Looking for advice when poor form hits

[greatwhite]

BEEN PLAYING REALLY WELL OF LATE, THE PAST FEW MONTHS HAVE BEEN GREAT BUT AS YOU DO IVE HIT A PATCH OF POOR FORM,
NOW IM NOT GOING TO TRY SOME NEW SECRET TECHNIQUE OR TINKER(been down that road to many times before)
BUT IM LOOKING FOR SOME ADVICE WHAT TO DO?
STOP PLAYING FRAMES WITH PLAYERS?
GO BACK TO SOLO PRACTICE FOR A FEWDAYS
GO BACK TO BASICS WHITE OVER SPOTS?
OR KEEP PLAYING
I KNOW THIS IS ONLY A PATCH OF POOR FORM JUST LIKE PEOPLE HIT PATCHES OF GREAT FORM,
JUST WONDERED IS THERE ANY ADVICE TO GT OUT OF IT QUICKER!!!!

[Ramon]

BEEN PLAYING REALLY WELL OF LATE, THE PAST FEW MONTHS HAVE BEEN GREAT BUT AS YOU DO IVE HIT A PATCH OF POOR FORM,
NOW IM NOT GOING TO TRY SOME NEW SECRET TECHNIQUE OR TINKER(been down that road to many times before)
BUT IM LOOKING FOR SOME ADVICE WHAT TO DO?
STOP PLAYING FRAMES WITH PLAYERS?
GO BACK TO SOLO PRACTICE FOR A FEWDAYS
GO BACK TO BASICS WHITE OVER SPOTS?
OR KEEP PLAYING
I KNOW THIS IS ONLY A PATCH OF POOR FORM JUST LIKE PEOPLE HIT PATCHES OF GREAT FORM,
JUST WONDERED IS THERE ANY ADVICE TO GT OUT OF IT QUICKER!!!!

I'm not a coach , but i think if you just put the past few months ( and the great form you had ) out of your mind ,, that could help you to find your form back !!
i do'nt know about you , but for me : the main rule of snooker is to be able to forget about the shot you just have played OR what you did yesterday !!
anyway,, i'm sure you will get sum better comments here.
hope u enjoy ur game !!

[fredkite]

Looking for advice when poor form hits

I've been struggling for the last month and typical me blamed my cue, tip, shoes, Polish people and my Mastiff, Bernard. Last night I concentrated on my technique, just tried cueing straight and lo and behold knocked in an 85 clearance, my highest ever. If you have good technique, you will play well again.

[Terry Davidson]

Just do a little solo practice and pay attention to the very basics of good form:

1. Stay still
2. Keep the grip relaxed but firm (sounds stupid I know, but there it is)
3. Keep the backswing slow, slow enough that you can keep it absolutely straight.
4. Do not start the delivery abruptly and keep the grip loose.
5. Eyes on object ball at time of strike.
6. Stay down and still at the end of the delivery, make sure you have accelerated through AND BEYOND the cueball.

Sounds simple enough but in reality is very hard to do consistently, especially not tightening the grip.

[MikeTheBigMonster]

i need that too

[buddfridgeman]

If I am playing someone I will try and play back into form..I do this by playing very simple shots well and score a few points ,build on that by playing good simple safety shots to keep my opponent off the table.

I have to be very focused because I want to take risky shots on but turning these down and keeping it tight often does the trick for me...good luck

[bridgy50]

I have also been in a bad patch and had tried changing my grip. stance etc, but after reading Terry Davidsons post I decided to go back to basics, head still, eyes on object ball and making sure I get through the white (a weakness of mine) have just been up my local WMC and had a 67 break beating my previous best of 60, off up the snooker club tonight so hope it continues

[inevermissblue]

been playing really well of late, the past few months have been great but as you do ive hit a patch of poor form,
now im not going to try some new secret technique or tinker(been down that road to many times before)
but im looking for some advice what to do?
Stop playing frames with players?
Go back to solo practice for a fewdays
go back to basics white over spots?
Or keep playing
i know this is only a patch of poor form just like people hit patches of great form,
just wondered is there any advice to gt out of it quicker!!!!

sighting!!! Its the answer to all questions!

[inevermissblue]

I have also been in a bad patch and had tried changing my grip. stance etc, but after reading Terry Davidsons post I decided to go back to basics, head still, eyes on object ball and making sure I get through the white (a weakness of mine) have just been up my local WMC and had a 67 break beating my previous best of 60, off up the snooker club tonight so hope it continues

Hahaha! Eyes on the object ball! Like its the only way to play the game. Makes me smile every time I read that.

