Your channel is the best advice I have seen. For years I have been trying to improve and been trying to perfect straight cueing ect. Since watching your videos it has set my mind free to beable to just go and play and not worry about trying to be perfect
Thank you. Really appreciate it. One of my main goals is to free people from all the “advice” out there. They can then focus on playing and more importantly, enjoy the game. 👍
Thanks Michael, your advice has helped me breathe a sigh of relief. I have accumulated so many technical rules that I honestly can't remember all of them when I'm down on the shot. It's been a bit like when you first learn to drive a car; there are so many things to remember that it becomes overwhelming. I have started lately to relax more and just focus on practicing potting and positioning; this approach has been helpful. Having watched your video I will now relax even more and will certainly be trying out the helping side. Thanks again.
best advice you have ever given 100% spot on when i first started playing i was 10 years old and i played pool from my first shot i could just pot balls and all i was thinking about was pot this one and the next and so on in a nut shell i was having fun i never thorght if im standing right or if my cue action is right i just hit balls and now i still play and make 100 breaks in snooker getting older now but one more thing i would say is be smooth and unhurried when striking the cue ball remember extension is power same swing just longer extension .
Took me 6 months to convince my brain! Had Mike not busted these myths, I would have wasted all the time of life and never would have improved a bit! Thanks Mike for enlightening us all.
Thankyou Michael,you don't cut too the chase,you are right do this,do that,just be comfortable and consistent, don't chop and change,one step at a time,if ball goes in,and you can get position for next shot,which i want to achieve perhaps with you superior knowledge than me,i can get higher than my 40 break.Keep up the good coaching,so down to earth but a great guy as well.Alright Duck,as they say up there.Cheers buddy.👍👌
Some quite refreshing comments as a coach. I've never had much of a pause but when I had coaching the coach was going on about the pause so much I really couldn't play with it but changing my feet position sorted out 90% of my issues. I stuck with my no pause.
Indeed. I spent six months trying to incorporate a pause into my game but it never felt natural. In the end your cue action has to feel natural or it’s not gonna work. Now I have just a very very slight pause after I pull the cue back and it works fine for me. There are a few pros with very little pause. Graham Dott for one.
Textbook technique is an often unattainable ideal that one tries to derive from successful players. Everyone has a different anatomy, which means that mobility can also vary greatly. Basically, a clean technique at the beginning is important so that you don't have to compensate for so many small mistakes over the course of the playing career to become a good player. However, I also notice that every trainer tells something different. For example, when determining your stance, it's helpful to consider how your hands are rotated at rest with no cue in your hand. For some players it makes perfect sense depending on whether they are more frontal or at an angle to the table.
I also feel this is the kind of stuff that is preventing Kyren from kicking on, seems so obsessed with being robotic and pre shot routine, it’s not very aesthetic too 😮
Maybe so, but Kryen has gone backwards since making that world final. Plus great coaches are very rarely great players. Just look at the best football coaches. Ferguson, Wenger, Mourinho. All average players but great coaches.
Excellent video like always I honestly wish I would of heard this when I was a kid rather than trying out all different techniques, coaches, you tube videos and someone down the club Can’t wait to get playing and practicing again and then come see you again Michael Keep up the great work and videos 👍🏻
Love your honesty, everything you said here makes absolute sense. I live in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and the table conditions here aren't that great... the weather being extremely humid most of the year doesn't help things either. All the good players at my club discourage the use of wrist movement to try and get more zip on the white. I feel that just adding a little twist at the time of impact makes it so much easier to get the work on the cue ball. Would love to hear your input on this.
Thank you. The wrist twist you talk about will probably increase the spread of the cue at impact which will create more spin/power. I wouldn’t worry about it too much, focus more on the sensation of the tip making contact through the cue with the hand for more “feel”. Then just play. 👍
I like your way to coach, enjoyment is important for amateurs. I got loss for long time trying to improve but feel the pressure when playing against opponents.
Me too ..i seen his earlier videos which already had everything and i just gone to club tried just to play the game, only the game found my perfect cue action which was already their instinct that was present at day one i think we cannot deviate from it but improve it .
