Cue Ball control

[The Doctor]

Having received a few messages from members regarding this subject, i thought it would be better to start a thread rather than replying to each one separately. perhaps anyone with good tips or routines can add to this thread. cue ball control is essential for break building as is playing for margin for error. i will try my best to give some good idea but i am sure you will appreciate it is hard to explain everything in words.

: With a red on the black spot and the white set up about 12-15inches away, parallel with the black spot and the top cushion. put all six colours across the table in line with the pink spot. space each ball about 3" apart, have 3 left side of pink spot and 3 right side. from this position, practise trying to pot the red and make a cannon with each colour in sequence. experiment with different pace shots. this will give you a good basis for cue ball control. do the same exercise with the white positioned high on the red. so when you pot the red you must come off the top cushion and make the cannon.

[The Doctor]

We have all probably practised the line up!! try this method.
:2 reds below black, 6 between pink and black and 7 between pink and blue.
try to do this excercise without hitting a cushion every shot. and then try it hitting a cushion every shot. you will notise that the less the cue ball travells the easier it is to control. good practise routine to put lots of shots in your game.

hope this helps. any more questions i am happyto help.

[miscuehamburg]

Thanks for advice. A small sketch for the first one might be helpfull though

[Robert602]

Some people are hard to please

Is this what you had in mind Doc? (attached)

I'll try that one next time I'm at the club. I've played every flavour of the line-up but never seen that routine before, looks like a good way to practise a key breakbuilding skill.

It is good of you to share your wisdom on here, especially considering you're used to getting paid for it. Cheers

[Sam147]

that's an excellent routine & increases one's confidence & self belief when building a break around the black area... i do it quite a lot but i always put the black on its spot as i find it easier to pot a red or any other color on the black spot (i've even had my highest break 7 reds/pinks when the pink was on the black spot)... so i'm working a lot on the black itself coz i often find difficulty judging the potting angle on the black

thanks for the tip Doc & thanks for the illustration diagram Robert

[The Doctor]

yes well done Robert.

[MrRottweiler]

To get really advanced try the line-up without letting the cue ball or object balls hit any cusions

[samasnookerfan]

that's an excellent routine & increases one's confidence & self belief when building a break around the black area... i do it quite a lot but i always put the black on its spot as i find it easier to pot a red or any other color on the black spot (i've even had my highest break 7 reds/pinks when the pink was on the black spot)... so i'm working a lot on the black itself coz i often find difficulty judging the potting angle on the black

thanks for the tip Doc & thanks for the illustration diagram Robert

It's funny you should say that as I find the black harder to pot then other balls too!
While practicing on my 5ft table I can knock any other colour on the black spot time and time again, then with the black I seem to miss it more often.
I don't have a clue why.
It must be harder to judge the angle on the black the with other balls I suppose, and i'm almost certain that it isn't physcological and that the reason i'm missing is the fact it's the black and that it's the highest value colour in Snooker.
However Ronnie O'Sullivan doesn't seem to have that problem.

[Sam147]

It's funny you should say that as I find the black harder to pot then other balls too!
While practicing on my 5ft table I can knock any other colour on the black spot time and time again, then with the black I seem to miss it more often.
I don't have a clue why.
It must be harder to judge the angle on the black the with other balls I suppose, and i'm almost certain that it isn't physcological and that the reason i'm missing is the fact it's the black and that it's the highest value colour in Snooker.
However Ronnie O'Sullivan doesn't seem to have that problem.

i'm almost sure it's not psychological... i usually divide/dissect the object ball into longitudinal lines & probably those lines are a bit harder to define on the black ball (to me at least) but certainly practising a lot on the black ball on its spot is helping matters a great deal

[Monique]

I'm almost sure also it is not psychological. I use (often unconsciously) the reflections of the light on the balls to mentally "mark off" the spot where I want to make contact. Depending on the environment this is more or less reliable of course. But definitely the blue and even more so the black "shine" less. The black spot is also often less well lit that the more central spots.

[MrRottweiler]

Monique, I also use the light reflections on the ball as a marker and it works well. This is why I'm obsessive about polished balls

[Mellow Yellow]

Monique, I also use the light reflections on the ball as a marker and it works well. This is why I'm obsessive about polished balls

I have though about this technique but surely the reflections move on the ball from where you sight the potting angle to where you cue the ball?

Or am i misunderstanding?

[Monique]

Yes, they do. How much they move varies with the angles. So you have to adjust and that requires practice. But still, it helps.