My 147 Academy was invited to Tehran in Iran to hold a training camp to train the Iran National team. I was invited to train 10 selected players by the Iran Cue Sports Federation for a nine day camp in the new Iran Snooker Academy in the capital of Iran. The Iran academy has four Wiraka match tables with professional lighting and playing conditions. For the full duration of the camp the players were provided accommodation in the academy with meals throughout day and night. The Iran cue sports federation is one of the most professional organizations I have ever seen with a federation president fully focused on developing the game in Iran.
In the federation HQ building they have numerous offices and staff working on promoting and improving the cue sports game in Iran and I believe it will not be long until an Iran player is lifting a major title. I was very impressed with the amount of world class juniors playing in Iran and it was great to see all the players working so hard during the camp. The Training Camp was divided up in four main training sections, Break Building, Long Potting, Winning Breaks and Match-play training and I believe this is the best way to work on the players overall game.
The players were recorded and their playing technique was analysed and fine-tuned during the camp and on the last day they received DVDs of their game. The players practiced from 9am – 12.30 and 3pm – 7pm every day and they worked on the academy books and it was not long until 16 year old Hussain Vafaei, 19 year olds Sepehr Labibi and Amir Sarkhosh, 20 year olds Ehsan Heydarinejad and Hussain Hadvai were setting records.
Here are the high scores in some of the routines the players made during the camp.
The Y Break : 465 Hussain Vafaei
The Max Break : 247 Hussain Vafaei
The X Break : 234 Sepehr Labibi
The Army Break 243 Hussain Vafaei
The Xmas Break : 238 Ehsan Heydarinejad
21 Straight Blues : 20 Hussain Vafaei
21 Angle Blues : 19 Ehsan Heydarinejad & Hussain Vafaei
15 Straight Red / Black : 15 Sepehr Labibi
The T Break : 208 Ehsan Heydarinejad
The UK Break: 174 Ehsan Heydarinejad
The Waterford Break : 238 Sepehr Labibi
The Irish Master : 196 Hussain Vafaei
The Maynooth Break : 241 Amir Sarkhosh
The Scotland Break : 213 Hussain Vafaei
I also worked on the mind game with set programs that allow the players to plan and focus their mind during match and major tournaments. One big change I made was how the Iran players mentally get ready for matches by planning what they do and analyse the performance afterwards. Hopefully the Iran players will have a fantastic season and lift the title soon because if commitment and hunger is anything to go by the Iran players will be ones to watch.
