Juddernaut88 wrote:Well at least I scored a few points
Fair play to you, Judders! Stick with it, it is a very tough game requiring plenty of patience and discipline.
I am far, far from the best player on the Island, but I may be able to reveal the "dirty little secret" of how to turn the big corner of becoming a much better player. Most amateur players that I have watched over the course of 30 years never realize this concept.
First, what do I mean by "turn the big corner..."? To my game, that was the day that I realized that if I am in a frame and currently losing by 20 points or so, it means nothing. I am just as likely to win this frame as to lose it. I love the challenge of a comeback win. My best to date was when the opponent ran a break of 45 leaving me in arrears of 47 points with four Reds remaining. I couldn't win the frame in a single visit, I'm not that good by any means, but once I clawed my way to within 20 points without my opponent having even a single opportunity to pot, I had definitely taken command of the frame and looked very likely to win. And I did.
Once you realize that you can make a 20 point break at the drop of a hat, the Snooker World will just open up to you. When you have little experience, a 20 point deficit probably seems insurmountable even if there are 3 or 4 Reds left. If your confidence is shot like that, you have no chance unless your opponent digs his own grave with fouls and such. Don't count on that.
Instead, when you are at a deficit with the end in sight (just a few Reds left), remember three things: 1) Do not allow your opponent an opportunity. Plays shots to nothing and/or safeties for your opening stroke. Do not play at a risky Red that will leave him in if you miss. Only play a pot if it is quite simple and leaves you on a clear and definite colour. 2) Do not pot a Red unless you KNOW which colour you will be leaving yourself and that you can confidently leave yourself good position for a relatively easy pot of that colour. Reds are nearly meaningless to your score; they only really matter if you can follow that Red with a colour. So if you don't KNOW that you will pot the colour you want, don't bother to attempt to pot the Red. 3) Look for opportunity to safely develop the High Colours. So often in amateur play, Blue, Pink, and/or Black get tied up and essentially out of the frame. When you are behind by a significant score, you MUST get these colours available before you pot Reds. Look for opportunity to move them to better positions when you play a safety.....simple example, Black is back against cushion behind its spot and a Red is out a bit from a top pocket while your White is mid-table somewhere. Most players will play to pot that Red with little chance of following with a colour. If you are at a deficit, you are better to play the Red the other direction, cutting it to contact the Black ball, knocking Black near the other top corner for you to pot it later, while simultaneously bringing White back to baulk for the safety. Wisely plan ahead like this so you ultimately make your Red pots much more meaningful.
Lastly, all this is premised on having the confidence to make breaks of 20 points or better. Most players I have witnessed are what I term "four ball players" meaning of course, they can commonly pot four in a row but rarely do better. To make 20 or more, you need to be a "six ball player" or better. Many spend a lifetime playing the game but never cross that threshold. And I can tell you why. But I guarantee, you are not going to like it.
If you truly want to become at least a six ball player, the big problem is that you will appear to get much, much worse for quite a long time, before you finally start to get better. There is a definite reason for that. Very good players know that the best chance of success comes when you play the stroke at the lowest possible speed required to move the White where it needs to go to land properly on the next stroke. When a very good player is in the groove, he is gently nudging balls around and they barely have enough speed to just reach the pocket. You have seen the pros do this a million times. As BadSnookerPlayer says, "It's a game of eggshells." So to become a better player, you must begin learning how to do this. The problem is that when you start trying to learn how to do this, you will miss the pot. Often. And of course, that means your opponent swoops in and takes points away from you and your confidence becomes even more rattled. And you lose more and more frames to a less and less worthy opponent because you are just handing him so many points on a silver platter.
So most players never grow to the point of taking those bruises and not letting their ego get shattered in losing to a perceived unworthy opponent. You just need to be able to take the lumps and play those pots at proper speed to leave yourself on Pink or Black or whatever, and if your pot attempt doesn't fall, don't concern yourself with it too much. You will lose a lot of frames. For a long time. Your opponent will think that he is playing wonderfully. Encourage him and say, "Well played." DO NOT say things like, "When I missed that pot, I let you in for 16." That is self-defeating and begins a negative mental feedback loop that you may never escape. Just accept it and move on knowing you have a greater goal in mind.
If you start playing pocket weight pots like this so as to leave yourself plum on your colour, you will lose a lot of frames at the start. This is why most players never turn this corner because instinct is to do whatever you have to do to not lose the frame. If you adopt this new attitude and only play once a week, then figure your partner will probably win 3 of 4, maybe 4 of 5, for at least the next two months. Accept it. If you play more often, it will turn much sooner. But here's the thing...after that period of time that you are developing confidence in your "soft game" and your mate is winning everything in sight, suddenly your confidence will improve and you will begin dropping those "soft pots" all over the place. A perfect example of this in action is the next pot of Red after the split off the Blue pot in my video above. Gentle pot of Red, rolling next Red into position for later, and landing perfectly on Pink. This is EXACTLY the type shot that you will screw up royally at the beginning and your mate will win the frame. But eventually, you learn to do it correctly and you become a force to be reckoned with.
And the very last thing (I promise!), your partner will have absolutely no idea what's going on. All he will understand is that he was winning, winning, winning for a couple months. Must be playing great. But then when you turn the corner, roles will reverse and of course you will start winning most frames. Most players are myopic, they can only see their own game, so your mate probably won't notice that you are playing the game much differently than you used to a few months ago. After you can make the turn, most opponents will just figure they are having a spell of bad luck or whatever, and they will get back to winning soon. When the turn comes for you, if he is a close friend, maybe you can explain this new mindset and you will both improve together. Or you can just keep winning as much as you want.
Play well!
P.S. - Sorry to bore you will all this Judders but you seemed quite enthusiastic about this tournament so if you really want to improve your game, I figured a few words of encouragement are in order. Becoming a good player really is mostly between your ears.