A clip of myself

[pottr]

http://youtu.be/HlzDaifaAjE

As I am confused by the constant barrage of members asking for advice about every single aspect of their technique, I figured I'd post a clip of myself knocking some balls in.

The video is the only one I have of myself playing and was taken about three weeks ago. My phone ran out of video memory before the end of the clearance.

Feel free to rip my technique to pieces.

Apologies for the abundance of Ass-Crack!

Jack

P.S I wonder if Manny101 or Chappers can spot the venue...?

[nrage]

Very interesting, thanks.

There are some very minor things one could say about your cue action, for example:
1. You're slightly backward of vertical at address
2. You do have an elbow drop on back swing, but none on delivery (that I could see, but most shots were played with low power)
3. Your elbow hangs slightly outside of vertical (I think, hard to tell as there were no straight on/behind shots)
4. On delivery, you have some body movement
5. On delivery the cue arm "pumps" up as it comes forward. (this causes #4 I think)

But, in spite of all this you have no trouble potting balls and your white ball control is excellent so we can assume you're bringing the cue through straight with control, which is, after all, the key requirement. It's a good example to those of us who focus too much on these minor details, that in fact they're not that important.

From a pure mechanics/technique perspective...

I think the fact that you're backward of vertical, may mean you don't need an elbow drop (or much of one) to get as far through the ball. Being backward of vertical gives you more space between address and chest, therefore more cue to go through the ball.

The elbow hanging outside of vertical, if you actually do, is a non issue as Hendry is/was the same, as long as the cue comes through straight it doesn't matter at all.

The body movement is probably a "bad" thing, but it doesn't seem to be having much of an effect on you, so *shrug*.

[hotpot]

I dont think the line up can tell you everything about a persons technique , cue action etc but very little about ones cue ball control and touch , i,ve seen what i thought a very good sound player looking good on the line up and look completely lost in a normal game where more accurate position is required where you cant just focus on the pot .

[pottr]

The elbow drop thing has always been something that confuses me when I hear it discussed.

I'm certain I have as much cuepower as is humainly possible. I can screw the whiteball from baulk, back to baulk after hitting a ball on the black spot with a fair amount of accuracy. I honestly couldn't see how any conscious tweak could improve my cuepower.

I very rarely have to hit the ball hard. I find it's only when I play at a cold venue or on a poorly maintained table I struggle to keep the white on it's leash.

Could the movement be caused by my rotundness? If so I'm probably buggered to resolving it. Had a series of serious knee operations over the last three years which prevents me from playing at times.

Thanks for the comments though. Always keen to study up on snooker.

[nrage]

The elbow drop thing has always been something that confuses me when I hear it discussed.

I'm certain I have as much cuepower as is humainly possible. I can screw the whiteball from baulk, back to baulk after hitting a ball on the black spot with a fair amount of accuracy. I honestly couldn't see how any conscious tweak could improve my cuepower.

From the sound of it, you're probably right. If you want to see if you have elbow drop on delivery you could set up the camera behind you and play a screw from baulk to baulk as you describe above, if there is any elbow drop in your action, you will see it then.

[pottr]

I dont think the line up can tell you everything about a persons technique , cue action etc but very little about ones cue ball control and touch , i,ve seen what i thought a very good sound player looking good on the line up and look completely lost in a normal game where more accurate position is required where you cant just focus on the pot .

No arguments here pal. Seen it many times.

[pottr]

From the sound of it, you're probably right. If you want to see if you have elbow drop on delivery you could set up the camera behind you and play a screw from baulk to baulk as you describe above, if there is any elbow drop in your action, you will see it then.

I might do if I remember to. Have to be honest, if I didn't have that clip on my phone already I certainly wouldn't have been out in a hurry to record myself. Just figured, when in Rome.
I don't believe that comments can translate from the page into improvement. I'd imagine you need a coach present to pick up on any collateral damage from even minor alterations. Changing one aspect for the positive could have a negative effect for another?

[hotpot]

I dont think the line up can tell you everything about a persons technique , cue action etc but very little about ones cue ball control and touch , i,ve seen what i thought a very good sound player looking good on the line up and look completely lost in a normal game where more accurate position is required where you cant just focus on the pot .

[nrage]

I might do if I remember to. Have to be honest, if I didn't have that clip on my phone already I certainly wouldn't have been out in a hurry to record myself. Just figured, when in Rome.

It would only be a matter of interest. I would not be worried about it, given the results you can achieve.

I don't believe that comments can translate from the page into improvement. I'd imagine you need a coach present to pick up on any collateral damage from even minor alterations. Changing one aspect for the positive could have a negative effect for another?

