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I need to practise more. What practice regime can I use to make my game better?

Practice Makes Perfect

You may or may not realise the amount of practice that top professionals, and most others, put in to their game. A complete practice regime for a professional may consist of 4-6 hours practice a day, six days a week, for virtually every week of the year.

Of course, the more your practice the better you'll get. The amount you practice may be determined by several factors:

1. The amount of time you have available to practice.
2. How much you want to practice.
3. How seriously you take your snooker.
4. How much you enjoy practising.

As these variables are different for each and every player, it is always advisable to consult a professional coach who can help you work out an individual regime suitable for you.

However it is advisable to make what time you have to practice used well. By this, I mean you aren't just practising breaking off and playing through frames all the time. While this is an essential and important part of practising as a whole, you will gain little by doing this all the time.

There are several simple exercises which you can use in whatever time you may have that are of greater value than the aforementioned frame-playing. These include:

1. The Line-Up
The line-up is an exercise which helps greatly develop your cue action, as well as making you think about position. Here's how to do it:

1. Put all the colours on their spots.
2. Spread the reds out in a straight line down the centre of the table [in line with blue, pink and black. A possible combination for the reds might be two reds below the black, five between the black and pink, and eight reds between the pink and blue.

From this position, just start playing normal snooker. You'll soon learn the difference between different types of shots and what they do - and what the best cue action for you is. Of course, it is, again, always advisable to have a coach with you when practising this, because he may spot errors that you don't even realise you're making.

2. Open Play
Of course, you are never going to meet a true line-up situation in a match. It is just as important to practice open play. This involves spreading out the reds around the table (in sensible positions where they might be in a match) and then playing from there. The same principles should be applied as those that are practised in the line-up.

3. Matchplay
Practising by yourself is valuable, but there is a tactical side to snooker as well. You can learn how to play a match, in terms of how to cope with coming back from behind, where to play safe, and how to keep cool under pressure. These are all situations that cannot possibly be experienced when practising alone, so this part of practise is of equal value to the others.

It is recommended you spend whatever time you have split fairly equally between these three areas - you may also want to practise specifically long potting and safety play. If you're short of time, or can only play for a short time every day, then write down a schedule for what you're going to do each day - and stick to it.

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