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Yes, a classic.

Something I should mention because it can be important in pool but is not covered in the material I linked to: While an internal focus generally negatively impacts performance and learning, this only applies when the focus is on what you are trying to do - on the stroke. For various reasons I...

Sure. There is a lot published, but this paper is good, giving reviews and meta analyses of previously published research: Superiority of external attentional focus for motor performance and learning: Systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Highlights from the abstract below. As you will...

Very good vid. I will DM you about one bit in due course (so I limit the number of people I bore!)

In motor learning, it is generally accepted that conscious control negatively impacts learning even at an early stage (so stages 2 and 3 of the Broadwell model). So you need to let go and get out of your own way right from the get-go. Children are very good at that, which may explain why they...

Excellent post. In my opinion, the importance of the mental side of things cannot be overemphasized. As someone probably never said, 'pool is 90% mental, and the rest of it is just in the mind'. I read a post recently where the OP said that he was playing better than ever but was worried that...

I can see how some or all of these techniques might help someone figure out where they should be aiming. But my initial thought was that using methods like these would be inconsistent with good play because they require the player to employ the wrong part of the mind: an expert performing a...

'natural' and 'easy' are quite different things . There are plenty of positional shots that not natural, but which give competent players no trouble at all. For example the break-off shot. You have to hit the end red of the triangle with strong outside english to get the cb back to the balk...

Sorry, I don't follow you (I can be a bit slow at times). What do you mean by bad psychology & jock mythology? Re the shot, no not wondering. A question put to me by Bob Jewett made me look again and reappraise. Looking at it again, I don't think it likely that the shot as played was exactly...

Something tells me that you are not a snooker player :unsure:

I like to think so. But in truth, no, he was probably trying to contact the ob a tad thicker and come back the other side of the green. But incredibly difficult at that distance having to bridge over the ball like he did.

The exquisite skill of this shot was in its accuracy at that distance. When it is that thin, you have to get it absolutely perfect or it will show up in the speed control. If you are playing a safe in snooker, where speed control is often key (you want to get close to the end rail), try to...

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Aiming a swerve shot. I have found that to be more helpful than an "Etc!" would suggest! Having said that, I only use it to get myself into the 'right ball park'; I then do the fine tuning needed by feel. I often take a similar approach when judging multi rail kick shots, or the cue ball...

Yes. Unless a player concedes, the frame is still live while there are balls on the table. The only exception to this is if only the black is left and one player is more than 7 points ahead. While the frame is still 'live' the unsporting conduct rule can be invoked. This allows the ref to...

Jump shots are not legal in snooker. It does not matter whether or not it is intentional.

I know. There are a couple of issues here. One is that in general experts in practical skills have implicit knowledge - not something that they are necessarily consciously aware of, still less able to articulate usefully. Another is that the expert feels that they are expected to know what...

Excited to find a video of this! Selby can be absolute granite! He has been off his game for a year or two, but I have long had so much admiration for him as a competitor. I remember thinking that he seemed to bring something new to the game in terms of all-round match-winning skills. In...

Bob, two questions: First, I would be very interested to see what the slo-mo analysis came up with - is this published anywhere accessible? Secondly, regarding the non participation of the hand, you suggest that softness of human flesh is the reason for this. But is it not the case that the...

Yes, it is interesting. But that it worked for CJ Willey is an empirical fact (or at least as close to an empirical fact as one can expect in the rather fuzzy world of billiards performance). So when I started thinking about it and I did not understand what the benefit was, I realised that...