Timing

Good question. For me what has worked the best is a drill for drawing the cb back. I believe forcefollow has a youtube video on it, and Dr. Dave has the same and similar drills on his VEPPS videos. If you pull his thread it is on there under draw shot challenge drills.

You have to draw the cb back to the short rail without the ob coming back to the short rail. It is a progressive drill but it helps my timing and smooths out my stroke.

I think you don't see much about this because this is one of those areas that you can't really teach. Sadly, this is where natural coordination comes in.

The one thing I can tell you to HELP develop good timing is this: become as aware as possible of the exact moment of contact between the tip and the cue ball. It helps very much to go practice in a quiet room, so that you can clearly hear the sound of your tip hitting the ball. Start out practicing lots of center ball hits. This creates the most noise usually. It also creates the clearest feeling of contact.

For a lot of people, they think of the pool stroke as one thing, one instant. It sure isn't. Try and develop an awareness of the time it takes for the tip to go from pulled all the way back, to striking the cue ball. Pretend in your mind that that time is very long. I'm not saying hit very soft, I'm just saying to picture that there is a long time happening there. Here is a great example. You ever play with a stop watch and try to get the lowest time you could? I did this all the time as a kid. Trying to stop the watch right on like .05 seconds was very challenging. But trying to stop it right on 1.00 seconds was much easier. This is because compared to 0.05 seconds, 1 second seems like a long time, and I have plenty of time to build up to it and be ready for it. 0.05 seconds seems instantaneous, and it becomes more of a reflex, very jerky reaction to try and stop it there.

I really like trying to build the image in my head that once I pull the cue all the way back, I slowly build up to the exact speed I need on the long trip to the cue ball. I am not necessarily advocating shooting this way all the time, just practicing it to develop the feeling. I think it can help build an awareness of the exact moment of contact. Having the tip moving at the speed you want at contact is the ultimate goal. This is the key to any powerful stoke, fast break, etc. Some can do this without thinking. Some can't. I had to think about it and *learn* the awareness.

I know this is a bit vague, but it is the nature of the subject.

I hope this helps,

KMRUNOUT

I think timing is something that improves naturally over time. Rather than focusing on improving timing, focus on the getting the result, which is getting consistent and controlled cue ball action and timing will follow.
Good luck!

Timing is an important part of fundamentals.
randyg

randyg said:

Timing is an important part of fundamentals.
randyg

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Could you expand on this a bit?

Ken

KMRUNOUT said:

You ever play with a stop watch and try to get the lowest time you could? I did this all the time as a kid. Trying to stop the watch right on like .05 seconds was very challenging. But trying to stop it right on 1.00 seconds was much easier. This is because compared to 0.05 seconds, 1 second seems like a long time, and I have plenty of time to build up to it and be ready for it. 0.05 seconds seems instantaneous, and it becomes more of a reflex, very jerky reaction to try and stop it there.

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That's an awesome example. Explains well, why your stroke should be a fluid uniform motion and not a quick jerky one.

Timing is all in the grip, backstroke and follow through.

How you deliver the cue when you hit the cue ball, so it is as smooth a delivery as possible. To do this it is in the back hand grip, and how you take it back smooth, slow and accelerate through the cue ball NOT decelerating into it, thus causing bad timing.

randyg said:

Timing is an important part of fundamentals.
randyg

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This is what I was kind of thinking, how can you have good fundamentals without good timing/rhythm.

lee brett said:

Timing is all in the grip, backstroke and follow through.

How you deliver the cue when you hit the cue ball, so it is as smooth a delivery as possible. To do this it is in the back hand grip, and how you take it back smooth, slow and accelerate through the cue ball NOT decelerating into it, thus causing bad timing.

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How would you know if you're decelerating into the cue ball?

pj
chgo

Patrick Johnson said:

How would you know if you're decelerating into the cue ball?

pj
chgo

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If you start the final backstroke off slowly, you will accelerate through the cue ball. If you jab at the cue ball, put a quick one in, grip the cue on follow through you will decelerate. For someone who is a coach Patrick maybe you could tell us

lee brett said:

tell us what timing is

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I was about to ask that question.

Seems to me that it is the cue contacting the cue ball at the precise point, with the precise speed, to accomplish the shot and obtain optimal position, that is, in the zone.

So let's hear what you think timing is. :grin::grin::grin:

Scaramouche said:

I was about to ask that question.

Seems to me that it is the cue contacting the cue ball at the precise point, with the precise speed, to accomplish the shot and obtain optimal position, that is, in the zone.

So let's hear what you think timing is. :grin::grin::grin:

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Timing is precisely how you hit the ball, at the moment of contact to be as smooth as possible, the same for all sports it's in the technique

I keep my timing in line by tapping the middle finger of my bridge hand. It's become and unconcious habit and i believe it helps me keep a good stroke rhythm.

How would you know if you're decelerating into the cue ball?

pj
chgo

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lee:
If you start the final backstroke off slowly, you will accelerate through the cue ball. If you jab at the cue ball, put a quick one in, grip the cue on follow through you will decelerate. For someone who is a coach Patrick why are you asking? At times your comments are always questioning me and my work, maybe since you are such an expert you can tell us what timing is

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I don't know what's meant by "timing" with regard to the pool stroke - I suspect nobody has a very clear idea. The closest I've heard to a clear description is the idea that "timing" is good when you get the desired shot speed. I'm not sure what acceleration vs. deceleration has to do with it - I'm not even sure deceleration happens enough to be considered a significant thing. I agree that jabbing the stroke and gripping more on follow through should be avoided, but for reasons other than "decelerating" (i.e., stroke straightness and maybe speed control). I suspect it's these "symptoms" that should be avoided rather than "deceleration" itself.

Thanks for the comments (well, some of them).

pj
chgo

Bob Jewett said:

I think this is not specific enough. You could approach a study of timing graphically (if you were the sort of person who is interested in fact-based discussions) by plotting the position, speed and acceleration of the cue stick as a function of time as the stroke progressed. You could do this for a variety of players -- think Hopkins and Bustamante and "whack'em Willie" from league -- and find commonality among those who either perform well or subjectively have nice strokes that appear effortless.

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I recall some conversation in the past about a continuously accelerating stroke being optimal for speed control. Was that you, or do you know the reasoning behind it?

Do you have any opinion on the prevalence or rarity of deceleration at cue ball impact?

pj
chgo

Cue ball contact in relation to the back arm position as well as acceleration.