All true mate my theory is if you're not aiming at the correct potting angle you have no chance whatsoever of getting better, i get young lads asking me for help and i give them tips on where to point the cue not how to stand or complicated grips, the results are instant . . ps Mark Allen has a bit of a short cue action, another top video mate
Hi Michael, Is it a myth that you should try to address the cue ball the same number of times for every single shot... eg. some players do it 1,2,3 strike on 4 or 1,2 strike on 3 etc. Other unique but effective methods that I can recall is where Dave Harold used to just point cue at the white without any feathers then strike the ball. More recently, a prime example is Marcu Fu who more or less does the same...basically, is it best to keep a consistent pattern or rhythm for each shot...thanks in advance
I consider myself a decent player. I quite liked this video and most your videos tbh. I think most amateur players are so obsessed with straight action and other points you made due to commentators saying about how straight cueing is needed etc. I’ve messed around with shortening my cue action like a mark Allen but I’ve found that doesn’t work for me and I’ve gone back to a longer pull back natural for me. But I totally agree the more you focus on technique while on the shot you tend to forget about potting the balls and controlling the white and making it easier for yourself. Ray Reardon helps me out with my game (more safety). He tells me he’s not a technical coach 😂 he can show me the shots to play. His routines and story’s are fantastic, specially ones with Ronnie
Thank you, appreciate it. You will always find people who can actually play the game will always try and pull you back from all the technique stuff and focus on playing the game. Its definitely the way forward. Good luck.
I think what Michael is saying applies to most things. If you were born gifted it will happen, there’s no secret. Most people who excel at anything love what they do to the point of unhealthy obsession, and also have an insane natural talent. The rest of us are never gonna reach those heights and should be realistic with the standard that we would like to achieve
Obviously ability helps but knowing what the fundamentals (they aren’t what you think) are will help anyone improve. Snooker isn’t rocket science it’s hitting a ball with a stick. It’s made more complicated by people who haven’t a clue how to play in the first place. 👍
I’m one of those people who obsesses about technique. Honestly on a bad day your mind can be running a thousand miles an hour. Am I stood right, how am I holding the cue, what are my shoulders doing etc. and it can really destroy your overall concentration and as you say pleasure. While I know my technique isn’t perfect, I’m certain it can carry me a great way further than I am now. So my coach has said forget it all for now and focus on positional play. Get your height and speed right as well as actually striking where intended. Playing the game.
Bang on mate see coaches saying do this do that feet on line of shot arm here legs here feet here dragging out the lessons to make as much money out of people 👍
I'm guilty of this.i did have a lesson mind the other month it's definitely brought me on .what I had too do I'm left handed by the way.i had too bend my bridge arm it was locked and had too too shorten Bridge hand too cue tip and getting my weight going forward more I'm close very close too good stuff .I play better after exercise too it releases tension if feeling good in yourself and relaxed it transfers in your game .
There is so much more to cueing straight then just a straight delivery. If your a beginner or learning if your crossing the cue ball then you need to aim off and that would change depending on table balls environment. Then if you want to add side then it becomes more complicated. Surly if you can hit the cue ball in the centre to begin with for learning it’s way easier. Examples of the pros is great but you and they have a massive amount of hours on the table and a bucket load of talent. We could all potential run as fast as Bolt but realistically won’t. Cheers pal
Hello, You've mentioned about cueing straight and hitting the middle previously, I think it was the helping side video? I've just watched your helping side video and I think you misunderstand what helping side is. On your video you use the ball with numbers on it to show what non centre striking is and you aim at number 3. This isn't helping side, obviously hitting this far from centre would be hard to judge for even professional players. Helping side would be aiming just right/left of centre (number 1 on that ball at the very most, maybe even less), this would make the deflection and difference in potting angle very very small (if any, they usually cancel each other out). The spin imparted on the cue ball is very little but just enough to "help" the white on its way. What it also does is make sure you are the correct side of the white for the shot you are playing, it changes very little. It also makes the target area to make the shot bigger making it easier for players of lower levels, even beginners because it helps players not drift the wrong side of middle for whichever shot they play. You are telling beginners to hit the middle which is harder than just right or left of it, its a joke within the pro game that the middle of the white doesn't actually exist. Very much like the loch ness monster, they keep looking for it but they won't find it. Middle is very overrated. Check this video out th-cam.com/video/WS7wtFQyf5g/w-d-xo.html As for straight cueing. The only thing that matters is the contact point on the cue ball, how your cue gets there is irrelevant. Do you cue straight? If you do why aren't you better? Peace.
