Tips

* Practice warm up strokes before the beginning of each game.
* Plan and direct your movements in advance.
* Pay attention to your opponents play and keep track of their score.



Intermediate

The DRILL(shot routine) -The drill breaks down into four parts.

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Before getting down to play a shot, look at the situation on the table and decide what is the best shot toplay.This is very important.

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Then comes what I call the 95 per cent. Having looked at the pocket and decided the spot on the object ball that must be hit, address the cue ball where you intend to hit it.It is no good getting down before you have decided what to do. If your brain has not a clear message, how can it possibly send directions to your cue hand?

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You should now be 95 per cent certain of potting the ball. You begin your waggle trying to 'feel' the shot you are about to play. You have made up your mind whether to play with topspin, sidespin or backspin, and how hard you are going to hit the cue ball.

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This takes care of the second part of the shot, which is the positioning of the cue ball.

The Nap - A snooker table cloth is ironed regularly, in one direction, from the baulk end to the top of the table. The fact that the pile is pushed or pressed one way can affect the running of the cue ball and the object balls.Only when the balls are running slowly will this come into operation, but it is very important because if you are forced to play a slow shot it could easily be influenced by the nap.

But where it is the cue ball that has the distance to travel, the nap can affect it so much that it drifts away from the intended contact point on the object ball. It is not very easy to judge how much allowance should be made. Once again, it is trial and error. Be even warier, though, of slow shots against the nap if you have to play over some distance to the object ball.One shot which constantly highlights the differences in nap is a ball played slowly towards a middle pocket from the area between the black and pink spots.

If you play up the table, towards the black spot, using right-hand side, the cue ball, when it starts to slow down, will tend to drift to the right. With left-hand side it will tend to drift to the left.However, the situation is reversed when playing from the black spot end towards the baulk area. Because of the effect of the nap, when right-hand side is applied the cue ball

Top spin--by striking the cue ball above centre you are imparting topspin.when using top,raise your bridge slightly so that you can strike the top part of the cue ball with a natural swing,with cue parallel to the bed of table.

Back spin(screw)by striking below centre you are imparting backspin.to get the best result,lower your bridge slightly so that the cue tip can strike the lower at the cue ball without having to point downwards.the most common mistake is hitting too hard.alot of players find difficultly in screwing back and try by hitting harder.infact their failure is failing to strike the cue ball where they think they are hitting.

Sidespin--is applied by the tip striking the cue ball to the left or right of centre .it is used to make the cue ball take a wideror narrow anglefrom a cushion than would be the case if the cue ball was struck in the centre.

Stun---is to stop the cue ball dead.this is done in accordance with the distance bvetween the cue ball and the object ball.very importantly , in a snooker game 70% of the shots involve screw or stun so it is very important to master it and also stun could be use to alter the angle the cue ball leave the object ball.

Advanced

Insurance play - During a break a lone red has settled close to the top cushion below the black. If possible leave it where it has come to rest, playing position for the reds in the middle of the table. The reason for this is that at some stage during a break after potting a red you may end up out of position, perhaps straight or nearly straight on the black. Should this happen you can either deep screw the cue ball off the black onto the cushion and out into the middle of the table hoping to regain position on a central red, or play a soft screw shot for the red into the left centre pocket. Alternatively you could gently roll the black in, following through with the white for the red close to the top cushion into the opposite corner pocket.

Shot selection--Shunning the easy pot and working and thinking smarter rather than harder, are all part and parcel of improving your break building potential.A further secret of building bigger breaks is to leave yourself the reds which are potable in more than one pocket. The positioning of some reds on the table will mean that they can only be expected to 'go' in one pocket. During a break you will often find that you obtain relatively good position on these balls, often by accident. Take the balls which pot in one pocket only, whenever the chance arises, leaving the balls that pot into numerous pockets for later in the break.

Doubles---are spectacular looking shots but in snooker we try to avoid them as much as posible as it is much easir to pot a ball straight then to visuale where the pocket is.

Using of rest---choose the one that has a sharp X at the intersection than the wide U.use the rest the tall way up-if you are imparting follow/top spin or the short way up if you are hitting below the centre of cue ball.
when using the rest,one never has one'selbow and shoulder directly below the cue.the best actionn for using the rest is a straight push from the hand alone.stand sideways to the table when using rest.keep right elbow up,as it will be alot better if the wrist is parralle to the table.

Clear the path---Next time you watch a great player in action, take note of how smoothly and efficiently they appear to gain position around the pink and black balls when compiling breaks. With the minimum of fuss they pot a red and magically land right behind the black with two or three reds available.In order to maximise the potential of your break building opportunities it is essential that the paths from the colours to the pockets remain free, thus allowing the high value colours to pot in as many pockets as possible.Stay in the "scoring zone" for bigger breaks!

A plant ---is when two balls are not touching - but are played one onto the other to make a successful pot. The easiest plants are those in which the two object balls are very close together and are both directly in line with a pocket.Cannon the first ball onto the second as though the first ball is the cue ball, thereby potting the second ball with the first.Clearly this requires a high degree of accuracy as any error or misjudgement over the contact angle will be highlighted during the second phase of the shot. Judging the necessary angle is difficult and will only become easier with practice, experience and trial and error.It is prudent to play plants as shots to nothing, as there is a danger of leaving a ball on should you miss.