Coach improves device to help wheelchair users play billiards and snooker

Tim Squires established the TJS Snookerbility charity in 2011 at the Haverhill Ex Sercicemen’s Club and became a World Snooker coach. Tim came up with a new snooker rest after seeing wheelchair users struggling to judge how far their cue was from the cue ball when using a normal rest.

Tim created a prototype of his invention and it was used for the first time at World Disability Billiards and Snooker regional tournament in 2016.

“The rest replaces your bridge hand but you’ve got no way of judging how far the cue tip is away from the cue ball. An able bodied player sees the shadow on the cue on the table but a wheelchair player can’t see the shadow (because they sit too low down) so they’ve not got that ability to judge and gauge, they can’t do it. I thought — how can I get that shadow?” Tim said.

The new rest has an LED and a power cable running to its opposite end where an on/off button is fitted and enables the player to put a shadow on the cue ball.

“The closer you get to the cue ball, the smaller the shadow is. Then they can work out the distance that the tip needs to be and they can start doing their final preparation to strike the cue ball. This is like a guide path to where they need to be for the cue ball. It helps them to adjust to where they need to be. This has not been done before but it started here, in Haverhill,” Tim said.

Adapted from: https://www.haverhillecho.co.uk/sport/haverhill-snooker-coach-invents-ne...