3 Days practice

This week i've practiced everyday, fortunately i've been off uni a fair bit too. I would've practiced today but i had a few things to sort and a bit of a hangover!

Practice is going good, and have seen a marked improvement even between monday and wednesday. I've mainly been working on the line-up and around the black spot, in an attempt to get my break building up. It certainly needs improvement, even still with the line-up my highest break is 25.

I've decided that i'm only going to focus on my break building in matches, sure i'll do the line-up but won't do myself down if i'm poor at building breaks. If i can focus on my long-potting and general position play i find it's more productive and generally fun. Especially as yesterday things generally seemed to be dropping and i could enjoy my time, it's the standard i've been wanting for months and months now. Finally i'm constantly happy and have a get up and go attitude about playing snooker and practice.

I've got a match sorted for tomorrow i think, and i'm hoping to win. It would be nice to play well but i think i just need to get another win under my belt, as i've not played a match in over a week and i want my practice to pay off, with a result. Preferably a big score and i don't want to concede more than 2 frames, because i think i'm playing so well that he shouldn't even get a frame in and that he'll have to play well to do so. I'd be annoyed if i let him get a frame in because i'd played badly or given him countless opportunities.

I also want to build up a good lead early on. If i can take the first 3 frames i'm sure i'd kill off his challenge, but something like 2-1 or 3-1 and he'd come back at me i think. I hope i can deal with his challenges, and even if i lose a couple of frames early on, i'd be annoyed, but would be good to see how he handles it if i start to attack when he has a lead. Fortunately he hasn't had any meaningful lead over me for a few weeks despite winning a few matches.

I think we're closely matched in terms of skill, however i want to push on now and consistantly be better than him. Fingers crossed it'll start tomorrow with a convincing victory, and with continued practice and focus keep winning for the coming weeks (and months) ahead.

Practice pays off

Well i played today and hit some decent form, my cueing was good, and i put it all down to the practice that i put in this last couple of days. The majority of shots cued sweetly, if my accuracy took a little while to get going.

I went 1-0 down in a scrappy frame (they usually are) but made an encouraging 15 break and finished out of position but pulled off a good safety. we went into the colours close, although he had a slight advantage and when i needed blue onwards we scrapped it out and he took the blue ( i stuck it up).

I wasn't to be down hearted and started well enough, i could feel my game slipping into place despite a couple of bad misses which angered me. I've realised the more effort you put in away from matches, the more you want to win. Some weeks i just want to go and play well, and other weeks i have a desire only to win. This is serving me well as at times i'm playing well and winning.

I clawed this frame back to make scores 1-1. I got some good little breaks going, fortunately the most of my scoring was around the black spot (where i've been practicing). And this set me up well for the rest of the night.

He took the next frame to make it 2-1 and i was really dissapointed. Again we got into the colours and no doubt a few more mistakes cost me this frame. Trouble is it's not because the opposition is playing well that i'm losing these silly frames, what rubs off worse on me is the fact that he's playing bad and still taking frames. Perhaps i need to work on my safety?

I can take encouragement though, however as the past few weeks we've gone into the remaining colours about even. If i can just learn to clear up the colours, i'll be happy.

Next frame i turned up the heat. Some nice safety and good scoring in and around the black spot. I took a break of 2 pinks and a black before missing a blue with the rest. gutted. Ah well my game fell well into place and i had to smirk as i won this frame before we needed to get into the colours. 2-2.

This last frame i took in emphatic fashion. I think i got a break in the twenties with heavy scoring either side to make my opponent put away his cue and walk out! Again! I have to say i loved it! Ok he was getting some bad luck but it's nice to know i can frustrate people by playing well. It doesn't happen to me, i could happily sit back at the tournament as i was destroyed and watch some great snooker. It's making me change my attitude to snooker. It's making me think that if someones playing well, how do i stop it? right now i'm thinking i need to play higher opponents. Ok i'm not destroying the easier opponents, but i'm learning!

I think if i can come up against someone i really need to get stuck into and stop them playing it could do me the world of good.

So after he left i started to practice. I've found out my club offer half rates if your on your own, so it's something i'm going to take up and get a few hours under my belt inbetween uni. I hit a few long pots sweetly and my form was spot on.

I even did a mini line up and hit a 20, so i can see room for improvement, rapidly. I got three breaks in the 20's today, my standard is well up. Now all i need to do is keep up my practice both at home and on the practice tables at the club.

