Goals/targets for the year

[Starsky]

Hi all,
At the beginning of last year I set myself a goal which was to improve my B game. To help achieve this I was going to spend lots of my solo time practicing positional play when around the pink and black. . I told myself only to judge this over the year and not short term.

This year my goal is to improve consistency by working on having a consistent cue action and not to chop and change when I’m playing crap . Since returning to the game this has been a major issue for me and one I know has held me back.

That’s my goals, do other members set similar goals and if so what are they ?

[tomwalker147]

Happy new year to you mate!
How hard is it not to change things when you're struggling! I can definitely relate to that, and to not having a B game. I seem to have had an A game or a D game with nothing in between.

I played a little bit more towards the end of last year and I also focused on positional play around the pink and black, really trying to only move the cue ball a few inches and keep cue ball control really tight.
I found that playing at DangerSteve's and then at his local Stratford club my positional play was just horrendous, quicker tables caused havoc with me positionally having been away from Star tables and other quick competition tables for too long so not having the cueball travelling miles has improved my game again.

My main goal this year is to simply play more and see where my level is at. I've entered a tournament this Sunday in Tamworth which has only 32 players and some real good runners so it'll be a good test and measure of where my game really is. At present i'm basically making 50+ breaks every other frame in competitive league matches but not doing any solo practice at all so the game is a little frail!

[Danger Steve]

Happy New Chaps!

Good to hear you’re back at it Tom 👍… just 50 breaks every other frame , sounds like your back to a decent level to me!

Obviously everyone likes to beat their highest break, so that’s one of my goals again this year, 98 in practice and 83 in a match are the scores to beat. I feel like a match century is lurking around the corner, I’ve certainly been close on occasion with several total clearances, I just need to work on developing breaks from an earlier stage in the frame when all the reds are still available.

Personally I feel like my cue action is about as good as it can be, just recently I’ve tried to loosen up a fraction so I don’t feel just as robotic on every shot… Long potting is becoming the weaker part of my game now, probably down to my eyes going, not sure? Either way that is definitely something I’ll be working on more this year! Winning a few more comps would be nice too

[tomwalker147]

Happy New Chaps!

Good to hear you’re back at it Tom 👍… just 50 breaks every other frame , sounds like your back to a decent level to me!

Obviously everyone likes to beat their highest break, so that’s one of my goals again this year, 98 in practice and 83 in a match are the scores to beat. I feel like a match century is lurking around the corner, I’ve certainly been close on occasion with several total clearances, I just need to work on developing breaks from an earlier stage in the frame when all the reds are still available.

Personally I feel like my cue action is about as good as it can be, just recently I’ve tried to loosen up a fraction so I don’t feel just as robotic on every shot… Long potting is becoming the weaker part of my game now, probably down to my eyes going, not sure? Either way that is definitely something I’ll be working on more this year! Winning a few more comps would be nice too

Cheers Steve and Happy new year to you!
Hinckley league this year has been very strange, it's a two frame league and my pattern is make a 50+ in the first frame and lose the second without making 16
Steve your game is very solid, when we played together it was obvious your cue action was solid and consistent, i'm sure the big breaks will come in matches and good to see you made the final of the christmas comp at Stratford, well played mate

[Danger Steve]

Cheers Steve and Happy new year to you!
Hinckley league this year has been very strange, it's a two frame league and my pattern is make a 50+ in the first frame and lose the second without making 16
Steve your game is very solid, when we played together it was obvious your cue action was solid and consistent, i'm sure the big breaks will come in matches and good to see you made the final of the christmas comp at Stratford, well played mate

Weird how all the leagues seem different? We only play the one frame! Maybe you should join our league 🤣. In ours if you win 2 matches in a row they drop your handicap 2 points? Is that the same for you? I started on 26 🤨 and now Im on 18 😱. Probably closer to reality in truth…

Thanks! I actually played well on the day, some 30 breaks and a 54 in another! Not bad for 1 frame matches!

Playing in the league has definitely helped me with my ‘being watched’ phobia! It’s hasn’t totally gone, but I can concentrate a bit more now on my game and block out the spectators!

[Cue crafty]

Hi all,
At the beginning of last year I set myself a goal which was to improve my B game. To help achieve this I was going to spend lots of my solo time practicing positional play when around the pink and black. . I told myself only to judge this over the year and not short term.

This year my goal is to improve consistency by working on having a consistent cue action and not to chop and change when I’m playing crap . Since returning to the game this has been a major issue for me and one I know has held me back.

That’s my goals, do other members set similar goals and if so what are they ?

Great goals Starsky! I really like the way you go about trying to progress your game mate, keeping it simple but ultimately knowing these seemingly small targets will lead to the bigger things we all want anyway, i.e. winning more and making higher breaks! It's very clever as you don't look directly at the obvious things you want but work towards them anyway by stealth. 👏👏

Might sound odd but I want to aim to play possibly slightly less than I have done this year as I've found because I love the game I will take every opportunity I get to play but feel this isn't always beneficial to my form. I actually found I was getting a little bored because again my expectation levels get higher which for me results often in getting frustrated. So I want that feeling of being really keen to play and just excited about the opportunities that I face.

We've got a high breaks board on the WhatsApp group with categories 50+ 75+ 100+ I'm proud to be in the 75+ club this year but have made a lot of 50+ breaks that I feel a few more should have crept into the 60s. I won't be thinking numbers though but taking a leaf from your book and concentrating more on my touch and cueing to get better results. 😉👍

[itsnoteasy]

My goals are to get some specs so I can see the balls, then blame the specs for not potting the balls.

[Cue crafty]

My goals are to get some specs so I can see the balls, then blame the specs for not potting the balls.

