MOST players who come to see me, at some point in the pre session questionnaire (or first session), invariably say something like: 'Someone in the club told me to do xxxxx, and I decided to try it.' I usually interrupt them before they have finished and say: 'WHO is this person - and WHY are you listening to them?!'. Their response often involves a combination of looking downwards, searching for an unavailable answer, and a blank look!
Most Snooker Club Advice-Givers in clubs are very well-meaning, but are often issuing recycled third hand opinions that can be to the detriment of the receiver. These may or may not be correct, but even if they are correct can often be wrong in certain situations and with certain players. The Snooker Club Advice-Givers usually have not reached a very high playing standard themselves, nor have they coached a few thousand people face to face to know - through bitter experience - the difference between the symptom a player has versus its hidden causes, a theory of what works versus the practical experience of what does, and how to convey all this to an individual player's standard, learning style, and personality.
Asking the Snooker Club Advice-Giver to explain the reasons behind their suggestion is a good start to uncover their level of understanding. For your own self-protection as a player from errant opinions, it can help you to realise that every single snooker player in the world (INCLUDING Ronnie O'Sullivan) are ONLY trying to do three things:
1. Deliver the cue on the line of aim
2. Deliver the cue at the correct height on the cue ball
3. Delivery the cue at the correct speed
Anything that helps you do this, do more of it - and vice versa.