The Stance

Back to Basics with you in this video!

This video is what it says on the tin, it’s all about the stance. Going back to basics is not just imperative for a beginner, but also good as a refresher for some more advanced players out there too.

Other videos still to come in this series are :
Grip
Bridge
Cue Action

hi everyone it’s sha Murphy and welcome back to my channel and today we’re taking a deep dive into the [Applause] stance The Stance what is it what does it mean you hear people talking about it all the time don’t you and you need a good foundation to build your game as a player whether you’re a beginner whether you’re a club player playing in the local tournaments local leagues National events you might even be playing for your national team you might be coming through Q School you might be on the Q tour do you know what sneakily you might even be on the tour I know some of you guys that I compete with watching these videos because you told me and I know lots and lots of players all around the world at varying levels whose game would be so much better if the basics were just that little bit sharper and it doesn’t get much more basic than the stance it’s so important you can’t build a skyscraper up here if the foundations aren’t deep enough if they’re not strong enough and if your stance and some of the other foundational elements to good snooker aren’t strong enough at some point they’re going to break when that pressure comes up on they’re going to crack that pressure will turn up and you will just crumble now if you’ve got good basics in place if those Foundation elements such as stance grip Bridge Q action if they’re in place and they’re locked in and sound then you will be able to withstand that pressure of competition that little bit better than your opponent and they might wobble a little bit I’ve seen it so many times remember seeing it at junior level and I remember seeing it recently at professional level the basics are very important let’s start right at the beginning with the stance and there’s loads of different ways to do it the great thing about the foundations is that there isn’t necessarily a right way and a wrong way but there are ways that work better than others so the way I stand to the ball when I’m down at the shot isn’t necessarily how you’ll stand you know I’m 6’1 you might not be you might be 6′ 6 or you might be 5’8 who knows you could be anywhere in between uh so there’s lots of different ways of doing it but certain parts of it help if they’re similar and done in the same sort of way so let’s start right at the beginning what is the stance you know how does it work why why does it matter you know we see lots of players doing it in lots of different ways don’t we well really the Reon reason the stance is important is because it gives us that strong base that solid base from which to move the que back and for at the cube ball and then eventually take it back little pause and strike if your stance is unstable it can it can disintegrate and you can move and ultimately it’s movement an unwanted movement that we’re trying to get rid of if your stance is stable then you will you know you will stand there and you will stay in one PL one place and that queue can be delivered back and for back and for in as straight as line of possible and give you consistency with where you’re trying to hit the cuq ultimately that’s all this is about if your weight is in the wrong place which we’re going to come to in a minute if you’re sat back on your heels and you’re not rigid and fixed in one position if the weight is in the wrong place for the right hander it should be on your left knee if it’s not there can be a bit a bit of movement and you’ll be amazed at when you’re nervous and when it matters how much movement there can be and what that can do to the cuq ball and you only have to move a fraction a fraction in your feet as a snooker player if they’re moving a fraction down there can mean a missed pot when it gets onto the table so I know a lot of people Overlook it and you do see a lot of different types on the tour and you go in the snooker Club you’ll see everyone has a different stance but it is vitally important that you get some aspects of it correct now I’m going to start I’m going to just play these shots with a blue across the table because I just want there to be some consistency with the setup so you guys can see it I’m going to show you my stance and then I’m going to talk you through some of the key elements of of it and what I believe are the important parts of it h and talk you through how I do it but if this were the blue here as a right-handed player you know my right foot would move first and I would step into the line there that right foot now is in place and it doesn’t move and my left foot now comes in and stands just in front you can see the angle between my feet my left foot is now just slightly ahead of my right foot all of my weight is going to go over my left side onto my left knee I don’t want any weight sat back here on my right knee my right thigh or on my right hip everything is forward and slightly to the left that gives me a really really solid base from there the bridge comes down chin on the Queue and I’m back and I’m through and nothing south of here moves that is absolutely vital now before we go any further I can already hear people saying well hang on a minute because some great players current and past don’t do that some current players players I’m thinking particularly of Kiren Wilson for instance stands with both feet both legs sorry bent that’s totally unorthodox but what I will say is when Kiren comes into the ball with his legs bent he somehow manage to train himself to stay there he doesn’t move and it’s something that he’s worked on you wouldn’t necessarily teach anybody to do it that way every now and again you see somebody standing to the table with both legs bent because they might be super tall I’m thinking of somebody like Ricky Walden who has played with both legs bent in that kind of style there very low to the table but both legs bent because he’s very very