September update from the Academy

September has flown by, and again I've been busy coaching at the Academy, with plenty of highlights to share.

Word seems to be getting out about what we are doing in Darwen, and in total since my last post we've had five new recruits to the Academy, who are all now regulars and keen to learn.  This is excellent news, and shows that the increased online presence and word-of-mouth are both paying dividends.  We've also had a celebrity 'follow' from professional player Stan Moody, who's making big strides forward in the professional game, despite being only a little older than some of our Academy players. 

It's interesting to see some 'old' members come back to us after several months - we've welcomed back Jacob and Harrison, who have both picked up where they left off.

Our latest certificates being issued: Josh (left) and Dom.

The picture here shows Josh, who completed the one challenge he had left to do at Yellow level, together with some of the others at the Academy.  Also pictured is Dom, who finally received his well-deserved Red certificate.

My focus this month has been with the beginners, and we've all got used to each other and the exercises at Red level.  The children enjoy the games we've developed, both the challenges I've devised that sometimes we start our sessions with, or the smaller exercises where they're either competing against each other or against their own personal best score.  I've even created a simple and informal Red-level 'quiz', designed to get them thinking about the rules and equipment.  It's not too serious, but it covers all the knowledge expected at Red level, plus a bit more too.

Lastly, after Curtis helped out with coaching last month, we're in discussions on how we can develop something involving both our Academies.  Watch this space!

Settling in at the Academy

A freshly brushed and ironed
table at Hollins Grove

I had planned to post this much sooner, but either side of a fantastic holiday in Northumberland, where the weather was amazing, I've been extremely busy progressing several ideas for the Junior Snooker Academy I've recently joined.

First of all, I've set up a new website for the Academy, https://www.hollinsgrovejuniorsnooker.club, using, as you can see, a bespoke domain.  This will hopefully act as the focal point for us online.

In addition to building the site, I've set up the analytical tools to monitor how many hits we get, and what sorts of interactions they have with us.  As a data analyst, this stuff is really interesting for me of course!  I've deliberately kept the site quite simple and in the couple of weeks or so that it's been live, it's already generating some enquiries, which is great news.

Along similar lines, the Academy previously relied on a Facebook group to publicise its activities, but although the guys running the Academy were doing their best, it wasn't regularly updated.  The big drawback though was the regular spam posts, always from America and never about cue sports.  Some of them were not really appropriate at all for a group aimed at youngsters, so I felt that something had to be done.

So, the Academy now has a new Facebook page where we alone control content, and we're now much more in control.  I've also added an Instagram page which works the same way - Instagram being used much more widely by younger users.  Both accounts are managed from the same Meta screen, so once we're properly in the swing of it, it should be easier to post content to both sites.

Me with fellow Hollins Grove Academy coach, Annette

On to the coaching then: I've now been back at the Academy for three weeks - firstly with the support of volunteer George, and most recently this weekend with George and my other WPBSA-accredited coach, Annette.  More about this latest one shortly.

In between, I ran a session on my own, and with seven youngsters in attendance, two of them new, it was quite an experience!  Thankfully I'd prepared well, and I also had my own son, Matthew with me for support.  I just had time to brush and iron all the tables before everyone started turning up.

We had a morning filled with a quirky little competition, plenty of fun and some serious coaching too.  I focused on the new starters, and with a GoPro set up over the table, and Matthew doing some video shooting too, we had enough footage for a nice little reel to send out a positive vibe.  You can see the output on our social media pages.

Some of our excellent young players with their Red level accreditations

Fast forward to this weekend, and with two accredited coaches available, I was sure we could focus our efforts on getting some of our young players through at least one level in the WPBSA's White to Black coaching framework.  Everyone was up for the challenge, and I'm pleased to report that four of our players successfully reached Red level.  Two of them are now close to getting Yellow level too, so there's a real incentive to keep up the momentum next Saturday.  With this in mind, I've enlisted some additional support next week from another WPBSA coach, Curtis Daher, who is also a team-mate of mine in our local leagues.

With all this going on, Cueology has taken a bit of a back seat, but I have also been busy developing my different coaching level scoresheets.  These will form the backbone of how I operate as a coach, and they are equally applicable to the work I do for the Academy as well as my solo work under the Cueology brand.  It's taken some time to properly nail down a format that works, but they are now looking really good, and more importantly, they've passed the test of being put to use!

The scoresheets mean I am capturing rich data whenever I'm working with a client, so we can track performance and dig into the data to get deeper insights about their game.  Together with the video footage I'm capturing, the entire workflow I'd envisaged when I started this project really feels like it's coming together.

In working at the Academy, I can really develop my coaching style and build up some experience, and hopefully some concrete examples of how my coaching delivers results.  I am of course available in the evenings, and sometimes at weekends too, so if you want to find out more then give me a call or send a message.

