Finding the middle of the Cue Ball
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.พ. 2025
- In this video, I show you a few practice routines to help you pin point the middle of the cue ball (yes... it does exist!)
With the use of a spotted cue ball and Chris Henry's aid "The Balls", these routines will help you practice accuracy when aiming for the middle of the cue ball. They do get progressively harder do enjoy them, and good luck!!!
if u never made it as a player you could have been a teacher. really good at expaining. superb.
As a former educator myself, I have to agree. He actually imparts his knowledge as well as any teacher I have ever seen. Firstly and foremostly one has to have a thorough knowledge of the subject matter. He clearly does.
this is truly becoming the best snooker channel out there. Hope he keeps up these videos.
Hendry wont be happy to hear that 8)
Your recent video's are stellar. You were born for this!
I have been an above average snooker player and excellent pool ball player my whole life I am 62 years old and I play what you explained was a check side check etcn player on every shot I play how ever I also play or try to stun the cue ball as you just explained I have never played in a club but did have a one size smaller snooker table than full size at home (thanks dad) and played every day and learned by trial and error to become a decent shot,Shaun your show and tell will make me a better player because I now know what the hell I'm doing!! Thank you!and practice makes perfect!
Excellent stuff, Shaun. Thanks very much for putting it all together.
You're an excellent teacher/coach/instructor. One of the best on TH-cam. Thanks for the videos.
Loving his teaching. Great drills
I have no idea how to play snooker, but the way Shaun is telling these snooker tips its somehow so very mesmerising. Incredible ASMR 😂
Just a tech thing, I was listening on headphones and the right audio channel dropped out about 1 minute in and stayed out for the whole video. Loved the video!
Yeah, I noticed it on my speakers. Maybe my ears are better than I think! 🙂
loving your channel sean. keep doing them please. cant wait to get to snooker hall after watching this. really good for us normal humans.
Interesting video Shaun. I ran some scenarios through Chat GPT's more advanced AI and, after many pages of calculations, explanations and theories here are the takeaways.
Under typical conditions-a cue ball of 52.5 mm diameter struck by a snooker cue tip with a curvature around 9 mm, using a typical impact force-the estimated contact area is approximately 2 mm².
Even a mis-hit as small as 1 mm (which is only about 4% of the cue ball’s radius) can alter the cue ball’s travel direction by a few degrees. In high-level snooker, where players are trying to control position to within a few millimetres , such a deviation is significant.
A mishit of 1mm in the "over the dots" drill is estimated to cause the ball to deviate off the top cushion and mishit the cue tip by 80mm.
In practical terms, there is a margin of error of about 0.5 to 1.0 mm off dead centre when striking the cue ball and playing the average snooker shot.
Actual pots are less impacted by a minor mishit but of course controlling position off the cushion is much more critical when accidental side is applied.
So, in summary. There is a dead centre of the cue ball, and in practical terms, that is a spot about 2mm²
Miss that dead centre by 1mm or more and it is likely that you will not be potting well, particularly your long shots and your positional play off the cushions will be impacted.
Great explanation!
Thanks for another great video. Loved the little mantra at 16:12
Middle of the pocket
Middle of the red
Middle of the cue ball
Stop dead! 😁
Very good presentation and demonstrations Shaun - no clickbait, sensationalism, or woolly logic here :-)
Articulately done, rather than relying on the brute force of opinions to ram a point home.
I just bought a snooker table and you started uploading this golden material. Perfect timing, thank you Shaun!
This is a great video, really explains it well. I think though Michael is very tongue in cheek re finding the middle of the cue ball. He knows it exists but because of how difficult it is, which this video proves, emphasises it’s not often necessary.
It's wonderful to have these tips/lessons for free. So insightful straight to the point and explained perfectly.
Packet of sweets and a big cheeky smile always springs to mind when I see/hear Shaun Murphy!!!
Great explanation and demonstration Shaun.👏👏
That was brilliant. I've tried the last routine a few times when I used to practice a bit and yes it's very difficult. Not sure I could do it now. I'll give it a go the next time I'm in the club.
Another Brilliant Video Shaun, very articulate as usual, great knowledge, could you please make a video about cueing off the side rail, especially for high blacks, keep up the good work, 😉👍👍
Another brilliant video. This reminds me of my first coaching sessions. I think I only hit the cue ball for about 6 weeks! Great to see that you don't feel like you are above these routines simply because you are a professional.
Good on you Shaun, another great motivational video, much appreciated thanks.
One good way of checking you are on the centre, even in a match is to lower your cue address position so that your tip is touching the baize. The cueball centre is the contact point with the baize. If you are on centre it will look symmetrical on both sides.
You can then slowly raise your cue to the strike position.
Only personally found this one out a few years back!
Shaun, your timing and delivery of these sessions are perfect..and I dont mean your cue.