@@MichaelHoltSnookerCoaching Hi mate thank you for taking the time to reply. Forgive me if the comment comes across as blunt I need to use emoji’s to express myself better😜 My wee take on helping side was as a learner to the game, side needed to be understood correctly before attempting to use it. This would let the player understand why the shot/position was missed, IE deflection etc I show the effects of the extreme side +3 in regards to deflection so the watcher can understand what deflection is and get more out of the video no so much as using +3 for helping side. I understand you can use a little side on a pot to avoid using the side you don’t want but I’m not getting what you mean by “helping the white on it’s way” 🤔 Also makes the target area bigger can you expand please I thought there was only one point of contact that would put the object ball into the centre of the pocket. I want to learn mate and make sure my videos are accurate. I don’t cue straight that why I’m not on the tv lol I agree the point when the tip hits the cue ball if that’s on the money then great but would you say it’s easier to get it there more consistently if it’s not coming for the left or right which then adds side and and then aiming has to change on top of environment changes and the 12 feet of table 😂 not to mention then adding some pressure🫣 Pros and I hate to use them as examples,play and practice on fairly controlled environments. I played in a club where the tables were freezing/damp in the morning and warm by the afternoon. Learning not to apply unwanted side in the first place can take away the added difficulty of these conditions. BUT if you cue left to right and can play like this with the same amount constantly through the pace range the of course don’t fix it if it’s working. Hahaha hey Nessie is real and alive eats the haggis when it’s dark 😂 Okay mate would still love to have a chat with you on these things so I understand what your saying. Sorry I believe it’s much better to ask than just go along with it.🫡 Thanks Michael
There’s a lot to respond to here, too long a post. You didn’t come across negatively. 👍 What I can say in response to you making the point about different conditions in clubs is that this is one of the many situations when helping side would be a huge “help”. I can explain much better face to face. If you can’t make it to Nottingham I do online coaching over zoom. All you need is a tripod for your camera, decent internet connection and if possible a spotted white. Hopefully see you soon. 👍
It’s doesn’t really matter, as long as it’s anchored to you somewhere. Different people will have slightly different spots because on body shape, line of sight etc.
Michael, quick question - You mentioned we need to focus more on where we strike on the cue ball. However, if we do that, lets say on a long shot, how can we be accurate on the pott, cos the distance between cue ball and object ball is quite a bit, and by the time the cue ball travels to the object ball it may not be as accurately directed as when the strike happened on the cue ball? Basically, it's more of sighting. Can you explain how sighting works effectively for you please.
I don’t mean you don’t look at the object ball. What I mean by focusing on where you are aiming on the white ball is to check you’re aiming at the point you think you are. A lot of players, even players of century break level aren’t aiming where they think they are. 👍
HAS A TOP COACH ? TEACHER OF THE GAME. WHAT WOULD SHOW A BEGINNER ON THEIR FIST LESSON. THEY HAVE A NEW CUE THEY BOUGHT 3 DAYS AGO,,, BUT NOT USED IT YET WHERE DO I START? THANKS IN ADVANCE
It sounds like what you’re saying is, none of the myths are useless… but it’s people focusing on something that could improve you game by like 5%, and ignoring the stuff which makes up 95% of success.
I'm looking forward to seeing the results of your new camera, I am in the market for one myself as mine isn't getting the quality footage I want. I pretty much agree with you when put into the context of a player who has been playing the game for some time , years I guess, without any formal coaching on their action and has basically learned to adapt the -lets say- uniqueness of their action and unless it was obvious that fixing one of those things would bring obvious benefits with no downsides, just leave them be.. But would you say that if considering someone who was basically new to the game like a junior or an amateur like me who as only been playing a few months. that it would be worth them working on such things at the early stages as they are easily quantifiable shapes and movements that are (relatively) easy to repeat to gain the consistency needed to learn other parts of the game? Hopefully that makes sense.
