As a pool player how do I get better at snooker?

Snooker is a precision game, played on a much larger table with much smaller pockets, and smaller balls.

For example, if shooting a shot diagonally from one pocket to another:

On a pool table, the distance is about 100 inches, the pocket is, say 5 inches.

The angle formed by lines from the centre of the cue ball to either side of the pocket is about 2.9 degrees.

On a snooker table, the distance is about 140 inches, the pocket is 3.33 inches.

The angle formed by lines from the centre of the cue ball to either side of the pocket is about 1.7 degrees.

The snooker balls are smaller, so inaccurate contact between the cue and the cue ball, or cue ball and object balls is much less foregiving than when using larger pool balls.

So finding centre, cueing straight, are much more important than in pool.

Cueing straight - just practice stroking above the baulk line (no ball) - does the cue run straight, or is it wandering?

When it is straight, add the cue ball - does the cue ball come straight back to the cue tip?

Put the cue ball on the brown spot and shoot straight down the table - does the cue ball return to the cue tip? Does it return at an angle because of unintended sidespin?

Add an object ball on the blue spot.

It is not that snooker does not require sidespin at times, but you must have accurate cueing.

Watch some snooker video matches.

See how the players attempt to get position on the blue, so that a stun shot can be used to open the pack.

Watch how they use draw and follow shots to open the pack off of the black.

This thread has some sources, but some links are now defunct.
You will find various drills to practice.

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=197343

Search Google videos for

steve davis the champions way

Understanding Modern Snooker – Jack Karnehm

SirNoobs said:

Also has anyone tried to use CTE aiming in snooker?

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You can break new ground

SirNoobs said:

Last Friday I tried to play snooker for the first time and it was terrible. In two hours we were only able to play two racks (or frames?) while the owner and his opponent played several racks. :embarrassed2: Also I tried shooting the ball down the rail and the pockets would jaw them and spit them out and in long shots the balls missed pretty wide.

Even though my friends never want to play again, I want to get better at this game. What are some things I should look into and consider to improve my game? Also has anyone tried to use CTE aiming in snooker?

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First of all, get you a snooker cue.
They have a smaller tip but a stronger taper.

I had a pool cue that was the most powerful I ever had.....
...on a pool table.
..on a snooker table, it played like a weak sister

Then hit long straight shots till they start going in a lot....
...if you can't acquire the accuracy, you'll be wasting your time

And just play one heckuva lot more. Two hours on a snooker table isn't going to help build any confidence. Two hundred hours might. :smile:

As a pool player how do I get better at snooker?

.....-like always my friend- Practice, Practice, Practice

lg
Ingo

Simply put, don't approach it as a pool player. Try to become a snooker player. If you try to conform any poolisms (wiggly strokes, cte) to snooker it will be a tough road ahead.

When I started playing snooker seriously, I had a high run of 98 in 14.1. So I had a fairly good foundation, but I still felt like I was starting the learning process over when I took up snooker. I could run the occassional 50 break, but for the most part I missed the most basic of shots in the worst situations. I took the game seriously, bought a snooker cue, changed my stance to a snooker/pool hybrid stance (kind of like Alex Pagualyans) reduced the moving parts in my stroke and have been working on a pause in my back swing forever.

I still work on my stroke and long pots are a staple of my practice routine. So don't approach it as a pool player trying to learn snooker, become a snooker player learning to play snooker. Your pool game will benefit from the added accuracy.

Well as a pool player I've had the opportunity to practice snooker almost daily on great tables for almost a year now. I've had plenty of solo practice, but believe me, the progress is much slower than you could imagine, much much slower than at pool for any regular mortal. But it is a lot of fun. And you will become a more complete pool player. Many of my pool friends only ever play 9ball, 10ball and 8ball, avoid 14.1 like plague and don't even ask about snooker. It shows as they are very one dimensional.