Very very good I enjoy the clarity of your voice while you video.
This just reminds basic players just how difficult this game is.
You may as well say the Earth is flat nonsense and then say there’s no middle on the cue ball , great Video Shaun it’s time for to get your own back on Hendry and grill him on show , keep up the good work mate
This video was good timing for me. I was trying to do the first exercise hitting the ball up and down the spots and found that I could do it easily when trying to hit centre, but when I tried to play it with top or bottom spin (but still hit the bottom or top centre) I was always imparting accidental right hand side.
I thought there was something fundamentally wrong with my stroke that I'd have to fix, but wasn't sure what or how to go about it. So interesting to see when Shaun was accidentally hitting the ball with right hand side his first thought was I'll just aim a bit to the left then. Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best ones 😂
Great tips pardon the expression 😂😂 next time i go to the club ill try this
i literally realized, a couple of days ago, that finding the center of the cue ball is the key to snooker or pool or whatever. A lot of instructions dont really seem to articulate this very well. A lot of frustration and confusion i had was solved, at least mentally, when i had the realization that i wasn't aiming improperly, but i wasn't actually hitting the cue ball in a specific enough spot and thus not hitting the poting point very consistent. Now i feel so excited to practice when, before, i was considering giving my expensive cue away or even throwing it away. I wasn't terrible, but was not as consistent as i wanted to be and not entirely sure how to aim. But now im running out more often and even did a break and run more easily now. I mostly play pool on a 9ft table. I do play on a snooker here and there as a side quest, but now im able to get a break of 54 or something like that on the lineup drill. I also ran out the colors on their spot a couple times, after many tries.
you are a absolute legend shaun, someone who i have always found articulates and explains snooker techniques and complexities very well just like the GOAT hendry.
Really rooting for plenty of match wins this remaining season. Go on Shaun
Great video Shaun, those Chris Henry balls and a spotted cue ball have definitely helped me.
We all know the middle exists as we also know if we don't hit it right we don't pot them long pots especially, good video big fella
Like Holt says on his channel, you're aswell put a fraction of helping side on every shot because the absolute middle is so difficult to hit consistantly
Ahhhhh the middle of the ball? Some say it does not exist 👀 🤔 eh hum Michael.
All you pros are great giving back to everyone, we are loving it.
seen this video 😂
Great lesson from the great player of the game
Great video Shaun. Even harder is the blue, pink and black on their spots. Cue ball on brown spot and try to achieve a pink and black contact after hitting the blue.
Great video and explanations. I have a spotted cue ball but never thought of using it like that. I think I might even invest in a set of Chris Henry’s balls!
Shaun is of course correct, that there is a centre 😄
If a photo was taken of this cue ball, or sphere, we can determine two far opposite edges. The far left and the far right, known as the diameter.
All diameters have a centre. (The vertical axis from this can be worked out from here if needed for certain shots). +
The centre exits, BUT isn’t the B all and end all in playing the game.
As Michael says… “Learn how to play the game and just crack on”
Great youtube Channel Shaun, and Micheal 👏 👏 👏
The middle of the cueball is obviously a thing. But the point that Michael Holt is making is to not obsess over finding the middle of the cueball. You can be a very good player minus the ability to strike the cueball dead centre every time.
But you'll be a better player if you can. Or get closer. It's definitely a core ability of the game.
@adamf1347 You just watched Shaun Murphy fail to do it more often than not. And you'll never be as good as him. Holt is 100% correct!
Basic but paramount. Excellent!
[Side note: The 'broom' plant in the corner of the room works me every time I see it. 😁]
Great stuff! I believe it's best to always play with side. That way, you don't have to worry about this, and it helps you master the side-which is far more important!
But if you don't know where the middle is, how do you what's side?
@@stevemawer848 In my case, it's easy-I can tell when I'm using the side because it's visible, but I can't see where the middle is. I suspect that the cue tip-its shape and deformations-plays a role in that. For instance, I might make a shot today, but tomorrow, with a new tip, I could inadvertently apply unwanted side and miss. It's tough. But don't take my word for it; I'm no expert. These are just my thoughts on Shaun's great explanation.
Another great video. Thanks, Shaun.
Great video Shaun. Thanks. Hugh
Very well explained!
Please make a video on screw shots, covering how professionals approach them and including some practice routines.
Another great video :)
Third routine is one i have done with fergal in celbridge.. looks simple but very hard.. great stuff shaun
Great videos Shaun. The last drill is so hard! I think my aiming is off as well as not finding the centre 😂
Shaun fails to execute a shot.
Shaun: It shows you how hard it is..😂😂
Muchas gracias, Shaun.
That white up and down the spots is great for straight cueing practice but you’ve got to keep an eye on crafty Hendry. When he did it on his channel he moved the cue slightly to make it hit the centre on the way back lol.
