cuing problem

[15yellows]

hi

what is the best way to improve cuing ?

i noticed that sometimes i miss the pots way off the pocket ( 10 inches etc ), although most shots when missed "the distance would be only few inches.

i sometimes practice up and down, baulk line , using bottle etc

i also noticed on last backswing i cannot pull my cue very straight, unless i extreamly slow it down then i can notice that its not 100% straight ( while in practice, i then go deep to analyse this issue, and i feel that my chest is creating this issue maybe, tried raising my shoulder too" i am right handed player".

today i played about 50 long blues, and 90% of the time whenever i missed few shots, i always missed it to the left of the pocket ( i also noticed that when i pay attention to my chin to feel that the cue is always touching the same chin spot while backswing, then my potting or straight delivery improves. however my cue sometimes vibrates when pulling it back, although im just touching the chin, no pressure

today i also had 60 break and i missed the next red by miles

please share your thoughts, experience and love

thank you

[Terry Davidson]

You cannot improve until you develop a method to deliver the cue straight. 90% of problems in the delivery start with the backswing and as yours is crooked you will never stand a chance to deliver the cue straight.

The method I would coach you on is to slow the backswing down as much as you can, keep the grip very loose so on the backswing the cue sort of pushes the back 3 fingers out of the way and then in the delivery they do not grip the cue until AFTER you've struck the cueball.

I have always had the cue against my chin and chest which gives me 4-point contact with the cue and provides a channel for the cue to be guided by and I also try and keep my elbow up as high as I can which in turn pulls the cue against the chest, however this should never be too tight against the chest.

As you seem to be missing most of your shots to the left of the pocket then you must be putting unintentional left-hand side on the cueball, even though you may not see any of that when shooting the spots (don't know why this is, maybe because there is only 1 ball involved). I have discovered over years of practicing I was raising my right shoulder slightly on and at the end of the backswing and I believe it was to get more power and an unconscious act. I am in the process of eliminating that now (a little late I know) however I've seen my 10 long blue exercise improve from 25 attempts down to 13-15 which is decent for me these days.

Good luck

[15yellows]

Thank u terry
I am already raising my elbow to the highest and comfortable zone possible, very firm grip and I clos the hand after the impact of grip to the chest.

However you were right about one thing

When I play up and down from brown spot , the cueball rolls towards yellow which means I put right hand side.
When I play long blues I keep missing to the left of pocket. So I tried with a training cueball and it shows when I miss the blue to the left I put left hand side.

Now I am so confused how to fix this issue . I always knew I put right side when playing up and sow for feedback , but now I don't know why I put left side when potting balls ?

another thing that I been trying to fix is that the tip of the cue always finishes to the left of line of aim, even when I practice the baulk line its half tip to the left of line

Now in theory if the tip is to the left of line after the grip hits the chests , then it will put unintentionally left side. But when I play up and down for hours , days the cueball always comes towards yellow

Just to mention another thing that I always drop my shoulder that's how I am used to to give proper follow through ( like ronnie ) of course I am not comparing or doing this bcaz of him . It's just how I'm used to and k miss shots of don't get position if I force myself to play like Robertson

Please help me if you can

Thank you

[jonny66]

When your hand hits your chest it will naturally move to the right, this will move the tip to the left, don't worry about that. Keep your grip light and relaxed, not very firm, as you say you drop your elbow this will close the grip automatically, so don't move your hand at all as you push the cue through. This works for me, might not work for you but it's worth a try.

[vmax4steve]

Is your cue on the line of aim ? Check by addressing the yellow or green by cueing along the baulk line, put tip to the centre of the ball and then put the cue down so that it rests on the cushion. If it isn't bang on the baulk line then adjust your stance until it is and take note of your feet placement and take measures to always stand with feet in that position.

[Terry Davidson]

As is normal with most right-handed players you will end up putting UNINTENTIONAL left-hand side on most shots using a bit of power. As I mentioned before your fault is most likely in your backswing. Straighten that out and you will start cueing straighter.

DO NOT OVER-COMPLICATE THINGS AS THAT WILL LEAD TO DISASTER. In addition, if you keep trying out different things you will never settle into a defined set-up and technique. If you're making 60 breaks with your present technique then work with that and choose ONE thing to work on at a time and I recommend you loosen your grip (which should not be 'firm') and slow your backswing down to the point where you can keep it straight. Try vmax's exercise using the baulkline.

[15yellows]

Thank you guys and tnx terry

I will keep those things you mentioned in practice

However today I realised that whenever I get down into address position , when looking at the cueball my tip is not pointing dead in the centre , it's abit to the right of cue ball

How do I fix this?

