Snooker recently had a boost to its' image with the help of world sports analysis leaders Marlbrook. Having already worked with Worcester, Warwick and Derby cricket teams, UK Athletics, Leeds United FC and the PGA, snooker was next on the list for Marlbrook on a sunny day in Wellingborough over the summer break.
With a shopping list of twelve 3D motion capture cameras (with tripods), 32,000 frame per second video camera, projectors, a caseload of supporting gadgets, laptop computers and highly technical software, Marlbrook were fully prepared to go all the way in bringing new perspectives to their latest sporting project.
Managing Director Barbara May commented:
"As we are the first in our field with full 3D motion analysis from so many cameras, we are continually bringing our set up to new sports, and it's great to see so many of the player's we have worked with so surpised by what it can show them."

2002 World Snooker Champion Peter Ebdon was the first subject to sample Marlbrook's equipment, and underwent full 3D motion analysis - a first in the world of snooker. The 3D analysis is the unique selling point of Marlbrook, enabling them to accurately detect minute detail in anything from the efficiency of a footballer's running action, potential of a race horse to breed champions and proving for courts whether or not a compensation claimant really is injured how they say they are!
Donning an array of highly reflective marbles, Ebdon began playing a few shots while the twelve 3D cameras that had been set up to silently record proceedings. Selecting a shot that had been causing some concern over the previous season, Ebdon duly played it on a few occasions, reviewing the results on the projector image provided by the ultra high end laptop computer.
Amazement was the expression registered by Ebdon and his coach Chris Henry, as they suddenly became able to see the reasons for error in a way that mere observation and video replay had never been able to pinpoint.
Ebdon said: "It is incredible just how much you can actually learn from the 3D film generated by the computer. It is such an eye opener."

Next under the spotlight was Chris Henry's latest invention, the Acuerate™. The latest in cue design, the Acuerate™ was developed with the purpose of increasing the player's ability to hit the white ball in a straight line.
With Peter Ebdon acting as chief cue tester and Marlbrook's equipment this time attached to cue rather than body, it quickly became apparent how effective the Acuerate™ actually is in it's stated objective.
With the computer measurements backing up the subjective side to the experiments, it was up to Ebdon to sum up the experience from a player's perspective. After playing a power stun shot on a long red with a particularly huge amount of check side, Ebdon was only able to say:
"That was incredible - with my cue I would probably have missed the object ball completely, but the white has gone almost straight with virtually no push off effect from the side spin."
Henry added:
"Testimonial from top players backed up by scientific data demonstrate the benefit of the Acuerate™, that being to help players hit the ball straight even with unintentional traces of side. We hope to go even more deeply into this with Marlbrook in the near future."

To wrap up the day, UAE National Snooker Coach had a few items on his wish list to get through with Marlbrook's equipment.
Barrow, fascinated by seeing the unseen in the game so his players don't have to, first was able to record the contact between two balls with the camera firing at up to 32,000 frames per second. The results showed clearly how the object ball lifts away from the surface of the cloth on contact. This being due to the fact that the weight of the ball itself causes it to compress a ditch for itself whilst waiting for it's marching orders from the cue ball.
The next experiment involved viewing the contact of the balls from above to examine the phenomenon of reverse plants, this being where two object balls that are very close together, or touching. The camera showed that the second object ball is pushed into what seems to be the wrong direction by the first object ball, and also the spins of the three balls during contact.
Lastly was capturing some stunning film of balls contacting cushions, giving a feel for exactly why the balls behave like they do with different spins and speeds into the cushions. The film also showed how it is possible to have a ball touching the cushion, the white at a thirty degree angle to it, play with 'running side' on the cue ball and contact the cushion one full inch before the object ball and still see the object ball go into the pocket.

Technical Director Dr. James Shippen summed up:
"It was very exciting to see the delight in Peter, Chris and Nic's expressions as they saw what can be revealed with our equipment. Today was just to explore what is possible with Marlbrook and Snooker, and we hope to go a step further next time."
Barrow said:
"I echo James's sentiments in that if we are fortunate enough to work with Marlbrook again, there will be so much more we can explore now that we have scratched the surface of what can be done."