Where did this come from?

[Zappafan69]

Have been playing casually for 30 odd years with occasional breaks of 75. Then one day about 6 months ago I was playing when my arm starting freezing up on my backstroke. It was almost like I couldn't deliver the cue through, so I would stand up, re-group and try again. Now this annoying hiccup has creeped into my game and comes up several times during a match, and when I start thinking about it and start worrying that it will happen, well then it almost becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. Has this happened to anybody, I know it sounds crazy but it is driving me nuts!!!

[Theflyernow]

When you say freezing up, I presume your not in pain?? Sounds a bit like 'the yips' that dart players like Eric Bristow got, but I also know a guy at my club who's a multiple century breaker who's got it & really struggles to deliver the cue!!
I wonder if its a 'nervous' thing, meaning you get anxious when you've got to play a big or important shot??
The only thing I can think of is to try & keep the same shot routine you have, & in practice, try to smooth it out, so you have, say, two or three feathers up to the cue ball, pull back, slight pause, then drive through the cue ball, trying to keep it all rhythmical.

Good luck with it!!

[Belloz22]

it sounds like you have something which is quite common throughout sports such as pool and darts..... its called freezing. from my understanding it is very common in players who feather quite a lot on the shot, which then translates into a fear of when to strike the ball.... thus you mind and your body dont agree and you freeze. snooker is all about trying to stay relaxed..... so the first question to ask yourself is on the shots you freeze on, do you fear more fearful for the shot or the consequences??

besides trying some relaxation techniques..... there are a couple of options..... one is similar to psychological condition. what you would do is after your feathering, you slowly bring your cue back to the pause position, the mentally distract yourself by either counting 1 2, or tapping your ring finger twice. following this you tell yourself your are going to drive the cue through and play the shot poisitively. it seems like you this may work for you as it will distracted your unconcious mind from creating fear when your paused.

the second option is to reduce the amount of times you feather the ball and the length of your pause..... this way your reducing the time your down on the short and the duration of time your allowing for fear to creep ib.

hope this helps

[Zappafan69]

No, not in pain, just the pain in the ass this causes! Yeah it does seem to happen more when game is on the line and I begin to think, which is usually not a good thing for me to do. Thanks for the advice I shall give it a go.

[Zappafan69]

I like the idea of tapping my fingers as a distraction, I shall try that this weekend and see how it goes, thanks for your suggestions.

[Terry Davidson]

Zappa:

See a coach. I happen to be one!

Terry

[jubes1971]

This very same thing has crept into my game over the last couple of months. It started as an annoyance at first, just happening on tricky or delicate shots. But it has spread into virtually every shot i play now, including safetys and even breaking off! I just cant get the cue through, its like someone is holding my cueing arm at the back of my backswing.

Its incredibly frustrating and embarrassing, ive had to stop playing for my local team to try and sort it out. Ive even had hypnotherapy, but just one session, and ive only played once since with no real improvement. I had assumed it was a fear of missing the shot, but i can play shots with the rest absolutely fine, the cue goes through smoothly. So perhaps it is rooted in bad cueing technique? Its just that im not doing anything noticably different than i was before i had this problem.

So i would be very interested to know if there is way to cure this, it is driving me absolutely crazy, and i have basically had to give up the game. Before this freezing of the arm i was playing to a decent standard, but now literally find it almost impossible to play any shot.

Cheers.

[davipp]

Sounds like the 'YIPS'. Happens in golf a lot, I heard an interesting theory once that what happens is the golfer tees off and while strolling down the fairway to play the next stroke deciding on what club to use and where to direct the ball according to the wind and whatever, on reaching his ball and standing over it with the club he finds he cannot hit the ball because his brain is telling him he has already played that shot in his walk down the fairway. So as you say you have to stand up readdress the cue ball before you can play the shot same with the golfer.

[throtts]

Didn't Eric Bristow have a delivery problem. It was called "Dartitis", I'm sure...

So Zapp's got "Cueitis"..

[thelongbomber]

Never had this before but I have seen it happen in other players. I suspect it comes down to how relaxed you feel and if you have a clear mind. Your feathering and cue action may play a role. Definitely see a coach. Look at your breathing as well. Breathe out as you strike the cue ball is what one of my m8's says to do.

Best of luck.

[circle]

I have heard and read many valid points relating to this problem - but I think 3 of them are worth considering.

Firstly, we use a different set of muscles to bring the cue back, and if for whatever reason we dont relax these muscles at the end of the backswing, then it results in a resistance when trying to deliver the cue.

Secondly, for players who have their eyes on the object ball when striking the white.......if your eyes get lost between the two balls.....then the brain has not got a clear message when to deliver the cue. Sometines you see a player push the cue through and inch or so before actually playing the shot.

Thirdly, we must clearly decide how we are going to play the shot and how hard to hit the cue ball.....if there is doubt then there is no clear intention on how hard to play the shot