high breaks etc

[Snookclops]

Ps aiming is a constant bother. Did point on ob for ages but find using a combination of ghost when above the shot, getting bob on way down is working. finding recently that some pots I can just see and I don't even look really, I can just see the angle.

I have considered just setting up low and high half ball blacks and pinks exactly and just hitting 100s of each, rather than blacks off spots.

[markz]

Have you looked in to finding a coach? Someone to check your game out and help you improve.

[inevermissblue]

All this talk of practise practise practise is nonsense! Especially for someone new to the game.
If you really want to learn the game I suggest you spend a bit of time playing pool. Get to know your way around the table. Leave snooker alone until you have a decent cue action and knowledge of position at pool.
Then you can tackle the snooker table.
To approach the snooker table with not much of a technique or knowhow around the table, coupled with countless hours per day, week, month will only cause more problems! What you will be doing is reinforcing bad habits and not really getting anywhere.
Even competent players who swear by countless hours on the table make me laugh. As its a pointless exercise! If you can't bring your game to the table, then yes. You will feel inadequate without your routinely slog on the practise table. I'm not trying to be funny or anything but I know that I can confidently neglect the practise table and still turn up and perform in a resumptive manner!

[Snookclops]

Just got in touch with frank Adamson at my local and Booked in new year.

[markz]

All this talk of practise practise practise is nonsense! Especially for someone new to the game.
If you really want to learn the game I suggest you spend a bit of time playing pool. Get to know your way around the table. Leave snooker alone until you have a decent cue action and knowledge of position at pool.
Then you can tackle the snooker table.
To approach the snooker table with not much of a technique or knowhow around the table, coupled with countless hours per day, week, month will only cause more problems! What you will be doing is reinforcing bad habits and not really getting anywhere.
Even competent players who swear by countless hours on the table make me laugh. As its a pointless exercise! If you can't bring your game to the table, then yes. You will feel inadequate without your routinely slog on the practise table. I'm not trying to be funny or anything but I know that I can confidently neglect the practise table and still turn up and perform in a resumptive manner!

I think it's all down to the individual, some players just get the game pretty quick and there are other players that will always struggle. It's like learning anything, you don't have much idea unless you practice and start understanding what you have to do. Without the right basics the game can seem impossible, I've not had coaching but I'd say paying for a few sessions would be a good idea for a beginner. Not sure about starting with pool as you can still pick up bad habits in your technique, I've not seen many pool players with technique that would switch over to snooker easily. Biggest problem with snooker is everyone got their own opinions and we all think we are right lol.

[markz]

Just got in touch with frank Adamson at my local and Booked in new year.

That's great mate. I saw a few videos of a coach doing an assessment on a group of players to help them, have a look, it might help but if not it's still interesting.

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...NBRzl37imqIuDv

[alabadi]

Solo practice isn't about spending endless hours bashing balls around with no purpose . You can spend endless hours doing routines but if you have no goal you can't possibly know if you are progressing.

Yes you might end up potting more balls but in terms of making breaks in a match it won't make you a 30-40-50+ breaker.

Your routines need to be structured. You need to set goals and monitor progress. Divide your practice into categories. I.e , cueball control, potting and safety.

Then select a few routines per category ( you will find plenty on the Internet ) and then practice each routine and monitor your progress.

This is all suggesting you have all the basics needed , ( stance , bridge, grip...etc) oh and a straight cueing action (the most important of them all)

You can see all this could mount up to many hours. So you would split your practice either 3-5 hours on one category per day or 1-2 hours each category per day.

It would probably take 100s of hours each to get to a position where you are good enough to make a 50 break in a match.

Good luck, practice hard and hope we hear from you in the future you have made a 50 break something I'm hoping to do before the end of 2016 (48 highest so far)

[Snookclops]

Solo practice isn't about spending endless hours bashing balls around with no purpose . You can spend endless hours doing routines but if you have no goal you can't possibly know if you are progressing.

Yes you might end up potting more balls but in terms of making breaks in a match it won't make you a 30-40-50+ breaker.

Your routines need to be structured. You need to set goals and monitor progress. Divide your practice into categories. I.e , cueball control, potting and safety.

