Questions about cue, line of aim, table speed & playing professionally

[Dynamics]

Hello everyone! I'm new here and this is my first post. As you can probably tell from the title, I have a few questions to ask. But before that, allow me to introduce myself slightly.

I'm 19 years old this year and I'm from Malaysia. I have been playing since July 2016, and I purchased a cheap 40£ CM1 cue few weeks after starting. My highest break in practice is 26, highest break in a match would be about 15-18. I play about twice a week (2-3 hours each session) but I'm very passionate and want to improve my game heavily, so I'm planning to start practising a lot more (4-5 times a week, 1+ hour(s) each session). But before I begin my practice, I have some questions..
My questions are:

1) Is a good cue supposed to be butt-heavy? A friend of mine said that the weight of my cue is evenly distributed (or even front/shaft heavy instead of butt heavy). Is it very crucial for me to get a better cue or is it fine to start practising with it?

2) Does standing in the line of shot mean that I should stand centered to the line or the line of shot should be aligned with my right leg? (I'm a right-handed player)

3) I'm deciding between 2 different clubs to begin my practice. Quite a tough decision for me, I've always played best and feel most comfortable in club A, but feel that I should practise with faster, better condition tables. What do you guys think? Is it okay to practise with a slow table?
Club A:
-Comfortable (this is where I started playing so most of the staff know me)
-Average condition tables (quite good for a snooker club in my city, most of them have tables with terrible, terrible conditions.)
-Slow tables
-Average service (better than club B)
-No music (although there would be some loud and noisy players sometimes)
-Convenient location
-Cheaper

Club B:
-Better condition tables, balls & equipment.
-Faster tables
-Bad service
-Mid-range volume music (gets in my way)
-Less convenient location
-Slightly pricier

4) What does it take to play snooker professionally? I don't know if any of you would know how to go about it in my country, but I would love to know how to begin.

I hope to get some feedback soon!

Here is what I would say to you, if it helps. I've been playing snooker for over 20 years and to a decent standard, whilst not a hugely high amateur level. I have made breaks up to 92.

1) a cue will always be but heavy. You can tell by finding the balance point with your finger. Some use weights in the wood and the same or similar woods throughout. You can use a metal detector to find where the weight are in some cue. My Parris cue uses ebony in the but, which being denser wood than the ash shaft, gives weight to the but.

A Parris cue or expensive cue is nice, but remember Stephen Hendry won his world titles with a powerglide connoisseur cue which was bought for around £30 by his father and very probably has weights in the but. So as long as the cue is decent and has a good feel for you, use it.

2) the aligning of the leg to the shot is to try to keep the body in the same position every time such that the cue is arm relative to body position etc is the same, such that your cue action repeats. But you don't necessarily need to have feet in the same position each time. I agree be guided by your head. See the line and keep looking at the line all the way down to the shot. Your head will then be on the shot and assuming the body aligns naturally your cueing is unlikely to be affected by the position of your body.

There are two ways of moving onto the line as far as I have been taught. Stand behind the shot with feet together. See the line and just move your right foot forward in a straight line to a comfortable distance to allow your to cue to be on the line. With this way your head doesn't ever come accross the line as you get down into the shot. The other way is to stand with feet apart behind the shot like you would normally stand. You can practise these two methods potting the blue off its spot with the white in a line with the centre pockets. With your feet apart you will notice as you move your right foot to the left and onto the line, your sighting will naturally come over to the left and your eyes will come off the line and back onto it. I've always preferred the former approach as your head never comes off the line as you get down into the shot.

But much more important is things like the grip, and cueing with the cue going equidistant back on the backswing to the same amount on the forward swing. Watch hendry do that, it's like a pendulum. You want your fingers all in contact with the cue and the coaches technique is to say hold the cue vertical at the butt with all fingers wrapped around the cue. Now push it forward and back and that replicates the sensation on the hand of the backswing and follow through. The cue should always finish in the chest - watch O'Sullivan and you want the cue parallel with the table is best. You want to be conscious of how the elbow is aligned and keep it vertical as possible but it's possible you will naturally align this and if you do and pot well keep with it. The most important thing to be conscious off is grooving an action with the grip and and back and follow through and always keep still on the shot. The Steve Davis technique was always to not move until the object ball has either gone in the pocket or touched a cushion. Moving even small amounts makes the eyes compensate with the cue so you will cue accross the shot. For amateurs the amount players move is small but still it's quite big compared to pros. But keep a mindset you don't mind if you miss and always work on the temperament side and not allow thoughts to cloud your judgement like you could miss this or not. It could translate into a head movement and if that effects cueing, you will miss. That's why you tend to find the best snooker players have great temperament and are not affected by nerves, pressure. Therefore psychological affects do not translate into physical ones which can make them miss as much.

