Hesitant cueing

[Colin50]

Hello I've been playing now for about 20 yrs with various degrees of minor success in fact 3 years ago I won the trophy for the highest ranked player in the league I play in. Suddenly, out of the blue, I seem to have developed the yips in my cue action and can't hit the ball. Has anyone else experienced this and how can I stop it thanks

[vmax4steve]

I have never experienced this but a team mate of mine is going through it at the moment and I know just how destroying it is to your game.
My friend cannot draw the cue back like he used to and now jabs at the cue ball from the front pause address position. Take the cue ball away and his cue action is fine, put it back and he jabs. It's a mental thing caused by one or more of the neural pathways in the brain, that developed when you started to play and became engrained through repetition, shutting down or being interupted by anxiety through conscious thought.

The advice I gave to my friend was that he used to look at the object ball when playing the shot, which is the correct way to play, but for some unknown reason he is now staring at the cue ball and can no longer see the shot, leading to anxiety and therefore this jabbing action. This is I believe is why his action is fine when the cue ball is no longer there, then he looks at the object ball like he used to.
He is currently experimenting in practise with closing his eyes at the final front pause and then playing the shot to remove this fixation on the cue ball, and though his potting is obviously a little off he is returning to his usual cue action.
Next step will be keeping his eyes open and consciously looking at the object ball when playing the shot. I have told him that the cue ball doesn't move until you strike it, so once the stance is taken and the tip put to the cue ball on the line of aim you no longer need to look at it, all concentration should be on the object ball only, then the subconscious takes over the playing of the shot while the conscious is only looking at the object ball.

Hope this helps.

[Colin50]

I'll give this a go, try anything at the moment. Thanks

[Terry Davidson]

colin:

The advice from vmax is sound and you should try practicing pots by closing the eyes so the cueball is no longer in the line of sight.

In addition, ensure your grip is staying loose until the time of strike and also that your backswing is long enough for the power you intend to use on the shot.

For the closed eye shot I've found putting the blue and spot and cueball on the yellow or green spot and then feathering normally and closing the eyes at the front pause works well. On use medium pace or less so the cueball only just reaches the top cushion and with the eyes closed place ALL your concentration on your grip hand. You will find you automatically stay still and you will sense exactly what the grip hand is doing

Terry