I was experimenting with this style of stroke, a la Allen Hopkins, with this last nite and I was surprised how accurate I was potting balls. It makes me wonder if that kind of stroke is fundamentally "wrong" as has been said in the past. Makes sense it works, less drawback = less of a chance of the stroke veering off track.
Short, push strokes
- Thread starter Magyar19
- Start date
It will work for many shots and probably would make any normal stroke flaws less relevant. However, it is going to be the shots that you need more time to accelerate before getting to the cue ball that are going to be affected by it.
I typically use the short one when I am shooting over balls to help negate the less stable bridge hand and the long straight ones in which I don't need to work the cue ball.
I tried it the other night and I liked the accuracy which I think is for the reason you stated.
A decade or two ago there was a device called the "Laser Shark" that was a small laser that mounted on top of the cue stick roughly at the joint. It projected a fan-shaped beam. If you projected that against a white screen while shooting you could see stroke defects very clearly. I had one student who twisted his knuckles in towards his body during the stroke, and the Laser Shark really showed up the twist of the cue. The main problem with the device was that it was several ounces of weight added to the stick and on the top which made the stick unstable. I imagine that these days with rechargeable batteries and miniaturization it could be less than an ounce and barely noticeable on the cue.
Anyway, the company was at a BCA Trade Show and they were offering stroke straightness analysis for free to all comers. Among the pros, the one with the least veering off-line was Allen Hopkins.
I think the main argument against a very short stroke is that it might be hard to have good speed control. The main argument against that argument is Allen Hopkins who has some of the most precise speed control I've ever seen.
Slip stroke and Jab Stroke:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VODQn8GtrMA&list=PLSdlfdk6zG-rru2CB4H0Qty8u078N-bLl&index=20
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VODQn8GtrMA&list=PLSdlfdk6zG-rru2CB4H0Qty8u078N-bLl&index=20
I like that video Pace. There are many times, as hard as I try to concentrate, my Stroke is going to be somewhat off for the evening. A person can tell directly.
That is when I have changed to a Jab Stroke to get the job done. It obviously isn't going to
do the job for every shot as you need your stroke with varying degrees of weight behind it in order to get your shape, move the cue ball around the table and so on.
But, when you can get away with it, a decent stroke to use.
I have tried practicing the Slip Stroke on occasion without much success.
That is when I have changed to a Jab Stroke to get the job done. It obviously isn't going to
do the job for every shot as you need your stroke with varying degrees of weight behind it in order to get your shape, move the cue ball around the table and so on.
But, when you can get away with it, a decent stroke to use.
I have tried practicing the Slip Stroke on occasion without much success.
I was just about to post a link to that great video when I saw you already had. Very useful technique, and one that I did well with (without knowing it by name) on bar boxes in my youth. These days I work hard on developing a long, flowing stroke, but the compact "jab" stroke pockets balls for me better than any other method.
BTW the "slip stroke" he demonstrates in that video is equally awesome, and a lot of fun to work on. I'm getting pretty good at it, but I'd have to work on it a lot more than I have been in order to master it.