Snooker Grip

Played snooker last night was getting a 30 start from a player who I used to beat without any effort. Still not point in complaining my eyes will never recover, managed a good win. Had a 21 and an 18 which finished the game especially with the start I was getting.

I really noticed the difference between snooker and the billiards. You really have to have a nice loose grip at billiards. I just can’t adjust between the two games. What with my sight and damaged cue, things just seem hopeless. Played for two hours practising middle losers and a few other shots Martin had shown me. Felt it went ok the issue of side really shows up when doing certain shots. Some I get 9/10 others 2/10. The only thing I can do is keep trying. There is less than a month to go before the competition and I have a week in Italy. I have managed to find a local league in Staybridge which still plays Billiards so I am going to see if anyone will play during the next few weeks.

Pontins Welsh Open

Off to Pontin’s. It really is quite a dump. It still look’s just like a prison camp. On arrival found Peter Gillcrest stood outside. I remember him from his snooker days rather than his Billiards fame. Introduced myself and found him to be really nice and cheerful. I told him I was here for the Billiards and not the snooker which shocked him a little. I wished him luck and went upstairs to watch.

All the people from the videos were there Geet, and Martin, Sutton and a few others. There were not many people watching but I was quite amazed by the quality of the play. Peter had 4 breaks over 100 and a double, simply amazing. I introduced myself to Martin who is a lovely chap. I explained I had not managed to get hold of Paul Dunning yet so he said he would give me an hours coaching between sessions.

The hour went very quickly he showed me several practice shots and picked up on my cue action which he felt need a lot of work, to lighten it up and allow a greater follow through.

Peter played very well getting 3 hundreds in the first match I saw. Martin made 231 which was a simply staggering break it’s only after playing the game you realise what an achievement that is. Some of the players I watched were not that good or performed badly on the day. There seems to be three levels of play. Basic, where the player can get a 30 break. Intermediate, where the players are getting 50-70 breaks regularly with some control and then the top 4-5 players where nothing seems hard at all. One thing this weekend has shown me is the dedication of the players and officials at all levels in keeping the sport going. I was amazed that there were several very young players playing who seemed to have a high standard of play. The most important part is that the players seem really happy and are enjoying the game rather than worrying about wining.

I met one of the referees a short chap whose name escapes me. He will be at the Police championship in Norfolk doing his bit he will be my giving me some support.

61 break

Rather fed up I seem to be getting worse rather than better. I did get a large break (61) today but I was not happy with it as it was nearly all pot reds. I got a little run of 10 pot reds and then managed a couple of cannons. Then managed to get to the top of the table and managed another 8 or nine red pots. Not a high break, as it was really snooker practice. Playing properly and going for the losers I only managed 24.

Welsh Open

Mark went to Pontin’s and got a leaflet about the Welsh Open Billiards tournament on the 28th March. I think I will go; I may pick up a few pointers from watching. Practice is going well I am fairly consistent with my cannons and in-offs. I think its time to start playing better positional shot and guiding the balls into the areas I want them rather than hoping for position.

I am not playing well with this strange cue. John Parrish estimates £ 80-100 to replace the butt on my cue. Just about to pack up and go home when I managed 43. Don’t know why they just ran well for me, managed a nice little run of cannons around the black spot then got a little run of middle losers. Quite pleased!

Snooker V Billiards

Watched lots of matches on the internet and found some practice routines on other sites. Seemed to really struggle today I played a snooker match last night and realised that all this billiards was putting me off my snooker, I simply don’t want to play snooker until I master this infuriating game.

Game on

Had a game with Mark Carrington who is an ex-snooker pro, he can pot and regularly makes 100+ breaks.

Billiards brought him down to my level although he did get some spectacular cannons and managed to pot the red from anywhere on the table. It seems you can only pot the red 2 times off its spot before moving it to the middle spot. He still managed to get a 41 break, pretty good. I think he was quite amazed by my in-off play I managed a 35 from this mainly in the middle and bottom pockets with a couple of cannons thrown in. I actually beat him to 150up simply by getting at least 10 on most visits. He missed lots chances to make losers.

Nursery Cannons

Tried a few more practice routines off Martins site. How the hell he manages some of these shots I don’t know, it’s very difficult to see the aiming point on some shots and to judge the pace. Tried the nursery cannons without any luck, got to 6 and 8 shots before completely running out of position.

There must be some trick to this, I have been trying to locate some book on billiards but I haven’t found anything still in print.