My first ever practice video clips... FINALLY

[Sidd]

Hello Everyone,

So finally I managed to get some video clips while practicing at the club. Quite honestly I only found the chance to get this done since I started coming to this new club, as it has a private room facility.

I have uploaded three clips, the description of the clips appears under the title of each video clip.
Here is the link: https://vimeo.com/user19021888

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OK something important. It is amazing how you get to know things about yourself once you see yourself in a video. Honestly, I have been loosing a lot in not filiming myself till yet. I figured out a few things myself after seeing my videos.

1. I believe my head stays still pretty much. I have practiced a lot in this department.

2. The grip WOW it seems to be OK more or less at least not as bad and confused as I was about it. You will notice that even in this video I am using two grips one my normal grip and another where I try to intentionally keep my little finger off. You will tell better but I think my normal full hand grip is more or less OK.

3. Elbow drop and shoulder muscle... hell yeah I guess.

I could go on further but I would like to leave it to the experts to do the talking.
Comments and analysis guys...

Another thing interesting is this:
These videos are from when I played bad and out of timing: I saw this video myself in the room and then did a couple of things i.e. got my bridge arm straightened so my shoulder braces the neck and got my normal grip throughout and guess what ??? got a break of 52 on the same table on which I could not go for more than 17 one night ago

looking forward to everyone's comments/feedback/criticism/advice in general and Terry Davidson's comments in particular. I have uploaded my video first time and hope and expect constructive feedback.

I am pretty excited...
All over to you guys now...!

[pottr]

Nice pipe

[pottr]

Sidd my man, you hit the ball quite well for someone who stresses over their technique so much.

There are a few points but nothing practice wouldn't iron out. One big thing for me... Walk into your shots!

You don't get on the line of aim with your stance enough which is likely why you jaw so many balls.

Stand back, spot the line of aim and walk on that line. You can't continue to just drop in from the side and expect to find any consistency.

Stand back
Spot the line
Walk in
Drop the cue on the line (straight)
Drop your head on the cue (straight)
Chest on and deliver

[nrage]

The grip where you are taking the little finger off .. are you taking it off during the stroke, at the end of the backswing? I think this is a bad idea because I think it is moving your hand too much and moving the cue offline and this is why you jawed those first long blues (video #1). If you want the little finger off, start with it off and leave it off, but don't alter the grip during the stroke.

[lennon11]

I no coach so maybe I'm wrong.... but you seem to have your body way too far out to the side....not having your foot on line of aim.

[nrage]

Did you notice on the first short blue back towards us (video #1) your cue ended up pointing at the left edge of the pocket (from your viewpoint).. and you must have struck with left hands side to send the white to the right edge of the pocket as you did.

You got some good screw on the following shots

[nrage]

I no coach so maybe I'm wrong.... but you seem to have your body way too far out to the side....not having your foot on line of aim.

In video #1 on the long blues going away from the camera you can see his foot and it appears to be on the line. I think Sidd just has his hips well over, which is something a lot of players do so the cue/hand doesn't brush the hip on the stroke.

[nrage]

I agree with pottr about the line of aim. On that line up you play I think your main problem was the same one that I have, that is not getting on the line of aim before walking in.

It means that while you might cue perfectly straight you miss because you were aiming to miss (I don't mean intentionally, I mean the line of aim you were actually standing on when you got down was missing the pocket). Something I have been doing is playing a line up and taking an extra 1/2 second to really make sure I am on the correct line of aim before I walk in and get down. The results have been excellent for me and I recommend it.

[pottr]

It means that while you might cue perfectly straight you miss because you were aiming to miss (I don't mean intentionally, I mean the line of aim you were actually standing on when you got down was missing the pocket). Something I have been doing is playing a line up and taking an extra 1/2 second to really make sure I am on the correct line of aim before I walk in and get down. The results have been excellent for me and I recommend it.

It's something I do when I am going through the motions pal. Frustrating as hell because it's such a lazy reason to miss a simple shot.

Concentration and vigilance. Take care of the simple things first then worry about the finer points.

Approach and aiming, stance and solidity and stillness... If I miss a ball, 99 times out of a hundred it's due to one of those factors not being cared over enough.