[inevermissblue]

I have also been in a bad patch and had tried changing my grip. stance etc, but after reading Terry Davidsons post I decided to go back to basics, head still, eyes on object ball and making sure I get through the white (a weakness of mine) have just been up my local WMC and had a 67 break beating my previous best of 60, off up the snooker club tonight so hope it continues

Hahaha! Eyes on the object ball! Like its the only way to play the game. Makes me smile every time I read that. Sighting the object ball only ever does one thing to amateurs. Damage their confidence! By all means spend hours and hours on the table, but do you really want to waste so much time! We all have better things to do than that I'm sure. I know I do.

[Ramon]

Hahaha! Eyes on the object ball! Like its the only way to play the game. Makes me smile every time I read that. Sighting the object ball only ever does one thing to amateurs. Damage their confidence! By all means spend hours and hours on the table, but do you really want to waste so much time! We all have better things to do than that I'm sure. I know I do.

no one said is the only way. but this way is recommended by many coaches!!
some coaches ( like C Henry),do believe that by looking at the CB at the time of striking, you can also play the game well!!!

[DandyA]

Hahaha! Eyes on the object ball! Like its the only way to play the game. Makes me smile every time I read that. Sighting the object ball only ever does one thing to amateurs. Damage their confidence! By all means spend hours and hours on the table, but do you really want to waste so much time! We all have better things to do than that I'm sure. I know I do.

can you explain that a bit more please?

[Byrom]

Bad form indicates you are a decent player - so here is what I do - I try not to bring my expectations to the table - as this breeds disappointment/distraction - I just focus on the here and now good or bad and move on,

During a game i just remember to keep my eye on the object ball as I go into shot and play faster - give myself less to think about - maybe play some good safety - play for the opening or an easy starter to get the arm/timing going.

During a game if I am being potted off the table i usually hum a tune to myself stop any negative thoughts or nonsense creeping in


If that don't win the day and bad form persists -

1. Put cue away for a while -
2. Do something completely different.
3. Come back refreshed and hungry.

If you suffer from snooker pain - take a practice pill and repeat and repeat - often as possible.

Snooker Pain does not go away completely but - and being on the pill is a precaution Also mentally it helps I think if you have a routine - maybe something like mine that helps you chill during the game - and away from it - sun shine always follows rain so take your brolly with you.

[Zhuge]

Not sure if this helps as I'm an amateur player, during the bad days, I'll know it right after the first 3-5 cueing where everything seems uncertain & wrong and you know something is not right even during cue feathering. On these days, I'll normally lose 2-3 frames then stop and become a mourning audience. Not until last month when I played a local ex-semipro player, named UncleX, aged 55, and at Frame1, I've missed 3 blues on consecutive turns and before I know it, it was 58pts vs 3pts and ended the match with less than 20 pts on board. I continue to lose the next 2 frames and knew I couldn't play anymore, not for the day and probably not for the week, just like before. But UncleX smiled and said that I needed a "reset", which struck me faced in, and he just set the ball again and perform his usual break leaving the white in between of green and brown zone with 2 half chances at rear end. And gave me a set of instructions which I followed precisely and then after, I potted the red, followed by black, red, black and a safety. This what he has taught me:

1. Check your Sighting Alignment; Choose a ball which is about 3-4 ft away, align it straight regardless of where the pocket is, and walk into the shot. Once down, ask yourself if that's a dead straight shot, you know its off if you can't see a dead straight line and wobbles left and right trying to find the centre point when you are down and you will need to address your walk in setup again, slowly. You will know its straight when its straight, then you eliminate the first part of the problem.

2. Straight Cueing check; I was told to hold the butt end 3-4 inches higher, and move the bridge an inch or so closer to the cue ball. What this does is limit your backswing length and follow thru, while bring you slightly closer to the cueball. This will help reduce error if you are not cueing straight, but it will also reduce the cue action significantly. Slowly move back to your normal style once you confirm your cueing is straight.

3. Potting yourself back into Norm; Ask yourself if you can placed the next shot disregarding its value by playing slightly top of the centre ball follow thru, if yes, then do it, what this does is resetting your cue timing and letting your brain redo the calculation and "feel" the cueball (this sounded kinky :P).

Before I know it, I was playing back to my norm and beyond as confidence grew thru every shot and every frame.
Of course, I still suffer from bad inconsistency but its no longer bad days or week, only bad shots or frames and so far so good, I managed to do fast reset.

Another piece of advice, when you are playing with another social player and not a close friend, and the "bad patch" happens, we tend to rush abit and make matters worse. Just hold your hand up and said to your opponent that you are not feeling the shot and might take abit longer than usual. This used to be my main problem but it took me awhile to address this and accept that its ok to be a Slow-Potter rather than a Fast-Silly-Blind-Non-Potter.

(Please do note that this is based on my personal experience with my limited understanding of the game which may or may not work for you and it may be wrong from a coaching stance point)

Z.