Video Review #155

I think you're coming along nicely. You get through the ball well enough, and that is 90% of the game.

In terms of stepping into the shot, watch what ronnie o'sullivan does with his feet before every shot, and get into that habit.

The snooker stance is perhaps still a little awkward but it will become easier over time.

Why do you stop the video after one rack? That maybe belies a lack of self confidence.

To me it looks like you are swinging your body out of the way and to the side as you step down into the shot. If you had to guess how much of your weight is distributed between your left foot and right foot? To me it seems you might have more weight on the left leg.

When I work with students I try to reverse engineer the stance and how they step into the shot. I have them get into a comfortable shot stance and lined up. Then look at where feet are positioned relative to the shot. Then leaving their cue tip right behind the cue ball and trying to keep their cue on the line of the shot - I have them stand up and back on their dominant foot (right foot for right handed players). from here it tells us approximately how far from the shot they should be. Then work toward repeating lining up from this position and stepping into the shot without the pool cue coming off of the line.

Is that a 9 ft table? It might be an illusion, but it looks smaller.

I agree with you about the weight on the left leg. That could cause you serious shoulder pain over time. I think, however that the correction will most likely have to be with both feet.

You seem to have fully corrected the issue of your arm cocked under your torso. Hat's off to you. That's a tough fix.

I notice you get up a little early on some of the easier shots. Everyone does it, but getting into the habit of staying still until the ball is made will stop a few of the wtf moments when you miss shots you thought were hangers.

I would also recommend stepping a little further back from the table when doing your planning. Gives you a better view of things. And stepping in, I'm a massive fan of stepping in with the right foot first. Try standing with the feet together, a little sort of 1ft step in with the right foot and do exactly the same as what you do with the left foot.

Other than that, you're starting to look like a real player! I'm proud of you buddy

BeiberLvr said:

The problem I had with stepping in with my right foot is that my head would come off the line of aim. That's why I started having my head on the line, and then just stepping to the left with my left foot, and bending down. Doing that keeps my head directly on line as I get into my stance.

In this video I was using a combination of CTE visuals and back of ball aiming, so that's why I'm slightly offset on some shots.

Another thing that's helped me (post video) was to point my left foot at the object ball. My left and right toes are parallel with one another, and it gives me a much more stable stance.


Thanks Pidge and everyone else. Including you Rick. I did get your PM.

Click to expand...

Ok, CTE and stepping in don't really mix, I can let you off on that one ;-)

Lots of people have the same issue you had of their he's moving off the line as they step in. A simple fix is to step in with a narrow stance and as you drop down just wiggle the feet to add width and stability. Gareth Potts does this on almost every shot I've seen him play. You need to also notice how your hips are angled to the shot when down. Mine are pretty much 90 degrees to the shot so I approach shots square on. If you have the hips say 60 degrees to the shot, you need to approach the shot with the hips at 60 degrees and step in that way.

As far as the toes and feet go...keep them the same where possible. It all adds to consistency. Many have the front foot parallel to the lone of the shot and their back foot slightly pointing outwards, it doesn't matter...as long as you do things the same over and over. I play with square hips, square feet and both feet parallel to the line of the shot. Its massively uncomfortable when trying to stand this way, but I got used to it and having a consistent way of aligning my body in the stance paid off in the long run.

You do cue the ball nicely though. That's the one thing that stood out to me in your video. I just wish you'd stay down a fraction longer on your shots!