Taking your practice game to the match table

[GD73]

this has probably been covered before...

but just wondering how you take your practice game to the match table (million dollar question)

Is it an attitude/mindset...thing?

what does everyone else do?

calmness.. pres shot routine... focusing on one shot at a time etc...

[Cue crafty]

this has probably been covered before...

but just wondering how you take your practice game to the match table (million dollar question)

Is it an attitude/mindset...thing?

what does everyone else do?

calmness.. pres shot routine... focusing on one shot at a time etc...

Setting your own expectations is important in the subject and most people on here will probably agree that if you manage to take 75% of your practice game to the match you've done pretty well.

For me hearing that from a number of people helped me lower my expectation and take some of the pressure away we put on ourselves. Bear this in mind and apply all of the above and you give yourself a better shot at playing to the best of your ability.

[Byrom]

Setting your own expectations is important in the subject and most people on here will probably agree that if you manage to take 75% of your practice game to the match you've done pretty well.

For me hearing that from a number of people helped me lower my expectation and take some of the pressure away we put on ourselves. Bear this in mind and apply all of the above and you give yourself a better shot at playing to the best of your ability.

.

what he said...just play what's in front of you - it will come. Matches get bogged down with safety try and be patient if so. If you expect to make 50 plus if I get in and you run out of position it can tear you up - just play the right shots - its impossible to play to your expectations all the time - snooker is like a hot loose woman great when she is with you and you are on top and in the mood but you know she is never going to be with you every night you want her.

[Csmith]

Both great responses so far. I've tried to not just lower expectations, but eliminate them altogether. As Byrom suggests, you can only play what's in front of you so keeping potting the balls and trying for position. And if you miss either of those things, reassess and act accordingly. These days when I'm in my matches, I don't really care what standard I'm playing at, my only focus is on winning each frame. After the match I'll assess my performance and make adjustments where possible, but during a tournament I'll mostly just try to win with the tools I've brought with me.

Another thing about high expectations, I think players (myself included) can overinflate their expectations since they think "Well I make 50's all the time in practice", I should do that in competition as well. The difference is, in competition you only get a handful of good scoring opportunities whereas in practice, your opportunities are endless. If I make a 50+ for every 10 tries in practice, that's still only a 10% chance of getting a 50+ break. Plus, against good opponents you may not actually get those 10 chances. Heck, you may not get those chances against some weaker opponents, since they keep trying put the damn colours safe. All of this is to say, play the balls and just worry about the score.

[ghost121]

How do you take your practise game to the match table?

Easy.

You don't.

[jono*]

Easy... play crap in practice..

[tomwalker147]

A tip from me.... don't get annoyed and smash the reds open because your opponent turns down the opportunity to pot a baulk colour and instead snookers you behind the green.
I'd had a bad day at work and had no time for defensive rubbish!

[ace man]

I think that majority of time people will bring their practise game to a match table...provided that they play reasonable amount of frames.
If you get knocked out early from a tournament or a league, you can't really say that "you didn't bring your practise game". When you play a practise match, do you just play equivalent of just one round of tournament or equivalent of one league match and then head straight home? I doubt it.
Play exactly the same amount of frames (for this you need to survive long enough at tournament), count your average breaks, and then you'll see that your averages are nearly the same. Should you do well in the event, do not be surprised if you surpass your average practise game.

[tomwalker147]

I think that majority of time people will bring their practise game to a match table...provided that they play reasonable amount of frames.
If you get knocked out early from a tournament or a league, you can't really say that "you didn't bring your practise game". When you play a practise match, do you just play equivalent of just one round of tournament or equivalent of one league match and then head straight home? I doubt it.
Play exactly the same amount of frames (for this you need to survive long enough at tournament), count your average breaks, and then you'll see that your averages are nearly the same. Should you do well in the event, do not be surprised if you average a better game than your average practise game.

I used to break my practice into 'mini matches'... for instance Cov league is 2 frames so I'd play lots of matches of 2 frames against my practice partner. Really helped the concentration.
Terry Griffiths is a big advocate of keeping a snooker diary, to include information such as highest breaks, shots you played well, shots you didn't etc. If I could be bothered i'd probably do the same.

