June 2004 Newsletter | Pub: 2004-06-01

Hi and welcome to issue 6 of the 2004 edition of the maximumbreak.com newsletter, written by your host David Weller.

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CONTENTS

1. FIVE IMPORTANT RULES

2. THE GRIP

3. MONKEY IN A BAR?

4. MINI PROFILE

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1. FIVE BASIC BUT VERY IMPORTANT RULES OF SNOOKER.

If you are a beginner, here are five valuable points to keep in mind at all times:

1.Solid stance! with the right leg straight and the left leg bent. Depending on whether you are right or left handed.

2.Firm Bridge! make sure you have a strong bridge hand with a solid "V" for the cue to travel along.

3.Cue parallel to the table, and striking the cue ball in the centre.

4.Smooth cue action! making sure the cue runs along the "V" backwards and forwards nice and smoothly with no jerkiness and in a straight line.

5.Keep your head down!! after playing the shot keep your head down at all times until the ball is potted, this will stop any movement of the head and body.

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2. THE GRIP

This month i am going to talk about the right or is it the wrong way of gripping the cue, lets find out!

Many professionals who have written books on the teaching of snooker have said that the grip is not that important too the players game?

Why do they say this? Is it because they have all been successful in the game when they were playing in the top tournaments, and have never given a great deal of thought to the subject, presuming it was not at all an important part of the the players game to become a good player.

People who have read many books on the game, have always been told to pick the cue up as if you were about to hit someone of the head with it. But how can this method help you to deliver the cue through in a straight line, well i think that this approach is a load of nonsense!

What a player is looking for is a grip to enable us to send the cue through in a straight line when striking the cue ball. But for me to tell you which grip is right and which is wrong would put pressure on myself and most probably end up with hundreds of emails telling me that i am wrong.

So all i can suggest to you are a few simple examples of the ways to grip your cue and for you to come up with an answer as to what suits your game best.

Gripping the cue is all about feeling the cue to allow yourself to be able to play the many different kinds of shots there are involved within a frame of snooker. Some players create a "V" in their grip which is formed by their thumb and forefinger so not to have contact with the cue, if you try this you will notice that the cue feels as if it is only being supported within the thumb and forefinger. In days gone by, many players used this grip because there was less need for power shots.

As the game progressed, many players started to close the "V" in their grip,to create a much firmer grip for the game of snooker, which allowed the player to get more accuracy in terms of hitting the object ball in the right spot.

The biggest and most important thing in the game of snooker is to deliver the cue through in a straight line and getting through the cue ball. The right grip allows you to do this, and if a player feels comfortable with his grip hand in a certain position, which is able to allow him to send the cue through in a straight line and through the cue ball and also allows him to play the shots needed, well this quite simply is the correct grip for him/her.

One of the most common mistakes most players make, is to grip the cue to tightly, and worst of all grip the cue even tighter on the shot, especially power shots where a lot of energy is released with shots like the screw shot. Gripping the cue so tightly will make the cue lift when striking the cue ball.

Gripping the cue with all your fingers on the back swing of your cueing action, will lift the butt end above horizontal and restricts the cue action quite considerably. This produces an up and down motion instead of a nice horizontal motion which is parallel to the bed of the table, and inevitably causes many miscues when attempting a power shot.

When a player is feeling some tension during a match, he tends to grip the cue tightly and forcing him to play many bad shots. If you are feeling the tension? then try and make sure you don't grip the cue tightly, otherwise you will just restrict yourself!

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QUICK TIP

If you find it very hard to relax your cue arm and grip, try
gripping the bed of the table cloth with the bridge hand. You may be surprised at how much difference this can make.
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The importance of relaxing the second and third finger on the back swing, i cannot stress enough to you. If you have a four-finger grip and keep your little finger on the cue when swinging backwards, this will inevitably make the cue rise above the horizontal position and therefore will not be parallel to the table.

You need to take your little finger out of the grip, you can lift it away from the cue altogether, as it plays no part what so ever in the cue action.

When you make impact with the cue ball and you have a "V" grip where by the grip is not in contact with the cue, you will be more likely to snatch the cue when tightening the grip on hitting the ball, therefore allowing more to go wrong on the striking of the cue ball, possibly miscuing in the process.

Now if you have a grip where by you have contact with the cue at all times, and taking the cue back with just the first finger and thumb, and relaxing the second and third finger with the little finger away from the cue all together, you will have no need to pinch the cue on the striking of the cue ball. This will stop you from snatching when playing the stroke.

Try this next time you practice, but always remember that the thumb and first finger should remain in constant touch with the cue throughout the stroke, and the third and fourth finger are there just to support the cue, and forget about the little finger.

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3. Monkey in a Bar?

A man walked into a bar with his pet monkey.

The bartender said, "You can't bring that monkey in here!" The man replied, "Don't worry, he won't cause any trouble."

Within seconds the monkey jumped on the pool table and swallowed the cue ball. The bartender yelled, "Hey, he just ate my cue ball. No one can play pool anymore! Get out!" So the monkey and the man left.

The man left but came back one week later with his monkey. He apologized to the bartender and promised no more trouble. The bartender let him and the monkey stay.

Later that night, the monkey walked over to a bowl of grapes, put one in his ass, and then ate it. The bartender said, "That's disgusting! Why did he do that!"

The man said, "Since he swallowed the cue ball, he sizes everything up before he eats it."

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4. MINI PROFILE

Mark Williams (Wales)

up to 2003/04 World Championships.
World Ranking: 1
Last Five Seasons: 2 - 1 - 1 - 3 - 5
Date Of Birth: 21-03-75
Ranking Tournament Victories: 15
Last Seasons Prize Money: £700,025
Career Prize Money (up to start of 2003/04 season): £3,014,132
Highest Tournament Break: 142 - Strachan Challenge 1994

Hobbies: Fast cars, Internet poker, Badminton and Football.