Watch: Fundamentals · Snooker lesson

Fundamentals

A stable stance, a relaxed grip, a solid bridge, the cue under your chin, and a straight delivery.

Stance

Your stance is the platform for everything else. Stand with your back foot (the right foot, if you are right-handed) on the line of the shot and turned slightly out, and step your front foot forward and to the left. Most of your weight goes on the front leg, and the back leg stays straight.

Bend from the hips until your chin is just above the cue. When you strike, only your forearm swings: your head, body and upper arm stay still.

At the moment the tip meets the white, your cueing forearm should hang vertically.
The cue should brush your chest or chin, so it has a fixed point to run against.
If you feel unbalanced, ask someone to push your shoulder gently while you are down. A good stance does not move.

Grip and bridge

Hold the butt of the cue loosely with your thumb and first two fingers, about level with your back hip. The back fingers only cradle it. A tight grip twists the cue sideways and puts unwanted side on the white.

Make the bridge by spreading your fingers flat on the cloth, then raising your knuckles and pressing your thumb against the side of your first finger to form a groove. The cue slides in that groove. Keep the bridge about 25 to 30 cm from the white. Shorten it for delicate shots or when another ball is in the way.

Cueing straight

The aim of the cue action is to deliver the tip along a straight line, at the speed you choose, without moving anything else. Take a few slow feathering strokes to settle your aim. Then make a smooth backswing, pause briefly at the back, and accelerate through the white. Follow through about 15 cm past where the white was.

The classic test needs no object ball. Put the white on the brown spot and play it up the table over the blue, pink and black spots. If you cue straight with no side, it comes off the top cushion and back down the same line to your tip.

A straight cue sends the white over the blue, pink and black spots and back down the same line. Any curve or drift means the tip was not on the centre.

A pre-shot routine

Do the same things, in the same order, before every shot. Choose the shot standing up. Chalk. Step into the line from behind the white. Get down, take the same number of feathers, pause, and strike. A routine keeps you calm under pressure, because each shot is just the familiar sequence again.

Watch next

At the table

Take 50 practice strokes with no object ball, cueing the white up and down over the blue spot to the top cushion. It should come straight back to your tip.

Next lesson Curriculum

Stance

Bend from the hips until your chin is just above the cue. When you strike, only your forearm swings: your head, body and upper arm stay still.

At the moment the tip meets the white, your cueing forearm should hang vertically.

The cue should brush your chest or chin, so it has a fixed point to run against.

If you feel unbalanced, ask someone to push your shoulder gently while you are down. A good stance does not move.

Grip and bridge

Cueing straight

A straight cue sends the white over the blue, pink and black spots and back down the same line. Any curve or drift means the tip was not on the centre.