I'd be interested in hearing in more detail how you break down your practice, particularly how snooker fits into the equation along with working on your fundamentals? Do you see many of the skills required for playing 14.1 as being transferable to snooker and vice versa? I look forward to hearing how you get on with your new approach!
By the way, in case you didn't see it, I posted another video of Steve Mizerak playing snooker in the other section recently which might interest you!
Thanks for the Miz video. It's interesting to watch after viewing his game against Steve Davis. He was no longer using a pool cue to play snooker and he started using the open bridge far more. It'd be cool to see Hendry play straight pool, I think the commentators said he struggled.
I'm a huge believer in the concept of cross training. Although you can become a good shotmaker without ever looking at a snooker table for sure, I feel the skills you learn on the snooker table are indispensible. From a mechanics point of view, even if you forget about the tough shots you miss playing 14.1, a common complaint amongst many 14.1 players is that they always get stopped by stupid easy shots. Snooker teaches you to be consistent with your routine and the easy shots are harder than what you would encounter in a 14.1 run. When I came back to pool after spending a disproportionate amount of time playing snooker, I had reduced the frequency of my easy misses by a considerable margin.
But beyond the easy shots, snooker is all about pattern play if you want to run breaks. Obviously it's different because you have to go back to a colour each time. Nevertheless you're doing the same type of things, clearing laneways to pockets, nudging balls, getting position on balls rather than breaking into them if you can, finding and eliminating trouble balls, insurance balls etc. etc. There are a lot of similarities. 14.1 has helped my snooker game in that I tend leave an insurance ball when I break into pack of the black. Previously I'd clear up the stray reds first and then hit and hope. I still do that if I'm not playing confidently though. One thing that I took from snooker to the pool table, is the idea of playing position on 2 or 3 balls at once. I'll always look for an opportunity to play for a tricky ball where I need to get perfect where I have some insurance should I miss my position.
All of this imo benefited me in that I was confident executing these breakshots and running patterns on a 12 foot table that it was easier to focus on planning and I didn't have to worry about shotmaking because it was already pretty well engrained. But there is always room for improvement, hence why I still play a lot snooker (besides the fact that I love the game).
I think the primary downside to snooker as a practice tool comes down to the fact that unless you are a top player, you are rarely looking to run out. Most people (including myself) will be content to pick away at 7-10 open reds and forget about the other 5 clustered balls. Those open balls are enough to get a sizable lead or win the frame if you can run all of them. So it becomes a shift in the thought process when you play pool again. But this is more an issue if you haven't played pool after a while of just snooker. Those are just some thoughts that I had when I came back to pool.
As for my practice routine. I've never been a drill guy for the most part. But I religiously practice long straight in shots on both snooker and pool tables. But on a pool table I will put the cue ball within 4-6 inches from the rail and the object ball near centre of the table, I'll shoot until I make 30. I don't put much pressure on making a certain amount in a row, I find that tends to fall in it's place. I remember I used to practice this until I made 15 consecutive straight in shots. Some days it was over fast, other days it made for a long and angry practice session lol.
When playing snooker after I'm done with long shots, I'll place the black on the spot and cue ball in hand. I pot the black and play position for another shot off the black spot and keep going. It's an old English Billiards drill but it's great for control and getting comfortable around the black.
When on a pool table, I've started throwing 5-8 balls on the table and setting up random break shots. I keep working on getting position on specific type of break shot, then I move to another type. But at this moment it's not getting position on the break ball that is nagging me it's more doing so using economical cue ball movement. I run the balls easily enough but I look like a snooker or 9 ball player doing it a lot lol. As far as running the balls, I just try and focus on doing everything properly (looking for keyballs, insurance balls etc.) The moment I find myself freewheeling and i'm not on a good run, I'll take a quick break and then start over, otherwise it defeats the purpose of what I'm doing. I also believe that when you miss a shot or position, you should set the ball up and shoot it again and figure how to execute it. Especially when it comes to positional shots, I find many people tend to accept the poor position and not fix the problem. This leads to years of playing a paticular shot wrong when it could have been fixed in potentially 15 minutes (I know from experience).
I also have a reasonably sized 14.1 dvd collection now, I'm actively watching the matches trying to predict the patterns and when I'm wrong I make note of why they chose the route they did.
But more than anything I'm approaching it one issue at a time. My biggest flaw at the moment revolves around break balls. On my off days I run the rack fairly easily but I find myself with poor position on the break ball or I have no shot after the break. So for now that's what I'm working towards. When that becomes a stronger part of my game I'll reassess and work on another area. I don't think it's beneficial to focus on too many things at once, it's gets tough to remember all the stuff you gotta remember.
I hope this makes sense. I'm writing this and a paper for my class at the same time haha. I wish I was playing pool, siiiiiigh.