Sidd, you have no glaring errors with your grip, no massive instances of sudden movement on the shot and you seem to get through the white fine with enough power.
Tighten your simple screws and you'll find greater consistency... Easier said than done though

[vmax4steve]

As a tall man you are subconsciously using a long bridge over your thumb to help you sight the shot so you don't have to get down lower than is comfortable. This is putting your cue arm at 90 degrees at the address position, and then you are bringing the cue up to the chin as cue on the chin is the way you have been told to play.
This is making you strike down as your cue isn't as level to the table as it can be and also bringing your shoulder into the shot before the strike.

Maybe when you straighten your bridge arm you subconsciously get down lower because you have also shortened your bridge length so your cue arm naturally goes back behind 90 degrees and you play better. Playing this way does give you muscle and tendon problems though so...............
another way to get the cue arm behind 90 degrees would be to drop the cue to the level position and keep the head about two inches off the cue.
Another way would be to get a longer cue so you can keep your long bridge if that is what you prefer.
Another way would be to find a stance that gets you down lower without giving you muscle and tendon problems such as bending both kness or placing the right foot wider or further forward.
Something to think about.

Getting the cue arm behind 90 degrees at the address position will help you a lot I think.

Oh and you need to lose weight

[Terry Davidson]

Sidd:

It's a good thing I got up early this morning so I would have enough time to watch your 3 videos and have some time for practice myself as the Canadian Championships start on this coming Sunday (just joking!)

I read all the comments from other people and I agree with some of them, but no one mentioned what I saw so I will try and point that out to you and also highlight a few other technique items. First of all there is nothing horribly wrong with most of your technique. I agree with vmax that you should lose some weight if you can as that is causing some alterations in your set-up, especially in the stance area and the fact that you are not getting your back down and as flat as it should be (remember this is the 'ideal' I'm talking about.

Now here is what I noticed, right from the start of video #1 and I believe this is causing you to miss a lot of shots by just a little amount. Take a close look at what you do with your grip hand as you start to deliver the cue. I'm sure you've seen my comment on here (over and over again to you and others) THE GRIP HAND SHOULD NOT CHANGE CONFIGURATION THROUGH THE DELIVERY.

When you first start to deliver the cue you change the grip hand and are gripping the cue more robustly but the worst result of this is you alter the wrist joint which brings the butt of the cue in more towards your body and you are using your wrist joint to get that wrist 'flick' for more power (which is not a totally bad thing but you're using it for most of your shots at medium pace and above and it's not necessary and in your case it's taking the butt off-line).

Recommended corrective action:

1. Leave everything else exactly as you have it now and practice with it and cement it into your natural technique.
2. If you want a more compact cue action then lose some weight. It will also help with your stamina.
3. You have to stabilize your wrist joint and get all that movement out of it. So just cueing along the baulkline using the brown spot as a cueball grip the cue as you normally do and get into the address position. Check you are using your normal grip with the back 3 fingers not exerting any grip pressure and that the BACK OF THE PALM IS TOUCHING THE BUTT. SLOWLY start your backswing and observe the tip of the cue against the baulkline to see if it's covering the baulkline at all times. Then do your rear pause and SLOWLY start your delivery but at this point do not apply any pressure AT ALL with the back 3 fingers and keep the thumb and forefinger in the same configuration they are at during the address position (this is the point where you allow your wrist to go all floppy and you turn the wrist joint so the butt comes into your body...STOP THAT!).

SLOWLY complete the delivery

(This damned thing kicked me out as I was typing too long so I lost some of what I said and I'll try and recover it as it didn't auto-save)

For the wrist thing remember to keep the thumb pointed to the floor AT ALL TIMES during the backswing and delivery. You are not doing this. To check just line up a long blue with the chevrons straight up and play a stop shot and leave the cue extended and see where the chevrons have turned to (probably about 1/8th turn). Try and eliminate this and also keep the knuckles parallel (or close to it) with the butt throughout the delivery.

Terry

[nrage]

Now here is what I noticed, right from the start of video #1 and I believe this is causing you to miss a lot of shots by just a little amount. Take a close look at what you do with your grip hand as you start to deliver the cue. I'm sure you've seen my comment on here (over and over again to you and others) THE GRIP HAND SHOULD NOT CHANGE CONFIGURATION THROUGH THE DELIVERY.

..this is the point where you allow your wrist to go all floppy and you turn the wrist joint so the butt comes into your body...STOP THAT!..