Then select a few routines per category ( you will find plenty on the Internet ) and then practice each routine and monitor your progress.

This is all suggesting you have all the basics needed , ( stance , bridge, grip...etc) oh and a straight cueing action (the most important of them all)

You can see all this could mount up to many hours. So you would split your practice either 3-5 hours on one category per day or 1-2 hours each category per day.

It would probably take 100s of hours each to get to a position where you are good enough to make a 50 break in a match.

Good luck, practice hard and hope we hear from you in the future you have made a 50 break something I'm hoping to do before the end of 2016 (48 highest so far)

I know its a challenge. I would rate a 50 in a practice frame a success.

I've found that my high break isn't rapidly rising but my frequency of making breaks is improving. Got a coach now and I will hammer it next year.

God job on 48, so close. My milestone is 30 and I was 1 pink off 32 and I overcut the ******* north of the middle pocket. :-(

I do have a feeling if I could just improve a little it would all start to come together. I'm ending breaks missing by fractions....but you're absolutely right, even slight improvement takes hours. I'll get there though!

[barrywhite]

All this talk of practise practise practise is nonsense! Especially for someone new to the game.
If you really want to learn the game I suggest you spend a bit of time playing pool. Get to know your way around the table. Leave snooker alone until you have a decent cue action and knowledge of position at pool.
Then you can tackle the snooker table.
To approach the snooker table with not much of a technique or knowhow around the table, coupled with countless hours per day, week, month will only cause more problems! What you will be doing is reinforcing bad habits and not really getting anywhere.
Even competent players who swear by countless hours on the table make me laugh. As its a pointless exercise! If you can't bring your game to the table, then yes. You will feel inadequate without your routinely slog on the practise table. I'm not trying to be funny or anything but I know that I can confidently neglect the practise table and still turn up and perform in a resumptive manner!

It's a good job little Trump didn't believe that, otherwise it may have been no crate and no career. Pool ruins snooker technique but snooker improves pool play. So says my mate, a former England player. If you want to play pool well, learn snooker as a first priority, it will make you more accurate on the kiddy's table.

See a coach to make sure you don't have bad habits that need correcting kids.

And....................................Smile and have fun, laugh at it all. Smile every few shots you play. No reason is necessary, simply smile. That's right, smile every few shots you take, especially if they go down. And if you miss a pot, smile and even have a little laugh, then smile again.

Try it!

[tedisbill]

And....................................Smile and have fun, laugh at it all. Smile every few shots you play. No reason is necessary, simply smile. That's right, smile every few shots you take, especially if they go down. And if you miss a pot, smile and even have a little laugh, then smile again.

Try it!

What are you on about? Why do I need to look mental while I'm playing?

[inevermissblue]

I think it's all down to the individual, some players just get the game pretty quick and there are other players that will always struggle. It's like learning anything, you don't have much idea unless you practice and start understanding what you have to do. Without the right basics the game can seem impossible, I've not had coaching but I'd say paying for a few sessions would be a good idea for a beginner. Not sure about starting with pool as you can still pick up bad habits in your technique, I've not seen many pool players with technique that would switch over to snooker easily. Biggest problem with snooker is everyone got their own opinions and we all think we are right lol.

The majority of snooker players started out playing pool. This is my point. I've seen so many players who can pot a good ball or two but don't have any idea of position. Seems pretty pointless to me. Because without being shown what to do they will be lost.
This is why playing pool would help them more. Sure, its easier to pot balls. However its a different thing altogether to make clearances. This they would learn a lot faster at pool.
I play pool now as a break from snooker and yes its true that my technique holds up to almost any shot at all on the pool table, but this is because I have honed my technique at snooker.
Its far easier to halt your general progress by just jumping straight into snooker.
Unless you are an aspiring pro playing 7 days a week and nothing else, it won't help the average beginner to play just snooker. If I hadn't started off playing pool first, I wouldn't be playing snooker now. That is a fact.