I know what you mean but these "shapes" are meaningless, it would be a pointless exercise. Theres a few basic fundamentals, if none them are broken its best to just leave a player alone. The next step is showing a player how things work as in actually playing the game. Then its just practice.
When I started playing snooker I modelled my game on a book by Joe Davis called How I Play Snooker.....so that kind of tells you I'm a guy of a certain age😅.....I played to the point of exhaustion for about 5 years and my highest break was 106.....marriage,kids and work then meant I hardly picked up a cue to play snooker for over 40 years and have only been back playing for less than a year with my highest break so far of 39😂.....the reason I'm saying all of this is that I know it's impossible to even get down to play shots the way I could when I was younger and so your style of coaching Michael is helping me greatly in not stressing too much about technique and more on creating a new level for me of being able to replicate what I am able to do in the moment......so thank you 😊
Your channel is the best advice I have seen. For years I have been trying to improve and been trying to perfect straight cueing ect. Since watching your videos it has set my mind free to beable to just go and play and not worry about trying to be perfect
Thank you. Really appreciate it.
One of my main goals is to free people from all the “advice” out there. They can then focus on playing and more importantly, enjoy the game. 👍
Thanks Michael, your advice has helped me breathe a sigh of relief. I have accumulated so many technical rules that I honestly can't remember all of them when I'm down on the shot. It's been a bit like when you first learn to drive a car; there are so many things to remember that it becomes overwhelming. I have started lately to relax more and just focus on practicing potting and positioning; this approach has been helpful. Having watched your video I will now relax even more and will certainly be trying out the helping side. Thanks again.
best advice you have ever given 100% spot on when i first started playing i was 10 years old and i played pool from my first shot i could just pot balls and all i was thinking about was pot this one and the next and so on in a nut shell i was having fun i never thorght if im standing right or if my cue action is right i just hit balls and now i still play and make 100 breaks in snooker getting older now but one more thing i would say is be smooth and unhurried when striking the cue ball remember extension is power same swing just longer extension .
Took me 6 months to convince my brain! Had Mike not busted these myths, I would have wasted all the time of life and never would have improved a bit! Thanks Mike for enlightening us all.
Thank you my friend. 😃
Thankyou Michael,you don't cut too the chase,you are right do this,do that,just be comfortable and consistent, don't chop and change,one step at a time,if ball goes in,and you can get position for next shot,which i want to achieve perhaps with you superior knowledge than me,i can get higher than my 40 break.Keep up the good coaching,so down to earth but a great guy as well.Alright Duck,as they say up there.Cheers buddy.👍👌
Some quite refreshing comments as a coach. I've never had much of a pause but when I had coaching the coach was going on about the pause so much I really couldn't play with it but changing my feet position sorted out 90% of my issues. I stuck with my no pause.
Indeed. I spent six months trying to incorporate a pause into my game but it never felt natural. In the end your cue action has to feel natural or it’s not gonna work. Now I have just a very very slight pause after I pull the cue back and it works fine for me. There are a few pros with very little pause. Graham Dott for one.
Textbook technique is an often unattainable ideal that one tries to derive from successful players. Everyone has a different anatomy, which means that mobility can also vary greatly. Basically, a clean technique at the beginning is important so that you don't have to compensate for so many small mistakes over the course of the playing career to become a good player.
However, I also notice that every trainer tells something different. For example, when determining your stance, it's helpful to consider how your hands are rotated at rest with no cue in your hand. For some players it makes perfect sense depending on whether they are more frontal or at an angle to the table.
Great video Michael! Could you also do a video about aiming techniques?
