Why after four years can I not run more then eight.

[lesedwards]

Sounds like you need some help to me Les. No amount of practice will sort your problems if you are consistently doing the wrong things.

Go and see Terry for coaching. It won't be an overnight fix, but you need to listen to his advise and put it all into practice EVERY TIME you play.

You are probably right, big problem I am two hours from Terry and our weather is crazy right now. 10cm of snow today and another 10 coming Christmas Eve.

[sealer]

Les your action is bad. You don't get any feel for the shot the way you are cueing. It is too manufactured. Get a good player to work on your action to get a bit of a feel for the shot.

[Cue crafty]

hey Les, got a non technical idea to shake up your jam. What music do you love? I've seen world champions listen to MNM while practising to put them in the zone they want to be in. Snooker needs solid fundamentals but I also believe it needs rhythm to help your timiming.

One other massive thing is stop talking and thinking numbers, it's unhealthy. A good chance is only that nothing more, it's doesn't have a number, it requires well thought out positional shots and it starts with 1 it ends when you expect too much and want it to equal or better the break you made earlier in practice. Erase the memory of the "number" but remember the technique and pace/rhythm of every shot, one at a time.

Beleive me, from Metal to Jaaazzzz, it can help. You need to feel it....

[lesedwards]

hey Les, got a non technical idea to shake up your jam. What music do you love? I've seen world champions listen to MNM while practising to put them in the zone they want to be in. Snooker needs solid fundamentals but I also believe it needs rhythm to help your timiming.

Beleive me, from Metal to Jaaazzzz, it can help. You need to feel it....

Interesting I will give that a try.

Les your action is bad. You don't get any feel for the shot the way you are cueing. It is too manufactured. Get a good player to work on your action to get a bit of a feel for the shot.

Not sure where you seen my action but I have been down that path. Worked with Both Terry Davidson and also Cliff Thorburn but both are two hours away so not on any regular basis.

[sealer]

Interesting I will give that a try.

Not sure where you seen my action but I have been down that path. Worked with Both Terry Davidson and also Cliff Thorburn but both are two hours away so not on any regular basis.

Your action has been published here many times. All I am saying from following your story is:

1. copy someone with a more free flowing action rather then staying with what you got(Terry's not a great example as his action is very short, stiff and slightly jerky) if you want something simple and easy to go with but still flowing check tedisbill out - notice how he is getting a feel for the shot while feathering. Action like this will let you get a bit more flow into your game - that is where the enjoyment comes from. Get an action that you like - or like the feel of rather then sth you think you should have

2. enjoy the game without to much expectation. Don't get too bogged down on little things. Every now and again work on something in practice if you notice a fault or something keeps creeping in.

[lesedwards]

Your action has been published here many times. All I am saying from following your story is:

1. copy someone with a more free flowing action rather then staying with what you got(Terry's not a great example as his action is very short, stiff and slightly jerky) if you want something simple and easy to go with but still flowing check tedisbill out - notice how he is getting a feel for the shot while feathering. Action like this will let you get a bit more flow into your game - that is where the enjoyment comes from. Get an action that you like - or like the feel of rather then sth you think you should have

2. enjoy the game without to much expectation. Don't get too bogged down on little things. Every now and again work on something in practice if you notice a fault or something keeps creeping in.

I am actually much better then the action I had back then. Longer back swing and not so quick n jerky. I will try and post a new video on here so everyone can tweak it. Or should I say rip it a part.��

[inevermissblue]

I decided today to go back to the Real basics. The lineup with just 15 reds. These are basic potting angles as far as I am concerned. After an hour the best I managed was 11 before I missed. I fell apart on most around 6. Not because iof bad position just a bad pot. I am embarrassed to say I have a match table in a beautiful Snooker room in my basement and after four years I cannot even run through a basic 15 red lineup. So frustrating. I know you guys say just have fun well this is not fun.

Don't let recent events kill your love for the game. Especially by tormenting yourself with a lineup drill. This will just demoralise you even more.
Set up the 51 clearance drill I devised for myself. Place all colours on their spots. Then place a red on the cushion directly under the Black. Then a red inbetween pink and black and a final red about 12-18 inches away from either Black corner pocket.
Stun the long red to hold for the black and proceed to make a 51 clearance. This will give you a clear indication of where your ability is currently. This exercise demonstrates most shots required in the game, especially the colour clearance. Stick with it and keep doing it until you are capable of clearing them. There are just 12 shots to play as opposed to 36 in the lineup! This would sharpen up any player of any ability. Video yourself doing this and repeat each shot you miss or lose position on.