[Snookclops]

The majority of snooker players started out playing pool. This is my point. I've seen so many players who can pot a good ball or two but don't have any idea of position. Seems pretty pointless to me. Because without being shown what to do they will be lost.
This is why playing pool would help them more. Sure, its easier to pot balls. However its a different thing altogether to make clearances. This they would learn a lot faster at pool.
I play pool now as a break from snooker and yes its true that my technique holds up to almost any shot at all on the pool table, but this is because I have honed my technique at snooker.
Its far easier to halt your general progress by just jumping straight into snooker.
Unless you are an aspiring pro playing 7 days a week and nothing else, it won't help the average beginner to play just snooker. If I hadn't started off playing pool first, I wouldn't be playing snooker now. That is a fact.

I am the opposite. My control of white is pretty good. I have a good understanding of where plain ball, stun screw and follow go. I'm familiar with +/- 4. Know the routes from baulk well. Understand nap and can see the natural in offs, etc.

I am not yet good enough to play for 2 shots ahead though....

My breaks end with a missed pot, rather than running too awry- often a missed 1/2 ball , or black rattling the jaws....

I don't consider myself talented but I've studied and read everything I possibly could to understand the physics.....I struggle hitting angled pots consistently.

[Leo]

The majority of snooker players started out playing pool. This is my point. I've seen so many players who can pot a good ball or two but don't have any idea of position. Seems pretty pointless to me. Because without being shown what to do they will be lost.
This is why playing pool would help them more. Sure, its easier to pot balls. However its a different thing altogether to make clearances. This they would learn a lot faster at pool.
I play pool now as a break from snooker and yes its true that my technique holds up to almost any shot at all on the pool table, but this is because I have honed my technique at snooker.
Its far easier to halt your general progress by just jumping straight into snooker.
Unless you are an aspiring pro playing 7 days a week and nothing else, it won't help the average beginner to play just snooker. If I hadn't started off playing pool first, I wouldn't be playing snooker now. That is a fact.

Don't think you can argue with this, I started with pool but also know players who jumped straight on a snooker table. The only argument you could give is how much different is someone learning their cue action, angles & potting on a snooker table different to pool, either way you'll almost be doing exactly the same. Different game in terms of difficulty but much the same in techniques

[markz]

The majority of snooker players started out playing pool. This is my point. I've seen so many players who can pot a good ball or two but don't have any idea of position. Seems pretty pointless to me. Because without being shown what to do they will be lost.
This is why playing pool would help them more. Sure, its easier to pot balls. However its a different thing altogether to make clearances. This they would learn a lot faster at pool.
I play pool now as a break from snooker and yes its true that my technique holds up to almost any shot at all on the pool table, but this is because I have honed my technique at snooker.
Its far easier to halt your general progress by just jumping straight into snooker.
Unless you are an aspiring pro playing 7 days a week and nothing else, it won't help the average beginner to play just snooker. If I hadn't started off playing pool first, I wouldn't be playing snooker now. That is a fact.

I agree with everything you say. As a kid I couldn't play snooker at my club so played pool from 14-16. Again it came pretty natural and had decent technique and ability to see angles. When I became 16 I stopped playing pool and moved to snooker and played till I was 18. Over this time I was watching snooker on tv, buying books and just playing frames with my dad. Got to a best break of 75, then one night I played a crap shot so snapped my cue and gave up for 20 years.

I'd just say everyone is different because even pool being a much easier game you still need to focus on learning. Too many players pot a few and think they are great. If you not got the right attitude to learning you will never do as well as someone who does. I've seen many players including league players playing pool that just could never move to snooker. I'd say the coaching route would be more beneficial than the pool route to a beginner.

Even after not picking a cue up for 20 years, I knocked in a 50 after 2 weeks. Like you said once you hone decent basics it never leaves you. Been back playing 4 years and this year I made my highest break at the age of 42. I just focus on what I can do to improve, stay positive and don't worry about things that just confuse the game, it's a pretty simple game if you can do that.

[ace man]

Original question was about why we don't see many 50s from 50 breakers. Well, that's easy. They only come once in a blue moon for such a player.

About whether playing pool prior to tackling snooker helps. You could write a book on that subject. I don't know anything about UK version, but have played a lot of US variants, many sub disciplines. There are lots of pros and cons. I'll leave it at that.