The Les Edwards Snooker Challenge Thread

[GeordieDS]

Come on Les get off the golf course and back on to the baize!!

Edit: How can this be post #2024 but the previous one #1970 ???

[GeordieDS]

And now my post has disappeared, what's going on?

[Big Splash!]

And now my post has disappeared, what's going on?

Mods mate. They post into closed threads as well. Bizarre.

[DeanH]

Nothing to do with Mods
This appears to be one of those "older" threads that wont display new posts for some reason known only to itself, and then start showing the new posts after sometime.
Earlier today I could not see past #1970 and now I can see the latest.
weird

[markz]

Mods mate. They post into closed threads as well. Bizarre.

Stop being paranoid splasher, they are not out to get you. I don't think so anyway lol

[Big Splash!]

Stop being paranoid splasher, they are not out to get you. I don't think so anyway lol

haha, love ya yam-yam.

So how come ADR posted into the 'Etiquette' thread yesterday, a thread that was closed down 3 days ago? And why did they lock it in the first place without explanation to members? Don't tell me the computer did it. Rules for them, rules for us mate.

Maybe Deano can explain that one away.

Deano?!

[GeordieDS]

haha, love ya yam-yam.

So how come ADR posted into the 'Etiquette' thread yesterday, a thread that was closed down 3 days ago? And why did they lock it in the first place without explanation to members? Don't tell me the computer did it. Rules for them, rules for us mate.

Maybe Deano can explain that one away.

Deano?!

Do you think it's poor etiquette to close a thread and then post in it?

[Csmith]

Boy was that a joke when I look back at my post. Its been a while since I have posted anything on here for one reason no one wants to hear me complain about this frustrating game. But here I go. I keep going over n over Teds routines but nothing seems to change. I organized a big round robin tournament last weekend where we ended up with 64 players. Eight groups of eight. I won five games of my fourteen games against the best players in my group who can all run big breaks. My high break of the complete weekend was 19. They all told me for a guy that cannot run any balls you sure are hard to beat. I leave them in positions they have no idea what to do. As Cliff says force them to make mistakes....LOL Got that down pat but then comes the art of break building. I am starting to think the only way this will get better is by playing piles of games against other players but living where I live that isn't going to happen. My last game before last weekend was two months ago. I was playing better two years ago when my oldest son lived with us and we had a 2/3 every night. Anyone have any suggestions? I asked TD this and he really did not have an answer other then the lineup. I find the line up a little bit on the fake side as I can run five reds and five colours but spread five reds around the table and I would be lucky to make two with colours.

I hope the last few months have seen an improvement for you. To share some of my experience, when I've been struggling I find that I do the drills well enough, but when I transition to a proper game or a practice game it's a struggle. Part of it is I've played those routines so many times, it's automatic. My set up, cue ball, everything doesn't require much thought. Transitioning to a practice frame or practice match results in me overthinking things. It's not till I can get that nonsense out of my head and play naturally that I can play well in both scenarios.

I also find that as part of trying too hard, tension creeps in a bit more which ruins the stroke. Further, although I don't jump up necessarily, I might flinch a bit (or a lot) which again ruins the stroke. Working to eliminating these things has helped a lot, and when I'm not playing well the only thing I worry about is keeping perfectly still.

Sadly, the solution to these types of problems are largely individual depending on the flaw. But I think it really comes down to unknowingly employing different habits in practice (or drills) than you normally do in drills. I would expect these different habits are fairly subtle, otherwise you'd notice something different.

On the bright side, from your description you seem to be developing into a capable match player. And when you are able to sort out your other issues you should be an even tougher draw.

[alabadi]

nice to hear from you again Les.

i wouldn't worry too much about those big breaks Les, as long as you are competitive and win games that's what counts.
i was obsessed with making breaks and i am hoping that i will in a match one day make a 50+ because i can make that in solo practice. however you will find in a match balls go awkward a lot of times colours are tied up and its just hard to get perfect and open up the game at our level.
so you just have to be realistic , look at the table and play whats in front of you. just make it hard for your opponent and keep nicking those points when the opportunities arise.

in terms of practice , the lineup is good for cueball control, i still do this and to make it different i play it sometimes with no cushions.

another favorite is playing colours individually from every angle. i will set up the black and play 10 pots each from 3/4 to 1/8th high and then low both sides of the table. it take an hour or so and then next session will do it with the pink into all 4 pockets this take a little longer because of the extra pockets and so on the Blue, Brown, Green and Yellow.
if i find that i am weak on one particular shot i will spend the next 2 to 3 session just focusing on that .

i have found this has helped me a lot especially when colours are on their spots. it can make the difference when you are confident that you can pot the colour.

[sady]

mid pocket

Hii LES

, your practice routine worked for me , specially for baulk colours which i dont miss them now .
please advise any practice drill for mid pocket , as im always caught by the jaw or sometimes object balls are thrown out of pocket.

[itsnoteasy]

Sady, a very simple one but I like it is just the pink and black on the table, pot the black to leave pink in the middle ,pot the pink to leave black in the bottom bag, pot the black to leave pink in the middle , moving the cue ball both sides of the black to practice both sides of the table and just see how many you can do. It's not got loads of balls to set up if you miss and it's very good to teach you to keep hold of the cue ball around the scoring zone.

[lesedwards]

Hi guys I am back, caught up on work and a little more time for Snooker. Now I am sure I will get lots of different answers on this.
I have been placing the colours on their spot and four reds randomly thrown around the table. I have had lots of mid 20's and 30's and then last night I ran three blues a black and all the colours for 51. Then today I played a best of 7 and my high break was 11. There has got to be something I am missing.

[Cue crafty]

Hi guys I am back, caught up on work and a little more time for Snooker. Now I am sure I will get lots of different answers on this.
I have been placing the colours on their spot and four reds randomly thrown around the table. I have had lots of mid 20's and 30's and then last night I ran three blues a black and all the colours for 51. Then today I played a best of 7 and my high break was 11. There has got to be something I am missing.

Hi Les, good to see you are back practising on that lovely table of yours. the trouble is when we practise it's good for our confidence to pot balls in a comfortable set even when randomly placed. The situations that arise in proper games seldomly replicate this however, I'm certainly not saying it's a bad routine, or a waste of time, quite the contrary but the fact is games themselves can be so random and unpredictable.

I've only recently recovered myself from a spate of "thinking numbers" practise numbers and real numbers are miles apart especially when you bench mark your mind to expect or want them. Relax, trust in your routine and the numbers do return in real games.

Difficult but it comes when you focus on each shot and not an expectancy from an opening.

All the best. ; )

[pottr]

I have had lots of mid 20's and 30's and then last night I ran three blues a black and all the colours for 51. Then today I played a best of 7 and my high break was 11. There has got to be something I am missing.

That you're gonna have good days and bad days... focus on the former.

[lesedwards]

Hi Les, good to see you are back practising on that lovely table of yours. the trouble is when we practise it's good for our confidence to pot balls in a comfortable set even when randomly placed. The situations that arise in proper games seldomly replicate this however, I'm certainly not saying it's a bad routine, or a waste of time, quite the contrary but the fact is games themselves can be so random and unpredictable.

I've only recently recovered myself from a spate of "thinking numbers" practise numbers and real numbers are miles apart especially when you bench mark your mind to expect or want them. Relax, trust in your routine and the numbers do return in real games.

Difficult but it comes when you focus on each shot and not an expectancy from an opening.

All the best. ; )

Thanks for your input. I realized that today. Now I was playing my son which is starting to play much better but I found in the first game within a few shots both the pink n black where down behind the "D" that makes for a very long ugly game.