Last weekend from the 4th – 6th of September my 147 Academy travelled to the beautiful city of Gérardmer in France to hold a snooker training camp. The camp was organised by the Gérardmer Billiard Club and it was hailed a great success by all the players. Gérardmer was one of the most beautiful places I have ever coached in. The city is also known as the pearl of the Vosges and the scenery was breath-taking. It was a great honour to be asked to hold my first ever camp in France with players of all standards from club member to former International master player to a current junior champion. The players were: Alexandre Poirot, Alizée Rivot, Clément Beden, Adrien Drahon, Emmanuel Jeandidier, Thibaut Beck, Erwan Bouric, Jean-Michel Martin, Christophe Durpoix, Patrick Winkler, Guy Voirin, Nicolas Mortreux and Michaël Martin.
Every player who attended the camp had their playing technique analysed and they practiced my academy training routines. The players worked very hard on their potting skills and Safety game. I worked with the players on improving their Stance, Address Position, Grip, Cue Actions, Rest Shots, and Safety Play. The players also received my training booklets to practice as this is an area where I feel they need to work on more to reach a higher level.
I was delighted to see all the players training on mastering each routine. The players received a Dvd of their sessions to study at home as I feel this is crucial in developing good fundamentals in their game for the future. One of the top European juniors, 12 year old Nicolas Mortreux attended the camp in his preparation for the upcoming World IBSF U-18 Championship in Russia and he showed me how much he has improved since last season and I would like to wish him good luck. I would like to personally thank Michaël Martin for arranging the camp and doing all the translating throughout the camp as he was fantastic and I could not have done it without him. A big thank you also goes to Jean-Michel Martin the President of the Gérardmer Snooker Club and all his members for inviting me and doing everything to make my visit a memorable and enjoyable stay. I look forward to holding another training camp in 2016.