I tried getting up but as soon as I get down I'm back to the same position. I tried to move my tip to the left to put it right in the centre but sometimes it feels that it forces out of line of aim. I am talking about 1-2 mm maybe but after concentrating and taking photos I realised that it's not dead centre

how to overcome this issue ?
Tnx

[Terry Davidson]

Thank you guys and tnx terry

I will keep those things you mentioned in practice

However today I realised that whenever I get down into address position , when looking at the cueball my tip is not pointing dead in the centre , it's abit to the right of cue ball

How do I fix this?

I tried getting up but as soon as I get down I'm back to the same position. I tried to move my tip to the left to put it right in the centre but sometimes it feels that it forces out of line of aim. I am talking about 1-2 mm maybe but after concentrating and taking photos I realised that it's not dead centre

how to overcome this issue ?
Tnx

This might be the easiest question to answer and the solution is obvious. But first I want you to consider all the billiard players who have come before you and have been able to find the centre of the cueball with no difficulty. This leaves you on your own as the only player out of millions who can't locate the centre of the cueball.

Here's the answer...where the cueball rests on the cloth is the centre of the cueball. When playing your long blues I hope you stop the cueball and therefore you are hitting the bottom of the cueball and hopefully in the centre. Does the tip/ferrule of your cue cover the bottom centre of the cueball when you are in the address position.

If you cannot find the centre-line of the cueball Nic Barrow (thesnookergym.com) has a practice cueball with a cross-hair on it and you can experiment with that. If you still have trouble finding the centre of the cueball, try golf instead.

[15yellows]

even with cross ball its hard, caz you have to set it up to practice. how can you set it up dead straight centre when you already cannot find the centre of the cueball

however, one thing else to mention. i dont wanna confuse myself about dominant eye but today i move my cue abit to the left of the chin, and my tip was almost in the centre and i could pot very good pots, however it feels so uncomfortable too

just wanted to know, should i stick with this even if it feels uncomfortable? any other players that have done this maybe becaz they had technique problem?

thank you

[15yellows]

Is your cue on the line of aim ? Check by addressing the yellow or green by cueing along the baulk line, put tip to the centre of the ball and then put the cue down so that it rests on the cushion. If it isn't bang on the baulk line then adjust your stance until it is and take note of your feet placement and take measures to always stand with feet in that position.

yeah i tried this
and i can tell you that my tip of the cue is on baulk line but the line is not right in the centre of the tip, my tip is 1mm to the right of line maybe ( 25% of the tip looks abit to the right of line, maybe thats why when i asked my friend to check if i am at the centre of cue ball, he always says, no your tip is abit to the right of the cueball

[15yellows]

This might be the easiest question to answer and the solution is obvious. But first I want you to consider all the billiard players who have come before you and have been able to find the centre of the cueball with no difficulty. This leaves you on your own as the only player out of millions who can't locate the centre of the cueball.

well i am not talking about huge amount
i am talking about quarter tip size

when i aim its really hard to say if its centre or off centre, but when i aim, if i ask my friend to watch where i am aiming, he says... less then half of the tip size is to the right of the cueball. and when i play up and down the cueball does not come back to brown spot 10 out of 10 . even when i play soft up and down the cueball goes abit to the right

you are correct its not a big deal to find the center. but to be very accurate you have to be dead centre

i have seen jimmy white, and i tried his method too..... he aims at the bottom of the ball even if he wants to play a follow shot ( its bcaz it helps him to find the centre of the ball. however i cannot aim like that. i aim at the centre of the cueball and then compare or get feedback from the bottom of the cueball while in front pause. this method has helped me to a degree but still struggling

thank you for reading and trying to help others but please dont suggest others what sports to choose

i love snooker and i love this forum
cheers

[vmax4steve]

yeah i tried this
and i can tell you that my tip of the cue is on baulk line but the line is not right in the centre of the tip, my tip is 1mm to the right of line maybe

Where's the butt of your cue ? is it exactly on the baulk line when you put it down, if not then adjust the popsition of your feet until it is.

As for using your dominant eye, all players use one eye over the other to sight down a line of aim from archery to rifle shooting to cue sports. It might look like a players cue is centre chin but the head is always turned a little to one side to favour one eye over the other, not neccessarilly the dominant eye, but one eye is chosen by the brain as the sighting eye.
It's a fact that two forward facing eyes give two images to the brain from which it composes a picture; but in order to place only one of the two cues that each eye transmits to the brain to the centre of the cue ball, it has to shut one down and the best way to do this is to place the cue closer to one eye than the other so that the ghost image from the other eye is out of the equation.

This position varies and comes down to when the ghost image doesn't interfere with the aiming process and the brain 'sees' one clear image of the cue that it can place accurately. With some it's right under one eye, with others it's just a little bit closer to one than the other.
This should be a subconscious act that you're unaware of, natural hand/eye co-ordination, and if your brain isn't doing this naturally and you're not cueing straight only as a consequence of this and no other factors, then you should consider forcing it to do so by deliberately placing your cue under one eye and finding a stance that's comfortable for you to do so.

Otherwise take up another sport.