I love these headcam vids - they show so well where the white ball is struck and also the exact angle played on the object ball. the "walk around the table shots" make me a bit dizzy!
Yeah thanks nic a lot of your shots were hit on backspin to keep the cue ball on the same side as the left or right side of the table and this is what I'm now learning :) cheers for your videos :)
what a great vid to watch .wonderful cue ball control ,so smooth on the swing even when playing at a fast pace. this is the sort of stuff i really love trying. hard to get practice partners so this kind of stuff keeps me enjoying the game .love the head cam!!
Not bad - it'd be faster w/o practice strokes. Still, The Rocket averages about 15 seconds per shot and you're in good company. Me, I also shoot fast (I didn't before - it took a lot of practice to retrain myself to shoot with zero practice strokes) so it's a pleasure to watch you shoot. Now if only I could do this on a snooker table (billiards and one-pocket are my games), Snooker is the only professional game/sport that I follow and I'm delighted by how badly I play. It's like being a beginner all over again, which humbles me and makes me hungry again. Your videos are a pleasure to watch - keep 'em coming. Cheers.
Thank you very much i need the practice stroke otherwise potting success will be lower and clearance less likely it is a balance between going too quick and just keeping on the boil accuracy wise
nicbarrow Yeah, I get it. I found that one practice stroke is plenty, just to test the range from my hand to the ball. It's not about speed, either, since I do take the time to aim. What I find, though, is that aiming and practice strokes are not the same - I aim with my eye and not with my hand. That said, I've been watching your videos lately and enjoying them. Cheers.
TheEnneagram yes those strokes hlep me confirm i am still, the cue is moving straight, the aim is correct, that my hand is relaxed. kind of liek the space shuttle getting into position for take off. if it dont do it then accuracy reduces...
awesome play. inspiration to new players like me... I am still struggling with 50point break..but I will eventually be there....recently bought a proper snooker 9.5mm cue....
Nic this video with cam, shows how good your cue action is, could you edit video showing or saying we're you are going to strike the cue ball, and maybe a power reference to? Inspirational this video mate. Jimmy.
Just got into snooker after I compete in american pool tournament. It sure has improved my game on american and English tables. Use my channel for self coaching as well.
Hi, Big fan. keep the videos coming. Shot played at 1:55 (red in the middle with a soft screw to slow the white) any tips to improve this shot? I end up missing the shot 50% pf the time. Usually i end up over cutting it. its as if the white runs away.
+Omar Tayyab Your mistake is thinking that it is screw - it is follow. Playing screw / drag will NOT slow the white more than playing with follow - but most players wrongly think it will. So we are governed by where the cue ball will stop with top spin when the object ball is played pocket sped. If that point is too far forward you will havve to play a stun run through which involves more power and is a totally different shot.
+nicbarrow thank you for your prompt reply. OK. Imagine I'm on the correct side of the blue but a bit more than I like. trying to hold for a red near the pink spot. and it's available on the same side of table as the blue was. so I can't play a follow. wish I could draw it here.
Great clearance and also confidence with the left hand. Did you used chalk even once during building this break? Because when I was expecting misscue I've seen perfect draw shot. How?
nicbarrow I can hit the 50's and 60's pretty regularly how do i make the next step to 80 +. I seem to overthink shots and change my mind Alot and it effects my game.
That 135 break was lovely to watch, Nic. Were you “in the zone” when you did it, or is that level of fluency (6.25 seconds/shot) pretty much how you play when shooting line-ups? And last question, what cue did you use for the break?
did not know it was that shot rate either! thanks for that. well i had Adam & The Ants full volume in the room but it doesnt make any difference when you have no time to think. it is about shaving off all unnecessary time spend between shots but still setting up correctly witha shot plan before the backswing is made - then deliver and hold long enough that i know ball is going in... then get up. normally a linek up will take double that time. using Acuerate cue Http://www.acuerate.be/thesnookergym
This was fantastic -- you never looked particularly troubled by any of the shots, and there were a few awkward ones. Your view (or at least the camera's view) of the cueball and object ball looks similar to mine, if a little further away from the cueball... but my highest break after years of play is a sad 31. Maybe I'm not placing the cue on line like you do. Also, a lot of the time I get down on the shot and the aim looks different to how it was before getting down... like I'm rotating in the process. How do you stop or even debug this?
nicbarrow Hi Nic, all I could find was this really low quality vid of me fluffing a few simple shots many years ago: th-cam.com/video/42KFp3Ahv7s/w-d-xo.html It's not much to go on, but it does make me wonder why my back arm is so low!
even a pro would struggle to do the whole line up in 3:45 seconds so it just goes to show how skilled you are. I wonder what your average shot time was????