Practice makes perfect

I've been practicing hard this week. In fact since Thursday i've played everyday bar saturday (hey, we all need our days off!) On friday i knocked up 3 hours practice, and sunday i managed at least 2 hours. Today i also hit an hour and a half practice, could have done more but for some reason my concentration was a bit off.

Anyway i'm going to play tomorrow, practice or match (not sure yet) but if a match is on then i'll get down there before to practice a little. After the way i've been playing i can't help but think that someone is gonna be on the end of a real hiding from me soon, hopefully it will come this week and show my practice has paid off.

I've been practicing straight pots and my cueing. Cueing is looking good if i do say so, it is finally allowing me to concentrate on the object ball. I've also been practicing shots around the black spot, trying to roll them in. It's hard work and i don't like it as much, but i know it'll serve me well, and already am improving. I'll see tomorrow if the practice has paid off.

The new cue is holding up wel, i've adjusted a lot quicker than i thought i would. I guess the way i play i can adapt quickly to changes in conditions, be them differing table conditions or changes to my cue. The conditions of the cue ball and snooker balls also differ (notably between the club i play at in nott'm compared to those in Direby) and i think this has helped my game and could explain why i take a couple of frames to adjust.

Still can't find a bloody cue case either! getting on my nerves now. Practice was good today, for the first time my shots are dropping well and consistantly, perhaps better than they were before i took a break over the summer.

I also want to keep an eye out for other tournaments, i might look at rileys, in direby and of course at my local club. I badly need to overcome memories of my tournament before christmas. It wasn't me that played that day, i didn't care about losing, didn't care about playing, i just showed up cause i put my name down. I was at a bad place in snooker, one i hope never to revisit, but now i feel like my normal self in terms of snooker, in fact my passion may be stronger. I now want to be at the club more than i used to, something i would have never dreamt during December. I now want to take my snooker further, and see how far i can run with it, hey even make some money from it.

I put success in snooker on a pedestal, and now i think i've removed that and can see success coming my way, hopefully within the next couple of years. I don't care how small the success in the coming months. A textbook snooker, a sweet long red or beating my top break, every step counts to my goals in snooker and i know that all the next few months are about getting as many hours under my belt as possible, ideally 2+ times a week at the club plus hours in on the table at home.

Lets see how the rest of the week works out, i know, writing this now, i can't wait to see how i play for the rest of the week.

New Cue

I got my new Peradon cue and extension this week and gave it a run out. I've adapted to it well and starting to play well with it straight away, just need to find a bloody cue case, can't find one anywhere!

I lost the first time i played with it, something like 5-2. I allowed myself the loss, and a few more as it is a new cue and will take a while to get used to.

The reaccurance of my first couple of frames being the best hit as i took the first one, lost the second, took the third then rolled over. frustrating really as i know i'm a better player than my opponent, my technique is a lot better than his, just stabbing at the cue ball and rocketing them in everytime. frustrating.

Anyway we played again the other day and I won 3-2 in a very even game where almost every frame went to a black ball game. Nice to win really, and i played well in the last one. I was just determined to win, i couldn't go home with another loss. I usually play well in the first 5 frames then my game tails off, so it was quite handy we only played the 5 frames.

I went home and practiced for a further hour and a half which i think did me the world of good, and i'm going to go and play for an hour solid after writing this and then maybe later on too. I want to include breaks in my practice which will keep my concentration in check.

I need my cueing to remain as it is, so i can perfect the technique of eyeing the object ball a lot more than the cue ball. if my cueing allows me to focus on this more my game should improve.

First loss for a while....New cue arriving soon

This week has been slow on the snooker front, had a few things going on off the table like being back at uni etc and recovering from going to Forest away at Chelsea in the F.A Cup!

Played yesterday though, still with my hybrid cue, although i ordered a new one. I've gone for a Peradon Edwardian cue 3/4 and a screw in telescopic extension. Looks better than my jimmy white signature one which was cracked and taped up.

I chose it as it looks nice and traditional, along with 3/4 cues are generally heavier, which I feel should improve my game and enable me to get through the ball better. Off the table i might do some work at home. I've decided to drop hitting balls on my pool table, i don't think it helps my game too much. I might just practice cueing, so it feels like a natural motion. I felt a bit strange last night having not played for a week, but my cueing was up to scratch within a frame or two. It's back to feeling natural, but as is my nature, i think it can get better.

