Cue Action Trainer: Advanced Skills

Eye Alignment Mode Set Up: 

• The five minute method which unlocks your optimum head position and eye alignment above the cue.

 Ideal Head Position: 

• The two learning phases of correct angle recognition for all pots.
• The 90% rule that reveals how many players do or do not naturally sight the ball correctly.
• The four types of head movement available to find optimum eye alignment.

Perfect Accuracy With Potting Mode:

• The three variables that Potting Mode removes from your game, leaving you free to only worry about delivering the cue straight to pot the ball.
• Why professionals do, and more importantly do not, cue up with ‘feathers’ before playing the shot.
• How to train your eyes for a correct Photo Finish when you get back to your normal game.

Centre Cue Ball Mode – Basic:

• Learn how to strike centre cue ball all the time – whatever the position of the cue ball on the table.
• How this method helps you tune out any sighting errors you may currently have.

Centre Cue Ball Mode – Ultimate (Push Practice):

• The most effective way of learning centre cue ball striking that I have discovered, and the three keys to performing the exercise properly.

  Side Spin Mode:

• Understanding the path of the cue ball when using side spin.
• The three main variables that influence the cue ball path when using side spin.
• The most important element in cueing which will accelerate the speed with which you learn how to aim with side spin.
• How to embrace the difficulty of using side!
• Jimmy White’s secret for learning how to pot with side spin…

Using Force Mode - The First Step In Cueing:

• The four elements of cueing most useful in this drill.
• The two biggest mistakes players make when using Force Mode.
• Why Force Mode works better than any exercise I ever did learning the game as a teenager.

• What the four classic cueing errors look like from the eyes of the player, and how to correct them.
• The two things players learn within minutes of using Feedback Mode.

  Feedback Mode Players View:

• How the front leg geometry was designed to highlight the most important backswing error.

Bridge Hand Mode:

• How to iron out invisible bridge hand errors that cause you missed pots – and the reason these errors exist in the first place.
• How to find the optimum bridge hand distance to eliminate the two major errors.

  Backswing Mode:

• How to control the speed of the shot with the backswing
• How professionals often do this differently to club players and amateurs – and why the pro way is usually the WRONG way for amateurs.
• What you must master before you can master your cue ball speed.
• The three main backswing reference positions.

Shot Approach Mode - Side On:

• The three vital elements of your pre approach position – very few amateurs do this.
• The key difference between how club players and professionals fall into the shot – and how knowing this can help you approach the shot straighter.

Shot Approach Mode - Front On:

• The two options for feet position pre approach.
• Body to cue, or cue to body? That is the question!
• Three steps to escalate your skill in keeping your cue online as you approach…

  Shot Approach (Mastery Mode) With Eyes Closed Mastery Mode With Eyes Closed:

• How the hips can disrupt the cue on approach.
• Breaking the approach down into four quarters.
• The mental mantra that will keep you on the line of aim as you approach.

  What NOT To Do!:

• Why NOT to take the lessons you learn here directly into matches!

Overview Of Technique:

• The highest priority in all of snooker is…
• Why you often don’t need to know what you are doing wrong to learn new habits.
• Is correcting a bad habit easier than learning a new habit?
• Bypassing instruction to find your own ideal technique.
• The iceberg theory of technique, and what the hidden part.

  Grip Tip Gap: Finding Ideal Distance From Grip To Tip:

• The four measurements that determine your ideal upper body position:

o   Correct bridge hand length o   Correct bridge elbow angle o   Correct shoulder position o   Correct grip position on the cue.

  Technique:

• Stance, and technique serves cueing only.
• The priority above all else when considering technique…
• The four major variables that determine your ideal stance.
• How to double check this ideal stance once you have discovered it.

  Grip Hand Side View: 

• Too tight or too loose? The mistake 95% of club makers make is… and how to optimise your grip tension.
• The three choices for an optimum grip hand shape.
• How to train a completely consistent delivery.
• The most common grip hand mistake…

 The most common mistake with the grip hand is holding the back fingers too tight which prevents a full backswing and pulls the wrist into an unnatural angle

Grip Hand Rear View: 

• From behind the line of aim, how to find your ideal wrist angle relative to vertical.

  Cueing Arm Angle:

• The final component of upper body set up – optimising the position of the cueing elbow above the cue, and how often to check it.

Set Up:

• The one minute potting mode set up.

Potting Mode - Demo:

• The four errors that Potting Mode eliminates in your quest for perfect potting.
• The reason pros perform the feathers and cueing waggles – which is NOT the reason.
• The most important two seconds in the game, and how to utilise them.
• The only two reasons you can miss, and how you can identify them.

Potting Mode - Angled Pots:

• How to use Nic Barrow’s AimFrame in conjunction with the Cue Action Trainer.

  Potting Mode – Angled Pot Demonstration:

• How the Cue Action Trainer can ‘force’ you to learn potting angles in seconds!
• The two steps you must take before ‘pulling the trigger’ on any shot.

  Potting Mode – Angled Pot Experimenting & Guessing:

• How to naturally learn potting angles in seconds…

Stimp Meter Mode:

• How to measure table and cushion speeds with an idea from golf… and use this a metaphor for a controlled backswing and perfect delivery.

  Cushion Mode - Introduction: 

• The super fast way to learn how to form the two types of ideal bridge hand off the cushion.

  Cushion Mode - Open bridge:

• The two key elements of perfect cue guidance with the open bridge.

Cushion Mode - Closed bridge:

• The two key elements of perfect cue guidance with the closed bridge.

Rest Play Mode - Introduction:

• How to avoid ‘being the worst player in the world’ with the rest.

  Rest Play Mode – Grip Hand:

• The ideal grip hand that most professionals use.
• Four technical musts which allow you to push the cue through straight – and the practice which will ingrain them.

  Rest Play Mode – Bridge Arm Front View:

• The ideal head and arm position relative to the cue.

  Rest Play Mode – Bridge Arm Side View:

• Side on view – the ideal upper body set up

Rest Play Mode – Stance Side View: 

• The ideal stance to use with the rest, and the little known adjustment that makes the difference between and amateur and a pro stance.

  Rest Play Mode - Mastery Mode:

• How to pass the ultimate rest play cueing test.

Rest Play Mode – Shot Set Up Reference: Side On:

• The four point check list to confirm your pre shot set up is spot on.

Rest Play Mode – Potting Mode Front On View:

Safety Play Mode - Half Ball Demonstration:

• Understanding the most important reference for learning safety shots.

Safety Play Mode – Back To Baulk Safety:

• The 90% rule in safety shots – and why you do NOT need to pay attention to cue ball speed in safety practice.
• How to aim half ball reliably, strike accurately and know if you haven’t.
• How to learn the full range of safety shot object ball contacts.
• Learn how to ‘hear’ the correct object ball contact.
• The value of consistently playing a foul on thin safety shots.

  The Home Run:

• A two minute summary of everything we have learned in the Cue Action Trainer Next Step videos.

Group exercises with the 16 players and coaches where they test and apply the various modes in their own game.

Plenty of group discussions and conclusions about what we learned from the CAT, and how to apply it in our games.

The philosophy Steve Jobs used to build Apple, that applies to anyone who wants to create and launch a product to market!