36 Shots in total (15 red, 15 color, + 6 colours at the end) If the time was 3:45 (which in seconds is 225 seconds) 225 seconds : 36 = 6,25 second average per shot. Good stuff!
+nicbarrow Ha oh I mean the tip diameter? 9.5ish mm? I was just curious. Cheers from the U.S. by the way been following you for a while now. I've learned quite a bit from your videos and I appreciate the work you put in
+nicbarrow unfortunately I just compete in 9 ball tournaments but I love snooker. I'm slightly obsessed haha I've played when I was in Austria and Ireland but we don't have snooker here in the states for whatever reason. If we had it I would never even play pool to be honest. I've just studied snooker for a while now ever since I fell in love and I recognize a 10mm cue vs. a 9mm cue when I see one I think if I ever bought one it would be a smaller diameter tip like 9-9.5. Now the only time I can feel like I'm playing it is when I watch these pov videos or in my daydreams haha
Snooker Coaching At The Snooker Gym all the info I gathered in the past lead me to believe that 9.5 mm was about the right size tip for snooker up to ten which is mostly the recommended tip size for snooker however all that time I played with the 9.5 etc 10 I did ok but never could control the ball as well as with a smaller tip like 9mm or slightly smaller I find it makes a big difference in cue ball control and is my preference as feels like you get more responsive action from the balls stun screw and sides etc yes it also comes down to good timing and good cuing but I find makes a whole lotta different with shots however for long shots you do have to be more precise with a smaller tip as opposed to a bigger sized tip but I feel much better playing with a smaller tip around 8.5-9mm plus you can see where your striking the cue ball better I feel
hello nic I've got other problem here..erm im having problem with my back spin i dont why when i aim at the 6 a clock on the white back it turn out to be a stun ball or it just screw back a little. i could barely get a good screw shot on straight ball. i do not know what is the problem. my cue action is straight i did the follow through when i accelerate the cue. but it just won't work at all. do you have any idea to solve it.
+Benson Teo You may be AIMING there, but HITTING there is another matter! Most players lift the cue up slightly during delivery because they are scared of miscuing. So, practice aiming low and hitting low until you miscue and learn the limit of the cue ball - then you will feel free to aim and strike low.
+nicbarrow yeah i have realize that i have been hitting rather then pushing the ball. because i have been using the power first before hitting the ball so i tend to like jerk abit then hit the ball. now that i use the power at the last moment thats is where i am pushing the ball and without jerking it. thanks nic!
+Benson Teo Try slow screws. Make sure your running it nice and smooth. I used to have the same issue some time ago. and dont tighten your grip on the cue.
So to an untrained eye you used no side spin this whole break and just let your mind make minute tiny fractional adjustments. But I had this video pop up in my feed again and revisited since we had a brief convo about pivot. I saw at least 2 shots you used back hand pivot (I can go back and pick out time points if you want) and a few mostly cuts to the right you used left hand spin and front had pivot to compensate for slower stuns and screws and slower follows that that you needed to reduce cut induced throw. Since you played almost every shot within 3 feet of the pocket at fast speed you didn’t need to think about cut induced throw but on the ones and there were about 8-10 shots where you flicked some side on I feel compelled to tell you you were using front hand pivot for those. The back hand pivot only happened on the yellow and one other ball but for each use of side the aim was not altered from your aim line merely the pivot of the the line of the cue pre delivery. Just gonna drop by and say this since you were recently saying pivot is a myth which you and I both know is absolutely false.