I want to get back practicing, as i've never done that at the pegasus club. I reckon if i can get around half an hour a day for a week or two it will help me immensely. That would ensure in the working week i could knock up 2 and a half hours on my own, and possibly throw in some match time too. Even when i'm at uni i could still get in an hour and a half in the local club, or a couple hours in Derby on a table for £5 all day with my mate.(A little less organised, but more social and more enjoyable, which you need from time to time!)

Anyway, back to yesterdays action. I went 1-0 down in a close frame, where the oppo played better. both got well into the 30's and if memory serves me right only won on the last couple of colours, i think i stuck a few up for him aswell.

More determined today though, i knew i could kick start my game and wanted to hit a psycological blow and regain a lead from behind. I always find my head drops when someone is coming at me from a lead.

The second frame I played some great stuff, and raced to a lead in the 20's within a couple of visits to the table, we got to the colours and I polished off them all to secure the frame. Not in one visit but still played some good stuff and rode my luck. 1-1.

This frame I was unstopable from start to finish, attacking snooker, safety was pretty poor but i never gave him a look in. I scored well and got well into the 40's overall, even polished off the colours well and was unlucky not to get in amongst the black spot. Again around the black spot I was good, after last week i was a bit rusty, i'm very confident around the black spot and my positional play is getting better around this area.

This frame has to go down as the return of my long potting. My position away from the black spot was quite bad, but i put that down to inexperience around that end of the table, and of course you have to work harder to get on the yellow,brown, green from that end in my opinion. Anyway a particular shot stands out showing my confidence, attitude, cueing and ability. I had my hand on the table and a long straight red. I knew if i put a little backspin on it i could free up for the blue to the middle, or at worst, leave a long straight red. I potted the red nicely, clean in the centre, using my technique of eyeing the object ball last as i strike the cue ball. I missed position on the blue for the middle, but thought "oh well i'll just have to stick it in the other pocket". I cued this one well and it went clean into the same pocket.

This gave me a belief which lasted the entire night in my long potting. It seems as though however that when i get my long potting going, my short range potting gets inconsistant.

So i took the third frame, making it 2-1. I'd hit my psychological blow and taken the lead from behind. The snooker animal came out in me, i wanted to win the next, and try hammer my opponent again. It was nice to feel the NEED to win again, but i kept my head by saying that i'm playing well and just go and do my thing. I think i'm maturing as a player, at a great rate since returning to the table, things are starting to click physically and mentally.

The next frame i'd raced to another great lead, and had him as we neared the colours. But he landed a decent snooker with no natural angle to escape. I'd taken my foot off the pedal and my attempts to get out were going nowhere near. He put me in again 3 times and regained some ground, eventually taking this frame and levelling up 2-2. I was furious i let it slip, and am right now as i write this match up.

I lost the next one aswell, my game was dropping as he came at me. I was still potting enough balls to feel content with my play, and still think i was unlucky to lose this one. I think we drew and went to a black ball game which he took after a few shots and i stuck him up. I remember thinking "it's quite easy, but the way he's playing he could miss". So yea, i was gutted to lose this one.

The next frame was the last one, to save some money really! I was still playing quite well and i think he got one or two snookers in to get the edge. He took it, to make it 4-2, flattering to say the least as i played the better snooker i think. After we talked a bit and he mentioned that he'd lost 3 in a row, so i took that as comfort, and would like to think it's a one off! if i can go another 3 games with 3 wins i'd be happy with that!

I think the key is to ensure i win next time we play, put him back in his place! although i'll have a new cue, and must remember to give a couple of months to settle with it. I fully expect my next few weeks results to be eratic, but with enough practice should be able to bed my new cue in quickly enough

During the last two frames i started to think while off the table about my aspirations in snooker. When i first started i'd set two objectives if you will. 1) win a trophy of some sort and 2) play for the club team. The way i'd played tonight i saw some kind of possibility that both could well happen. A man i saw practicing the other week was on a break of 89, so i need to be getting around that sort of potting standard, or have a bloody good safety game!

i realised this will not happen overnight, and could be 10 years or so away. It helped me keep my feet on the ground and realise that i've been playing properly for about a year and a half. So my 30 break best keeps me well on track. A new goal, Goal number 3) achieve a century break by the time i'm 30.

I know i said i wouldn't set goals, but i feel i need to. They are very long term goals however and put me under no pressure what so ever.

My Goals:
1) Achieve a century break by the time i'm 30
2) Play for a club team
3) Win a trophy