body position and alignment problem

[snookerdream]

Hi
I have been playing for 8 years now and for the past 4 years i have been trying to fix this problem of mine but not able to.
Problem: I line up my shots but as soon as i get down the cue butt comes towards my left ( im right handed). so when the cue butt is towards my left then the cue tip is towards the right side of cueball and i tend to apply right hand side. now while down if i try to aim to centre of cueball then my sighting would tell me that its not lined up correctly but if i play with right hand side my sighting is satisfied and ofcourse i would miss becaz i have applied right hand side and my alignment is off.
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i have tried almost everything to fix this problem ( and yes i bring the chest towards cue so its not that problem )

all i know now is that it has to do with my body position such as stance and turning upper body etc

how do i line up my shots: i line up my shots with the line of aim going through my middle of the body, at this point my feet are pointing towards line of aim however as i walk in like tradition way or half boxing style i turn my right leg almost to 45 degree and get down. as soon as my bridge hand hits the table my upper body with the cue and right hand wants to readjust itself ( and this is when i think i move the butt of the cue towards left )


please watch this video of a coach showing how to use traditional stance, this is exactly what i do

thank you for the help and i really hope someone would help me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kV_oO0eEUQ

i am just wondering if this matters if while standing the right leg is pointing straight but as soon as like this video i get down the right leg is pointing to the right, do u think this is why i am putting right hand side and have alignment problem?

by the way i also tried the modern style , with my right leg straight and as i walk in it should be straight, and i still have the same problem

thank you

[vmax]

We've gone through this so many times now and if you can't sort out your stance to move the butt of the cue to the right then you could cock the wrist of your grip hand outwards Steve Davis style. This could move the butt two inches to the right and bring the tip to the middle of the cue ball as it does so, but something tells me you already do this

[snookerdream]

We've gone through this so many times now and if you can't sort out your stance to move the butt of the cue to the right then you could cock the wrist of your grip hand outwards Steve Davis style. This could move the butt two inches to the right and bring the tip to the middle of the cue ball as it does so, but something tells me you already do this

gone through many times? what do you mean
its my 2nd post

[mikee]

What Vmax is saying is that people come on here and expect forum members to correct their mistakes and it’s normally the same question .There’s generally only two reasons when playing badly and not progressing,not cueing straight ,or not sighting the shot correctly .

[vmax]

gone through many times? what do you mean
its my 2nd post

Post count is five mate, many others have posted this same thing before and we've tried to help but came up against the 'my eyes are different' brick wall so I've tried something else. Suck it and see, if it doesn't work then post a video of yourself from front back and side and maybe someone can spot something or accept that snooker isn't your game and move on.

[itsnoteasy]

Post count is five mate, many others have posted this same thing before and we've tried to help but came up against the 'my eyes are different' brick wall so I've tried something else. Suck it and see, if it doesn't work then post a video of yourself from front back and side and maybe someone can spot something or accept that snooker isn't your game and move on.

Oh and welcome to the forum

[Danger Steve]

Have you tried professional coaching? 4 out of 8 years struggling doesn’t sound great, that’s a long time to go playing knowing you have this problem, and really with a bit of help you should be able to fix this?

[throwawayttyl102]

You ca try to move your left foot a little right when moving into the shot after getting on the line. This worked for a guy I used to play with long ago.

[tomwalker147]

snookerdream, send a video of yourself playing, i'll gladly help you.
Video'ing yourself is always a great way to learn and it also helps others correct things for you, it's likely one of a couple of things that'll jump out in a video - feel free to drop me a PM.

Tom

[snookerdream]

thank you guys, i finally fixed the problem by fixing the angle of right foot which is now straight pointing towards line of aim, however i still see shots offline and if i want to pot it or to look online i need to put right hand side again. i thought maybe my brain is tricking me because i am used to it. but i had tried this straight foot position last year too for 6 months which was the same.

checked my eyes, recently with professional eye optometrist and my eyes are healthy
told me that i am right eye dominant.

the only way which shots look online and perfect is to tilt my head to left which brings the right eye on line of aim but my head is tilted and i can feel the neck pain. although i can tell that shots looks perfect and i can pot some good long blues however since its something new i miss too, but it feels very uncomfortable and i dont think i can stick to this.

also tried to put the cue under my right eye but i dont know for some reason of my head shape, even if i put the the cue under right eye, the line of aim and the cue is under left nostril.
the only way that i can bring my right eye on line of aim is tiling my head to the left but damn its painful and uncomfortable. but shots look perfect

any help?
by the way just another question!
should the head be on top of the feet while in address position which is on line of aim?

thank you

[tomwalker147]

Hi mate,
It seems to me you're making the game as difficult as you can for yourself.
Just make a short video of you playing a few different shots and i'll be able to make some observations.
I've played for 20 years and don't know which eye I sight with. Never have I thought about tilting my head and i'm a decent player who had a century break last night.