Hi POV Yes intent is centre cue ball unless there is justification not to. Some shots I played english eg the hi black that I had to play left handed. My intent is always to deliver the cue straight on every shot. So, my goal then becomes to guess (for a given distance to OB, amount of english, speed of shot) where the single and only line of aim needs to be to give that ob direction. Once I have guessed this based on prior trial and error I commit to the line 100% and pull the trigger. Many players 'swoop' the cue to the left as they play left hand side so it is very difficult for them to know where the line of aim actually is - they just do it by feel and intuition and trial and error. If I swooped on any shot then I classify this as a fail! Happy to see any time stamps though. PS the system above is called 'Two Hand English (THE!)
Much appreciated these few videos this week have been brilliant
Thank you Neil
I love these headcam vids - they show so well where the white ball is struck and also the exact angle played on the object ball. the "walk around the table shots" make me a bit dizzy!
thanks - hopefully one more to come soon!
Amazing. I m a complete beginner and your videos inspire me.cheers.
tobaccorich Thankyou very much
Yeah thanks nic a lot of your shots were hit on backspin to keep the cue ball on the same side as the left or right side of the table and this is what I'm now learning :) cheers for your videos :)
amarsbarr Welcome
Haha brilliant stuff! Love the head can videos.
Yes they give a good perspective don't they?
great blue to pink ,lovely clearance 👍
Thank you Stephen - fortunately it was a natural angle
what a great vid to watch .wonderful cue ball control ,so smooth on the swing even when playing at a fast pace. this is the sort of stuff i really love trying. hard to get practice partners so this kind of stuff keeps me enjoying the game .love the head cam!!
Where do you play and what is your target in the game?
Very impressive line up plus all tightly lined up too I m impressed well played nic
Thank you CNA!
Not bad - it'd be faster w/o practice strokes. Still, The Rocket averages about 15 seconds per shot and you're in good company. Me, I also shoot fast (I didn't before - it took a lot of practice to retrain myself to shoot with zero practice strokes) so it's a pleasure to watch you shoot. Now if only I could do this on a snooker table (billiards and one-pocket are my games), Snooker is the only professional game/sport that I follow and I'm delighted by how badly I play. It's like being a beginner all over again, which humbles me and makes me hungry again. Your videos are a pleasure to watch - keep 'em coming. Cheers.
Thank you very much
i need the practice stroke otherwise potting success will be lower and clearance less likely
it is a balance between going too quick and just keeping on the boil accuracy wise
nicbarrow Yeah, I get it. I found that one practice stroke is plenty, just to test the range from my hand to the ball. It's not about speed, either, since I do take the time to aim. What I find, though, is that aiming and practice strokes are not the same - I aim with my eye and not with my hand. That said, I've been watching your videos lately and enjoying them. Cheers.
TheEnneagram yes those strokes hlep me confirm i am still, the cue is moving straight, the aim is correct, that my hand is relaxed. kind of liek the space shuttle getting into position for take off. if it dont do it then accuracy reduces...
awesome play. inspiration to new players like me... I am still struggling with 50point break..but I will eventually be there....recently bought a proper snooker 9.5mm cue....
Hope that helps! Did you get it yet?
Nic this video with cam, shows how good your cue action is, could you edit video showing or saying we're you are going to strike the cue ball, and maybe a power reference to? Inspirational this video mate. Jimmy.
+Jim T Wow there is a great idea, but that would take a LONG time to do.
amazing
Thank you Ari
Very impressive!!!
Thank you Ekram!
With that kind of speed you'd have done well on 'Big break' back in the 90s Nic!
JV would have been v impressed!
Just got into snooker after I compete in american pool tournament. It sure has improved my game on american and English tables. Use my channel for self coaching as well.
Well done Mitch
nice shooting bro..i like it
Thank you Ali
Nic why the hell do you make it look so bloody easy :( your a genius :) you are playing exactly like the rocket but faster ;)
amarsbarr Thirty years of dedication?!
I've been playing snooker for only 1 year and I nearly got a break of 22 in this same ball layout as you have lined up now :)
Hi, Big fan. keep the videos coming. Shot played at 1:55 (red in the middle with a soft screw to slow the white) any tips to improve this shot? I end up missing the shot 50% pf the time. Usually i end up over cutting it. its as if the white runs away.
