|
EBSA
Coaching Foundation
ASK THE COACH?
Do you have a
question for the EBSA Coaching Team?
A problem with your
game? A technical or mental question?
Questions about
Coaching?
Send us your question
Read the answers here
on
ASK THE COACH?
From: Asa Humphries, UK, Age
31
I have a son who will be 3 in July. He is snooker mad and
has been since he could crawl. He had a 5 foot table on the
floor when he was one and still has the same table with the
legs cut down now. His highest break is 19 red black, red
blue, red brown. He is good with the rest, can bridge over
balls, play jump shots when playing 9 ball pool. He plays it
all day and watches John Virgo trick shots or Ronnie's 147
hell every night (if i hear Snooker Loopy one more time!) He
also knows of most of the top players. I know he's young but
could you please tell me best way to bring him on.
Answer:
It appears that Asa Jnr. has some potential for the future.
At his age it is very difficult to give technical advice as
many of the key aspects of a good technique (for a full size
table) are difficult to master before a certain height is
reached.
For now I would suggest that you continue to foster his
interest and let him play as much snooker as possible.
When he reaches the age of 6 or 7 (again depending on his
height at this age) you should look to expose him, on a more
regular basis, to the full size table.
This is the stage where you should be looking to introduce
him to a technical coach. At this age he will still be very
open to change (if required) and will not have gone too far
down the road with any technical faults.
I hope this information has been of some help to you. If we
can be of any further assistance in the future, please do
not hesitate to contact us.
From: Alan, Fife, Scotland,
Age 38
I have a problem on how to get bigger breaks im getting
breaks of 70+ but cannot get further as im trying for a
century any ideas would be appreciated
Answer:
If you are making 70 breaks then you are obviously capable
of make a century - as it is only another 30 points!
Breaking down on 70+ suggests that you are missing with very
few reds or just the colours left. Introduce practice
routines to your solo play where you practice clearing up
the last red and the colours. When you are successful
introduce a second red and attempt the clearance and so on.
This is a good routine for break building and will also see
you win more frames as your clearances become higher and
more frequent.
Also use the open play table routine (see a previous reply
to Chang from Malaysia) as much as you can in your solo
sessions. This I have found is an excellent routine for
improving break building.
Good luck for the future.
From: Didier, Belgium
I have been coaching now for 15 years, with some national
and international results so far.
For the last 18 months I have been working with 2 young
players. Comparing their standard with the best young
players in the UK would be absurd. But as time gets by we
are making nice progress. Now, one of them is always
suffering problems playing in the morning. His bio rhythm
becomes very active the later it gets.
As qualifying group matches on national tournaments usually
start at 10 am I hold my breath each time to see him
struggle through his group. Later in the day he raises his
game which leads to more and more effective snooker during
the evening. As this kid is still 13 year of age I can see
already this is annoying him, and to be honest it frightens
me as well.
Can you give us some advice for the very young talented
players how they can get pin sharp and very awake already
from the start of the tournament. Should they get up in the
morning sooner, should they do some physical exercises early
in the morning to get fresh started?
Can you help me out? I was suggesting getting up ½ hour
sooner and doing some exercises, but I don’t know if you
have a different opinion
Answer:
For early morning play I would suggest some of the following
common sense tips.
You should get an early night the night before your match.
You should get up earlier in the morning than you usually
would to give you plenty of time to prepare your body and
mind properly for your match. Finally, if you know you have
a competition coming up where early morning play will be a
factor then you should find out what time your early morning
starts will be and arrange your practice sessions at the
same time. This should be done over a number of weeks before
the competition starts. This will prepare your body and mind
for early morning starts.
From: David Abrahamsson,
Sweden
I play snooker in Sweden. I have made a 95 break once but
now I make 50's and 60's. Do you have a good advice about
how to practice right? Some good practice exercises?
Thanks to a great snooker site!
Answer:
I am glad you enjoy our new site.
