Nic Barrow's latest gadget.....

[itsnoteasy]

Spot on J6, Les seems to be able to play well in practice but falls to bits even in a friendly game with his lad, I was just wondering why this was, considering he has played competitive sport at the very highest level, and if he could bring some of the techniques he used to keep it all under control when the pressure was on in the golf, to his snooker game.

[lesedwards]

Spot on J6, Les seems to be able to play well in practice but falls to bits even in a friendly game with his lad, I was just wondering why this was, considering he has played competitive sport at the very highest level, and if he could bring some of the techniques he used to keep it all under control when the pressure was on in the golf, to his snooker game.

This one is easy to answer, after many years of playing golf I play shots without even thinking about it. Kind of like watching the Rocket in action he makes the game of Snooker look easy. The fact that I have no real solid foundation for the game during a match my game breaks down very easy and then my confidence goes just as quick. Also the fact that I play very few matches except in our qualifier which is held once a month best of 7 and I am normally out in 4 or 5 games so I might play 15 games in a month and 10 of them is with friends that want nothing to do with safety play they prefer to move the pink to the side on breaks and bust them up like a game of Pool. Where golf I had competive games at the club every day of the week.

[Terry Davidson]

Les:

Given your circumstances, which are identical to mine you will have to do what I did and that is to play tournament tough against yourself every day. Again, it takes discipline and patience as you have to look at each and every shot and decide if you should play safe or take on the pot (remembering to think about position before you get down into the address position for each and EVERY shot).

Terry

[lesedwards]

Les:

Given your circumstances, which are identical to mine you will have to do what I did and that is to play tournament tough against yourself every day. Again, it takes discipline and patience as you have to look at each and every shot and decide if you should play safe or take on the pot (remembering to think about position before you get down into the address position for each and EVERY shot).

Terry

Hi Terry
That is one thing I have never tried. So you actually play a full game against yourself playing as if it was a match. Is this where guys say they have a high break in practice and high break in match? I will have to start working on this. Same thing happened last night as the night before except even worse. I practiced for two hours potting them very well which also included 9 out if 10 long blues screwing the cue ball back to baulk then Strachan wanted to play a game and this is hard to believe but all I made was two reds game was over before we got to the colours. Terry knows but for everyone else my son does not practice and is an average player but loves to play safe. I had tons of opportunities.

[Terry Davidson]

Les:

I'm not certain what other players count as high breaks but I only count my high breaks in actual matches. For instance, this season so far it's a 72 during the world's and lifetime it's 138 which I did about 25yrs ago. If I'm practicing with an opponent I only count those as practice and in that case this season I think I've had an 80-odd and lifetime 3 x 147's.

Then there's the line-up and self-practice and I don't count those unless I specify. This season my best line-up is 144 and lifetime I believe I've had a couple of 147's and for self-practice I managed a 141 awhile ago and that was in a 'self match' but to me they don't count really as there is no real pressure as there is no penalty if you miss.

You need to work on your match game more and since you practice a lot by yourself you have to devise a method where you can apply a bit of pressure or else a method where you reward yourself for a high break, for instance saying to yourself 'I won't go for a smoke until I have a 40+ break or something like that and then a smoke and a coffee for a 50+.

Start with your present high break during self practice. If that's a 38 then a coffee and a smoke if you beat that with say a 42 which is your new target. Now thbis method has a side benefit of course in that you'll be smoking a lot less but when you haven't had a smoke for an hour and you approach your previous high break I'll bet you'll try and concentrate better to try and beat that break.

But, as I said you (for some reason) expect to see virtually daily improvement and snooker just doesn't work that way, especially when a player is a little older, so again I'll say...DISCIPLINE AND PATIENCE!

Terry

[j6uk]

i know you don't mind me saying tel, but you do run against the grain as a player. i remember you saying you've never tried for a max in a lineup, yet you've made x3 147's in competitive sparing.. you never cease to impress fella

Les:

I'm not certain what other players count as high breaks but I only count my high breaks in actual matches. For instance, this season so far it's a 72 during the world's and lifetime it's 138 which I did about 25yrs ago. If I'm practicing with an opponent I only count those as practice and in that case this season I think I've had an 80-odd and lifetime 3 x 147's.

