In many places this web site has talked about methods of achieving consistency and also the many things which can contribute to a lack of consistency.

This section deals with a problem related to consistency and a subject which has even led to some players giving up the game altogether…Side-Spin.

Obtaining poor results when attempting to pot balls can happen in two ways when side is used. One is intentional side-spin and the other is side spin which is unintentional. Intentional side-spin is used by almost every player in the game even though very few understand the various implications which are involved through its use.

After all how many players, having seen the top stars on television using side to play certain shots, can't wait to try out those shots themselves?

In most cases this only halts their progress because even those players who can devote a lot of time at the practice table find it very hard to understand side-spin and all its implications. So what price the ordinary club player who might only play snooker two or three times a week?

As a starting point, I believe that the term 'side spin' should be used more often, rather than just 'side'. Players would then begin to realise that there is so much difference between the white ball rolling with forward momentum only, when compared to a white ball which is spinning sideways on its way to the object ball.

In the first instance, the white ball, having been struck in the centre, will move in a straight-line to the point of aim on the object ball.

In the second instance there is no way that this can happen.

A ball struck to the right of centre will immediately move to the left of that straight line. Once this is understood it should now make sense that the harder the ball is struck, the more it will be forced offline. This however, is only the start of the learning process.

Further things to take into consideration are;

Having accepted that the cue ball (white ball) will move offline when it is first struck, it has to be recognised that the white will start to come back on line at some point and then, if there is enough distance between the white and the object ball, it will start to veer off the line in the opposite direction.

Clearly you will now be starting to recognise how complicated the whole business of applying side-spin can be. It is a very difficult subject to try and explain thoroughly and even more difficult to put into practice on the table.

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