tall and he suffered throughout his career with some back problems I think he’s had sciatica and he’s had to find a way of getting around that and if that’s you well then you can only do your best but if you’re able to get into the situation where your anchor leg and as a right handed player that would be your right leg if you’re able to get into a situation where you walk into the shot plant your right foot straighten your right leg and that never moves if you can get there then do it because that that is the absolute Optimum position to get into why is it important to have your weight forward and weight on the left knee well it’s all about staying in one place Place staying as solid as you can solid as a rock that’s what they say and you don’t want to go anywhere as I say a fraction of movement down here can lead to a big misjudgment when the tip strikes the QQ ball so you want to stay as still as possible Rock Solid and that’s about getting your weight in the right position how do I know if my weight’s in the right position well I’m going to give you a really good tip this is very old fashioned this comes from the Joe Davis how I play snooker manual that was printed about 7 100 years ago and these tips haven’t changed when you’re down at the ball here if your weight is in the right place if I now try and lift my bridge hand off the table if I move my left hand I will fall forward into the shot you can see my weight carries me forward into the ball I can’t stay where I am and that’s what you’re looking for because those connection points between your bridge and your feet and the weight distribution they keep you solid that makes a really solid base to build the rest of your Technique around if I sit back and I keep my weight back and I’m not really there you can see I can lift my hand off the table and nothing happens I don’t go anywhere that’s cuz all my weight despite my leg being bent all my weight is back here now someone says why is that important well it’s important because you’re not solid you know if someone came over and nudged you you would fall over now I know that’s not going to happen I’m not suggesting at The Crucible somebody might come out and nudge you you know I know that’s not going to happen but the point is you got to try and be as solid and as rigid as you possibly can you know in other sports think about golf they might say to be fluid you keep everything loose at the dress keep the feet moving all the time keep the legs moving you’re keeping yourself active you’re not keeping yourself stationary snooker is not like that stationary is the word stay still stay in one place don’t go anywhere let’s run through it again ni distance away from the table give yourself a chance to walk in you think about some of the great players let’s think about Neil Robertson one of the great tips that you can see from Neil is when he’s walking around the table he stays such a good distance away that he builds in he has to now take a very very definite step into his into his position at the table a lot of players are very lazy they do all of their work very close there’s no Gap there’s no separation so rather than having a pronounced walk into the shot they just kind of arrive at the shot and they just Shuffle into it everything gets twisted the weight goes from the left knee more into the center everything bends wrong there’s there’s twist takes place that’s no good for keeping everything straight it’s not good for solidity it’s not good at all really for consistency tip number one get away from the table you know if you can be a q length away then be it you know if you can be that kind of length somewhere in there that guarantees that means that makes you have to take that first initial step and if you can can discipline yourself on every shot to stand there address the ball however you do it sight the ball however you do it and come into that shot with a definite step and place yourself at the table your consistency is going to go up and I don’t care who you are I see players even on the tour sometimes I’ll be sat in my chair watching and I can see players they do all of their work from like 6 to 10 in away from the table it’s no good guys you need to get out get away from the table so you can have that pronounced Walkin think of somebody like Anil Robertson you plant everything in place the weight goes onto your other knee and you stay there a tornado could come through the room and you won’t be moving and I’m not talking just about Tony Drago it is absolutely vital that you have a good stance a good foundation with which to build the rest of your Technique around as a right-handed player your right foot should be the one that moves first the only player who I’ve ever seen not do that and I’ve mentioned his name already is Kiren Wilson and I’ve never seen anyone do it Kiren will stand here at the table like this and his first move will be to move his left leg and he moves that forward then he’s right then he’s into position do you know what it doesn’t really matter this is a guy who’s won the World Championship we’re talking about so it hasn’t stopped him from being successful has it but you know what he does he does it the same on every single shot and he might have an unorthodox way of getting from here to here but every when he does end up here yes he might have his both legs bent but he stays absolutely still and has one of the best Q actions of the game guys there are other elements to this the grip the bridge Q action and they’re in separate videos they’re either out or they’re coming but make sure to have a look through those if you want any help with those specific parts of the game as well this is all about the stance this is all about weight distribution how do I get from here into here and hopefully with a good stance you’ll start seeing your scores go up and up and up and your consistency will get better which ultimately will lead to you enjoying snooker that little bit more guys I hope you’ve enjoyed the video I hope you found it informative if you have make sure to like And subscribe to the channel and I’ll see you next time