There is no substitute for hard work when it comes to
practice for improvement. Technical guidance can obviously
help, but even then I refer you to the often quoted '5%
inspiration, 95% perspiration'.
Some exercises I advocate are shown in a previous answer
to Chang from Malaysia on this site. This is targeted at
break building in the main. For other areas of the game
that you find problematic, then you must practice them.
Set up the shots you dislike again and again until you get
them right. Learn from your mistakes and make adjustments
driven by what you see.
This is how players improve.
From: James McQuillan, age
14, Northern Ireland
Hi Terry, I met you in 2001 in your club when I was playing
in for Northern Ireland in the N.I v Wales match, hope you
can remember me, I was the boy who was playing Michael White
in a practice game.
I am having trouble being able to play well at the minute. I
won all the N.I under 14 events including the Championship
in April, I also made my second century break in a match
about six months ago but since then I haven't had a break
over 70.
Everyone in my club said that the 100 breaks would start to
fly in but they haven't and I find myself getting more and
more frustrated with snooker. Have you got any advice on how
I can regain my form and how to cope with the frustration.
Answer:
It is good to hear from you James - it is nice to hear you
are still playing, even though you are in a spell of bad
form at the moment.
Assuming you have made no conscious technical changes over
the last 6 months I would say you have just entered a period
of poor form. Improvement will sometimes happen at a steady
rate but there will also be times when you enter a period
where there seems to be no improvement. This is the same for
most players.
During these periods it is necessary to work even harder -
even though you are probably not enjoying the game as much.
Go back to basics and try to remember if there is anything
you were doing 6 months ago that is different to things you
are doing today.
To build confidence and help with break building I would
suggest you introduce the following exercise to your solo
practice routines.
The exercise is called the 'open table routine'. All the
colours are placed on their spots. The reds are set out
around the table in open positions (no reds tight on a
cushion or too close to another red or colour). Most of the
reds will be around the pink and black spots with 2 reds in
baulk and 2 reds between the blue and the baulk colours.
Start by aiming to clear these 4 reds at the baulk end
before moving down to the reds around the pink and black
spots.
Keep a record of your highest break with the aim of pushing
it higher and higher until you make a total clearance.
The MOST important rule when attempting this exercises is
that you MUST start again when you miss. This is frustrating
but concentrates the mind and brings in a little pressure -
good preparation for match play.
There are ways of making this exercise more difficult as you
improve - starting again if your cue ball is more than 18
inches from your next ball for example.
If this does not help with your game and your confidence
then I would suggest you visit a qualified coach. Even
though you have made no conscious decision to change your
cue action, you may have introduced a negative change that
you are not aware of. A coach may be able to help with this.
Good luck!
From: Asi, Israel
I am coming from Israel in November to watch the British
Open in Brighton. During my visit I would like to take
snooker coaching in order to improve my game and technique.
I love the game and play a lot with my friends.
But I couldn't find any official coaches from Brighton. Can
you tell me where to find a coach?
Answer:
For a list of official coaches you would need to contact WSA
(World Snooker Association). they have a list of qualified
coaches throughout the world. It may be the case that there
is no coach based in Brighton, but there may be someone
assigned to work at the tournament venue or who would be
prepared to travel to Brighton if required.
You can contact the WSA on +44 (0)117 317 8200 or email to
info@worldsnooker.com.
There is a list of WSA Coaches, with their contact details,
on the World Snooker website:
http://www.worldsnooker.com/snooker_coaching/coachlist.asp.
For a list of official coaches you would need to contact WSA
(World Snooker Association). they have a list of qualified
coaches throughout the world. It may be the case that there
is no coach based in Brighton, but there may be someone
assigned to work at the tournament venue or who would be
prepared to travel to Brighton if required.
ASK TERRY?
Read
Terry's Answers, your question may be here.
The Coaching CD is for sale
through GSC
|
