New & Improved Cue action

I have not updated the Blog for some time but I have a few bits of further stuff to put on.

I have been struggling to make much improvement to my game over the last 6 months or so and have concluded this is a combination of my poor eyesight and my jerky cue action.

In light of this I have once again got new stronger snooker glasses these do seem to have corrected some of the problems such as blurring in one eye and glare outlines/ghosting on the balls.

The second stage will be to break down my cue action and try to introduce a greater follow through of the cue which is essential in billiards but will also help my play and touch shots. I probably should have done more of this two years ago but I was more interested in simply learning and playing the game.

John Ingleby has agreed to help out with 3 or 4 weeks coaching, I'm not looking forward to the change as I know it will be very difficult until I can settle down with the new action. Last time I changed something I could hardly play for several weeks.

Over to Huddersfield and straight into action. John had already got me to stand more side on and not to hold the cue tightly about 2 years ago, but he wanted to move left leg over until the edge of my cue was in line with the outside edge of my foot and then to move my right foot across slightly and further forward to regain my balance.

This was quite strange at first and I spent 45 minutes playing a red off the Blue spot from around the baulk line directly into the bottom pocket. Keeping the balls in an exact line with the pocket and my cue in a straight line playing with top. The idea being to pot the red in the bottom and follow the white into the same pocket with top.

This was very difficult and I managed only 2 pots in that time. The next stage was to slow down my back swing and have a distinct pause whilst my eyes moved over to the object ball. Also to keep my feathering to a minimum. So the action is really simply draw the cue back, hold and push through the shot. trying to accelerate the cue from slow to fast very smoothly without jerk or movement.

I managed to get this working and potted the red several times and managed the follow through 3 or 4 times.  The grip on the rear of the cue was my next problem, having moved my hand position to the rear of the cue due to my stance I had to adjust and ensure my thumb was tucked under.

Practice needed this week I hope I can manage to get into the club I will keep the site updated over the next few weeks with some progress if any. John thinks this change will add 2/3 inches of follow through to my cue action and should add 25% to my breaks once I have settled into the rhythm of the shots.