I also feel this is the kind of stuff that is preventing Kyren from kicking on, seems so obsessed with being robotic and pre shot routine, it’s not very aesthetic too 😮
Still Kyren made it much farther than Michael and is still going 🙂
Maybe so, but Kryen has gone backwards since making that world final. Plus great coaches are very rarely great players. Just look at the best football coaches. Ferguson, Wenger, Mourinho. All average players but great coaches.
michael. just started watching your videos, keep them coming ,you have a lot to offer .neil australia
Excellent video like always
I honestly wish I would of heard this when I was a kid rather than trying out all different techniques, coaches, you tube videos and someone down the club
Can’t wait to get playing and practicing again and then come see you again Michael
Keep up the great work and videos 👍🏻
Love your honesty, everything you said here makes absolute sense.
I live in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and the table conditions here aren't that great... the weather being extremely humid most of the year doesn't help things either.
All the good players at my club discourage the use of wrist movement to try and get more zip on the white. I feel that just adding a little twist at the time of impact makes it so much easier to get the work on the cue ball.
Would love to hear your input on this.
Thank you.
The wrist twist you talk about will probably increase the spread of the cue at impact which will create more spin/power. I wouldn’t worry about it too much, focus more on the sensation of the tip making contact through the cue with the hand for more “feel”.
Then just play. 👍
We have been told the same way in China. But like Michael said that use wrist is not a bad thing, it is good for me, haha
Very insightful. Looking forward to the video on unlucky pants.
Glad you mentioned paul hunter RIP
Awesome! Mind you I’ve been in some dark & dingy places with me lucky pants on 😂
good vid, angle recognition and feeling the shot is all you need
I like your way to coach, enjoyment is important for amateurs. I got loss for long time trying to improve but feel the pressure when playing against opponents.
Me too ..i seen his earlier videos which already had everything and i just gone to club tried just to play the game, only the game found my perfect cue action which was already their instinct that was present at day one i think we cannot deviate from it but improve it .
To help deal with pressure its really important to know how you play and be completely comfortable with it. Then repeat repeat repeat...
I agree , I think do what feels most natural like when you first picked up a cue yet Ronnie still says he’d die for Robertson or Murphys cue action
All true mate my theory is if you're not aiming at the correct potting angle you have no chance whatsoever of getting better, i get young lads asking me for help and i give them tips on where to point the cue not how to stand or complicated grips, the results are instant . . ps Mark Allen has a bit of a short cue action, another top video mate
1:10 It is a myth that Hitman owns this bone
Hi Michael, Is it a myth that you should try to address the cue ball the same number of times for every single shot... eg. some players do it 1,2,3 strike on 4 or 1,2 strike on 3 etc. Other unique but effective methods that I can recall is where Dave Harold used to just point cue at the white without any feathers then strike the ball. More recently, a prime example is Marcu Fu who more or less does the same...basically, is it best to keep a consistent pattern or rhythm for each shot...thanks in advance
I consider myself a decent player. I quite liked this video and most your videos tbh. I think most amateur players are so obsessed with straight action and other points you made due to commentators saying about how straight cueing is needed etc. I’ve messed around with shortening my cue action like a mark Allen but I’ve found that doesn’t work for me and I’ve gone back to a longer pull back natural for me. But I totally agree the more you focus on technique while on the shot you tend to forget about potting the balls and controlling the white and making it easier for yourself. Ray Reardon helps me out with my game (more safety). He tells me he’s not a technical coach 😂 he can show me the shots to play. His routines and story’s are fantastic, specially ones with Ronnie
Thank you, appreciate it.
You will always find people who can actually play the game will always try and pull you back from all the technique stuff and focus on playing the game. Its definitely the way forward. Good luck.
I think what Michael is saying applies to most things. If you were born gifted it will happen, there’s no secret. Most people who excel at anything love what they do to the point of unhealthy obsession, and also have an insane natural talent. The rest of us are never gonna reach those heights and should be realistic with the standard that we would like to achieve
Obviously ability helps but knowing what the fundamentals (they aren’t what you think) are will help anyone improve.
Snooker isn’t rocket science it’s hitting a ball with a stick. It’s made more complicated by people who haven’t a clue how to play in the first place. 👍
@@MichaelHoltSnookerCoaching thanks Michael, there’s hope for me yet then!
