This week I had a great weekly email from a client in our Platinum Partner Programme client... Eric Oostergo from Belgium
It showed very clearly the difference between how most club players play snooker, and the extra efforts and routines that professionals have to apply to play well. I have included the email and my responses below, but it is important to realize that professionals are not good enough to play snooker at a good standard WITHOUT applying these fundamentals.
I hope you enjoy the article, that it adds something to your game, and that you can leave us some comments with your thoughts.
MY REPLIES ARE IN BLUE and CAPITAL LETTERS.
I went to the European Masters for three days and saw a lot of pro’s in action, sitting almost on the front rows. It was quite odd to see that it’s not at all how it looks on TV.
Some observations I made:
YES – WITH TOTAL CONCENTRATION. VERY DIFFERENT TO CLUB PLAYERS.
THIS IS THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE TO CLUB PLAYERS AND I WISH I COULD JUST PRESS A ‘STAY STILL FOR 3 SECONDS’ BUTTON ON EVERY PLAYER. IT IS SO DIFFICULT FOR ME TO CONVEY HOW IMPORTANT IT IS AS THE CLUB PLAYERS BRAIN WILL ALWAYS TAKE THE PATH OF LEAST RESISTANCE AND SAY ‘I PLAYED THE SHOT ALREADY SO WHY WASTE TIME STAYING DOWN LIKE A POSER’
YES SOME OF THE PROS DO THAT TOO WITH THE TIGHT GRIP HAND. THAT INTRODUCES HUGE TENSION WHICH CAN PULL THE CUE OFF LINE AND THE VERY BEST PLAYERS DON’T DO IT.
VERY INTERESTING! THIS IS VERY COMMON THAT CLUB PLAYERS FOR POTS THAT ARE MORE DIFFICULT THAN THE SHOTS PROS GO FOR! IT IS USUALLY BECAUSE THEY FEEL THEY ARE BEING NEGATIVE AND ‘NOT A GOOD PLAYER’ IF THEY WAIT AND ONLY GO FOR EASY SHOTS.
OUTSTANDING OBSERVATION – WELL DONE. IT IS OK TO MISS AND CLUB PLAYERS GET WAY TOO UPTIGHT ABOUT MISSING. MUCH MORE SO THAN PROS DO, AND IT HOLDS BACK PROGRESS AS THEY CANNOT SEE PAST THE MISS SO CANNOT PAY ATTENTION TO SELF DIAGNOSIS AND ASKING THEMSELVES IF THEY MISSED THROUGH CUEING OR AIMING.
THESE ARE INCREDIBLE OBSERVATIONS… AND I THINK YOU WILL AGREE THAT YOU SIMPLY CANNOT OBSERVE THIS FROM WATCHING ON TV. IT NEEDS A LIVE SESSION TO VIEW CLOSELY HOW THE BEST IN THE BUSINESS, GO ABOUT THEIR BUSINESS.
So… to do for this week in my game are:
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