...er...what now?

[sixofclubs]

I have seen on video that I have a tendency to push the cue off line and put unwanted left hand side on the cue ball. It's slight but of course it's enough.

My question is what do I do now that I can see the problem? I genuinely don't know what to do. I don't know if the problem is a sighting one, a stance one, a grip one, or a combination of all three.

It seems that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

Do I seek coaching, learn to play with what at the moment is a very consistent action, or do I wait until I practise again and try every adjustment under the sun until I am thoroughly confused?!!!!

I am still a beginner really, not yet played a competitive match, I only get to practise 2 times a week, play my Dad once a week, and whilst I am getting better (my highest practise break is 50) it is very frustrating that such a simple desire (to cue in a straight line - how hard can it be?) is making me so utterly confused and if I'm honest is preventing me from wanting to actually play a competitive game.

Any suggestions would be welcome

[Gerry Armstrong]

I have seen on video that I have a tendency to push the cue off line and put unwanted left hand side on the cue ball. It's slight but of course it's enough.

My question is what do I do now that I can see the problem? I genuinely don't know what to do. I don't know if the problem is a sighting one, a stance one, a grip one, or a combination of all three.

It seems that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

Do I seek coaching, learn to play with what at the moment is a very consistent action, or do I wait until I practise again and try every adjustment under the sun until I am thoroughly confused?!!!!

I am still a beginner really, not yet played a competitive match, I only get to practise 2 times a week, play my Dad once a week, and whilst I am getting better (my highest practise break is 50) it is very frustrating that such a simple desire (to cue in a straight line - how hard can it be?) is making me so utterly confused and if I'm honest is preventing me from wanting to actually play a competitive game.

Any suggestions would be welcome

Go and see a good coach. They will be able to diagnose and correct any fault(s) very quickly and give you enough knowledge to go away and work on the changes to improve your technique and correct the fault(s).

Trying to figure it out by yourself via trial and error could lead you down a VERY long, dark and lonely road which might end up a dead end.

[cazmac1]

Are you left handed

[sixofclubs]

Right handed, but not sure why it's relevant?!

[sixofclubs]

Go and see a good coach. They will be able to diagnose and correct any fault(s) very quickly and give you enough knowledge to go away and work on the changes to improve your technique and correct the fault(s).

Trying to figure it out by yourself via trial and error could lead you down a VERY long, dark and lonely road which might end up a dead end.

I agree with this sentiment (I have a lesson booked as it happens) but I am wary of going down the same path that I fell into with golf - having all the talent coached out of me and getting so lost that if I didn't see my coach I was toast...sure don't want to be doing that with snooker...

[ferret]

Comments in this thread have been removed.

Can I make some suggestions to both jrc750 & cazmac1, avoid each other, this is not the first time you have been involved in a argument I have had to remove form the forum, it is obvious to me that your personalities clash so try not to make them clash in the future, there is a ignore function in your control panel, if you add a users name to this you will not be able to see that users posts. I use this feature for Mike Wooldridge but unfortunately for me it does not work for Admin's

[jrc750]

OK ferret, thankyou, his name has been added, sorry

[Inoffthered]

OK ferret, thankyou, his name has been added, sorry

Maybe that's why ppl don't reply to half the BS I post. I must be as good as on everyone's list, ( apart from their Xmas card list! ) Haha.

[Terry Davidson]

sixofclubs:

If you are wary of seeing a coach or even if the expense is too much I do have one suggestion you can try. First of all, I would recommend you DO NOT start changing your set-up at all as what you have is probably natural and comfortable.

In my coaching I've found the most common fault (including myself) is the player will tighten the fingers of the grip way too early in the delivery of the cue and most times it's because the grip has started out too tight and the final backswing is too short for the amount of power required.

The grip should be loose enough that the butt of the cue will slide EASILY within it when in the address position. Now the most difficult part is to keep that grip at that same very loose tension and do your final backswing and delivery, not allowing the grip fingers to tighten until the cueball has been struck. Given my own experience and what I saw myself doing on slow motion video THIS IS SOMETHING WHICH IS VERY DIFFICULT TO LEARN and must be practiced faithfully, starting with low power shots and building up the power as you master it.

Remember too to lengthen the backswing as you increase the power, but keep is SLOW AND SMOOTH.

Terry

[nrage]

sixofclubs:

I have noticed a similar fault in my cue action as Terry has mentioned. Whenever I tighten early I bring the cue toward my body, moving the tip right, and sending the white to the left of where it should go, resulting in a missed pot to the right. On a bad day (before I realised this was my problem) I would consistently pot every ball to the same position right of the pocket.

So, as Terry says, you could try this 1 change and see if it makes any difference. Whether it 'works' or not, seeing a coach is a good idea as there may be other changes you could make at this early stage in your snooker playing, which will allow you to be more consistent in the long run. The trick is finding a good coach.

If you do decide to experiment yourself, NEVER change more than 1 thing at a time.. the one possible exception is when one of those things is a change to a static part of your body, like foot position, as these are easier to control/verify and you can sometimes combine them with more dynamic changes - like grip tension, cue action speed, cue action pauses, etc. Changing just one thing will let you evaluate that one change, without confusing results from other changes.

[sixofclubs]

Thanks Terry,

It's interesting you talk about light grip pressure so much. Oddly, I have found that when I grip the cue a little firmer than I have been this has helped, but of course it may have been a red herring. But before, I would play a shot and the cue would be coming away from my hand after the shot which suggested that I didn't have much control of it.

If you watch on the tv the players vary a lot here - some seem to really grip it solidly while players like Ricky Walden are gripping it very loosely indeed.

I practise with the 360 pure cue quite a bit and I don't get the spring to snap all that often, suggesting that I have a relatively smooth and unhurried delivery.

When I videoed myself as per the opening post, I was experimenting with the boxer style stance as somebody had said that this put my right arm in a perfectly perpendicular position (which of course may not matter at all)

I will get the camera out again with the more familiar square on stance and see if the 'left side hell' returns.

I also noticed that my head was up and away a fraction just before I hit the ball which of course can never be a good thing..

[Terry Davidson]

six:

You might be getting the wrong impression from the camera shots. I can guarantee you every good pro hold the cue in a loose grip however it is firm enough that (usually) there is no 'air gap' between the butt of the cue and the web of skin between thumb and forefinger.

The danger of tightening the grip a little for that feeling of positive control is that the player will tend to decelerate through the cueball by tightening the grip fingers before the time of strike. If you can avoid tightening those fingers prematurely then there's nothing wrong with having a grip that is a little more positive. But keeping the grip relaxed through the strike would be harder to control and time correctly.

For the general average player it's much easier to start out with a grip that is a little more loose and relaxed than he would prefer but it really improves the drive through the cueball. Also remember, I'm ONLY talking about keeping the fingers relaxed and not the rest of the grip hand, like the wrist for instance which should stay in the same configuration throughout the shot so therefore cannot be allowed to be flexible in the right-to-left direction.

Terry