I bet even Barton-Snooker is watching this :)))
Fantastic to watch this, well done
Love the ending ediction, that's definately a sphere 😂
Who else thinks we van get 100k subs in 90 days nice video shaun very clear and very helpful 👍👍
Cheers, Shaun. I'll have a go and see what happens 👍
For the white to stun without side you also have to hit the object ball dead centre… you could cue perfectly, but if you hit the object ball a bit off you’ll get that spin too…
Shaun Murphy discusses existence and Heidegger's "fundamental question of metaphysics" 🤣
Hi Shaun, I really enjoy listening to the 147 podcast. But please consider using a compressor or limiter to minimize the volume differences. That would definitely improve the listening experience. 🙂
Snooker is too complicated! You need a degree in angles and balls!! Just put it in the pocket! Great video here by the new Masters' Champion! You men and your balls!!
Shaun, in your previous video discussing aiming with side, with one of the reds you potted to get on the blue, you claimed to be hitting one of them in the middle & just with screw on - yet you clearly had a trace of right side on. Which means that even a top pro like you isn't aware of if they're hitting the middle or not when trying to.
Hence why you should try to use a trace, so the white doesn't trap. Seems pretty logical to me...
Telling amateurs to focus on hitting the cue ball up & down the spots is good for a complete novice who has never picked a cue up. Whereas, watching Michael & listening to him acrually develops your game. He explains that aiming for the middle will mean accidentally putting negative spin on the cue ball by accident, making your positional play poor.
Pure gold shaun 👌
Great informative video. Letting you know there is an audio issue with your post. No sound coming from R/H
Michael Halt is going to have a field day here hahahahahaha. Waiting for his response video :) When is the TH-cam snooker boxing fight? :D
😮😮😮
It’s like drake vs Kendrick all over again 😂
Holt's just desperate to sound like he knows things nobody else does. Of course there IS a (relative) middle to the cue ball. What Holt actually means is it's just supremely difficult to hit the middle, especially consistently. Therefore, instead of just saying that he feels the need to come up with some outlandish clickbait statement to get more views and interactions on his channel. He seems to have calmed down a bit lately on this but he is just an attention-seeker and clickbaiter.
Fight, fight, fight!
Hardly, holty has is opinion just as shaun has his. Technically, the middle of a sphere is not hittable as its in its core. You can argue about hitting a sphere along a plane, but middle it is not@DM-kv9kj
Thank you Shaun Murphy!
outstanding Shaun how can you accurately hit the cue ball with any side if you have nothing to mesure from ,THE CENTER
Shaun, vertically, there is a middle line through which you can strike without imparting side spin but to strike the centre of the ball without imparting any spin is near impossible because the cue would have to be perfectly level striking centre and travelling on a vector that would take through the centre on the other side of the ball.
But as we both know, i was never able to do that anyway😂😂😂
It was left, going left with a touch left and added left ⛳️🙈🤪
Forgot the late left💩
I use the Measles ball,but specifically set it up with the dots vertical, And the dots on sides level , and with the dot facing the cue at "center". Then by playing over the dots, the " vertical dots" should return upright, and the side dots should " spin", not wobble..
If it’s so difficult to find that center of a cb, so much that it took 22 minutes explaining the science and practice behind it, the question I would love to have answered is if it’s even worth trying to go for center? Players like Jack or Michael think it’s not worth it but would love to hear Shaun’s take
Hi Shaun huge fan from China. Could I please request an episode on dominant eye, cue alignment, vision parallax and etc? This part of the game really bothers me. Would love to see your insight!!
Excellent
There is something to say for the way Jimmy White lines up, from the bottom up
There's actually lots of middles , what you're really looking for is hitting YOUR middle ..... "what's he going in about" I hear you say , because it's a sphere there's not only the middle you see on your side, but there's also the middle on the opposite side, of course you can't hit that one though, unless you moved to the other side
Every player has a routine they do before they bend down to shoot. Can you bring us through that. I think a lot of people miss shots because they aren't set up right looking down the cue properly. I would like to see a video on this. Thanks Sean 😊 💚
Found it very interesting when you said ' I am hitting slightly on the right a bit.. (TODAY) ! So then you hit slightly on the left (as it looked to you) to correct it.
My question is do you do this regularly by finding where you are hitting on any particular day, and allowing for it? Bit like a golfer finding on the range that today he is hitting a draw and not a fade so play with it.
Hi Shaun loving the content any chance you could do cue ball or object ball when striking would love to hear your take on this thanks.
Michael does point out that the Davis white on middle spot back to cue tip routine isnt necessarily an indication of hitting the centre of the cue ball. The better test is to hit a perfectly straight shot and if the white goes in, you've got very near the centre. But even then, you can create side on a straight shot, and still pot it....
