Are your aiming priorities wrong?

I see a lot of people focusing on the wrong things when they play. it doesn't help with all the nonsense out there. This is where your attention needs to be... #snooker #snookerplayer #snookercoaching

[@Softlad92]

Best coach. Stripping back all the BS. Helped me no end, thank you 🙏

[@GaryHockley]

This is so true it’s really great to have a coach talk about the proper game and get rid of all this rubbish that players are so concerned about

[@grahamlewis6777]

Thanks VERY much for making this point. I mostly hear that 95% of the aiming is made whilst standing up, but I tried that and made very minimal changes when down on the shot and then missed more often, I think you are right, a lot more of the aiming is down on the shot. I just still find it hard to picture the line to the pocket and mostly hit the shot thick so trying to work out how to correct for that... if anyone else has that problem (and I know about not aiming just for the contact point) then please let me know! I am getting better but very slowly.

[@Charlie.c19]

I think the concept of having aim 95% done before you get down refers more to chosing the point on the white you want to hit and lining it up. Michael is emphasising that it has to be reinforced once down on the shot, making the important micro adjustments.

[@Charlie.c19]

Try aiming more naturally, try and picture it, and if it's an angled shot, play with a few millimetres of side. If you're cutting the red to the left, aim how you normally would, but with a tiny trace of right hand side. This will help you.

[@garryjones8050]

He does a great video on throw - which I wasn't aware of. That might be why you are hitting too thick

[@martynroberts1974]

Yes, I agree. I think if you are too worried about lining up while standing behind the shot, and not while down on the shot, it affects your natural rhythm and can cause you to miss more.

[@ChristophSchellhorn]

I like your approach. Gotta love that snake oil meme too. ;-)

[@jason147h6]

I believe most people can see the line of aim but the problems arise in getting the cue on that line of aim

[@grahamlewis6777]

Did you have a technique that helped you? I think that is at least half my problem. I found I aimed better when closing one eye and aiming down the queue like a gun sight, meaning my centre of vision isn't right but finding it very hard to adjust

[@jason147h6]

​First of all i am not a coach. Sounds like you have a dominant eye so instead of me typing it to you it would be far easier if you took a look at either Steve Barton dominant eye or Barry Stark dominant eye on youtube. A good alignment check is using the baulk line. Place a red ball on the centre of the baulk line against the cushion where the line meets the cushion. Now you stand the opposite side of the baulk line imagine you want to hit the red full ball with a cueball on the brown spot. No need to use the cueball just cue up to the brown spot with your focus on hitting the red full in the face. Do your normal feathers and final delivery. After final delivery slowly lower the butt of the cue downwards and see if the cue covers the baulkline centrally. That will confirm your cue is on the intended line of aim. If its to the left or right this indicates that you are cueing across the ball. Now a visit to a good coach will correct this for you. Could be something as simple as correcting your stance to allow the cue to be put on line. But a good coach will ensure that any tinkering is correct for you. Hope this helps👍 ​@@grahamlewis6777

[@jason147h6]

Firstly i am not a coach. It sounds like you have a dominant eye so instead of me typing an explanation to you i encourage you to take a look at either Steve Barton or Barry Stark on the dominant eye explanation. A good alignment check is using the baulk line. Place a red ball centrally on the baulk line meets the cushion. Now stand at the opposite side of the table and imagine you want to hit the red full ball. Cue up to the brown spot using your normal feathers and final delivery focusing on hitting the red full.in the face. After final delivery slowly lower the butt end of cue down onto the baulk line and check if the cue covers the line centrally. That will confirm if your cue is on the intended line of aim. If its to the left or the right it indicates you are cueing across the ball. Now a visit to a good coach will correct this for you. Could be something as simple as correcting your stance to allow you to place cue on the line of aim. But a visit to a good coach will ensure that any tinkering is correct for you👍

[@danieljohn530]

@@grahamlewis6777 don’t watch any KZbin videos other than Michael’s and go see him for coaching or do it online he will sort you out get out the circle of death

[@grahamlewis6777]

Thanks Jason, appreciate you taking the time to reply and I will try that out

[@denniskrottje012]

Thanks Michael. 🙂👍 What's your opinion about sight right?

[@StephenLawrence-re8ub]

Excellent. Many coaching videos are misleading about the purpose of feathers leaving microadjustment out altogether. They did leave me confused about that.

[@mikebest634]

Getting down behind the shot and looking down the cue is all you need ,and practice .Pretty much bang on with your sighting tips Mike all these silly over priced ping pong balls, sighting aids and such just add confusion to a game that’s already hard to play .Another good one is the muppets that say both your feet should always be pointing straight in front of you in line perfectly with your shot ,funny how you never see a pro doing that .