20170921_212246.png

[lesedwards]

Don't let recent events kill your love for the game. Especially by tormenting yourself with a lineup drill. This will just demoralise you even more.
Set up the 51 clearance drill I devised for myself. Place all colours on their spots. Then place a red on the cushion directly under the Black. Then a red inbetween pink and black and a final red about 12-18 inches away from either Black corner pocket.
Stun the long red to hold for the black and proceed to make a 51 clearance. This will give you a clear indication of where your ability is currently. This exercise demonstrates most shots required in the game, especially the colour clearance. Stick with it and keep doing it until you are capable of clearing them. There are just 12 shots to play as opposed to 36 in the lineup! This would sharpen up any player of any ability. Video yourself doing this and repeat each shot you miss or lose position on.


[ATTACH=CONFIG]18988[/ATTACH]

Thanks. As always there is lots of help on here.

[tedisbill]

Copy this, Les.

Do the routine, and play the shots how he does. He seems pretty good.

[vmax]

Try the Alex Higgins cue action, short backswing and long follow through.

[Csmith]

I'm not sure changing things is really the answer. It sounds like Les can knock the balls in when he is not under pressure. I’d say the thing to look at is performance anxiety, tension, possibly additional body movement and whether or not he is following the same pre shot routine in tournament play.

If Les is missing easy pots that you can make with any cue action or set up, I doubt making changes will help much. Now, certainly there will be adjustments to be made to improve his overall ability, but I’ve found in my own experience struggling to bring your practice game out sometimes requires a different approach.

[sealer]

I'm not sure changing things is really the answer. It sounds like Les can knock the balls in when he is not under pressure. I’d the thing to look at is performance anxiety, tension, possibly additional body movement and whether or not he is following the same pre shot routine in tournament play.

If Les is missing easy pots that you can make with any cue action or set up, I doubt making changes will help much. Now, certainly there will be adjustments to be made to improve his overall ability, but I’ve found in my own experience struggling to bring your practice game out sometimes requires a different approach.

He started with a very jaby action and it will always be hard to get anything going with it. Considering the age etc he should go a bit more fluent where he can get more feel for the shot during his wiggles and stop worying about centre ball etc. Just develop a positive stroke through the ball, keep still and enjoy. To late for anything else.

All I am saying is you need a positive action to have a positive stroke. Hard to keep it really dry through your prep and then time it super sweet at the delivery (and develop it at 50+)

[Csmith]

He started with a very jaby action and it will always be hard to get anything going with it. Considering the age etc he should go a bit more fluent where he can get more feel for the shot during his wiggles and stop worying about centre ball etc. Just develop a positive stroke through the ball, keep still and enjoy. To late for anything else.

All I am saying is you need a positive action to have a positive stroke. Hard to keep it really dry through your prep and then time it super sweet at the delivery (and develop it at 50+)

I don’t disagree. But I just mean for the issue he is concerned about, the fix is less about practice routines or cueing and more about addressing whatever he is doing differently in competition. I’m betting with near perfect fundamentals he might still struggle to bring his practice game to the tournament scenario.

[tedisbill]

Nobody brings their practice game into a match. Absolutely nobody. It's just that good players are so good, that 60-70% of their game is fine in a match.

If your absolute best is 40-50 in practice, then you've got no chance of producing that in a match.

To be honest, forget breaks, it's about your consistent approach to the game.

Cue delivery, shot selection, consistency. Is Les making 40 every visit to the table.... Absolutely not! So how can you possibly expect to produce that in a match.

[lesedwards]

Nobody brings their practice game into a match. Absolutely nobody. It's just that good players are so good, that 60-70% of their game is fine in a match.

If your absolute best is 40-50 in practice, then you've got no chance of producing that in a match.

To be honest, forget breaks, it's about your consistent approach to the game.

Cue delivery, shot selection, consistency. Is Les making 40 every visit to the table.... Absolutely not! So how can you possibly expect to produce that in a match.

I agree 100%. I make regular breaks at home of 16 with a few 20’s and 30’s so 8 is probably about tight for me in match play. Hard to accept but seems to be where I am at.
Merry Christmas to everyone on TSF