[ghost121]

Let me clarify, because I wasn't joking. Once you get past a certain standard, no one brings their practise game to the match table consistently. Not even Ronnie, although he comes the closest. I have seen pros practise and not miss a single ball for three hours, even after getting out of position. Practise snooker and match snooker may as well be different games. To put it simply, it is unrealistic to expect to play in a match to the same standard as you do in proper structured practise and do it consistently. Part of the time, yes, all of the time, no. If you are regularly playing the same in a match as you do in practise then your practise game is weak and needs raising. The key to improving is bringing a higher percentage of your proper, structured practise play to the match table and achieving that higher percentage level more consistently. But don't expect 100% parity because that will not happen, even if you are Ronnie.

[ace man]

Let me clarify, because I wasn't joking. Once you get past a certain standard, no one brings their practise game to the match table consistently. Not even Ronnie, although he comes the closest. I have seen pros practise and not miss a single ball for three hours, even after getting out of position. Practise snooker and match snooker may as well be different games. To put it simply, it is unrealistic to expect to play in a match to the same standard as you do in proper structured practise and do it consistently. Part of the time, yes, all of the time, no. If you are regularly playing the same in a match as you do in practise then your practise game is weak and needs raising. The key to improving is bringing a higher percentage of your proper, structured practise play to the match table and achieving that higher percentage level more consistently. But don't expect 100% parity because that will not happen, even if you are Ronnie.

I do agree that practise game and match game are two different things.
Yes, I do get higher high breaks in practise. Consistently. Doesn't mean I actually play better. Why? Because I might take on crazy recovery shot to keep the break going despite woeful positional play and sometimes those silly shots do go in. In a match, I might not do this, because shots like that have cost me a lot in the past.
For sure cue action is better in practise because there are hardly any nerves present.
When it comes to position play, I will leave myself tight on cushion a lot, relaxed cue action or not.
Also, my safety is usually better in a match than in a friendly game even though I try to play properly all the time.
If we only consider potting only, then yes, I'd say my practise potting is stronger than match potting.
But other parts of game, especially strategy and thinking...probably not.

[GD73]

i'd agrree with that..

i have been guilty of expecting the practice form to transfer to the match table..

so managing my expectations is a good place to start..

[GD73]

I used to break my practice into 'mini matches'... for instance Cov league is 2 frames so I'd play lots of matches of 2 frames against my practice partner. Really helped the concentration.
Terry Griffiths is a big advocate of keeping a snooker diary, to include information such as highest breaks, shots you played well, shots you didn't etc. If I could be bothered i'd probably do the same.

i like the idea of the diary..kinda makes sense..although the upkeep of it could be a pain.

i do tend to think and replay the match in my head. What was good / bad.. did i play the right shot at the right time..
how was i feeling/cueing at the time...

[GD73]

Let me clarify, because I wasn't joking. Once you get past a certain standard, no one brings their practise game to the match table consistently. Not even Ronnie, although he comes the closest. I have seen pros practise and not miss a single ball for three hours, even after getting out of position. Practise snooker and match snooker may as well be different games. To put it simply, it is unrealistic to expect to play in a match to the same standard as you do in proper structured practise and do it consistently. Part of the time, yes, all of the time, no. If you are regularly playing the same in a match as you do in practise then your practise game is weak and needs raising. The key to improving is bringing a higher percentage of your proper, structured practise play to the match table and achieving that higher percentage level more consistently. But don't expect 100% parity because that will not happen, even if you are Ronnie.

I do think i do structured practice. I always try and practice the shots that i miss or uncomfortable with. generally i only play for a couple of hours every session (maybe 4 sessions a week) - so normally i'll do 20 mins of long potting from the d, lineups, the cross exercise, 10-15mins with the rest. Intermediate distance shots form just behind the blue 6-8 feet stuff.. open the reds up see what i can score... clear the colours consistanly, 7 reds into the middle pockets.. blacks off the spot.. it could be better..but hopefully there is some structure to it... I think that possibly i do too much solo and not enough match practice, as i only really play competitively once a week..

[ghost121]

Sounds like you are doing all the right things. Be patient and realistic about your goals.