Then there's the line-up and self-practice and I don't count those unless I specify. This season my best line-up is 144 and lifetime I believe I've had a couple of 147's and for self-practice I managed a 141 awhile ago and that was in a 'self match' but to me they don't count really as there is no real pressure as there is no penalty if you miss.
Terry

[itsnoteasy]

That's incredible Les ,that's pro standard, Nine out of ten screwing back into baulk, especially on your table, I would be over the moon with around half that and that's on my club table, you should believe in yourself more, because believe me if you can do that, you can play.

[lesedwards]

Les:

I'm not certain what other players count as high breaks but I only count my high breaks in actual matches. For instance, this season so far it's a 72 during the world's and lifetime it's 138 which I did about 25yrs ago. If I'm practicing with an opponent I only count those as practice and in that case this season I think I've had an 80-odd and lifetime 3 x 147's.

Then there's the line-up and self-practice and I don't count those unless I specify. This season my best line-up is 144 and lifetime I believe I've had a couple of 147's and for self-practice I managed a 141 awhile ago and that was in a 'self match' but to me they don't count really as there is no real pressure as there is no penalty if you miss.

You need to work on your match game more and since you practice a lot by yourself you have to devise a method where you can apply a bit of pressure or else a method where you reward yourself for a high break, for instance saying to yourself 'I won't go for a smoke until I have a 40+ break or something like that and then a smoke and a coffee for a 50+.

Start with your present high break during self practice. If that's a 38 then a coffee and a smoke if you beat that with say a 42 which is your new target. Now thbis method has a side benefit of course in that you'll be smoking a lot less but when you haven't had a smoke for an hour and you approach your previous high break I'll bet you'll try and concentrate better to try and beat that break.

But, as I said you (for some reason) expect to see virtually daily improvement and snooker just doesn't work that way, especially when a player is a little older, so again I'll say...DISCIPLINE AND PATIENCE!

Terry

LMAO . I will give it a try. If you here that Les Edwards is in the hospital with nicotine and caffeine withdrawal you will know why. The only practice that I do that does put pressure on and probably why I steer away from it is the line up. If you remember a post a while ago "I hate line ups" . I think that was me or I know I contributed. Okay time to get away from potting easy stuff for two hours and work on the stuff that I steer away from. I think I am potting good but really I am not.

[Terry Davidson]

j6uk:

The 147's on the line-up came about by me playing poor position, usually on the pink so that playing for the black was easier position. I use the 4-6-5 config on the line-up so 10 blacks is easy to do and I could choose a red between pink and blue where I could get on the black however I feel it helps my game more to play for reds/pinks in the middle rather than taking one to the yellow pocket and playing for the black, which I wouldn't do in a match unless a 147 was on.

Les:

You should be aware that most players, even pros, will practice the line-up and there's a good reason for that and it is because it quickly teaches you cueball control, especially if you do it right and think 2 shots ahead and also decide where and how much power you're going to use when you're standing behind the shot.

I've seen clips where Trump, Ronnie, Maguire and a bunch of other top pros are practicing the line-up and they use it as a warm-up to get their cue arm working and their heads together so they are thinking about cueball control. The pots in the line-up are normally easy and this allows a player who is learning to concentrate on cueball control.

Do not avoid the line-up just because it's tough. Keep track of your high line-up break in your head and use that as the challenge to beat so you can reward yourself with a ciggy and coffee. Use the 2-6-7 configuration or 2-5-6-2(above blue) and when you get up to 100 at that then alter it to a harder configuration, like 3-6-6 and move towards 4-6-5 and always use the topmost red as your starter with the cueball always in the same position but on both sides of the table.

If you practice the line-up properly and with disclipline you should start seeing better cueball control and higher breaks and this will automatically translate to your normal frames.

Terry

[j6uk]

if you wanna get back to your multi-max ways try doing the pink cross but instead of 15 pinks do blacks. might make you cut out those fag breaks, keep you up at night and stop talking to misses, but if you get it under the old nut sack you'll be flying come the world next year..

j6uk:

The 147's on the line-up came about by me playing poor position, usually on the pink so that playing for the black was easier position. I use the 4-6-5 config on the line-up so 10 blacks is easy to do and I could choose a red between pink and blue where I could get on the black however I feel it helps my game more to play for reds/pinks in the middle rather than taking one to the yellow pocket and playing for the black, which I wouldn't do in a match unless a 147 was on.