True, most things end up being a compromise between two or more things. If you were to decide to get really serious about improving, given your current level of ability, I'd be looking for a very good coach, or trying several to find one which "fits" you best.

[pottr]

The only goal I have is to crack the maximum before I stop playing.

[nrage]

The only goal I have is to crack the maximum before I stop playing.

A good goal to aim for

On the face of it, all you need to do is pot 36 balls in a row, making good position each time but the last. So.. how often can you manage 36 easy pots in a row without missing? now what about throwing in some medium difficulty pots, say 5-10, and then at least 1 maybe 2 harder pots? Now, pile a whole load of match pressure on that, and last but not least the pressure of approaching a maximum.

Here's an idea. Set up an easy pot, decide on a target position and play it. If you make position, set up the easy pot again, and decide on a new position, and play it. Continue until you miss the pot, or position. If you miss the pot, game over, start again. If you miss position, set up a medium or hard pot (to continue your break) and again decide on position. If you make position this time, revert to the easy pot, if not, pick a medium or hard pot again, and so on and so forth until you make 36 pots in a row.

It's a rough approximation, and likely easier than a real maximum as you don't have to make canons to develop balls, split the pack, cue over balls, cue from odd places/angles on the table, etc but it's perhaps a decent guideline and easy to set up and practice without too much effort.

[pottr]

I've made plenty of maximums on the lineout and 10+ on set splits but personally, I don't count any breaks like that as legitimate scores. Completely agree, when you miss on a routine, you've failed and should set it up again.

I was once knocked by a glass collecting barmaid on 97 with the balls begging and I've missed a double on the last red before.

I imagine the problem I have is practice time. I play thrice a week. Two frames on a Monday (no practice time) and one on a Thursday (half hour solo before) and I have 2/3 frames max with my Dad on a Saturday afternoon.
Finding the time is hard with my two young children.

I have no doubt I'll have more partnered practice when my own snooker room extenstion is complete. Taking an age though, Roof plates go on next week before the trusses arrive.

I should knock one in eventually, I just need to increase the frequency of practising with my mates.

[Saint Michael]

A clip of myself

Very interesting, thanks.

There are some very minor things one could say about your cue action, for example:
1. You're slightly backward of vertical at address
2. You do have an elbow drop on back swing, but none on delivery (that I could see, but most shots were played with low power)
3. Your elbow hangs slightly outside of vertical (I think, hard to tell as there were no straight on/behind shots)
4. On delivery, you have some body movement
5. On delivery the cue arm "pumps" up as it comes forward. (this causes #4 I think)

But, in spite of all this you have no trouble potting balls and your white ball control is excellent so we can assume you're bringing the cue through straight with control, which is, after all, the key requirement. It's a good example to those of us who focus too much on these minor details, that in fact they're not that important.

From a pure mechanics/technique perspective...

I think the fact that you're backward of vertical, may mean you don't need an elbow drop (or much of one) to get as far through the ball. Being backward of vertical gives you more space between address and chest, therefore more cue to go through the ball.

The elbow hanging outside of vertical, if you actually do, is a non issue as Hendry is/was the same, as long as the cue comes through straight it doesn't matter at all.

The body movement is probably a "bad" thing, but it doesn't seem to be having much of an effect on you, so *shrug*.

Re above. This fella knows what he's on about. The only thing I can point out what's any different is your amount of back swings before you strike the cue ball. Sometimes one, two, three or four. If you get used to flowing the same back swings the less chance you will lose the cue ball. Like you did when you went for the first pink cut which just dropped. You lost the cue ball due to a little snatch. Just stroke it more. Oh and I did laugh at your @rse crack. You could park a bike in there. Lol. Other than that. You can pot.

Michael

[pottr]

The only thing I can point out what's any different is your amount of back swings before you strike the cue ball. Sometimes one, two, three or four

Can you give me a timestamp for when it's different? Apart from the long green when my dad interrupts me with nonsense talk. I just watched the clip and it seems the same for every shot? Down, couple of waggles, slow back, through.

I have to admit, I'm not consciously setting myself to that timing, it just feels comfortable.

The mistake for the pink was on the red before it, overscrewed it. Dropped the pink dead weight and if I remember rightly thought I'd be on the other side of the blue. Could have played it a touch firmer, quick table though and assumed dead weight would be correct.

I definitely need another notch in my belt to keep my jeans up.

[Saint Michael]

A clip of myself

I'll look again later as I'm out for evening. I just remember on the pink. You could have held it by stroking through and not stabbing at it and snatch back. You were stroking it well and going thought the ball well before that shot. An amount of bottom plus stroke would have held you easy. Hope this helps.