3) I'd go for club 1 to start as it's ok to practise on a slower table to start with. You are grooving your action and potting to start with and positional play won't be so crucial for a fast table for a beginner player as well. Your want to enjoy snooker at all costs and get playing in a league with friends because if you play under pressure in matches against apposing teams with friends who play in your team, you will improve enjoyment. And as you enjoy it better you will play better too.

4) people who play it professionally are very lucky and they have gone through amateur ranks. You need to play an awful lot, find out if you have a talent and go from there. So much can be taught and with dedication it can probably all be taught but i actually think temperament is mainly what determines if a player is a pro beyond the hard work that goes in. Most players who play in my club who make century breaks play everyday but you first want to regularly make breaks no matter the level. Consistency is what the game is all about as it forms the basis to improve.

Hope this helps and ask me anything else if you like.

[burgerunderwear]

Here is what I would say to you, if it helps. I've been playing snooker for over 20 years and to a decent standard, whilst not a hugely high amateur level. I have made breaks up to 92.

1) a cue will always be but heavy. You can tell by finding the balance point with your finger. Some use weights in the wood and the same or similar woods throughout. You can use a metal detector to find where the weight are in some cue. My Parris cue uses ebony in the but, which being denser wood than the ash shaft, gives weight to the but.

A Parris cue or expensive cue is nice, but remember Stephen Hendry won his world titles with a powerglide connoisseur cue which was bought for around £30 by his father and very probably has weights in the but. So as long as the cue is decent and has a good feel for you, use it.

2) the aligning of the leg to the shot is to try to keep the body in the same position every time such that the cue is arm relative to body position etc is the same, such that your cue action repeats. But you don't necessarily need to have feet in the same position each time. I agree be guided by your head. See the line and keep looking at the line all the way down to the shot. Your head will then be on the shot and assuming the body aligns naturally your cueing is unlikely to be affected by the position of your body.

There are two ways of moving onto the line as far as I have been taught. Stand behind the shot with feet together. See the line and just move your right foot forward in a straight line to a comfortable distance to allow your to cue to be on the line. With this way your head doesn't ever come accross the line as you get down into the shot. The other way is to stand with feet apart behind the shot like you would normally stand. You can practise these two methods potting the blue off its spot with the white in a line with the centre pockets. With your feet apart you will notice as you move your right foot to the left and onto the line, your sighting will naturally come over to the left and your eyes will come off the line and back onto it. I've always preferred the former approach as your head never comes off the line as you get down into the shot.

But much more important is things like the grip, and cueing with the cue going equidistant back on the backswing to the same amount on the forward swing. Watch hendry do that, it's like a pendulum. You want your fingers all in contact with the cue and the coaches technique is to say hold the cue vertical at the butt with all fingers wrapped around the cue. Now push it forward and back and that replicates the sensation on the hand of the backswing and follow through. The cue should always finish in the chest - watch O'Sullivan and you want the cue parallel with the table is best. You want to be conscious of how the elbow is aligned and keep it vertical as possible but it's possible you will naturally align this and if you do and pot well keep with it. The most important thing to be conscious off is grooving an action with the grip and and back and follow through and always keep still on the shot. The Steve Davis technique was always to not move until the object ball has either gone in the pocket or touched a cushion. Moving even small amounts makes the eyes compensate with the cue so you will cue accross the shot. For amateurs the amount players move is small but still it's quite big compared to pros. But keep a mindset you don't mind if you miss and always work on the temperament side and not allow thoughts to cloud your judgement like you could miss this or not. It could translate into a head movement and if that effects cueing, you will miss. That's why you tend to find the best snooker players have great temperament and are not affected by nerves, pressure. Therefore psychological affects do not translate into physical ones which can make them miss as much.

3) I'd go for club 1 to start as it's ok to practise on a slower table to start with. You are grooving your action and potting to start with and positional play won't be so crucial for a fast table for a beginner player as well. Your want to enjoy snooker at all costs and get playing in a league with friends because if you play under pressure in matches against apposing teams with friends who play in your team, you will improve enjoyment. And as you enjoy it better you will play better too.

4) people who play it professionally are very lucky and they have gone through amateur ranks. You need to play an awful lot, find out if you have a talent and go from there. So much can be taught and with dedication it can probably all be taught but i actually think temperament is mainly what determines if a player is a pro beyond the hard work that goes in. Most players who play in my club who make century breaks play everyday but you first want to regularly make breaks no matter the level. Consistency is what the game is all about as it forms the basis to improve.

Hope this helps and ask me anything else if you like.

Thanks for the lovely response, I appreciate it