Snooker & Billiards Ireland held a Snooker Training Weekend on Saturday and Sunday the 1st and 2nd of August in the Academy in Carlow for our International Snooker players who are playing in the 2026 Home Internationals and the EBSA European Championships.
This Camp leading Mind Coach Denis Coen attended to support the players in a session to improve their mind set along with our National Coach PJ Nolan who is also a WPBSA Coach and Head of Coaching in the European Billiards & Snooker Association. The feedback after the session was fantastic.
There was a mixture of 16’s, 21’s, Seniors and Super Seniors SBI International players at the event and the scoring was excellent with several high breaks including Aaron Donnelly 108, Dermot Kelly 107 & 116, John O Sullivan 104 but the highlight of the camp was the Irish record of 356 on the Shovel Break by Lorcain O`Curraoin from Galway which was world class.
SBI President Jim Leacy attended to wish all the players good luck in the upcoming International events. He thanked Denis and PJ for holding this professional quality camp in helping our players prepare and to wear their Irish waistcoat with pride.
Training Camps
On the Saturday 1st August our SBI National Coach held sessions on Break-Building, Safety, Long Potting and Technique checks. All the players will receive a training program booklet with practice drills plus a sports phycology booklet to help them work on their Mind Fitness.
On the Sunday, one of Ireland top Mind Coach Denis Coen from Donegal held a session to improve the players mental side of the game and what our SBI players can do to get ahead of the rest. He talked about learning how to Reset after a miss, how to stay present, how to Relax before, during and after matches and how to develop a better mind-set.
PJ also analysed all the players techniques, and everything was shown on the large screen in the Academy. A number of videos were also shown to the players to motivate them.
Training Aids
The latest training aids will be used in the camps to enhance the sessions like the Mini Domin Eye, Master Doctor, Str8aim SA-1 & SA-2, Chris Henry Balls, Academy laser, EBSA Coaching Balls to help to get them on the line of aim and develop a smoother stroke in their delivery.
SBI would like to thank Denis Coen for assisting our players for this camp. We are sure all the players enjoyed it and it will be a big success.
2026 HIBSF -Leeds
- Men & Masters & Over 55 – 7th – 10th August
- U-16 & U-21 – 10th – 13th August
- Women – 11th – 13th
- Billiards – 13th – 14th August
SBI wish all our players good luck in Leeds and you can follow all the action on the Home International in Leeds Web Site CLICK
2026 EBSA Championships – Bulgaria – 9th to the 24th September
- Individual Women & Seniors
- 6 Reds Snooker Championships & Shoot-Out
- Teams Snooker Championships
- WDBS Disability Snooker Championships
SBI wish all our players good luck in Sofia and you can follow all the action on the EBSA Web Site CLICK