[@meok292]

My aiming is as 💩 as my cue action and positions play. Appreciate the thoughtful content that is to the point (as per last video)

[@theznooker]

Hi As i walk in to the shot, the cue tip goes past the cueball top and as i am about to get down i pull the cue back to bring the cue tip behind the cue ball center. and this is causing alignment problem because the cue butt goes towards left. when i try to put the cue tip behind the cueball and get down, i have no alignment problem. that is how i figured out this is cuasing the alignment problem so basically i put my right foot on line of aim as i walk in, i put the left leg at the same time synced with the cue arm goes online of aim with the cue, but the cue shaft is about 2 inches beyond the white, so as i am getting down i pull the cue back to bring it behind the cueball, so once i am fully down. the cue tip is behind the cue ball. i asked many and they said, only shaun murphy does it like this. what is the correct what ? do other players do that ? can this problem cause the alignment problem or i am in the wrong direction

[@R-Tap]

Hi Michael, enjoying the channel. Is that your personal table? It looks like it has seen a bit of action but I bet it plays lovely. Nice to see a Star table with a bit of wear around the rails.

[@haiderali-mo3iy]

Thank you so much for this great video. Your way of describing details are very natural. Your videos are helping me a lot. Please keep it posted.

[@MichaelHoltSnookerCoaching]

Thank you. 😃

[@KafrDhimmi]

Love the snake oil meme

[@tonymarshall4164]

Excellent Michael…I’m sure you potted that brown with just a trace of left 😂

[@AdrianMitchell-f7y]

Probably didn’t find the centre of the cue ball either 😂

[@Charlie.c19]

Hi Michael. I think a really valuable video from your perspective could be a list of how important all the different technique things are (grip being more important than where toes are pointing, etc.) and how important different thought processes are (e.g trace of side, or longer cue action) and rate them all 1-10. Just to give us amateurs an idea of what matters more than other things. Due to all the coaches spreading misinformation, I think many many people would be surprised. I imagine using trace of side would be an 8 or 9 in terms of importance, then the common misconceptions such as elbow position (e.g Joe swail), or drawing on the floor being a much lower number. More of quick fire video, where if people want to look more in depth on each point, they can check out your videos on the varies points. What do you think?

[@meok292]

Holty, reading between the (aiming) lines, is the snake oil reference to a particular coaching methodology? Its hard to know whats marketing BS when endorsed by a few pros.

[@matt926uk1]

Looking forward to seeing you back on the pro tour. Your coaching has helped me a lot this season, thank you 🙏🏻

[@MichaelHoltSnookerCoaching]

Thank you. Keep potting! 👍

[@5wisher5weet]

Do you think a right hander who is left eye dominant should have the cue left of the chin?

[@andygregg1129]

Absolutely spot on in explaining how it should be done ,doesn't complicate it ,,love watching his coaching ,,best out there ,,keep it up mate

[@PoolTips101]

Hi Michael. Love this content. What do you think about the throw effect? What is it and how does it work?

[@WheeinJupiterMars]

My fellows are taking the walk-in routine very seriously that they micro adjust their foot position for every shot for about 5 seconds before they go into the shot 🤣🤣🤣 I need to send ths to them

[@dennisperry2044]

What's your opinion about sight right?

[@sj460162]

Loving these videos Michael thankyou. This is a subject ive seen waaay too many bs videos on and theyve confused me! The only bit I need to know is where to put my cue on the chin Mike and id love to know how I figure that out bud.

[@leboeuf05]

Yeah, if you look at Gary Wilson, his stance looks so awkward, and uncomfortable, but it obviously works for him. Should you make adjustments when you're down, or get up and start the shot again?

[@andystagles4655]

It’s quite easy to find the line of the shot on a straight shot, it good practice for straight cuing, but it’s not the same as seeing the line on angled shot which definitely easier standing back from the table

[@beflat3304]

Hi , can u talk about how u aim with side spin and also does aiming change with where u play the cue ball (like top or bottom) and with distance between cueball and object ball ??

[@Batwal99onUtube]

What lights do you use?

[@dennisperry2044]

talk about what a good strike on the cue ball is?

[@JonnyMack33]

As for line of sight.. when I have switch hands because I'm a lazy tit, I _very_ rarely miss. It's weird. I guess I should try to switch permanently 😂

[@davidwright2454]

You are a "Coaching Treasure Michael ! Really hope you stick with it while you are pursuing your competitive career and later in your life you continue to share your coaching "Wisdom".

[@no13benny]

Yeah fine providing you cue straight - which I think the approach can help with. If your body alignment is off then it can make your cue push one way or the other, and that’ll throw the shot off when you reach the white that extra bit of distance.

[@MichaelHoltSnookerCoaching]

Not sure what you mean by body alignment?

[@no13benny]

@@MichaelHoltSnookerCoaching if someone comes in to the shot and their body is in the way of the line of the shot their cue will go in and out a fraction - you’ve a slender figure (you can use that if you want haha!) so this might be a lot less likely for you perhaps as a result. Some people/coaches say the cue should brush the chest/ torso a bit - what’s your take on that? I’m not one so no idea Edit: just watched this nevermind! kzbin.info/www/bejne/p4aWf4iofbJ7itUsi=U-gbSAkjQOXEjuU8

[@ryanh3285]

I have a question why do almost all snooker players have a lame boring walk out song like non of them have any interesting different music taste. Or is it because they are restricted by copyright laws ect

[@JustBeHappy1544]

The best advice anyone can give is practice practice practice. If you do you’ll see your game improve.

