The Snooker Gym Coach Certification Programme
If snooker or pool are in your blood, and you like helping others…
Turn your knowledge into a part or full time business transforming other players, and making friends along the way…
The three levels of the programme offer a combination of:
- Online resources
- Contact time
- Physical products
There are also requirements for:
- Pre course study
- Comprehension tests
- Shot demonstration ability
- Communication methods
The programme is designed to offer the quickest route to mastery in the 11 areas of coaching using our multi media curriculum:
PLAYING SKILLS
1. Psychology: 12 Mind Practices
2. Technique: 16 Technique Defaults
3. Cue Control: 8 Phases of Cueing
4. Vision Centre / Sighting / Potting Angle Recognition: 15 Aiming Steps
5. Positional Play: 12 Positional Play References
6. Break Building: 7 Break Building Protocols
7. Safety Play: 10 Skills of Safety
8. Practice: 7 Principles of Practice
COACHING SKILLS
9. Teaching Skills
Includes video analysis, distance coaching, practice platforms, dealing with resistance, difficult student situations
10. Business Building
Includes marketing, product creation, 10-60% commission selling our products, pricing theory, your profile on our list of coaches
11. Advanced Skills
Includes 'How To Make A 100 Break' Red - Black Certificates, topic poster packs, working with pros / national teams / federations,, lessons learned from helping Ding win 5 events in one season, and helping Ronnie win 5 events in one season
The curriculum represents my 40+ years obsession for testing and categorising solutions for all elements of the game.
In a nutshell:
- My intense love for the game as a kid, inevitably led to the intense frustration that most players who are hooked on the game go through!
- This led to anger that no one had previously bothered to decode the game into 'A magic portal that would help any player (or coach) of any standard... to solve any problem at any time'.
- The inevitable realisation was that if I was the angriest person in the world about this, that I should be the one to build it.
- This is what I have devoted the last forty years of my life to doing.
I have:
- Travelled to over 50 countries to coach cue sports, and have customers in over 100 countries.
- Organised a 10 stop 'Round The World Coaching Tour' with virtually every day packed.
- Worked to a world class level with juniors, club players, social media, product development, national federations, world federations, rookie professionals, and the greatest players of all time.
- Helped players win junior events, club tournaments, world amateur championships, professional titles, and helped Ding to become world number one in 2013/14 when he won 5 ranking events.
- Certified over 150 coaches with official approval from:
▪️ The English Association for Billiards & Snooker (2010-2013)
▪️ The International Billiards & Snooker Federation (2004-2014).
▪️ The World Professional Billiards & Snooker Association (2009-2012).
We differ from other coach providers in the market in the following ways, and view ourselves as complimentary to them rather than competitors. Nobody ever knows everything, and we applaud any of our coaches who also earn certifications from other providers.
The first group certification of the new Snooker Gym Coach Programme, in Singapore.
Working with the Thai national team at their HQ in Bangkok.
In Ronnie’s snooker room, where he tasked me to transform issues with the table, lighting, acoustics, and comforts & conveniences.
Ronnie gave me his old table light, and wrote some kind words on it for me: "The best coach in the world..."
I found a magic technique to help reduce the normally unbearable Crucible pressure in this situation by 80%. I will share this on the course…
It was a great compliment to be asked to make a guest appearance on Eurosport during the UK Champs…
I have come out of coach training retirement to release my simplest, fastest, most powerful set of tools, techniques, and check lists to dramatically shortcut your way to your coaching goals.
If you are anything like me you have experienced – and probably will still have – those ‘Frozen Moments’… where you just do not know what to do on the table with a player. Or you may just be nervous about that situation happening when coaching one of your students. For me, some of those moments were:
- The first time I coached anyone (my school friend Lawrence O’Toole in 1985 when I was 15!):
I had no clue what to say, or what to do – and although I was a much better player than him I just felt lost and as though I was making it up. - The first time I coached someone and I could not work out how he could get better.
This was in about 1992, and this player had a highest break of 63 but to me looked to have a better technique than Steve Davis! I could not work out how to solve his potting and cueing issues because I did not know where to look. It was only many years later than I worked out the process I should have gone through to make no errors slip through my awareness. - The first time I coached 100 break players.
In fact, this was also my first role as a national team coach – overseeing the UAE team in my full time contract living in Dubai from 1999-2006. Even though I had made a 147 many years earlier (and was a better player than anyone on the team at the time), I still felt extremely intimidated and as if I was a charlatan. - The first time I coached a world champion / world number one player.
Whilst back in the UK on holiday from my role as UAE head coach, I was invited to a ladies ranking tournament where I would be a coach on hand for the day for any players interested.
