1. Welcome

     2. Introduction

     3. Basics

     4. Practise Exercise 1

 

The main purpose of this page is to improve the standard of the individuals game. Coaching is not always readily available hence most techniques are directed to solo practice. Your requests and input are most welcome. 

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Most players who have played competitively, even at the lowest level, have an ambition or daydream to become a champion, perhaps of a local league or provincially at least. 

What positive steps are you doing to achieve this? 

Are you simply playing on year after year, ingraining bad habits more deeply, and making the same mistakes.The fact that you are reading this far, implies that you are different and actually doing more than hoping for a miracle. 

Solo practise in a systematic manner will improve your game at a much greater rate than if you simply play a friend for two hours every night. Although you will improve because of the number of balls you hit, there is a danger that you will reach a certain level and stick there. 

Billiards and Snooker are probably the Most Technical and in many ways the most difficult games in the world, although there is less coaching for them than for any other sport!

"Get these right & you will have taken a big step to becoming a great player -

Get these wrong and you will limit your potential from the start."

The grip: 

Pick up the cue as if your were going to hit somebody over the head with it!

The bridge:

Push your left arm out straight and place your left hand on the table. Cock the thumb to form a bridge between thumb & first finger and GRIP the cloth FIRMLY with all four fingers. Place the cue in your bridge & you are ready to play! 

BUT there is a lot more to it, for one thing, success depends on DELIVERING the cue through straight. How can you develop this proficiency? How can cueing be grooved! Firstly, is your stance all it should be? 

There are many terms used by players that do not make sense to novices. For this reason, links explaining most terms will be placed below. Please click on any term you are unfamiliar with and an explanation will be available. Players who are aware of these terms must note that revisiting the basics is also good for consistency. Please read these if you are not succeeding at a certain aspect of the game.  

Please note that too much of solo practice is not healthy because your concentration lags after about 45 minutes and also, playing with an opponent introduces time, pressure and other variables. It is easier to become jaded or stale.  

So you now have the stance, bridge, grip and cue action together. We need to expand on basic potting and use these techniques around the colours. The task requires  patience and many hours of dedication.  

POTTING

Nobody can actually teach you how to pot. This is a guide to easy, quick and interesting methods to teach oneself. Potting balls is the art of reading angles, memorising and recognising them when they come up. The pre-requisites are, a natural ability, self confidence and powerful concentration.

The Black

Refer to figure one.

Shot #1.

This is a particularly good test of ability round the black spot as each RED and each BLACK must be ”got on” just right to keep the break going. As you pot a red, another red becomes potable. A similar kind of situation often arises in competitive play, always remain on the lookout for this.

The smaller colours  

Figure one shot #2.  

This exercise provides a good method to practise break building with smaller colours. Often, a small break of 15 to 20 at the end of a game, is most useful. Some of the shots are quite difficult and you will find that the use of the REST is required. If you persevere, you will find it gets easier!

The pink  

Figure # 2  

Always try to pot as many pinks as is possible into the middle pocket. 

The blue (recovery ball)

Figure # 3  

Always try to pot as many blues possible into the corner pockets. Do not try to play position, leave the cue-ball in roughly the position covered by the four circles in the diagram. This exercise is mainly potting practice, but you will often find that a blue might be required, if you ever drift out of position.

Points to remember: Every practice session should contain some time spent at long straight pots. This is the best test of cueing that there is. The better player you become, the more time you will spend around the BLACK spot which is, after all, where the big breaks are made. For the player who wants to make big breaks, you must be able to pot a black from any position or angle, whether using STUN, SCREW or SIDE. No player can possibly play a series of difficult shots and succeed. The secret is to use the control to make the next shot easy. With a little control, a series of easy shots is possible. Lack of ball control leads to a ‘snowballing’ effect. 

Shot Selection

Figure # 4  

Here, we indicate the importance of shot selection and the relevant ‘snowballing’ influence of a general lack of control. After illustrating this immensely important point, the exercise that follows  will reveal to  the beginner the technicalities this wonderful game requires. It was Gary Player who said.... "The harder I practise, the luckier I get” There is more than experience required to foresee the eventual outcome of a break.  

Muscle memory.

Obtained by constantly revisiting practice exercises, and of course an instinctive ability that become inherent after a period of time.

Mental composure.

Once shots that were difficult, become routine and do not require the  concentration that was initially required, mental energy is conserved Therefore the player is able to accomplish shots that demand intense focus and precise execution, but do not surface in every game. Hence, like every sport, in snooker too, practice is the only key.

Around the Black  

Figure#5  

Useful practice for building a break around the black. Once you get the hang of it, you will probably sink eight reds and eight blacks without too much difficulty. Also useful for gaining knowledge of the path the cue ball tends to take having potted the red and bounced of the top cushion. You will notice three arrows in the diagram. These indicate three of the more likely paths the cue-ball will take, having potted the black in attempting to gain a position on the red. You will notice from the two outer arrows that it is often necessary to skim past a red by quite a narrow margin to gain position on a red and keep away from the side cushion. The greater the margin by which you pass the reds on these shots ( or the nearer the cue ball strays to the side cushion)