Curling the stroking wrist

tedkaufman said:

I've developed a pattern of curling (bowing) my stroking wrist on power shots. When I do it, it puts right spin on the cueball, which obviously impacts position and aim. I thought, when I realized I was doing it, it would be a simple thing to eradicate it. Not so.

I've tried using what feels like a cupped wrist, which puts my wrist bone directly over the cue. That helped a lot on stop and draw shots, but not on power follow shots. I also tried using a flat wrist, which feels bowed. This worked less well, but I didn't try it long.

I sense that I'm on the right track with the "cupped" address position. That does seem to discourage curling. It also made for very true stokes shooting up and down the table to assess unwanted spin.

Does anyone have a drill or a fix for this problem?

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Once again, this is hard to imagine. I would have to see this in action.

Just a guess, sounds like you are gripping your cue ahead of 90 degrees. If this is so, it makes you turn your wrist.
randyg

tedkaufman said:

What happens is, as I begin my forward stroke (only on hard strokes), I'm turning my right hand under the cue, bowing my wrist.

I do have a tendency to go forward of 90*, so I will check that. Thank you.

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Ted, the only way to fix that is to take conscious control of your arm swing all the way through your stroke. Just for practice, try not to think about the shot so much and concentrate more on your arm and hand. Focus on keeping your hand in the same position all the way through your stroke. It probably started as a steering habit and then became ingrained in your sub conscious mind.

Your sub conscious doesn't know right from wrong. It only knows habit, so you have to retrain it to learn a new habit. You can only do that by being acutely conscious of your hand and arm all the way through your stroke until you ingrain a new neuro pathway in your brain that replaces the old one.

Remember, at first it's not about pocketing the ball. It's about keeping your hand in the same position. You will miss. Let yourself miss. Missing is not a failure. It's part of the process. You will be readjusting.

Check your knuckles before and after. Make sure they are in the same place that they were before you started your stroking. Keep striving for that.

tedkaufman said:

Hi Fran! I was hoping you'd chime in.

I believe your advice is spot on. It all makes perfect sense to me. Thank you!

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Thanks Ted! Keep me posted on how it's going. Maybe I can help as you go along.

Wrist Curl

There can be lots of reasons why you are curling your wrist. Here is my 2 cents on the subject.

You are tensing up when you are shooting "Power" shots. This is wrong and you should be completely relaxed. Your stroke should still be smooth and fluid, but just a quicker stroke.

Your wrist should be straight. Try to have your writst straight and with your grip hand, gently press your thumb against your index finger. This will engage a few muscles in your wrist and make it harder to curl your wrist. Remember your grip should still be loose.

Try to humm a steady sound during your shot. If you are tensing up during the final stroke the pitch of the humm will change.

The main thing players do is focus on 'hitting the ball' instead of focusing on letting everything go (object ball, position, cueball...) and focus completely on a smooth, fluid, straight stroke with a good finish (follow through). If you have a solid preshot routine and fundamentals you can figure everything out before you get down to shoot and when you get down (after a double check of aim) you can focus completely on exactly where you're cueing the ball and the speed of your smooth stroke.

One way to help work on this is shooting with your eyes closed. You have to rely on your pre shot routine and you have to stay down and follow through.

Ok, this was more than my 2 cents worth...