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Basic Snooker Flaws & How to Fix Them
For past few weeks I was facing trouble making long pots. Whenever, I got down to make long pot, I miss it by few cms to few inches almost every time. At first, I thought as I am playing soft shot, there might be some roll on the cloth but even with faster shots I faced similar issue.
After that I went back to basic with Baulk to Top - Dot to Dot - Cue Ball up-down hit - As Steve Davis suggest to practice every time before starting game. I realized that even here the cue ball was deviating from its target and thus left/right spin was induced w/o my knowledge.
I finally narrowed down few flaws in my game that were the reasons behind it and am seeking help to remove them.
FLAW 1: - NOT ABLE TO BRIDGE DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF THE CENTER OF THE BALL
I have realized that while getting down to the shot, I sometime unknowingly don't bridge properly in front of the center of the cue ball and the bridge is a thread or 2 left of the center. As I try to hit the ball center, but the bridge is not center, the cue stick doesn't make a straight line and thus on hitting, the ball travels to the right (as bridge is on the left side) and longer the shot is..more prominent the deviation of the ball will be.
MY QUESTION - How to make sure that my bridge is always placed properly in front of the center of the ball?
FLAW 2: - NOT ABLE TO KEEP TRACK OF THE POINT OF CONTACT ON THE OBJECT BALL
I am able to find the point of contact (to hit the object ball) to pot is..which is straight line pass though the pot. The thing is, keeping track of that particular point is bit difficult (at least for me). Since the object ball, lets say red ball, is entirely solid, after deciding on the point of contact, when I go back to make a stance of bridge, the point is somehow mixed up the solid color and I get confused where I was planning to hit and sometimes hit it wrong.
While playing pool, I don't face this issue much as half of the balls are stripes so once the point of contact is decided, I am able to keep track it. Half of the solid balls still have numbers on them so it is still bit easier to keep track of the place where you want to hit. Plus as the table size is small and balls size is large, this is not as difficult as it becomes while playing snooker.
MY QUESTION - How do I make sure that I don't get confused on my object ball point of contact and make the stance and hit the ball just right?
FLAW 3: - MAKING CUE STICK IN STRAIGHT LINE WHILE FEATHERING
While feathering, if I feather once/twice, I am able to keep my cue stick straight but more features I perform, the cue stick starts deviating more and more. I am sure it has something to do with my cue action. Either my back arm is not in the right direction or some similar problem must be there. If I try to keep my cue stick closed to chest to check on straight line to-fro motion, after few minutes my shoulders start aching. This deviation become more prominent if my bridge is placed at larger distance behind the cue ball.
MY QUESTION - Is there a way to make sure that my cue action remain straight no matter how many times I feather, especially when my bridge hand is placed 12/15 inches or more behind the cue ball.
Lastly, Although Ronnie is my favorite snooker player but I am really impressed with Ding Junhui cue action. People say Shaun Murphy has the best cue action but I am really impressed with Ding's cue action and feathering technique...simply flawless and elegant. Ding's cue actions is almost a robot like, just straight and pin point and everytime impeccable. I wonder how he has made perfected it!
After that I went back to basic with Baulk to Top - Dot to Dot - Cue Ball up-down hit - As Steve Davis suggest to practice every time before starting game. I realized that even here the cue ball was deviating from its target and thus left/right spin was induced w/o my knowledge.
I finally narrowed down few flaws in my game that were the reasons behind it and am seeking help to remove them.
FLAW 1: - NOT ABLE TO BRIDGE DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF THE CENTER OF THE BALL
I have realized that while getting down to the shot, I sometime unknowingly don't bridge properly in front of the center of the cue ball and the bridge is a thread or 2 left of the center. As I try to hit the ball center, but the bridge is not center, the cue stick doesn't make a straight line and thus on hitting, the ball travels to the right (as bridge is on the left side) and longer the shot is..more prominent the deviation of the ball will be.
MY QUESTION - How to make sure that my bridge is always placed properly in front of the center of the ball?
FLAW 2: - NOT ABLE TO KEEP TRACK OF THE POINT OF CONTACT ON THE OBJECT BALL
I am able to find the point of contact (to hit the object ball) to pot is..which is straight line pass though the pot. The thing is, keeping track of that particular point is bit difficult (at least for me). Since the object ball, lets say red ball, is entirely solid, after deciding on the point of contact, when I go back to make a stance of bridge, the point is somehow mixed up the solid color and I get confused where I was planning to hit and sometimes hit it wrong.
While playing pool, I don't face this issue much as half of the balls are stripes so once the point of contact is decided, I am able to keep track it. Half of the solid balls still have numbers on them so it is still bit easier to keep track of the place where you want to hit. Plus as the table size is small and balls size is large, this is not as difficult as it becomes while playing snooker.
MY QUESTION - How do I make sure that I don't get confused on my object ball point of contact and make the stance and hit the ball just right?
FLAW 3: - MAKING CUE STICK IN STRAIGHT LINE WHILE FEATHERING
While feathering, if I feather once/twice, I am able to keep my cue stick straight but more features I perform, the cue stick starts deviating more and more. I am sure it has something to do with my cue action. Either my back arm is not in the right direction or some similar problem must be there. If I try to keep my cue stick closed to chest to check on straight line to-fro motion, after few minutes my shoulders start aching. This deviation become more prominent if my bridge is placed at larger distance behind the cue ball.
MY QUESTION - Is there a way to make sure that my cue action remain straight no matter how many times I feather, especially when my bridge hand is placed 12/15 inches or more behind the cue ball.
Lastly, Although Ronnie is my favorite snooker player but I am really impressed with Ding Junhui cue action. People say Shaun Murphy has the best cue action but I am really impressed with Ding's cue action and feathering technique...simply flawless and elegant. Ding's cue actions is almost a robot like, just straight and pin point and everytime impeccable. I wonder how he has made perfected it!
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