Safety Practice

[Alex0paul]

Basically I have been losing a few matches recently due to poor safety play near the end of the frame so I was wondering what the best way to practice safety is? Is it just by playing through more and more matches or are their routines. I have heard billiards helps.

[wildJONESEYE]

Basically I have been losing a few matches recently due to poor safety play near the end of the frame so I was wondering what the best way to practice safety is? Is it just by playing through more and more matches or are their routines. I have heard billiards helps.

i think you can practice potting....you can even practice breaking the pack...

but i think experiance of a match situations and the problams a oponement gives you is the only way you can practice and get better at safeties.....

[MikeWooldridge]

billiards will help. but only if you play it properly...

[Stunrunthru]

The only way to practice safety is to play frames against players better than you and learn from it.

[Semih_Sayginer]

The only way to practice safety is to play frames against players better than you and learn from it.

ive watched Stephen Hendry practice safety shots by himself for a while during numerous practice sessions, so i wouldnt say its the only way

[Stunrunthru]

ive watched Stephen Hendry practice safety shots by himself for a while during numerous practice sessions, so i wouldnt say its the only way

Okay so I should have said the best way to practice safety is to play players better than yourself and learn from them.

I too have practiced safety against myself by spreading the colours around the table but I don't think it's as effective as playing someone else.

[Semih_Sayginer]

Okay so I should have said the best way to practice safety is to play players better than yourself and learn from them.

I too have practiced safety against myself by spreading the colours around the table but I don't think it's as effective as playing someone else.

ah, ok, so its what you IYHO is the best way, not the only way.

id say thats a good way, but not always best, so good advice for most

[wildJONESEYE]

ive watched Stephen Hendry practice safety shots by himself for a while during numerous practice sessions, so i wouldnt say its the only way

jesus Hendry practicing Safetys....Did you Video it ...it would fetch a fortune on E Bay that would lol

[miscuehamburg]

See this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-CGfg0j_W8. The first shot is obviously an attempt to escape a snooker with safety intention. If you make a fortune with it, let me know

Seriously, there are many routines to practise safety play. Ie place pink and black on their spots, start from Baulk area and try to get snookers on the pink. Also you can experiment with the respotted black (as I mentioned in another thread: http://www.thesnookerforum.com/board...ad.php?t=12180). The use of cushions is important here, as well as just to learn to roll the cue ball behind a colour (after a succesfull shot to nothing).

Hopefully our coaches here can give more advice?!

[poolqjunkie]

There are some standard safety shots that you can practise. Such as the Z (kind of a shot to nothing, to bring the cue ball along a Z path to go back to baulk), or the very thin clip of the red when it is close to the side cushion, to bring the cue ball back to baulk, the red stay down at the other end. The cock hat double is also very comkon, and it is important not to leave the red by the corner pocket. The thin clip of the red with lots of check, or running side. Youc an practies using side over a long distance for your safety, sometimes you need that to get out of trouble.

Also, you can put a red down by the bottm cushion, leave the white at the other end, and practise bring the red back to the side cushion going two rails. (the red hit the bottom cushion, go to the other bottom cushion, then bounce back and sit on the side cushion, without being too hard to stay in front of the middle pocket). I like to practise this shot because it is not as easy as it seems and lots of things can go wrong.

Another one is to leave the cue ball tight on the baulk cushion, and try to play a shot to nothing on the pink, to bring the white back to baulk.

Also, you can try to very thin cut a red that is frozen on the cushion, to bring the white ball back up table. Try to see how thin you can cut it. It is also a good idea to pratise this with the rest as well.

May be also the roll up--try to practise hitting it as soft as possible. How abuout trying to stun the green and hide the white behind the brown while breaking out the reds...

There are lots of shots you can practise. There are quite a lot of standard safety shots on the table.

[cueman]

What kind of safety shots are letting you down. You say you are losing a lot of frames near the end because of poor safety shots?

Being able to play safety is as much about executing the shot as it is identifying the correct shot to play. Fortunately I used to play with a guy who was a really good safety player and I learned so much from him that it makes you improve your safety, otherwise you never get a chance.

The difficulty with safety towards the end of a frame is, any mistake is usually more costly, perhaps you haven't been coping with the pressure? Also as there are less balls on the table to play safe behind so you have to be more accurate. Golden rule when playing safe, make sure the object ball is safe, if the white comes to land on a cushion or behind a ball its a bonus. If you can't guarantee getting the object ball safe, make sure there is distance between the cueball and object ball.