Break Building

[Watford]

Sightright thing!!!! what's this?

[googlefooger]

I was wondering the exact same thing....care to enlighten?

[April madness]

Sightright thing!!!! what's this?

http://www.sightright.co.uk/

[Welshsteve]

I usually think two shots ahead. If I'm going for a red, which colour I play on depends on the angle I need to get my next red. It does depend on the table layout though. Sometimes it's easier just to get you red and colour then play safe. All depeneds on the situation. My highest break is 62 (49 in competition), so I'm not that advanced really.

[Alex Edwards]

I haven't played for aslong as everyone else on here but I always think at least 2 shots ahead, if not 3 or 4. I always think about where i'm going to leave the cue ball and often take around 10+ seconds just practacing the cue-ing motion at the ball before I actually hit it. Since my best break of 8 I have put together more now whilst practacing just by taking my time and thinking about 3 shots ahead.

[googlefooger]

This year, I've been working on trying to think 2 shots ahead, like thinking about potting the red and getting the angle on the black, but sometime next year I'll try and set myself up for the next red, but I suppose if you think two ahead, you can play the two and judge the next two on the angle you get on the colours, or you could judge just the 1 for the positional shot, or judge maybe three for a big break, but I would say two is ideal because you know what you're doing with the red and you know what you're doing with the colour, and generally when you get that right in the balls you get the run of the balls and you get in the zone and you cue like a dream.

The other day I was giving my grandpa a lesson on positional play and he said it was the best lesson he'd ever had and he should really take it into mind to improve his mind, and he said I would be great for a snooker psychologist and a coach aswell.

[Welshsteve]

I play with, and against, a lot of people who just pot a red and if they happen to land on a colour it's a bonus

[Ginger Freak]

During every break there will be easy (pottable) reds, and hard (in a cluster, on the cushion etc..) reds. I find the key is knowing when to develop or try to pot the difficult ones.

Of course, in a match or a one-off frame, you will probably decide just to go for the easy ones, in order to build a lead, but if it is a break you are after, then the earlier you get the difficult ones out of the way, the better.

Therein is the problem, do you decide to sacrifice a good chance of getting a 40-50 break for a possible chance of getting 80+ or not?

Personally I think a lot depends on your positional skills. If you have good positional play, then you can always think 3-4 shots ahead to make the decision easier. If you are like me, and are prone to buggering up position from time to time your best bet is to get what you can, try and develop some reds as a last resort, and go see a coach with regards to improving your cue-ball control.

Unfortunately for me, I have never seen a coach, which would explain why both the last two times I have practiced I have had a break of exactly 60 before c#cking up position and leaving no way of developing any more reds!

Ho hum.....

[Welshsteve]

I'm with you there. What I do frequently, in both match and practice situations, is I play a few difficult pots, struggling to get myself in ideal posistion, then when I do get the cue ball exactly where I want it, I lose concentration and mess up the next positional shot. If I could stop doing this, I'm sure I'd start getting 50+ breaks on a regualr basis. At the moment I always seem to break down around the 30 mark. There are exceptions from time to time of course, but it's consistency I'm after.