If i got down absolutely perfectly, i.e 90 degrees to the angle and turned myself into a statue, there would be a meeting point between me, the object ball and the pocket, which would theoretically be on the nearest point of the cue ball to the centre of my body.. But no body or brain is fixed so in reality, the middle doesn't exist.
Or the middle does exist, but only for a micro second. Your better off accepting it and using side.
If Shaun Murphy a triple crown winner is struggling to strike the cueball dead centre. No-one watching should be stressing about not being able to do it all thd time either. Enjoy playing, learning, and developing.
Can you please do a video on soft stun/screw shots please, Shaun
Hi Shaun the magician great videos.
Would make a video for sighting, approaching and alignment pls
Brilliant 👏
Love the channel mate. Couple of questions.
1) should I be practising with side in all my games or should I try to perfect playing plain ball before I attempt side? I find it difficult to know why I’ve missed sometimes and I fear that when I introduce side, it’s another variable for me to be confused by when I miss.
2) is it wrong to look at the cue ball when I do my final checks as opposed to the object ball. I’d prefer to look at the object ball but I’m far less consistent when I try this.
Cheers mate
Really interesting vid again. If i may indulge myself into your mind. You said something that i picked up on whilst using the "the balls" you said my technique today was a slight center right strike. I would ask that would you typically look at this on match day? and try and adjust accordingly? do you think it would likely improve your prep and maybe your chances in a match if you identify a slight variance and try and counter for it OR is that a no no and just try and keep everything the same hoping for perfect striking? I ask this as we all appreciate how hard this game is from one day to the next so just wondered if that was a thought process?
I know golfers have swing bais and some fade and some draw naturally so they play for it
I find my cue action varies a lot. So many variables to look at. For me, this is the reason for not hitting the middle of the cue ball. Would love to know if this can be corrected without playing hours and hours every day.
i believe if you head was in the wrong position on the cue it would be difficult to find the centre of the cueball, so is there a way of finding this out? and finding the right alignment
Great video especially the last exercise. Shaun in your case you are slightly to the right of middle of the white. Now imagine that deviation is bigger say twice as much. When does it become a problem? It is very difficult because even you after correcting yourself playing with the light white later on when you potted the red in the middle pocket you had that little righthand side again on it. So how can you eliminate this without losing your 'game'? Can you reduce it slightly? When you watch videos of Davis and Hendry they really struck the middle of the white better than other players.
If you're struggling as a beginner try doing the baulk line across the table
I think the delivery of the cue in a straight line will have more of an effect on unwanted side, than factions off the central point on white surely. Like golf swing path dictating the flight i.e. draw/fade.
That being said, is there any accurate way to measure straight delivery of a cue please, as this would be the best place to start for me if i was to coach someone or improve?
Also does hitting the center bottom of the cue ball and playing a full table drag to hit the center of the black on its spot be a good variation of the final practice routine?
Change it from finding the middle of the cue ball to finding the g spot and this becomes very interesting
Nice video - started out in stereo but moved to left ear only after about 1 minute
Shaun, thank you for this video. At 20:04 you make a back swing. Your cue makes a looping action. In such, that on the back swing the cue leaves the chin and then touches it again at the final point. Could you please explain this type of cue action? Thank you
A decent microphone - does it even exist? Why yes, yes it does.
Hi Shaun, can you give some tips for the cue itself? Length, weight, diameter, tip, etc. I feel that shorter people like me are not too comfortable to use standard cue. Or can it be fixed? Thanks.
Interesting that you pushed the cue ball to the left on the long red shot also 🙂
Great lesson, Shaun! But with angled balls what parameters do we have to check straightness?
Thanks, from Brazil!
The over the spots exercise is great, but the point of aim is so far away, it’s quite hard to know if the ball is coming back off line because of spin or because you didn’t actually line up correctly and aim the ball actually over the spots to the exact centre of the cushion.
Hey Sean, Great video 😄 there is only one you tube snooker channel that talks about the geometry of a snooker table and how snooker players use this to escape from snookers! Can you help with this as your angle work is pretty good? Hopeful…… Gary
How about video on low deflection cues or titanium ferrule 🎱
The middle is always an exciting question. Mathematical and physiologically we know it exists. Relatively speaking it is so small that if pointing with perfectly set up lasers, you are never ever going to hit it twice in a row. If we say the middle is 1 degree of a circles circumference all ways, it’s about 0.3778 cm2 and the snooker cue is approximately 2,82 cm2. you would have to hit with 13.8% of the cue tip and perfectly. So relatively to if the middle or not is reel - depends. How big of a fail margen one has as to where it seems perfectly in the middle for the naked eye is a different discussion. And something you obviously can practice as we can see from your shots and exercises. And if the end result is a deviation of merly 2 mm from the target, and the shot is successful do we really care if it were the true middle or practical middle?
Nice channel, you could earn a living with it.