The world champion and ladies world number 1 at the time – Kelly Fisher – was one of those players… I was so nervous as I saw this as a huge feather in my cap and something I had always wanted to do. After watching her play for a few minutes and methodically came up with three points to work on. I was so scared of forgetting them that I had to secretly scribble them down on a scrap of paper when she wasn’t looking so that I could refer to them during the remainder of the one hour session!
All these thresholds (and a lot more work in addition) helped me reach a point in 2009 where I was coaching Ronnie O’Sullivan for the first time… and felt completely relaxed and as if he could throw nothing my way to destabilise me, or generate doubt.
When I was trying to work out my own coaching skills, personality, and style… I was filled with doubt about so many elements of coaching…
WORRIES ABOUT NOT KNOWING ENOUGH…
- What if a player asked me a question I did not know the answer to?
- What if I am not sure about various parts of the game?
- What if I make a mistake and the player gets worse?
AM I GOOD ENOUGH AS A PLAYER, OR CAN I DEMONSTRATE PROPERLY?
- What if the player knows more than me on something?
- What if I can’t demonstrate the shot I am explaining?
- What if the student can play better than me?
- What if they talk behind my back about me?
THE LESSON ITSELF
- How do I structure a lesson?
- What do I say?
- What if I get stuck on something (and, worse, the player wants to stop the training)?
- How do I finish a session properly?
SHOW ME THE MONEY!
- How much do I charge?
- How do I ask for another session?
- How do I create recurring income?
- What is the best method of payment?
WOULD YOU LIKE
Instead of all this doubt, worry, and uncertainty above… to experience the following:
SELLING SESSIONS
- How to market, sell, and charge properly for your services.
- How to run trainings for pairs, groups, or juniors.
- General business building skills I have learned over the years.
- How to ask for, and get, testimonials.
THE LESSON ITSELF
- Knowing the REAL reasons players make most of the mistakes they do.
- Being able to diagnose your student with complete confidence.
- How to use video in your coaching.
- How to use language patterns to help the student – without them knowing what you are doing.
- How to coach different types of personality.
THE COACHING PROCESS
- Mastering variables
- ‘Shaving the yak’
- Increasing choice
- The feedback loop
- Advanced coaching skills
LEARNING METHODS
- How to help students change, reverse, or upgrade their habits.
- How to guide s student’s thinking to get what they want.
- How to use coaching equipment to accelerate the results for the student.
- DEALING WITH PROFESSIONALS, NATIONAL TEAMS, GOVERNING BODIES, AND OTHER TOUGH SITUATIONS!
- The way I was taught to work with top amateurs and professionals.
- The five second coaching method.
- Various ways to solve the toughest problems a student can present.
The shortcut to building your coaching skills, technical knowledge, and business building ability…
WHO THIS PROGRAMME IS FOR:
Coaches who are serious about developing their technical knowledge, coaching skills, and business building ability.
- Those who want transformation in their life, and career.
- Those who want a short cut and don’t have the spare 30 years I spent working all this out.
- Those who believe that the price of this membership, and more, can be easily made back by the lessons and training structure provided.
- Those who have always felt coaching is in their blood, and the urge somewhere inside to help others enjoy your chosen sport more…
- Those who value skills for life long learning and transformation…
WHO THIS PROGRAMME IS NOT FOR:
- Those who want to buy a certificate as a short cut to coaching recognition.
- Those who have no playing skills – unless you can play your sport to a fairly proficient amateur level, you are going to struggle to get the most value from this programme.
Applications, however, will be considered on a case by case basis. - Those who think coaching is an easy hobby that will allow them to retire to the Bahamas in a few months.
The Snooker Gym’s Purpose
We Help Frustrated Amateurs,
To Beat Their Highest Break
The Snooker Gym Values
- Customer experience is our number 1 priority
- We have the courage to be who we are
- We give 100% and play full out
- We decide fast, and finish fast
- We show humanity and kindness
- We do and say what is right
The three levels of the programme allow you to coach snooker and pool players:
| Level 1 | Coach | ||
| Level 2 | Master Coach | ||
| Level 3 | Coach Examiner (for Levels 1 & 2) |
 |
|
Level 1 Outline:
What you get:
- Online study from The Snooker Gym curriculum outlined above
- Includes the Red To Black 'How To Make A 100 Break' rating system
- Q&A live webinars for coaches from myself and my examiners
- Demonstration evaluation done by my examiner or by me
- Be on our list of recommended coaches
- Affiliate commissions on the all the video courses I have built – so you don’t have to spend decades building them yourself
- A ticket for The Snooker Gym Annual Convention on 19/20/21 June 2026 just north of London, UK.
