[shyamshah]

(Original post by Kidioteque)
Started at Riley's but moved to a more specialist club when I started playing more often/properly. Riley's is okay for the social and beginner side of it but the tables aren't great and the service at my local was shocking!

For young people like myself meaning under 16, i think Rileys is good, last year they had a competition for under 16s "Ronnie's future stars" which was pretty full and there was some really talented people there. I agree that the service isn't the best and it is for social outings though.

[Kidioteque]

(Original post by shyamshah)
For young people like myself meaning under 16, i think Rileys is good, last year they had a competition for under 16s "Ronnie's future stars" which was pretty full and there was some really talented people there. I agree that the service isn't the best and it is for social outings though.

Yeah, I was 14/15 when I played there. Good prices too.

[Gary Barlow]

(Original post by Kidioteque)
Not lessons as such, but the owner of the club I played at was quality (made centuries often) and whenever we played frames he'd give me advice and highlighted things I might've been doing wrong.

Three things come to mind as being particularly useful in helping me improve:

1) Stance - for the first month or so of playing I was standing the way which was natural to me, sort of dismissing the importance of utilising a 'proper' stance. As soon as I was told how bad mine was and encouraged to fix it I noticed a huge improvement in my cueing. Try this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSK4w_9S_x0

2) Cue action - finding a rhythm which suited me and replicating it on every shot. Something I did at first was to count upwards from 1 in time with each forward/backward swing...it should get to a point where it feels "just right" and that is when you deliver the cue through the ball. Don't ever feel the need to rush - take your time with it at first and as you improve you'll naturally speed up.

3) Vision - make sure that you're looking at the object ball rather than the cue ball when you hit the shot. It's fine to flick your eyes back and forth from the object ball to cue ball whilst feathering before a shot (I believe Hendry/Davis are even known to look at the pocket sometimes) but when you deliver the cue through the ball you should be looking at the object ball. A good analogy is darts: when you throw one, you are looking at a point on the board, not the dart itself. It'll feel really peculiar at first and if you find yourself putting unintentional side on the ball you simply need to work a bit on delivering the cue in a straight line.


Most of all, have fun with it. Improving your technique will make you a better player (and there's nothing more enjoyable than knocking in some big breaks) but, as with anything, make sure you get the balance right

If there are any problems you're having/tips you want let me know, I'll be happy to see if I can help

Cheers for that i'm sure those tips will come in handy and i will try them it out when i next play. That vid was nice too, never knew the cue was ment to touch the chest, should help me with my potting.

Whats everyones thought on Mark Allen going out today? controversial he's claiming that Cao Yupeng was cheating. He may be right and it's probably a legitimate claim but i think the way he's complained straight after the match reeks a bit of a sore loser.

[shezshez]

(Original post by Gary Barlow)
controversial he's claiming that Cao Yupeng was cheating. He may be right and it's probably a legitimate claim but i think the way he's complained straight after the match reeks a bit of a sore loser.

I missed this...cheating - how?

[shezshez]

Oh I just watched it. It didn't look like a blatant foul to me, Allen just likes a good moan to be honest.

[Gary Barlow]

Yeah i think so too.
For anyone who missed the press conference
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/snooker/17808787

[Aky786UK]

I'm not too sure about this push shot issues with Cao, will have to await comments from more experienced snooker players for them to say whether it was a foul or not. But Allen has always been abit of an attention seeker IMO, his comments on Twitter, criticisms of Hearn (a tad correct some may say) and now this. In Cao's defence, I don't fully think he realised the foul because I was watching parts of the match and the pundits were discussing his cueing action and it may have been he didn't notice. Ref should have spotted but Allen's OTT in slandering China and its players for pushing all the time.

[munkyness01]

I love watching snooker too! And Ronnie pretty much thrashed ebdon yesterday, can't wait to see what will happen next

[webbers]

If Allen was so sure it was a foul at the time he should have just had a word with the referee then rather than moaning afterwards and then going on to accuse all chinese players of cheating, think he needs to learn a bit of self control.
Otherwise this looks like it will be a good tounament, some interesting stuff has happened already.

[walterwhite123]

(Original post by shezshez)
Oh I just watched it. It didn't look like a blatant foul to me, Allen just likes a good moan to be honest.

I've watched the replay and it looks fine to me. Definitely not 'clear cut' in any way.

This is the second time Allen has launched an attack against the Chinese. Some would suggest he's racist.

[Gary Barlow]

Aye, i seem to remember the presenters saying that Allen could have challenged the foul there and then like in tennis so he cant really blame anyone else.

Was impressed with Ronnie yesterday in the way that he was beating Ebdon pretty conclusively. Still looks like he's a bit off his best though.

Was shocked to see Judd Trump losing when i flicked it on. He's on the comeback now though.

[Kidioteque]

(Original post by Gary Barlow)
Was shocked to see Judd Trump losing when i flicked it on. He's on the comeback now though.

He was suffering from food poisoning today, so I suppose, all things considered, to finish 5-4 isn't bad. Think he will blitz it tomorrow.

[Gary Barlow]

(Original post by Kidioteque)
He was suffering from food poisoning today, so I suppose, all things considered, to finish 5-4 isn't bad. Think he will blitz it tomorrow.

Yeah i saw his post on twitter afterwards. I hope so, no one is as entertaining to watch when they're on top form as him.

That late session was interesting, Selby seems to be struggling. Wonder if the neck injury he suffered going in has anything to do with it.

[green.tea]

All kicking off now. Williams thinks Sheffield is crap. Allen thinks china smells, has dead cats, poor venues, ignorant people and cheating players. Ding thinks our venues, tables and people are rubbish and its all just generally rubbish. Ebdon wearing illegal cancer quackery shirt patch and getting a *******ing mid session and later breaking down about his dad dying of cancer, probably because he tried treating it with said illegal quackery.

Must be the first tournament in 10 years where the mean headlines arent about O'Sullivan sitting with a towel on his head or threatening to quit.

[green.tea]

http://www.u.tv/Sport/Allen-tipped-t...b-0489f10ccda2

Well if not Higgins success, Higgins getting banned.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukp...1335090188200A

Uncanny.

[green.tea]

(Original post by walterwhite123)
I've watched the replay and it looks fine to me. Definitely not 'clear cut' in any way.

This is the second time Allen has launched an attack against the Chinese. Some would suggest he's racist.

Looked like a push to me.

[liamharries]

when your playing try to avoid just whacking the balls into the pockets because the more power you use the more likely you are to miss! look at the shot get the angle and use only the power you need youll be amazed how much more control you have when potting gently.

[Kallisto]

Hi guys!

I have questions about red balls in snooker. Is that true that beginners have ten of them and pros 15? Why the numbers are so different there? Why a beginner may not play with 15?

[Matthew_Lowson]

(Original post by Kallisto)
Hi guys!

I have questions about red balls in snooker. Is that true that beginners have ten of them and pros 15? Why the numbers are so different there? Why a beginner may not play with 15?

Hi,

That's not truthfully the case.

I think it comes down to size of the table. When I've played on 6 foot by 3 foot tables like the ones you got when you were a kid then you have ten reds simply because there's not enough room for 15 on those size tables.

In the ten years I've played the game in full size tables it's always been with 15 reds.

[Matthew_Lowson]

12-4 Hendry, now how many saw that one coming.