Recent Coaching Experience

[JanieWatkins]

My charges are normally $50hr (no table charges when at my facility) which equates to about 30GBP but I include video analysis for the initial 2hr session and provide the student with a DVD showing what he initially came in with and then what he takes away along with example drills to work on for the next session and then I follow that up with a point-by-point email explaining exactly how to proceed and what to work on.

For my sessions I gave in Gloucester I charged 20GBP plus 5GBP for the table so 45GBP for a 2hr session, but no video analysis available. I did have a camera available but got too lazy I guess.

Terry

Yes definitely lazy on that camera Terry!! We had camera and laptop waiting for you - I dusted it after you went home!!

[Terry Davidson]

Janie:

No one wanted it since we didn't need the video analysis to see the problems.

However, I will admit using it here at my facility you also see other flaws that aren't readily apparent to the naked eye. I would recommend to every coach they employ video analysis and review a cueing technique frame-by-frame.

The biggest thing I've found is the timing on when they close the grip tighter around the cue. If this happens before cueball strike it will definitely take the butt (and thus the tip) off the line of aim and this just cannot be seen with the naked eye as it happens too fast. However, you do need extra lighting to make sure the grip is visible to the camera

In future I will be using video analysis whenever it's available.

Terry

[CoachGavin]

No excuses. No good recommending it to all other coaches and not doing it yourself. You are digging yourself a hole mate! LOL

[DWOT]

No excuses. No good recommending it to all other coaches and not doing it yourself. You are digging yourself a hole mate! LOL

But will he film himself digging it?

[nrage]

No one wanted it since we didn't need the video analysis to see the problems.

To be honest, I had hoped there would be some video analysis and something to take away with me. But, as it wasn't already set up, and I didn't want to waste any coaching time I just didn't say anything.

[Manu147]

I took my camera with me and to be totally blunt, found more problems at home watching back than terry picked up, did pay 4 a 4hr session but after an hours snooker terry thought that was everything he could help me with, so just played me frames to finish the time, gd luck to terry, nice bloke, .

[Terry Davidson]

manuf147:

In my defence you scared the s**t out of me since your high match break that season was a 138 and you were playing in your national championships in a couple of weeks and I knew if we went any deeper into your technique it would have screwed you up for weeks while you were concentrating on technique and I didn't want to do that.

If memory serves me right I only gave you a couple of cosmetic items and explained the problem with going too deep into the technique.

However, you are a good enough player to use a video analysis system and spot your own problems and work to correct them, but if at any time you spot a problem and can't figure out a fix then just email or PM me and I'll try and answer.

One item I recommend you take a look at is your timing on when you tighten the grip on the cue. At your level it should happen after you strike the cueball but if I remember rightly you were tightening the grip a little early in the drive and decelerating slightly through the cueball. This is a difficult thing to master though and does take some work. Try Ronnie or Higgins as an example if you can get a shot of their grip from the BBC videos

Terry

[tedisbill]

My highest break was 37. After 6 coaching sessions, and 5 months hard practice, it's now 87.

[vish]

if you are consistent with the small breaks, in my opinion you ought to be your own coach! In our club we have a mirror and very often I look at myself just before execution of a shot to check for myself about whether I am standing rock steady and graceful or not [-] But then my practicing time and match aspirations are limited [-] At any level of the game, i do think that a video of yourself playing an entire frame won and an entire frame lost, would be a very valuable guide on your strength and weakness [-] Vish

[Deepscrew]

After making a 47 about three weeks ago i cant get to 30 now! So annoying but clearly not cueing straight. Coaching tomorrow so hopefully sort me out.

[1blonde]

if you are consistent with the small breaks, in my opinion you ought to be your own coach! In our club we have a mirror and very often I look at myself just before execution of a shot to check for myself about whether I am standing rock steady and graceful or not [-] But then my practicing time and match aspirations are limited [-] At any level of the game, i do think that a video of yourself playing an entire frame won and an entire frame lost, would be a very valuable guide on your strength and weakness [-] Vish

Trouble with this vish is that not everyone is experienced enough to spot mistakes and then know how to correct them. I am a great believer even if you think you are there might be something you miss. You can learn a little from everyone you meet, be it Terry D, Dell Hill, etc etc.,

They (snooker coaches) have experience and knowledge (and their own ways of correcting things) picked up over time and have aquired the knowledge over a long peoriod of time. Not everyone learns a particular way and actually although it is possible to correct yourself by watching a video of yourself if you sent the same video to a coach he would pick up on things you did not see yourself and he would probably know better than you how you go about correcting it.

I think having a snooker coach for a good player is perhaps the equivelant of having an MOT on a car.

You only need it now and again but the experience of a good coach or mechanic will pick up on one or two flaws repair them and thus stop them developing into a bigger problem later on.

An old banger would obviously need a lot more working on.

[CoachGavin]

As a coach myself what some people dont realise is that there are some faults or errors in a players technique that are sometimes not worth correcting or the timing isnt right to correct them. Practising before a big event for instance is not the time to tackle a big technical issue. I also like to think that many of the players I coach can use me as someone to talk to about their game when its going well or badly. A coach can also help prepare players for tournaments by telling them which routines might suit them and how to mentally prepare. I think sometimes people get the impression that a coach will just watch them play and tell them what they are doing wrong. However it is true that a lot of the time a player can do that using a video camera but I like to think that a coach helps with much more than that and does everything he or she can to help the player develop to his or her full potential using all the skills and techniques the coach knows.