I finally decided to prop my phone up, and film myself shooting. I dont like what I see. My stroke is wobbly and looks terrible. I had no idea how bad it was. I feel good shooting, and do get good results. I have been playing for 18 years, and am the 2nd/3rd best player on my league out of 40 plus people, and there are some very decent players on it. I just feel sort of stalled out in my game, like I am not improving at all. I came across this video of thorsten and mike massey explaining how to do a simple pre shot routine to get yourself properly aligned for the shot. I have never seen/been taught anything like this. I am pretty certain I am not properly positioned when getting down on the shot and stroking. One thing I know is that the cue is firmly planted against my side while stroking. Not sure if this is good or bad. If you havent filmed yourself shooting, try it. Even if you think you have a great stroke and or play pretty good, you may be surprised at what you see. I am going to make it a point to use this method when approaching every shot, and see how it goes.
I recently came to the same conclusion (close to two years ago now). I'd been playing for 25 years but just not getting any better. So, like you, I started searching out instructional materials. I found that I likely had very poor stroke mechanics, that were exacerbated at times by my own emotions.
I went back to the basics. I rebuilt my stroke from ground up. It was difficult because it meant I was actually a
worse player for a while. My mechanics may have been awful, but I was well-practiced at them. Changing them meant I was right back at square one--I had to relearn how to do a basic 45deg cut shot with the OB 6 inches from the pocket and the CB 6-12in from the OB. That basic.
I'm about to sound like a shill but I promise I'm not. Ordering
Mark Wilsons book was the best decision I ever made. Looks like he increased the price recently, which is unfortunate, but it's still worth it. I built my stroke mechanics around his philosophy, and I have become much more consistent.
It's been a year and half since I bought that book and I'm still ironing out the minutiae of my stroke (I had 25 years of accrued bad habit to cull) but I'm running out much more consistently and significantly more confidently now than ever before. Heck, I'd say after 2-3 months of regular practice, I was already beyond where I had been. At this point, my biggest concern is the mental game.
So whether you use his book, another book, or online instructional materials, the biggest thing you can do is focus on your stroke and get it dialed in so it is straight and consistent. Any practice you do, or strategy improvements you make, will be a waste of time if you can't rely on yourself to execute exactly as you need to when you need to.
Good luck!