I'm starting to think this way too! My eyes are definitely worse and once I'm down on a long shot it's a bit of a blur tbh! 🙄

[Starsky]

Happy new year to you mate!
How hard is it not to change things when you're struggling! I can definitely relate to that, and to not having a B game. I seem to have had an A game or a D game with nothing in between.

I played a little bit more towards the end of last year and I also focused on positional play around the pink and black, really trying to only move the cue ball a few inches and keep cue ball control really tight.
I found that playing at DangerSteve's and then at his local Stratford club my positional play was just horrendous, quicker tables caused havoc with me positionally having been away from Star tables and other quick competition tables for too long so not having the cueball travelling miles has improved my game again.

My main goal this year is to simply play more and see where my level is at. I've entered a tournament this Sunday in Tamworth which has only 32 players and some real good runners so it'll be a good test and measure of where my game really is. At present i'm basically making 50+ breaks every other frame in competitive league matches but not doing any solo practice at all so the game is a little frail!

HNY to you as well Tom, nice to see you back on here.

Steve’s table is super fast and it took me all day to get used to it when I visited . Good job I was there for two days although I was hungover on the second day after we went out the night before. 😖

Sounds like your consistency has improved , well done 👍.
I’ve started playing in a league this season for the first time in over 30 years . I’m really enjoying it especially the food bit .

Good luck in your comp on Sunday mate 🤞

[Starsky]

Happy New Chaps!

Good to hear you’re back at it Tom 👍… just 50 breaks every other frame , sounds like your back to a decent level to me!

Obviously everyone likes to beat their highest break, so that’s one of my goals again this year, 98 in practice and 83 in a match are the scores to beat. I feel like a match century is lurking around the corner, I’ve certainly been close on occasion with several total clearances, I just need to work on developing breaks from an earlier stage in the frame when all the reds are still available.

Personally I feel like my cue action is about as good as it can be, just recently I’ve tried to loosen up a fraction so I don’t feel just as robotic on every shot… Long potting is becoming the weaker part of my game now, probably down to my eyes going, not sure? Either way that is definitely something I’ll be working on more this year! Winning a few more comps would be nice too

HNY Steve.

Your technique is spot on Steve and is a real good cornerstone to work from . Nothing wrong with robotic , just ask Neil Robertson who has arguably the best technique out there .

If you’re still able to hit those fine nicks back to safety without consistently missing the ball and the balls don’t have fuzzy outlines then it’s probably not your eyesight .

Good luck in your in your goals for the year 👍

[Starsky]

Great goals Starsky! I really like the way you go about trying to progress your game mate, keeping it simple but ultimately knowing these seemingly small targets will lead to the bigger things we all want anyway, i.e. winning more and making higher breaks! It's very clever as you don't look directly at the obvious things you want but work towards them anyway by stealth. 👏👏

Might sound odd but I want to aim to play possibly slightly less than I have done this year as I've found because I love the game I will take every opportunity I get to play but feel this isn't always beneficial to my form. I actually found I was getting a little bored because again my expectation levels get higher which for me results often in getting frustrated. So I want that feeling of being really keen to play and just excited about the opportunities that I face.

We've got a high breaks board on the WhatsApp group with categories 50+ 75+ 100+ I'm proud to be in the 75+ club this year but have made a lot of 50+ breaks that I feel a few more should have crept into the 60s. I won't be thinking numbers though but taking a leaf from your book and concentrating more on my touch and cueing to get better results. 😉👍

Thanks CC.

Sounds like you’re playing well mate . Those creeps to 60’s will creep to 70’s and so on with a bit of practice as you know .

Good luck with your goals and hopefully catch up again soon 👍

[Cue crafty]

Thanks CC.

Sounds like you’re playing well mate . Those creeps to 60’s will creep to 70’s and so on with a bit of practice as you know .

Good luck with your goals and hopefully catch up again soon 👍

I think I realised another slight issue in the amount I play, it's not about quantity in amount of times you get out and play it's more about the quality of the window you have to play. By that I mean a guilt free window of at least 3 hours, because unless you are doing solo (where 2 hrs in fine) you get into that scenario of trying to get those last few frames in quick and also if you haven't had a good session to that point you start chasing a last minute break or something to salvage something from the session. So another goal will be to plan better to get more lengthy sessions in with no clock watching!

[Starsky]

I think I realised another slight issue in the amount I play, it's not about quantity in amount of times you get out and play it's more about the quality of the window you have to play. By that I mean a guilt free window of at least 3 hours, because unless you are doing solo (where 2 hrs in fine) you get into that scenario of trying to get those last few frames in quick and also if you haven't had a good session to that point you start chasing a last minute break or something to salvage something from the session. So another goal will be to plan better to get more lengthy sessions in with no clock watching!

Can’t argue with that mate .
I don’t play solo unless I get a minimum 2 hours table time . With matches it’s 3 hours like you . If neither of those criteria are met I don’t even bother leaving the house tbh.

You’ve basically got too much time on your hands . You
need to go back to full time employment to become a better player 😉

[Cue crafty]

Can’t argue with that mate .
I don’t play solo unless I get a minimum 2 hours table time . With matches it’s 3 hours like you . If neither of those criteria are met I don’t even bother leaving the house tbh.

You’ve basically got too much time on your hands . You
need to go back to full time employment to become a better player 😉

Lolz , with me it's all dad's taxi gaps in between drop offs and pick ups! That's where I need to learn to not go for the tight gap in between! But it's sooo tempting!! Anyway I've been full time but my contract ends on 17th Jan so more time to plan the quality sessions yay!

[WaynieD]

Small goals for me this year.

Hit a break in a game between 40 - 50.

Colour clearances with the cue ball under constrol.

Get the long pots to somewhere between 55 & 60% average.

Perhaps go and get an eye test, only 10 years overdue!