Thanks for reading, and catch up soon.

Iain

The story so far

It's been a while since I last posted on the Cueology blog, the "Cue'blog'ogy", so I thought it was time to share a longer post to explain what's been happening...

The idea behind Cueology began to take shape in January 2025, when I decided to pursue a coaching qualification through the World Professional Billiards & Snooker Association (WPBSA).  The WPBSA is the official world governing body for snooker and billiards, and they've developed a fantastic pathway for coaches to get into the game and be a force for good.

The seed planted in my mind back then has grown into a multitude of ideas for developing a brand and a business that offers something much more than just traditional coaching.

I received my Level 1 coaching qualification and DBS clearances in March, but I needed a bit more time to work on the materials I wanted to develop, which is why I waited until July to go public.

It's still early days, and I'm still working hard to get properly set.  I want to provide clients with a high-quality coaching experience, and I'm extremely determined to deliver on this.  I recognise though that this is a step-by-step process, and I'm constantly reminding myself about the saying: "Perfection is the enemy of the good."

My first paying clients

So, despite having some gaps in my training materials, in early July I completed my first proper coaching session with paying customers.  This work came through despite not yet having a website or social media visibility: instead it was the WPBSA's 'Find Your Coach' service that generated the lead.  

Although I was a little apprehensive beforehand, the experience was amazing and landed very positively with my clients.  I took a huge amount of confidence from all the work I've been doing on lesson plans and scoresheets, and this paid off, maximising the support I could provide in the time we had booked.

It was also a big learning experience for me: there were lots of positives, in terms of putting my materials to the test, but also plenty of improvement ideas on how I could tweak things to make the customer experience even better.  My main concern was how to pitch my coaching, without really knowing what standard of play my clients would be at.  The reality of this forced me to adapt some of the lesson plans I'd developed into several practice drills that were flexible enough to work across a broader skill range.

More exciting opportunities...

Towards the end of the month,  another opportunity, which in fairness had already been under discussion informally, suddenly came together.

My home club at Hollins Grove have been running a Junior Snooker Academy on Saturday mornings for over 10 years, and Mik and George from the club deserve huge credit for setting it up and keeping it going so long.  Annette Lord is the on-site WPBSA-accredited coach, but due to changing work commitments she's no longer able to run every session, which means the junior players haven't had the consistent support they deserve.

I'm pleased to say that Mik, George and Annette have warmly welcomed me to get involved, and things have moved very quickly... by the end of July, I was down at the club on a Saturday morning and straight down to work doing more coaching.

What's even better is that it's also sparked discussions about how we can develop the Academy further.  So, after a short break, from 23 August, we'll be relaunching the Academy with an improved structure, giving children options to choose whether they want structured 1-1 coaching, have a go at some fun snooker-themed activities, or play 'proper' frames against each other.  We'll also be developing our online presence, with a new website planned and improved social media channels too.

Victories, despite not being 'match fit'

I always have a break (no pun intended!!) during the summer, but with the East Lancashire Three Towns League Individual title to defend, I've had a couple of matches to fit in too.  In the doubles, together with partner Mo, we successfully completed a 2-0 victory, admittedly with some good fortune at times, and aided by a nice little 34 break from me.  In the singles competition, I performed much better.  Giving 30 start, I slotted in a decent 57 break to close out the first frame, before winning a tougher second frame on the black.

I'll be back later in August with another post, where I'll hopefully be able to share more about our plans for the Academy, as well as an update on how Cueology is taking shape.  In the meantime, if you're looking for some coaching, no matter what skill level you're at, don't hesitate to get in touch.  You can find my details on the Cueology website, www.cueology.uk.

Cueology is live!

Welcome... to the Cueology blog.

For anyone stumbling on this site unexpectedly, I'm Iain and Cueology is my new venture into the world of snooker coaching.  In March this year I achieved a Level 1 coaching accreditation by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), and in July I felt confident enough to publicise Cueology as my snooker coaching business, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, in the UK.

I've played snooker since around 7 years old, and been playing on full-sized tables since I was 10.  I've a strong pedigree in the amateur game, winning several local titles over the years and a few high break prizes too, with several centuries in the process.

Away from the game, I've many years expertise in the fields of process improvement, mathematical modelling and data analysis, and it's this data background that gives Cueology a unique edge.  I believe that we all work better when we have stretching but achievable goals to aim for, and the scientific approach taken by Cueology provides just that.

That said, we can of course take a more traditional approach to coaching if that's what clients prefer!

For those who embrace these methods, I can go further, analysing the cue action of my clients in software just like a golf professional will assess a golf swing.  These modern techniques are critical to coaching in so many sports these days, and I intend to bring them to snooker, and indeed, to other cue sports too.

This blog will document the story of how Cueology develops over the coming months, and hopefully years.  It promises to be an interesting journey!