Continuing our New Year Snooker Resolutions, here is number two:
New Year’s Resolution number 2:
Commit to the line of aim before you get down.
Lack of a proper pre shot routine is just as damaging to our snooker hopes as lack of a proper post shot routine. A great exercise that my coach of twenty years (Frank Adamson – who also worked with Ronnie for ten years and Steve Lee when he was provisional world number 1) showed me and many other professionals is ‘Stop & Go’:
- Select a straight pot that you would pot maybe 6/10.
- Stand behind the line of aim of the shot.
- Get down to the shot.
- With NO ADJUSTMENT OF THE CUE and also NO CUEING ACTIONS OR FEATHERS at all, just gently pull the cue back straight and push it through straight.
- Stay in position until BOTH BALLS STOP.
- Check that your cue delivered STRAIGHT TO THE POCKET.
- If the cue was straight, then you have discovered where you were aiming the object ball.
- If the cue was not delivered straight, then we learned nothing about our aiming from the shot and you must play the shot again.
- Repeat until you have played ten shots with a straight delivery (the target is NOT ten pots, but ten shots with a straight delivery ie to discover whether you were aiming correctly or not). By the time you have played ten successfully, you should be getting better at carefully getting down on the correct line of aim and potting the ball.
You will then be ready to start adding 2,3 or 4 cue actions / feathers when down on the shot.
The purpose of these is NOT TO FIND THE LINE OF AIM (because you have already done that before you get down to the shot…. haven’t you?!?!). The purpose of them is to check that the cue is moving straight in readiness for the backswing and delivery.
Please reply if you have any questions or feedback…
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