need your views....

[Belloz22]

im curious to know what each of you think about during your shots..... im having a issue with not being able to think about technique when cueing.... those i cant play confidently

[damienlch]

im curious to know what each of you think about during your shots..... im having a issue with not being able to think about technique when cueing.... those i cant play confidently

I sometimes lack confidence screwing back when I can't rest my bridge hand properly on the table bed. This causes me to shorten up on the pull back, causing insufficient follow through, jabby cue action, etc.

So, I think of a smooth and long pull back before getting down on the shot and just holding that one thought helps.

[Terry Davidson]

It's never a good idea to think about technique when playing as it should only be done when you are doing a solo practice session.

However, as a coach I find I have difficulty getting technique thoughts out of my head during a match so I've had to take Del Hill's advice about a player having just one swing thought, which Del calls a 'dummy' (which is what they advise you in golf too).

So what I've done is selected my worse problem which always causes me a lot of trouble and that is I lift my head and shoulder slightly on the backswing so my 'dummy' is to keep my chin on the cue throughout the feathers, backswing and delivery and if I do that I play really well for me. I also try and keep the feathers as smooth and as long as I need which seems to translate into having a smoother backswing and delivery too.

So my swing thought is really probably 'STILL & SMOOTH'.

Try and pick out what you feel is the one technique problem which is causing you the most problems in a match and then come up with a swing thought or 'dummy' which is as short as possible and only try and think about that one thing during a match.

Terry

[Belloz22]

what dummy would you suggest for committing to a shot.... making sure i push cue all the way through the ball?

[Terry Davidson]

Belloz22:

It's very hard for a coach to give a player his 'dummy' when I have never seen you and I don't know what your most important issue in technique is. You are going to have to decide which area of technique you need to master next and then once you master that you might need another 'dummy' for the next step in technique improvement.

However, one thing is certain. When a player is not committed to a shot it comes out in his technique (usually) by 'stabbing' the cueball. This means he tightens the grip early and decelerates the cue too early and doesn't drive the hand all the way through to the chest. So a swing thought for this could be something like 'DRIVE THROUGH' meaning accelerate through the cueball.

Another one which I've found has helped for this problem is to try and imagine the tip of your cue hitting the object ball even though it's 3ft or more away. Of course don't do it if there's less than 10" or so between the balls and it's a straight pot. So the 'dummy' would be something like 'HIT THE OBJECT BALL' (the dummy must be short and concise but you have to come up with your own which means something to you.

Also only work on this in practice and only work on ONE THING at a time.

Terry

[TangoT]

might seem rediculous but i think of picturing the ball going in...

[Belloz22]

personally i find my problem is i get frightened and then tense up.... thus i cant relax like i do in practice