+Omar Tayyab Your mistake is thinking that it is screw - it is follow. Playing screw / drag will NOT slow the white more than playing with follow - but most players wrongly think it will. So we are governed by where the cue ball will stop with top spin when the object ball is played pocket sped. If that point is too far forward you will havve to play a stun run through which involves more power and is a totally different shot.
+nicbarrow thank you for your prompt reply. OK. Imagine I'm on the correct side of the blue but a bit more than I like. trying to hold for a red near the pink spot. and it's available on the same side of table as the blue was. so I can't play a follow. wish I could draw it here.
+Omar Tayyab Play low, accurate, and slow. www.thesnookergym.com/ultimate-training-ball/
Great clearance and also confidence with the left hand. Did you used chalk even once during building this break? Because when I was expecting misscue I've seen perfect draw shot. How?
Emil Mądry I may be not at the lowest point of the ball, so can get away with not chalking to save time!
nicbarrow I can hit the 50's and 60's pretty regularly how do i make the next step to 80 +. I seem to overthink shots and change my mind Alot and it effects my game.
smurfymurder2010 Make your mind up BEFORE you get down and never change it. If you do, then get up and decide again.
That 135 break was lovely to watch, Nic. Were you “in the zone” when you did it, or is that level of fluency (6.25 seconds/shot) pretty much how you play when shooting line-ups? And last question, what cue did you use for the break?
didnt even know it was 135!
did not know it was that shot rate either! thanks for that. well i had Adam & The Ants full volume in the room but it doesnt make any difference when you have no time to think. it is about shaving off all unnecessary time spend between shots but still setting up correctly witha shot plan before the backswing is made - then deliver and hold long enough that i know ball is going in... then get up. normally a linek up will take double that time. using Acuerate cue
Http://www.acuerate.be/thesnookergym
This was fantastic -- you never looked particularly troubled by any of the shots, and there were a few awkward ones. Your view (or at least the camera's view) of the cueball and object ball looks similar to mine, if a little further away from the cueball... but my highest break after years of play is a sad 31. Maybe I'm not placing the cue on line like you do.
Also, a lot of the time I get down on the shot and the aim looks different to how it was before getting down... like I'm rotating in the process. How do you stop or even debug this?
Hi Batlin
that is a big subject!
can you post a video fo your self approaching and playing the shot?
nicbarrow
Hi Nic, all I could find was this really low quality vid of me fluffing a few simple shots many years ago:
th-cam.com/video/42KFp3Ahv7s/w-d-xo.html
It's not much to go on, but it does make me wonder why my back arm is so low!
batlin get down to the shot more carefully / slowly to help keep yourself on line
nicbarrow Thanks Nic, I'll try this tomorrow :)
batlin How did you get on?
even a pro would struggle to do the whole line up in 3:45 seconds so it just goes to show how skilled you are. I wonder what your average shot time was????
Can you work it out and let us know ;-)
The Snooker Gym do you divide 60 seconds x 3:45 seconds divide by 36 because there's 36 shots taken out of 36??
The Snooker Gym so that's an average shot time of 6.25 seconds????
36 Shots in total (15 red, 15 color, + 6 colours at the end)
If the time was 3:45 (which in seconds is 225 seconds)
225 seconds : 36 = 6,25 second average per shot.
Good stuff!
you do realise the film has been sped up? its not in real time.
Awesome break Nic. Is that a 9mm cue?
Thankyou for your comment - no, it is a 58 inch cue!
+nicbarrow Ha oh I mean the tip diameter? 9.5ish mm? I was just curious. Cheers from the U.S. by the way been following you for a while now. I've learned quite a bit from your videos and I appreciate the work you put in
LOL 9mm it is - how did you know? Are you a snooker player or pool?