I noticed the change in the grip/wrist but assumed it was intentional (the pinky coming off the cue, mentioned in Sidd's first post).

[Terry Davidson]

Sidd:

The site kicked me out before I could complete my comments so I will do it in parts which are shorter.

PART I - the grip hand

First of all, lose the watch and wear it on your right wrist as it's loose and floppy.

Secondly, I re-watched the first video where we can see the grip hand. I couldn't open these videos with Kinovea so no stop action, however I recommend you download Kinovea and take a really good frame-by-frame look at what's happening with your wrist. The first thing I noticed is watching the badge on your cue at the start of the delivery it quickly rotates around a 1/4 turn and without a doubt this takes the butt off line since the only way it can rotate is by you turning your wrist. You are doing this at the very start of the delivery when your grip changes its configuration.

So I recommend you do the following:

Cue slowly along the baulkline and watch the chevrons on your shaft. I was mistaken in my first post as the badge rotates from the left side of the grip hand to the top and that means your chevrons will rotate 1/4-turn to the RIGHT. Your problem begins in the address position. Get a good wrist cock with the thumb pointed to the floor AND the knuckles of the hand (all 4 of them) parallel to the cue. This means you will have to hold the cue a little more towards the end of the fingers.

In addition at address the back of the butt should be against the back of the palm (look at Ronnie for an example). As you draw the cue back, keep the thumb pointed straight down and let the cue push the back 3 fingers out of the way. Right at the start of the delivery I can see the badge rotating up or around towards the right and you must keep the thumb pointed to the floor from the start of the delivery to the finish when the hand hits your chest. Keep the grip RELAXED BUT FIRM. Yours is a little too loose in the address position.

Practice this by cueing SLOWLY along the baulkline and keep your eyes on the chevrons.

Terry

[throtts]

Hi Sidd,

I really admire you, Sidd, a good honest video which is not in any way edited, fair play to you sir....

Right, my opinion on 3 things, if its worth anything.

1, GRIP, I'm going to say it, sorry, but for some reason I find your grip ( to my untrained eye ) does not look natural. It looks as though you are having to remind yourself to release the back fingers on the final draw back. There is some twisting too. All parts of this game must feel comfortable and natural.

2, AIMING, Are you 100% sure you are actually doing it FULLY, Sidd. I aim using my method ( ghost line / imaginary pot line ) and then take 2 steps in to the address position. I do not like being right on top of the line, I am slightly back so I have a 1 to 2 step walk in and then place my stick straigt on that line.

3, TAKE YOUR TIME, On the harder shots you are not down sighting any longer than you do on the easier shots, it all seems a bit too casual, if I may say so. Sometimes we all like to think ourselves as up tempo players but for some a bit more time at the start of shots in any snooker session can kick you in to gear and on the right pattern to a successful session, in other words we start off how we want to carry on.

All the above jmo fwiw...

So, lots to think about from us all. But again, play it naturally, mate....

Good luck...

[Terry Davidson]

Sidd:

PART II - Pre-shot routine

Stand 1ft behind the shot with both feet centered on the line of aim you're selecting. You will assume the address position using JUST TWO STEPS. Now, first place your left foot on the line of aim and directly beneath where your grip hand will be in the address position. (You can measure this with your cue and put a coin or small piece of paper on the floor.)

Now, keeping your eyes on the object ball and your head centered on the line of aim, move your right foot to where you normally place it. It helps here to bend the right leg and twist the hips to the right to keep the head online or some players lean over (to the left in your case). Then drop the head straight down on the line of aim keeping the eyes on the object ball and assume the address position. NEVER, EVER RUSH THIS PHASE (you tend to do it a little quickly but do it slower so it's easier to keep everything online).

Now...STOP THE CUE IN THE ADDRESS POSITION FOR 1-2 SECONDS (I call this the 'preliminary pause) and check everything is as you want it. Then do your feathers, FRONT PAUSE in the address position and backswing, rear pause if you want one and then your delivery. DO NOT FORGET THE FRONT PAUSE BEFORE THE FINAL BACKSWING, this is very important.

I couldn't see your eye rhythm but you seem to rush the shot a little bit and this could be because you're leaving the eye switch to the object ball too late and too close to the strike on the cueball and this will cause a rushed delivery.

Do your grip correction first and then work on this.

Terry