[@MichaelHoltSnookerCoaching]

Only if you’re practicing the correct things. Practice doesn’t make perfect, practice makes permanent. 👍

[@JustBeHappy1544]

@@MichaelHoltSnookerCoaching I didn’t say practice makes perfect. I was just saying if you practice practice practice you’ll see your game improve. Of course it has to be the correct practice. I was playing at a really poor level my highest break was 37. I started practicing a lot more doing nothing but practice. Now my highest break is 87. I’ve watched so many videos on how to do stuff etc but nothing has helped me. I just find the more you practice the better you get.

[@dorgam5187]

why the music ? :-(

[@MichaelHoltSnookerCoaching]

I like it! 🎶🎶🎶

[@tarcisiocoach9667]

Where are you look when stroke?Cue boll or obj boll?Make video abaut It

[@varunrhj]

A great snooker player, great coach, very good friend but sadly not a great businessman lol if you teach aiming in 5 minutes then what are we gonna talk about in the rest of the aiming session? lol May be 55 minutes of Real snooker stuff like - high blacks, break building etc. lol Other coaches have aiming systems, books, and gadgets but he does it with 2 balls and 1 cue. Very impressive! But I have to say at the same time that Accurate coaching hurts business Mike!

[@wiganer9912]

This video might have just saved me £84.95

[@MichaelHoltSnookerCoaching]

My pleasure. 😃

[@indilotey1267]

Exactly right!

[@arsalan1229]

SR has left the chat 😂

[@johnmc3862]

Holt! Who goes there?

[@davidroe8441]

Proper stuff again m8 . Stop the snake oil salesman. 😂👍

[@HappyWanderer140]

11k subs. Fantabulous!

[@Xtralarge350]

It still makes me laugh that people think there's some magic formula to be good at snooker. All you need is to see Holty get the basics and play thousands of hours! Good luck in the qualifying pal!

[@MichaelHoltSnookerCoaching]

👍😃

[@aken9482]

I clearly don't know what is line of the aim but i win alot and lose alot😶

[@SayangLebai-ik3ii]

Have a good break Hitman and hope you'll have a great season after World Championship

[@TheBlueTechnology]

*PLEASE* still waiting..... you said u will make a video how to find vision center easily u said 5 mints, i tried every method with coaches but i cannot find my vision center, been using center chin BAD HABIT for years, i cannot find my vision center. cannot hit the object ball full ball. when playing up and down double kiss. or when i cue on baulk line the cue does not cover the baulk line . and i put a ball on one end of the baulk line and try to hit it the the cue tip , the ball seems to be to the right of my cue tip. pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee help

[@TheBlueTechnology]

please

[@meok292]

Sounds like cue action issue, not aim, likely pushing the cue off line (across the white ball) on delivery. Cueing straight is different to seeing straight

[@TheBlueTechnology]

@@meok292 u r wrong Read it again I have not delivered the cue at all. The cue is online and the object looks offline like i said if i have not delivered the cue then how its cueing issue

[@meok292]

Cannot hit the object ball full ball and can't cue straight along baulk line. Not sure that's sighting as the baulk line is a straight line. But was just a suggestion as to the error. You might be boz eyed for all we know

[@TheBlueTechnology]

@@meok292 i know caz a coach told me that when u put the cue on baulk line and without featuring and while touching the chin , the cue should b covering the baulk line, but i can see the baulk line from left of the cue while the cue on baulk line and touching the chin. that was a 50% proof the i am not using vision center, and the other 50% proof is that when i hold the same position and someone put an object ball to the oposite end of baulk line my tip points to left of object ball. and further proof that when i play up and down to hit the blue and get a double kiss, i never get a double kiss. i hope someone understands what this problem is , thank you i have moved my head side to side, but not sure where to put the cue (chin position) i am right handed, right eye dominant but cannot find my vision center

[@qed456]

good luck with World Champ Qualifying

[@MichaelHoltSnookerCoaching]

Thank you.

[@danieljohn530]

Perf 👌🏻

[@vxrdrummer]

Perf.

[@peterwilcox3470]

When’s your wife coming on again, we miss her ❤

[@meok292]

Unlucky in the game vs xing zihao holty. Think you got pissed off in frame 12 and lost the plot in anger. Noticed you were getting in, breaking down having done the hard work, allowing him to clean up to win frames. Don't get so self critical in frames holty, you'd have won yesterday if hadn't of beat yourself up

[@MichaelHoltSnookerCoaching]

I was useless mate. I just need to play better than that. Very disappointing. We go again…

[@meok292]

It's all pyscological coach!

[@Jaihickling-bh5mp]

​@@MichaelHoltSnookerCoachingI lost a lot of money on you, thought bookies made a mistake. Unlike them, I forgot you bottle it.

[@meok292]

Better to have talent and have a bad day than to have no talent and be a mug losing money to bookies?​@Jaihickling-bh5mp

[@Jaihickling-bh5mp]

​@@meok292takes more than one bad day to get kicked off tour.

[@britsfirstfitness5026]

Line of aim its all in stance as well