Opening Ceremony - Good to go

Opening Ceremony (Above) with Jim Leacey and Maxim Cassis welcoming the players. The tournament is now officially open, all that is required is to go and pay the entrance fee, my first match is at 12:30. We had a good days practice yesterday, myself and the Irish lads headed over the the Romanian Snooker Academy for some match practice. Was also helped a little by Irish coach PJ Dolan, who spotted my bridge hand was just not right (Thanks PJ!). Below is a picture of the first floor of the academy which has 4 match tables.

These tables play exceptionally well, although I found the cushions were not as responsive as the cloth would lend you to believe. Excellent match practice though, so much so that Joe Delaney and myself stayed on for another 2-3 hours practice, which was great fun. Below is a picture of the main match table set up on the top floor of the academy, pictured left to right are: Clinton Franey (mens), Brendan Thomas (masters), David Hogan (mens and 2009 European Champion), Me and Joe Delaney (mens), a sorry bunch if ever there was one!

Getting the cue-action really compacted

Went up the the club last night and despite having a fair 'ol yarn with Norrie managed to get in 2-3 hours snooker practice. Enjoyed the chat though, everything from the state of the LibCon colilition to the rate of pay our MLA's and Councilors get, blew me away that one. Anyway, back to the practice, was concerned that over the last few months my new compact cue action was 'pulling' my left elbow out of line (it should be directly in line with the cue, and behind my head if looking from face on, see below.)

The Cause? Experience tells be that this was a consequence of shortening my grip on the cue, and general laziness. The solution? Brace my left shoulder back more which in return not only brought the elbow, grip and cue into line behind the shot but also facilitated a closer interaction the the cue and the chest, which as all good coaches should know is one of only two guidelines to accurate cueing the cue has with the body, the other being the chin.

Will take another few practice sessions in the next week, its not like a radical change as looking through some old photographs it was the way I used to 'cue' and line up when practicing in Cookstown many moons ago. It also adds to the general feeling of compactness I have been looking for. I am slightly surprised I can still remember that far back though, I suppose its like riding a bike...lol