Contrary to popular opinion, you don't need to throw away any of your pool knowledge. But as Cameron said, you do need to lose funky stroke and maybe also unorthodox lining up/aiming methods if you feel they are holding you back. Whole process really needs to be clean with decent preshot routine, but not necessarily 100% snooker style. There are some very clean and neat pool style strokes which could work also. Snooker will also tell you why you miss at pool so much. But if you have any sort of knowledge of 14.1 it will come very handy in snooker. Some 9ball position routes are applicable too, just not as much. Basic principles of pocket billiards are still the same, it's just that margin of error is so small due to balls, pockets, table size...etc. But beware. Although the table is rather big, good position zones for bigger breaks say 40+ are quite small.

Avoid playing frames, focus on solo practice at first.

My wife and I had the pleasure (?) of playing on two 12' footers in the last ten days, and SirNoobs, we were happy when we put ANY ball in the pockets! However, it is a great game and well worth learning. We have a 10' in my man cave and it seems small compared to the 12 footers!

SirNoobs said:

Thanks for the tips. I'd love to play snooker more often but table time is $2-3 more than pool per hour per person. I've found one pool hall that has a snooker table but they do $7/hr, it bothers me a little that I can play almost two hours of pool for that kind of money. :frown:I honestly tried CTE but gave up when I missed a few simple shots. Maybe I'll try again next week because I haven't completely adjusted the aiming system to the smaller balls. As said the angles of the long pots on a 12 footer is unforgiving.

Everyone has posted some great tips. I realize I don't have much of a preshot routine and I haven't thought much about backswing and pausing so I'll need to build on that. I'm going to have to re-evaluate my stroke and approach all together. Ever since Pro One/CTE my approach has changed from walking into the line of the shot from shuffling and twisting onto it. :embarrassed2:

Edit: Also, what are some good brands for beginner-intermediate cues? I hear Dufferin is a good and affordable brand that lasts. Do people still sell Canadian made Dufferin snooker cues?

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what bothers me is that in canada 7 an hour is almost half price for pool/snooker, you guys got it good down there...

Lots of great tips so far, but I'll add a few.

SirNoobs said:

Thanks for the tips. I'd love to play snooker more often but table time is $2-3 more than pool per hour per person. I've found one pool hall that has a snooker table but they do $7/hr, it bothers me a little that I can play almost two hours of pool for that kind of money. :frown:

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First off: welcome to snooker! I hope you stick with it.

$7 per hour is CHEAP where I live, but then I live in a relatively expensive area.

If you're concerned about cost, consider talking to the room owner about a mini-league for snooker. Maybe snooker league members could pay a small annual fee ($20) and then get a small discount for practice time, and a larger discount for table time for league matches. User "cascader" set up a league in Massachusetts, and it's helped bring snooker players together.

Since a snooker table is larger, it costs the room owner more to keep. A number of rooms gave up their snooker tables because they had a better chance of staying in business with two small pool tables instead of one big snooker table that went unappreciated.

I honestly tried CTE but gave up when I missed a few simple shots. Maybe I'll try again next week because I haven't completely adjusted the aiming system to the smaller balls. As said the angles of the long pots on a 12 footer is unforgiving.

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You'll find lots of good instructional material online about aiming, stance, etc. Some of the top snooker players have written instructional books that are well regarded; from these books you may also learn a few tips about the snooker table that will surprise you. (For example, on a properly groomed table, how does the cue ball with side spin behave when shot "up" the table versus "down" the table? Is the relation of length to width of the playing surface on a snooker table exactly the same as on a pool table?)

Check out The Snooker Forum, which is the AzB of snooker. I try to cross-post now and then between AzB and TSF.

http://www.thesnookerforum.com/board/

Everyone has posted some great tips. I realize I don't have much of a preshot routine and I haven't thought much about backswing and pausing so I'll need to build on that. I'm going to have to re-evaluate my stroke and approach all together. Ever since Pro One/CTE my approach has changed from walking into the line of the shot from shuffling and twisting onto it. :embarrassed2:

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Drill, man, drill. Snooker's a great game to force attention on fundamentals, and by shooting drills (once a night, or however frequently you can tolerate) you'll get used to the table. It's well worth the effort.