I’m one of those people who obsesses about technique. Honestly on a bad day your mind can be running a thousand miles an hour. Am I stood right, how am I holding the cue, what are my shoulders doing etc. and it can really destroy your overall concentration and as you say pleasure. While I know my technique isn’t perfect, I’m certain it can carry me a great way further than I am now. So my coach has said forget it all for now and focus on positional play. Get your height and speed right as well as actually striking where intended. Playing the game.
Love it, keep these coming ❤❤
Is it necessary to shorten your grip on the cue for close range shots? Thanks
Thanks, great video! 👍 Keep them coming 🙂
I think Alex Higgins had a very ordinary cue action but was consistent with it everytime made him a great potter.🤔
Ordinary? You mean awful. 😂 great to watch tho.
Bang on mate see coaches saying do this do that feet on line of shot arm here legs here feet here dragging out the lessons to make as much money out of people 👍
Two words to debunk the 'keep everything in a straight line' myth: Joe Swail...
I'm guilty of this.i did have a lesson mind the other month it's definitely brought me on .what I had too do I'm left handed by the way.i had too bend my bridge arm it was locked and had too too shorten Bridge hand too cue tip and getting my weight going forward more I'm close very close too good stuff .I play better after exercise too it releases tension if feeling good in yourself and relaxed it transfers in your game .
There is so much more to cueing straight then just a straight delivery.
If your a beginner or learning if your crossing the cue ball then you need to aim off and that would change depending on table balls environment.
Then if you want to add side then it becomes more complicated.
Surly if you can hit the cue ball in the centre to begin with for learning it’s way easier.
Examples of the pros is great but you and they have a massive amount of hours on the table and a bucket load of talent.
We could all potential run as fast as Bolt but realistically won’t.
Cheers pal
Hello,
You've mentioned about cueing straight and hitting the middle previously, I think it was the helping side video?
I've just watched your helping side video and I think you misunderstand what helping side is. On your video you use the ball with numbers on it to show what non centre striking is and you aim at number 3. This isn't helping side, obviously hitting this far from centre would be hard to judge for even professional players. Helping side would be aiming just right/left of centre (number 1 on that ball at the very most, maybe even less), this would make the deflection and difference in potting angle very very small (if any, they usually cancel each other out). The spin imparted on the cue ball is very little but just enough to "help" the white on its way. What it also does is make sure you are the correct side of the white for the shot you are playing, it changes very little. It also makes the target area to make the shot bigger making it easier for players of lower levels, even beginners because it helps players not drift the wrong side of middle for whichever shot they play. You are telling beginners to hit the middle which is harder than just right or left of it, its a joke within the pro game that the middle of the white doesn't actually exist. Very much like the loch ness monster, they keep looking for it but they won't find it. Middle is very overrated.
Check this video out
th-cam.com/video/WS7wtFQyf5g/w-d-xo.html
As for straight cueing. The only thing that matters is the contact point on the cue ball, how your cue gets there is irrelevant. Do you cue straight? If you do why aren't you better?
Peace.
@@MichaelHoltSnookerCoaching Hi mate thank you for taking the time to reply.
Forgive me if the comment comes across as blunt I need to use emoji’s to express myself better😜
My wee take on helping side was as a learner to the game, side needed to be understood correctly before attempting to use it.
This would let the player understand why the shot/position was missed, IE deflection etc
I show the effects of the extreme side +3 in regards to deflection so the watcher can understand what deflection is and get more out of the video no so much as using +3 for helping side.
I understand you can use a little side on a pot to avoid using the side you don’t want but I’m not getting what you mean by “helping the white on it’s way” 🤔
Also makes the target area bigger can you expand please I thought there was only one point of contact that would put the object ball into the centre of the pocket.
I want to learn mate and make sure my videos are accurate.
I don’t cue straight that why I’m not on the tv lol
I agree the point when the tip hits the cue ball if that’s on the money then great but would you say it’s easier to get it there more consistently if it’s not coming for the left or right which then adds side and and then aiming has to change on top of environment changes and the 12 feet of table 😂 not to mention then adding some pressure🫣
Pros and I hate to use them as examples,play and practice on fairly controlled environments.
I played in a club where the tables were freezing/damp in the morning and warm by the afternoon.
