high breaks etc

[Snookclops]

Me again!

I've read this and other snooker forums a lot and many posters speak of things like "just a standard 50 break club player"....

It seems online I see lots of 50 breakers or even centurians.

At the 2 clubs I've been at, haven't seen a single 50 being potted. there was one lad who apparently made 80 once. All the players at my club don't seem to regularly knock in tons or 50s. They are all like me or slightly better 20-40ish. Many of the refereed matches I've seen on the next table....no one is knocking past 50, even the better players.

To me, a 50 break player is a Damn good snooker player. It took me 3 years to get to regular 10-25 standard. Where are all the 80 breakers in clubs? I cant seem to find any.

Perhaps people who OWN tables are far ahead of club players....or do people exaggerate a bit online?

[LucLex3119]

Me again!

I've read this and other snooker forums a lot and many posters speak of things like "just a standard 50 break club player"....

It seems online I see lots of 50 breakers or even centurians.

At the 2 clubs I've been at, haven't seen a single 50 being potted. there was one lad who apparently made 80 once. All the players at my club don't seem to regularly knock in tons or 50s. They are all like me or slightly better 20-40ish. Many of the refereed matches I've seen on the next table....no one is knocking past 50, even the better players.

To me, a 50 break player is a Damn good snooker player. It took me 3 years to get to regular 10-25 standard. Where are all the 80 breakers in clubs? I cant seem to find any.

Perhaps people who OWN tables are far ahead of club players....or do people exaggerate a bit online?

There will always be exaggeration on these forums but it's not unusual for any snooker club to have players who make +50 breaks and tons. I play in GT Yarmouth and there are lots of players making those sort of breaks.

If it took you 3 years to make 15-25 breaks then I would stop playing against people and put in a few weeks of solid practice. That is a very long time to play without making progress.
There is a lot of easy routines to practice to get you cueing and potting balls.

[Snookclops]

I have. Still not breaking 30.

To make regular 15+ from barely potting anything is progress to me. Hitting 9 balls in a row controlling the white isn't something a beginner can do.

To be clear, I've not been 100% focussed for 3 years. I've averaged about 1 hrs per week for 2 years but only got serious 6 months ago.

I have done perhaps 3-5 hours per week for 6 months now and can feel getting better.

my main opponent won some comps as a teenager, he plays almost as much as me and we are almost identical standard.

I find I can polish off simple reds blues and pinks etc but it's when big shots come around I fail.

Whatever happens, I am not giving up and I will hit a 50 one day. Just a matter of time :-)

[tomlimcj]

I have. Still not breaking 30.

To make regular 15+ from barely potting anything is progress to me. Hitting 9 balls in a row controlling the white isn't something a beginner can do.

To be clear, I've not been 100% focussed for 3 years. I've averaged about 1 hrs per week for 2 years but only got serious 6 months ago.

I have done perhaps 3-5 hours per week for 6 months now and can feel getting better.

my main opponent won some comps as a teenager, he plays almost as much as me and we are almost identical standard.

I find I can polish off simple reds blues and pinks etc but it's when big shots come around I fail.

Whatever happens, I am not giving up and I will hit a 50 one day. Just a matter of time :-)

To be honest, 3 yrs is a short period for an amateur. If you are looking to take it to another level, you definitely need practise, practise and more practise.
You are right, its not just about potting balls.
Everybody can pot balls. It is really about cueball control, knowledge of cueball movement/angles. Just to even talk about cueball control requires another chapter on type of shot, angle of shot, speed of table, etc etc. It goes on.
But for a start, you can get the hang of a few type of shots to get you a little into the cueball control "mood".
Play black only on spot, potting black and placing for the black again.
Play pink only on spot, potting pink and placing for pink again.
Play yellow through to blue, and back to yellow again, repeat.
Play yellow/green and send the white down to place a red between pink and black into both corner pockets.

Making breaks is really cueball control, shot selection and choice of shots.
In a way, ask yourself, what ball next to play for, how to play the current shot to place for that next ball.
When playing the shot and controlling the cueball, think about the strength to send the cueball to the area for the next shot.
choose to have a firm shot, rather than a weaker roll or push.
Its really alot of stuns, soft screws around the black and pink spot.

There's just too much to discuss with regards to making high breaks. even I myself only did a 52 once, and if you think about it, its only just 7 reds and 7 high scoring colors.....

good luck!

[jrc750]

.. I've averaged about 1 hrs per week for 2 years but only got serious 6 months ago.

I have done perhaps 3-5 hours per week for 6 months now and can feel getting better....