+nicbarrow unfortunately I just compete in 9 ball tournaments but I love snooker. I'm slightly obsessed haha I've played when I was in Austria and Ireland but we don't have snooker here in the states for whatever reason. If we had it I would never even play pool to be honest. I've just studied snooker for a while now ever since I fell in love and I recognize a 10mm cue vs. a 9mm cue when I see one I think if I ever bought one it would be a smaller diameter tip like 9-9.5. Now the only time I can feel like I'm playing it is when I watch these pov videos or in my daydreams haha
Snooker Coaching At The Snooker Gym all the info I gathered in the past lead me to believe that 9.5 mm was about the right size tip for snooker up to ten which is mostly the recommended tip size for snooker however all that time I played with the 9.5 etc 10 I did ok but never could control the ball as well as with a smaller tip like 9mm or slightly smaller I find it makes a big difference in cue ball control and is my preference as feels like you get more responsive action from the balls stun screw and sides etc yes it also comes down to good timing and good cuing but I find makes a whole lotta different with shots however for long shots you do have to be more precise with a smaller tip as opposed to a bigger sized tip but I feel much better playing with a smaller tip around 8.5-9mm plus you can see where your striking the cue ball better I feel
1:40-a giant pocket! On the table I practice- no chance.
Not the smallest - but I don't want my clients to be disheartened from the start.
hello nic I've got other problem here..erm im having problem with my back spin i dont why when i aim at the 6 a clock on the white back it turn out to be a stun ball or it just screw back a little. i could barely get a good screw shot on straight ball. i do not know what is the problem. my cue action is straight i did the follow through when i accelerate the cue. but it just won't work at all. do you have any idea to solve it.
+Benson Teo You may be AIMING there, but HITTING there is another matter! Most players lift the cue up slightly during delivery because they are scared of miscuing. So, practice aiming low and hitting low until you miscue and learn the limit of the cue ball - then you will feel free to aim and strike low.
+nicbarrow yeah i have realize that i have been hitting rather then pushing the ball. because i have been using the power first before hitting the ball so i tend to like jerk abit then hit the ball. now that i use the power at the last moment thats is where i am pushing the ball and without jerking it. thanks nic!
+Benson Teo And i manage to get good screw when i use the power or rather force in the last moment.
+Benson Teo now that i really understand what is pushing the ball its more fun and enjoying!!!
+Benson Teo Try slow screws. Make sure your running it nice and smooth. I used to have the same issue some time ago. and dont tighten your grip on the cue.
Cadê o zoom?
Here is information about the distance training sessions
www.thesnookergym.com/distance-snooker-coaching
1.07 left handed too. There are others!
tobaccorich only two shots left handed! good spot!
So to an untrained eye you used no side spin this whole break and just let your mind make minute tiny fractional adjustments. But I had this video pop up in my feed again and revisited since we had a brief convo about pivot. I saw at least 2 shots you used back hand pivot (I can go back and pick out time points if you want) and a few mostly cuts to the right you used left hand spin and front had pivot to compensate for slower stuns and screws and slower follows that that you needed to reduce cut induced throw. Since you played almost every shot within 3 feet of the pocket at fast speed you didn’t need to think about cut induced throw but on the ones and there were about 8-10 shots where you flicked some side on I feel compelled to tell you you were using front hand pivot for those. The back hand pivot only happened on the yellow and one other ball but for each use of side the aim was not altered from your aim line merely the pivot of the the line of the cue pre delivery. Just gonna drop by and say this since you were recently saying pivot is a myth which you and I both know is absolutely false.
Hi POV
Yes intent is centre cue ball unless there is justification not to. Some shots I played english eg the hi black that I had to play left handed. My intent is always to deliver the cue straight on every shot. So, my goal then becomes to guess (for a given distance to OB, amount of english, speed of shot) where the single and only line of aim needs to be to give that ob direction. Once I have guessed this based on prior trial and error I commit to the line 100% and pull the trigger. Many players 'swoop' the cue to the left as they play left hand side so it is very difficult for them to know where the line of aim actually is - they just do it by feel and intuition and trial and error. If I swooped on any shot then I classify this as a fail! Happy to see any time stamps though. PS the system above is called 'Two Hand English (THE!)
0:16 0:26 0:40 0:51 0:58 1:10 2:14 2:55 3:08 3:33
Thank you!
33second shot left handed on bkack
did you see another with left?!
3 people dont know "thumbs down" sign is for dislike.
Thank you sir!