1. Put the blue on its spot in the center. Place the cue ball to make the blue in one side and draw the cue ball into the opposite side. Try to split both pockets.

2. Practice shooting the cue ball straight over the center spots and have the cue ball return to the tip of your cue. Since head alignment is critical, you might shoot this drill a few times each time you play.

3. Put the blue on its spot, put the cue ball wherever you want, and practice shooting into a corner. Over time you can move the cue ball back.

4. Shoot the yellow, green, and brown (2, 3, and 4 points) in order from their spots. Over time, add the blue, pink, and black.

5. Play "line-up" snooker, which is a good practice routine. One modification: rather than resetting the table after one miss, keep going but keep track of how many innings it takes you to finish.
http://www.snookergames.co.uk/practise.html

6. Practice kicks and banks. If you use kick and bank systems for pool, you'll need to make some adjustments. The cross-side bank is a bit easier than it looks at first. Cross corner? Not so much.

7. Start getting used to making shallow angle shots into the side pocket. Pool players tend to overlook these shots. Since the pockets are rounded rather than pointy, a snooker table pocket will accept shots from a wider range of angles than a pool table pocket would.

Check out Allison Fisher's stroke: she's successfully made the transition from snooker to pool (which is an understatement). Her stroke is solid, precise, and consistent.

Edit: Also, what are some good brands for beginner-intermediate cues? I hear Dufferin is a good and affordable brand that lasts. Do people still sell Canadian made Dufferin snooker cues?

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Search for "snooker cue" in the forum; there are several posts on the topic already. If you find a cue that you like, Wity can tell you whether the quality is overhyped. If you get a decent, unvarnished cue, then just make sure you have a decent tip.

I seem to recall that there was a difference between older Dufferins and newer ones, but I don't recall. I'm a fan of older Dufferin house cues.

A few times I've seen cues from Canadian cuemaker Kevin Deroo for sale here. Buying used will save you some money.

If you play snooker long enough that you want to buy The Last Snooker Cue You'll Ever Need (a practice recommended by some), then you could check out the Shark series from Mike Wooldridge in the UK. You can pay more for fancy splices and different woods, but the base level Shark is a fine cue. Shipping may seem expensive, but the cue and case are packed nicely.
http://www.handmadecues.com/

Pictures of my cue:
http://picasaweb.google.com/rethunk/MikeWooldridgeSharkSnookerCue#5414167805970458786

When you first start playing, practice simply potting balls. Don't worry about playing position until you feel comfortable that you can consistently make simple pots. Once you feel confident that you can make pots, start playing simple positional shots, i.e. short draw shorts, follow through and stun shots. I would leave side (English) alone until you are capable of putting together breaks over 40-50 (which is no mean feat). With such a small tip on your cue accuracy is paramount, so if you are slightly off center with your cueing you will find that it can have a large affect on your shot making ability.

As a pool player how do I get better at snooker?

Thats an easy one: stop playing pool.

Wity said:

As a pool player how do I get better at snooker?

Thats an easy one: stop playing pool.

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I believed this at one point too, I spent a year playing snooker almost exclusively. But I've found that playing a bit of pool can be beneficial especially when it comes to escaping snookers, managing clusters etc.

The biggest downside to playing both games tends to be the how easy it is to become lazy with your fundamentals which follows you to your snooker game. So it's absolutely paramount that players work hard at avoiding this pitfall.

More than anything, playing a variety of games keeps me from burning out. That happened to me last year and now I play a healthy helping of both. I've never played better snooker in my life, I've run 14 centuries since February (mostly in practice) and I think it has a lot to do with the variety of cue games that I'm playing.

I think more and more practice will more effective.