Marco Fu gets his Sight Right with new techniques to galvanise his game amid vision problems
The 40-year-old veteran is using the new coaching method that helped Mark Williams win this year’s world championship title in Sheffield
Snooker star Marco Fu Ka-chun, who is still battling eye problems after completing his 20th year as a professional, might have finally got his sight right – literally.
Fu has enlisted the help of SightRight, the unique coaching training aid that has taken the sport by storm and has fellow professionals swearing by it, including recently crowned world champion Mark Williams of Wales.
The 40-year-old Hong Kong cueist has been using the SightRight method since February while he was taking a break from the game to rest his eyes after undergoing laser surgery last December, and already Fu feels his game has improved.
Working with coach Wayne Griffiths who has given his blessing to use the method, the new coaching aid developed by founder Stephen Feeney offers Fu the opportunity to significantly strengthen key parts of his game.
Three-time ranking title winner Fu feels the new method, which has also been endorsed by 2015 world champion Stuart Bingham and other professionals, could provide him with the necessary boost to win more major titles in the near future.
Feeney also invented a cuestick which is said to help players line up their shots and minimise any miscues.
The SightRight method claims to correct the player’s alignment with the ball and even the player’s stance, ensuring they hit the ball with more accuracy.
“My biggest weakness has always been my aiming alignment and single ball potting, so hopefully this will help me to improve in this department. I only use the SightRight method but I won’t be using the SightRight cue,” Fu told the South China Morning Post.
“I started working a little bit with SightRight in February when l was taking a break from competition. I’m not sure whether the method will revolutionise the game but it will definitely improve a lot of players’ potting consistency,” he said.
According to information on the SightRight website, Feeney was the architect behind Bingham’s rise to success, working with him for five years, during which time Bingham captured nine titles from 14 finals, while winning at the Crucible Theatre in 2015.
Feeney was also partly responsible for rejuvenating Williams’ career after the Welshman was seriously considering quitting the game last year.
Fu said he would work more closely with Feeney and his SightRight team but the Hong Kong snooker star has made it clear that Griffiths will remain his coach and that he will continue to be supported by the Hong Kong Sports Institute.
“We will focus on improving my consistency in selecting and sighting the correct line of aim, an area that has always fascinated me,” said Fu.
“Stephen was keen to work with me too and we have now started a working partnership that developed before the recent world championship and will continue in earnest for the 2018-2019 season.
“Even in the short time I have spent working with SightRight, I can clearly see the simple logic in the whole process and how it has the potential to improve my game considerably.
“I now look forward to building on this knowledge in the coming months as I try to get used to some of the changes I will need to introduce.”
Fu was pleased Williams had made an amazing comeback to win his third world title, becoming the oldest player to win in Sheffield since Ray Reardon in 1978.
“Given Mark Williams’ fantastic achievement in Sheffield and the excellent results enjoyed by Stephen’s players, this is a very exciting development for me and I hope it will go some way to helping me deliver the goals I still have within the game,” added Fu, who was defeated by China’s Lyu Haotian in the first round of the world championship last month.