Terry

[itsnoteasy]

I was 11 years of age when I started playing golf and by the time I was 16 I was breaking par on a regular basis. I basically lived there playing or practicing every day. Now I am 50 and started laying Snooker last year or at least taking it serious, so like Terry has said in other posts I expect too much too quick. The old saying you have to walk before you run.

I definitely think you are far to hard on yourself Les, I think you are doing great for just starting out, if you think it took you five years to be good at golf, and that's when you were young(no offence lol) and the learning curve can be very quick indeed, now as happens to us all, the eye sights a bit dimmer and the coordination a little slower it may take twice that time, so if you think of it that way, you are way ahead of where you should be, don't worry what others think of you when playing, play for your own improvement and enjoyment, it will come to you I'm sure of that, as you must have that inner talent, of excellent hand eye coordination, to have got to the standard of golf you did, just keep doing what Terry tells you and you won't go far wrong, and give yourself a break, you are doing well.

[itsnoteasy]

Getting back to the product, I'm guessing it is an accelerometer Nic has on his wrist ,a single axis one, could you have a triple axis one that would also show a lateral and vertical trace which could show the cue coming through level, and if there was side to side movement during the cue action? Would this work?

[lesedwards]

I definitely think you are far to hard on yourself Les, I think you are doing great for just starting out, if you think it took you five years to be good at golf, and that's when you were young(no offence lol) and the learning curve can be very quick indeed, now as happens to us all, the eye sights a bit dimmer and the coordination a little slower it may take twice that time, so if you think of it that way, you are way ahead of where you should be, don't worry what others think of you when playing, play for your own improvement and enjoyment, it will come to you I'm sure of that, as you must have that inner talent, of excellent hand eye coordination, to have got to the standard of golf you did, just keep doing what Terry tells you and you won't go far wrong, and give yourself a break, you are doing well.

Thanks for the kind advice. I know I am hard on myself, I find Snooker so much like golf and maybe that is why I get down on myself. I go down to the table and I feel like I should be able to move the cue ball around like I do a golf ball but when it does not happen then I get down on myself and next goes my confidence and the next thing I know I am back to square one looking like I have never played the game before. Then I start the process all over again and start to build my confidence. Also not easy wirh my 3-1/4" pockets which are changing the first week of Jan to club pockets 3-5/8"

[itsnoteasy]

Thanks for the kind advice. I know I am hard on myself, I find Snooker so much like golf and maybe that is why I get down on myself. I go down to the table and I feel like I should be able to move the cue ball around like I do a golf ball but when it does not happen then I get down on myself and next goes my confidence and the next thing I know I am back to square one looking like I have never played the game before. Then I start the process all over again and start to build my confidence. Also not easy wirh my 3-1/4" pockets which are changing the first week of Jan to club pockets 3-5/8"

Getting the pockets changed will definitely help, as you say,when I went to see Chris I got down on the black and said, where the hell did the pocket go lol, balls that would have easily went in on the club tables didn't have a chance and the table was so fast I couldn't cue right it took me half the day to get comfortable on it,(I was also a bit star struck , being Scottish , and Chris being from the era I watched snooker it was a big deal for me to meet him) maybe Terry will try out Nics thing on you, and get that cue action smoothed right out.

[lesedwards]

Getting the pockets changed will definitely help, as you say,when I went to see Chris I got down on the black and said, where the hell did the pocket go lol, balls that would have easily went in on the club tables didn't have a chance and the table was so fast I couldn't cue right it took me half the day to get comfortable on it,(I was also a bit star struck , being Scottish , and Chris being from the era I watched snooker it was a big deal for me to meet him) maybe Terry will try out Nics thing on you, and get that cue action smoothed right out.

Yes that was the plan for tomorrow but we suffered a severe ice storm here this weekend and now I have major work to look after tomorrow and i am thinking Terry is still without hydro at his place. I have not seen Terry post anything today. Speaking of Chris I felt the same way when I went to see Clif Thorburn. Here I am talking with a world champion and that day my cue was making a real hollow sound so here I am potting hi & lo blacks with Cliff Thoburns cue which he gave to me to use during my coaching session. I am really looking forward to trying Nic's new thing.