Potting With Side

[tedisbill]

I think what bothers me, is people seem to suggest or think that you haven't got go use side in snooker. Unfortunately, you have. I'm not saying you're suggesting that J6, just that it comes across sometimes like players don't need to worry about using side, when they absolutely do.

[tedisbill]

from my experiance if a players got a good white and getting right on most shots then side wouldn't be used so much, you'd simply move up an down on the center of white and play more stun and less side. especially in good conditions. use a bit more on a rug with wood cushions..
but each to their own. be a good idea to see some big breaks and try and spot the side
subconscious side, could be a new thread

Yeah I think generally you'd be playing stuns and screws. Maybe 30-40% of the time, you'll be needing to use side.

[j6uk]

Yes. You need side all the time in the balls to tweak position. It's also a lot better to use than side rather than stun in a lot of cases. If you're going to make big breaks consistently, you'll need to be using side in the balls.

You're a good player, and don't think you use it. My guess would be, that actually, you do naturally play with side and don't even realise it.

from my experiance if a players got a good white and getting right on most shots then side wouldn't be used so much, you'd simply move up an down on the center of white and play more stun and less side. especially in good conditions. use a bit more on a rug with wood cushions..
but each to their own. be a good idea to see some big breaks and try and spot the side
subconscious side, could be a new thread

[tedisbill]

any particular reason

Yes. You need side all the time in the balls to tweak position. It's also a lot better to use than side rather than stun in a lot of cases. If you're going to make big breaks consistently, you'll need to be using side in the balls.

You're a good player, and don't think you use it. My guess would be, that actually, you do naturally play with side and don't even realise it.

[j6uk]

Sorry, can't agree with that at all.

any particular reason

[focus]

Keep experimenting and learning Tommykiid, keep it all simple at first I would say then increase the difficulty as you feel right.
We all get it right and wrong at times.
A shot I like to practise is a straight black on its spot and trying varying amounts of reverse side.

Every cue and more importantly, different types of tips do different things w.r.t. throw. That's why we have to learn to understand our cues/tips and why most players hate to change cues after a while. All he has to do it attempt the pot with running side or check side until he succeeds (as VMax has suggested). He will automatically learn bit by bit how to adjust the throw for a short, medium and long range pot and everything in between. But that's just for one application of degree of side. With the myriad of degrees, he'll have more learning to do. But no diagrams or formulae are going to help him pot a ball because snooker is experiential, played in four dimension, not on a piece of paper. Formulae have never ever potted a ball. It takes years to learn and understand spin of all types no matter how little time it takes to understand the theory of spin and throw.

[tedisbill]

for the breakoff, snookers and safety exchanges side is used all the time. brek building in the reds, not so much.
less is more

Sorry, can't agree with that at all.

[j6uk]

for the breakoff, snookers and safety exchanges side is used all the time. brek building in the reds, not so much.
less is more

[mikeyd100]

Keep experimenting and learning Tommykiid, keep it all simple at first I would say then increase the difficulty as you feel right.
We all get it right and wrong at times.
A shot I like to practise is a straight black on its spot and trying varying amounts of reverse side.

[throtts]

Just been playing around the black and pink with reds. I used side around 40% of the time in one break to keep the cue ball tight to the black. As vmax states, a pro will use side, traces or quite a bit.

[vmax4steve]

Agreed. Cue sports are all about mastery of centre ball (vertical axis). Spin for show, centre for dough.

Rubbish, all the top players use side an awful lot more than you realise, it's impossible to always get perfect position to only use centre ball striking, side is a must to make big breaks.

Anyone interested in actually helping the original poster, or are you all off doing your own thing now?

How does he practice playing side? Should he actually be doing that? If not what strategies should he be employing?

Did it, but if he wants to ignore advice taken from a 6 time world champion, one Mr. Ray Reardon who mentored Ronnie and turned him into a tactical machine..........................

20-30 break players have no business with side spin.

Then they shall remain 20-30 break players.

Thats true but i think its hilarious how a lil question about side can spark all this off haha

It's big shot Tommy, jumps all over any thread that can be linked to Dr. know all Dave, and neither of them can play the bloody game.
Take note of my post, it all works as I stated, no need to know the physical laws that are taking place, just see the results and learn from them. Same goes for you too Biggie, see the results, adjust and learn, it ain't a physics exam, you won't get an A for knowing why you missed, you'll be sat in your seat watching a moron knock the rest of the balls in simply by hitting what he's looking at.

[AndrewGrabham]

but........there always seems to be a but :biggrin-new:

[Hello, Mr Big Shot]

but having a basic understanding of how a ball will react when hit a certain way will most certainly help

That is all anyone is suggesting, along with agreed terminology that is not confusing.

But what is it about this that is so threatening? Why does having a specific name for, for instance, throw, yield such paranoia around these parts?

I shudder to think the reaction the person got when he first suggested describing low striking as 'screw'. "B-b-but we've always called it 'striking the white round thing at the bottom with the long wooden thing to make it go backwards' and we ain't for changing! Now, where's me pitchfork?"

[AndrewGrabham]

power is power

knowledge is knowledge

practice is everything!

[AndrewGrabham]

then you're simply not going to get better

practice is power

but having a basic understanding of how a ball will react when hit a certain way will most certainly help

a rugby ref or any ref would know a certain game inside out...........but that would not make them good at the actual sport??