Straight cueing

[CoachGavin]

Straight cueing

To be honest surely if you strike the cue ball where you want to then you will pot a high percentage. Ideally it would be great if we aimed for the middle of the cue ball and then cued perfectly straight. However i think this is rare and many top professionals cue slightly off but years of practice have enabled them to correct slight flaws. As for looking at the object ball I'm sure there are plenty of other reasons for missing especially when some players look at the cue ball on strike anyway.

[j6uk]

That may be so, and I'm not disputing anything on this thread about needing to cue straight, but take your eye off the object ball on an angled pot and you're walking back to your chair.

It's a bona fide fact that human hand eye co-ordination evolved over millennia and is engrained within the subconscious. You will hit what you're looking at, you will catch what you're looking at, you won't avoid what you're not looking at as recently happened to australian cricketer Phil Hughes.

There is even an area in the brain that reacts to sound in the same way the eyes react to visual stimulae in regards to directing the hand. That's why sound can make you miss even when you don't take your eye off the ball. It's a defence mechanism from way back when humans lived within nature and not outside it.

It isn't hard to move a cue straight over six inches when looking at the cue, but put a target in front of you that's split into different zones, like in snooker or pool, where there are options open to your eyes and your eyes can easily wander to the wrong target like the cue ball or the pocket or another object ball or chalk mark on the table; a spectator or referee moving can catch your eye as well.

Eyes on the object ball is the most crucial aspect of the game, do this and you can play snooker well. To be great though takes years of dedication, practise and love for the game.

this is not about ob. od is sorted. im talking about cueing straight, your skimming over it and saying its not hard. i know you ain't done this training vmax. please try a max power stroke along the baulk line then come back.
if you can eat the baulk line through the center of your cue a full pelt piston like with no wobble 9/10.. well then we can asses the benefits of this high end training that all the best have done and still do

[hotpot]

To be honest surely if you strike the cue ball where you want to then you will pot a high percentage. Ideally it would be great if we aimed for the middle of the cue ball and then cued perfectly straight. However i think this is rare and many top professionals cue slightly off but years of practice have enabled them to correct slight flaws. As for looking at the object ball I'm sure there are plenty of other reasons for missing especially when some players look at the cue ball on strike anyway.

Good post Gav and i agree , You can look at the object ball till your blue in the face if you cant hit hit middle of the white it means nowt . That is the hardest thing in the game to do consistently .

[tedisbill]

I think people really underestimate how difficult it is to have a really refined, smooth, controlled delivery of the cue. There's a lot of tiny subtle elements that make up a great delivery of the cue. Do not underestimate how hard it is to deliver the cue straight, and also, with the perfect timing.

[jono*]

Can somebody please elaborate a little on the set up of the 'matchbox' training that can be done easily at home. Thanks

[tedisbill]

Can somebody please elaborate a little on the set up of the 'matchbox' training that can be done easily at home. Thanks

Here's our very own forum member, Alabadi, demonstrating it:
http://youtu.be/rT1b63O2er4

[j6uk]

Good post Gav and i agree , You can look at the object ball till your blue in the face if you cant hit hit middle of the white it means nowt . That is the hardest thing in the game to do consistently .

yes but if you gotta piston like cueaction you more than half way there

[jono*]

Here's our very own forum member, Alabadi, demonstrating it:
http://youtu.be/rT1b63O2er4

Cheers for that.. No matchbox to hand so may just use a wine bottle...

[j6uk]

What im saying is you cant compare cueing along a line with actually playing a shot , there is no comparison imo . im no expert or coach and dont confess to be but i believe what im saying is correct . Its a bit like the one you hear all too often , when im playing on my own i pot everything , why because youre relaxed , there is no pressure on you at all .

again you aint done the work so you wouldn't know how good it is so

[Terry Davidson]

Cheers for that.. No matchbox to hand so may just use a wine bottle...

Try and get a plastic soda bottle with a narrow neck and smooth off the edges as that will be easier on your tip and cue than class which might damage the wood especially if you're not cueing straight.

I forgot to mention in my long post that in order to achieve straighter cueing you have to have the piston delivery from ONLY the elbow as j6 mentioned above as it's the only way to provide a good foundation for straight cueing.

The other point is I suspect even in the pro ranks there are very few players who deliver the cue absolutely straight right to the end of the delivery. I've seen this with John Higgins on a power shot and (heaven's forbid) even with Ronnie on a power shot. I think there are only a few pros who have a straight delivery and I would suspect even them on a high power shot but closest would probably be Steve Davis, Shaun Murphy and Stephen Lee.

Terry

[hotpot]

again you aint done the work so you wouldn't know how good it is so

J6 im sorry but there is no comparison , its a different ball game all together , there is no emphasis on the shot when there are no balls involved .

[vmax4steve]

this is not about ob. od is sorted. im talking about cueing straight, your skimming over it and saying its not hard. i know you ain't done this training vmax. please try a max power stroke along the baulk line then come back.
if you can eat the baulk line through the center of your cue a full pelt piston like with no wobble 9/10.. well then we can asses the benefits of this high end training that all the best have done and still do

I've done all the exercises and I can max power through a matchbox OK, all I'm saying is that a straight cue action won't save you if you take your eye off the object ball which is something I do very often, every other shot when I'm playing badly.

It's my Achilles heel and I believe a lot of other players as well. Get yourself a straight cue action, yes I agree, but just rolling your cue along the baulk line doesn't prepare you for focussing on the object ball when you're actually playing.

The two things must go together which is the reason I pitched in. We are dealing with people on this forum who have a literal take on everything they read, who will try your baulk line test, and then take that to the match table and keep looking at their cues when trying to pot balls.

[Terry Davidson]

I've done all the exercises and I can max power through a matchbox OK, all I'm saying is that a straight cue action won't save you if you take your eye off the object ball which is something I do very often, every other shot when I'm playing badly.

It's my Achilles heel and I believe a lot of other players as well. Get yourself a straight cue action, yes I agree, but just rolling your cue along the baulk line doesn't prepare you for focussing on the object ball when you're actually playing.

The two things must go together which is the reason I pitched in. We are dealing with people on this forum who have a literal take on everything they read, who will try your baulk line test, and then take that to the match table and keep looking at their cues when trying to pot balls.

Why I recommend having an object ball on the baulkline in front of the mirror so the player can focus on it during the delivery.

[j6uk]

J6 im sorry but there is no comparison , its a different ball game all together , there is no emphasis on the shot when there are no balls involved .

and this in many ways makes it harder. then tell me why all the best do it?

[hotpot]

Try and get a plastic soda bottle with a narrow neck and smooth off the edges as that will be easier on your tip and cue than class which might damage the wood especially if you're not cueing straight.

I forgot to mention in my long post that in order to achieve straighter cueing you have to have the piston delivery from ONLY the elbow as j6 mentioned above as it's the only way to provide a good foundation for straight cueing.

The other point is I suspect even in the pro ranks there are very few players who deliver the cue absolutely straight right to the end of the delivery. I've seen this with John Higgins on a power shot and (heaven's forbid) even with Ronnie on a power shot. I think there are only a few pros who have a straight delivery and I would suspect even them on a high power shot but closest would probably be Steve Davis, Shaun Murphy and Stephen Lee.

Terry

Ding has got to be up there Tel , even Steve Davis the master cueist in his prime went through a spell when he could,nt hit the middle of the white and his form suffered as a result .