Learning not to apply unwanted side in the first place can take away the added difficulty of these conditions.
BUT if you cue left to right and can play like this with the same amount constantly through the pace range the of course don’t fix it if it’s working.
Hahaha hey Nessie is real and alive eats the haggis when it’s dark 😂
Okay mate would still love to have a chat with you on these things so I understand what your saying.
Sorry
I believe it’s much better to ask than just go along with it.🫡
Thanks Michael
There’s a lot to respond to here, too long a post.
You didn’t come across negatively. 👍
What I can say in response to you making the point about different conditions in clubs is that this is one of the many situations when helping side would be a huge “help”.
I can explain much better face to face. If you can’t make it to Nottingham I do online coaching over zoom. All you need is a tripod for your camera, decent internet connection and if possible a spotted white.
Hopefully see you soon. 👍
When you say cue on the chest does it go on the side of the chest pushing it in, or underneath the chest ..?
It’s doesn’t really matter, as long as it’s anchored to you somewhere. Different people will have slightly different spots because on body shape, line of sight etc.
Second myth, you got swail as well.
Michael, quick question - You mentioned we need to focus more on where we strike on the cue ball. However, if we do that, lets say on a long shot, how can we be accurate on the pott, cos the distance between cue ball and object ball is quite a bit, and by the time the cue ball travels to the object ball it may not be as accurately directed as when the strike happened on the cue ball?
Basically, it's more of sighting. Can you explain how sighting works effectively for you please.
I don’t mean you don’t look at the object ball. What I mean by focusing on where you are aiming on the white ball is to check you’re aiming at the point you think you are.
A lot of players, even players of century break level aren’t aiming where they think they are. 👍
HAS A TOP COACH ? TEACHER OF THE GAME. WHAT WOULD SHOW A BEGINNER ON THEIR FIST LESSON. THEY HAVE A NEW CUE THEY BOUGHT 3 DAYS AGO,,, BUT NOT USED IT YET WHERE DO I START? THANKS IN ADVANCE
It sounds like what you’re saying is, none of the myths are useless… but it’s people focusing on something that could improve you game by like 5%, and ignoring the stuff which makes up 95% of success.
Most of the are useless really.
Anything that distracts you from playing the game isn’t a good thing.
Stephen Hendry? the guy who won 7 world titles? dominated the game like no one else ever or since? ya.. never heard of him? was he good?
No. I’d never heard of him. Did he win any big tournaments?
Neil Robertson is a great cueist, but in tough situations his mind is often blocked and doesn't know what to play.
❤
1:11 what is it?
Dog with a bone (means ‘going on about it’)
I'm looking forward to seeing the results of your new camera, I am in the market for one myself as mine isn't getting the quality footage I want.
I pretty much agree with you when put into the context of a player who has been playing the game for some time , years I guess, without any formal coaching on their action and has basically learned to adapt the -lets say- uniqueness of their action and unless it was obvious that fixing one of those things would bring obvious benefits with no downsides, just leave them be.. But would you say that if considering someone who was basically new to the game like a junior or an amateur like me who as only been playing a few months. that it would be worth them working on such things at the early stages as they are easily quantifiable shapes and movements that are (relatively) easy to repeat to gain the consistency needed to learn other parts of the game?
Hopefully that makes sense.
I know what you mean but these "shapes" are meaningless, it would be a pointless exercise. Theres a few basic fundamentals, if none them are broken its best to just leave a player alone. The next step is showing a player how things work as in actually playing the game. Then its just practice.
When I started playing snooker I modelled my game on a book by Joe Davis called How I Play Snooker.....so that kind of tells you I'm a guy of a certain age😅.....I played to the point of exhaustion for about 5 years and my highest break was 106.....marriage,kids and work then meant I hardly picked up a cue to play snooker for over 40 years and have only been back playing for less than a year with my highest break so far of 39😂.....the reason I'm saying all of this is that I know it's impossible to even get down to play shots the way I could when I was younger and so your style of coaching Michael is helping me greatly in not stressing too much about technique and more on creating a new level for me of being able to replicate what I am able to do in the moment......so thank you 😊
you never say any thing about a slip stock?
I agree