or am I aiming downwards on the cue ball with follow through and touching the cloth of the table after delivery?

The cue can never be parallel for obvious reasons. You aim low, drive through the ball and leave a little chalk on the cloth but don't scrape the cloth as it ruins. Aim as low as possible for deep screw without miscueing. You will find out how low you can go with experiment, each player and each cue is different, not forgetting that tips behave differently as well, e.g. you can aim lower with an elk than a laminate but laminates are generally harder and more slippery. The big thing is getting through the cue ball. Aim to get through it as much as possible but don't hit the all harder than for most other shots. At first, just concentrate on getting through the cue ball as much as possible. At the moment, you aren't doing this. Learning how to do it consistently can take 6+ months or five minutes, varies from player to player. You may need to change your cue action and set-up. Pool players generally have poor technique. Pub pool allows you to get away with things that snooker won't.

[Smeeagain]

"Pool players generally have poor technique. Pub pool allows you to get away with things that snooker won't"

Noted and thanks for all the advice. Can you expand on this comment a little please?

[jrc750]

All shots in pool are very close to the pocket so will still go in off line, but over greater distance in snooker slightly off line means a big miss by the time it reaches the pocket.

[monkeytennis]

I've come across this a lot over the years. In my experience the pool players had too short a follow-through to really get any action on a snooker table.

[DeanH]

What am I doing wrong?

usually they have short follow through because the balls are close to each other on a pool table and they think they have to "jab"

[jonny66]

If you think about it, the longest possible shot on a UK pool table is basically a black off the spot in snooker, a routine shot. So you obviously need to be cueing a lot more consistently on a snooker table to play at a decent standard. Great way to improve your pool game though, but too much snooker can blind you to the possibilities available to you on a pool table.

[perpetualboredom]

If you think about it, the longest possible shot on a UK pool table is basically a black off the spot in snooker, a routine shot. So you obviously need to be cueing a lot more consistently on a snooker table to play at a decent standard. Great way to improve your pool game though, but too much snooker can blind you to the possibilities available to you on a pool table.

A great way to improve your potting, but will have the opposite effect on positional play as the balls react completely differently and plain ball angles aren't the same, although pro cup balls play a lot more snooker like.