Coaches at any level (1 - Coach, 2 - Master Coach, or 3 - Examiner) can recommend their students to join the BYHB 2.0 Community and share affiliate commission. You would help the players earn their Red (10 break) To Black (100 break) achievement badges.
You would get various commissions (from 10%-60%) if you recommend physical or digital course products from our extensive library. Our highest priced digital product is £2,000...
Level 2 Outline:
- Much deeper online study from The Snooker Gym curriculum outlined above
- Q&A live webinars from myself and my examiners
- Demonstration evaluation done by my examiner or by me
- 3 day in person course (Tue 9 June to Thu 11 June 2026 Inclusive - just north of London, UK)
- Be on our list of recommended coaches
Bonuses currently included in the Level 2 Certification👇
🎁 Bonus 1:
Optional Snooker Gym video sports analysis software powered by Onform (the most user friendly sports analysis software on the planet). This is loaded with dozens of my pre recorded 'best practice' shot demonstration views, which you can compare to your student's form at the table.
This was previously only available in the Level 3 Examiner training.
There is a one time setup fee of £100 and an annual Onform platform fee of £275.
I estimate this will double your coaching revenue for the year.
You will be able to use this feature in your marketing materials (we can provide you screen shots and a description of how it works to help with the messaging).
- Full use of the software as a Snooker Gym Coach
- Full use of my library of 30 second technique template videos - which you can easily import into your client's analysis to compare what they do, with what they should do
- Access to many case study sample analysis videos I have previously made for my own students to give you the quickest path to making your own world class video analysis
🎁 Bonus 2:
Optional Snooker Gym practice scheduling platform software powered by TrueCoach (offers the best student experience for following practice routines you set - on a free app they download from a link you provide)
This was previously only available in the Level 3 Examiner training.
There is a one time setup fee of £100 and an annual TrueCoach platform fee of £100.
This software would normally cost you £350-£900 per year depending on the number of students you have.
When I set this software up in my own business during Covid, it multiplied my average fees per distance student by well over 500% on average.
You will be able to use this feature in your marketing materials (we can provide you screen shots and a description of how it works to help with the messaging).
- Full use of the software as a Snooker Gym Coach
- This software would otherwise cost you approx. £350-£900 per year
- Full use within TrueCoach to use my own full library of ninety practice routines in all areas of the game, and 100 technique 1 minute micro videos (which together have taken me twenty years to build up and test).
- Includes the Red To Black 'How To Make A 100 Break' rating system to keep your students motivated.
Level 1 & Level 2 Investment
(Level 1 is delivered by distance only. Enrolling does NOT mean you ever have to enroll in Level 2 - not that you would be accepted)
Beat Your Highest Break 2.0 subscription is required before taking Level 1, and allows you to unlock the coach eduction module inside the membership.
This includes the online coach study content, demonstration exercises you must record and send to your examiner, and is where the coach support webinars take place.
This is £14.70 per month or £147 per year and you can learn full details and pay on this page.
https://www.thesnookergym.com/beat-your-highest-break-club
In addition to joining Beat Your Highest Break 2.0 membership, there is a one time unlock fee for level 1 of £395.
Level 1 is reduced to £295 until 31 Dec 2025.
Level 1 conditions:
You have 90 days from receiving your course materials to complete level 1 training (about 30 hours study and tests in total).
Failure to do this will require a £150 fee to unlock the course for 90 more days.
In addition to remaining in Beat Your Highest Break 2.0 membership, there is a one time unlock and attendance fee for level 2 of £995.
Level 2 is reduced to £750 until 31 Dec 2025.
Level 2 conditions:
You will have about 50 hours of pre course study to complete before attending the three day course near London in June 2026.
This study must be done at least one month before the course begins otherwise you will not be allowed to attend (there is no time for catchups during the course as it slows everyone else's experience down).
Included in this are a number of specific shots you must also demonstrate and submit by video before the course. In addition to clearing a huge amount of explanation time in the seminar, this approach also forces you to get familiar with some of the distance coaching methods you need to optimise coaching revenue.
You will forfeit the entire course fee if you withdraw your booking within 90 days of the course taking place.
General Conditions
There is a short profile to complete (at the bottom of this page) before we accept anyone into the programme.... this maximises the sense of community with Level 1 coaches, and the seminar experience for Level 2 coaches.
When you complete both courses you keep all your online course access, and will receive your printed and signed certificate by post which you will always be able to display...
Maintaining the BYHB 2.0 membership also allows you to maintain:
- A place on our list of active certified coaches
- Your affiliate account to remain live (so that if any of your students purchase at any time in the future, the affiliate link you provide them will still be live and you still get commission).
- Ability to participate in the regular group calls for players and for coaches in BYHB 2.0.
- Notification of player and coach curriculum updates.