1 hour a week was a total waste of time, 3-5 isn't much better tbh, you need to be playing 3 hours a night to see real progress

[Terry Davidson]

1 hour a week was a total waste of time, 3-5 isn't much better tbh, you need to be playing 3 hours a night to see real progress

Exactly right

[Snookclops]

I can and have been doing 12 hours a week these last 3 week and the improvement is staggering.

[Leo]

A good marker is 25hrs a week and I don't mean playing against your pal as this will shorten your table time considrably. You need good solid solo practice too. For many this is impossible with families, work etc.

[markz]

I have. Still not breaking 30.

To make regular 15+ from barely potting anything is progress to me. Hitting 9 balls in a row controlling the white isn't something a beginner can do.

To be clear, I've not been 100% focussed for 3 years. I've averaged about 1 hrs per week for 2 years but only got serious 6 months ago.

I have done perhaps 3-5 hours per week for 6 months now and can feel getting better.

my main opponent won some comps as a teenager, he plays almost as much as me and we are almost identical standard.

I find I can polish off simple reds blues and pinks etc but it's when big shots come around I fail.

Whatever happens, I am not giving up and I will hit a 50 one day. Just a matter of time :-)

Have you checked if there is a snooker coach in your area. After 3 years of making progress a coach could point out any faults in your play and work on a practice plan to forward your game quicker. Sounds like it might be difficult trying to learn from players at your club as like you said they are not playing a higher level game. Any serious players can usually make 50s pretty easy.

[Snookclops]

Ok I will aim to up it as far as I can but I doubt I'll make more than 20.

Surely it's not just about hrs per week? I'm not aiming on being incredible, just a good average player! Surely you accumulate skill you keep almost ad infinitum?

When I have had a little break from snooker, after say 4 or 5 hours I'm back to where I was.....wouldn't a player who has player 15hrs a week for 10 years be better than someone who's done 25 hrs a week 6 months?

I was a 16 handicap golfer. I don't play much now but after 2 range sessions and a putting sessions I shot 18 over after a year out. Yes, to get seriously good for a tournament I'd put big hours in (if I wasn't hooked on snooker I would!) but you can still be a fairly good golfer (within the boundaries of "people with careers etc") with a few, say 3 sessions a week.....

Is there a long term benefit from high hours? I.e does that kind of constant table time do something other than rack up hours faster? Surely you gain as much from 1 year at 12.5 hours a week as 6 months at 25....as long as you up it when you have some matches to get touch perfect then what's the difference? I thought your mind accumulates long term knowledge but also you need intense practice before matches?

Appreciate your help, just not sure if I can do 25.

[markz]

It's what you do in the practice time that is the key. You need to be constantly learning and making your practice worthwhile. If you just turn up and bit of solo, maybe get bored, have few frames with your mate then you are not going to improve a great deal. Good quote from a member on here "practice to improve not to waste time".

[vmax4steve]

It's what you do in the practice time that is the key. You need to be constantly learning and making your practice worthwhile. If you just turn up and bit of solo, maybe get bored, have few frames with your mate then you are not going to improve a great deal.

Sounds like me, find it hard to concentrate and get bored easily. I need my game to release itself from within me rather than find it myself, the harder I try the worse I get, I need to relax and switch off.
25 hours a week though, couldn't find the time or the motivation.

[markz]

Sounds like me, find it hard to concentrate and get bored easily. I need my game to release itself from within me rather than find it myself, the harder I try the worse I get, I need to relax and switch off.
25 hours a week though, couldn't find the time or the motivation.

I find the more I learn during practice the easier it is to play a good game because I've not got the worries of overthinking and trying hard so can relax. All the hard work been done practicing.

[barrywhite]

These 50 breakers were they on Star tables or club tables with big bags; them tables don't count. So anyway, 25 hours and someone with some talent should be hitting tons. 12hrs should equate to 50s. But a kid with real talent could be hitting tons after 12hrs a week for a few years. Depends on talent levels.

[Snookclops]

My solo practice is currently.

Pinks off spot. 10 goes, point a pot. High score 27. Target 35

Pinks straight with white following - point for pot, point for white potted. In 10 attempts high score 16/20. Target 18

21s. 3 attempts high score 26. Best in one go 18. Target 30.

Won't move on till I beat targets. These are from a book I bought.

I've only been doing this for 3 sessions. Before I just did line ups and across spots.

Next up is blacks off spot, semi long blues, and some safety routines.

I hope I am going the right way, thanks for your comments.