Next time you play just think about these points;
- Stand up behind the shot and walk in on the line of aim
-Get down on the shot with your feet approximately shoulder width apart (a little wider is ok if uncomfortable). If you're right handed your left foot should be slightly ahead of your right.
-When striking the ball keep your head still until the object ball has either been potted or come to rest - you'll be amazed how much this helps.

Also a side point, with your stance it may help to have your weight ever so slightly forward, it can help you to get through the ball.

P.S Ask Danger Steve for his input, he's better than me now

[Starsky]

I can’t agree more with what Tom has posted in his last message .
Your completely overthinking it and your improvement will be slow and painful if your carry along your current path.
Like Tom I play to a decent standard and I also have no idea what eye I’m dominant and it matters nothing as you’ll naturally line up to compensate .
Follow Toms advice and get the basics right and build your game from that .

Youtube coaching channel coming from Steve soon….

[tomwalker147]

I can’t agree more with what Tom has posted in his last message .
Your completely overthinking it and your improvement will be slow and painful if your carry along your current path.
Like Tom I play to a decent standard and I also have no idea what eye I’m dominant and it matters nothing as you’ll naturally line up to compensate .
Follow Toms advice and get the basics right and build your game from that .

Youtube coaching channel coming from Steve soon….

Steve already has over 100 recorded bloopers from my visit to his table!
Starsky you've made a really good point actually, we do naturally compensate.... snookerdream rather than changing things technically, if there are shots you're struggling with just play them again and again and again and again and again and again and again - you catch my drift, eventually you'll find what works.
I myself fine tune my aim, I actually call it calibrating. I rock up and hit a few balls and immediately know if i'm out to the left or right (thick/thin), through years of practice I know how to correct this very quickly. Some things will only come with practice and repetition but you'll get there with hard work.

[mikee]

One drill I do is set up 4 balls around two feet away from each corner pocket about a foot away from the side cushion ,play the white dead straight long stun shots from around nine or ten feet ,try and complete a few times without missing any of the four balls ,you will soon learn to cue straighter and find out which side of the pocket you are missing in to .After that it’s half an hour clearing the colours off the spots ,sounds a bit repetitive and boring ,but gets me playing better with more confidence .

[vmax]

thank you guys, i finally fixed the problem by fixing the angle of right foot which is now straight pointing towards line of aim, however i still see shots offline and if i want to pot it or to look online i need to put right hand side again. i thought maybe my brain is tricking me because i am used to it. but i had tried this straight foot position last year too for 6 months which was the same.

checked my eyes, recently with professional eye optometrist and my eyes are healthy
told me that i am right eye dominant.

the only way which shots look online and perfect is to tilt my head to left which brings the right eye on line of aim but my head is tilted and i can feel the neck pain. although i can tell that shots looks perfect and i can pot some good long blues however since its something new i miss too, but it feels very uncomfortable and i dont think i can stick to this.

also tried to put the cue under my right eye but i dont know for some reason of my head shape, even if i put the the cue under right eye, the line of aim and the cue is under left nostril.
the only way that i can bring my right eye on line of aim is tiling my head to the left but damn its painful and uncomfortable. but shots look perfect

any help?
by the way just another question!
should the head be on top of the feet while in address position which is on line of aim?

thank you

Alter the position of your left foot to a more square position, ie closer or even parallel to your right foot rather than in front of it as this will bring the butt of the cue to the right a tad as it seems to me that you're playing across the line from left to right and this is where your right hand side is coming from. This is the natural position for right handed right eyed dominant sighters and will put your right eye over the cue without having to move your head.
If the right position is uncomfortable then so be it, get used to it as it's no good being comfortable and missing everything.