Open or Closed?

C.Milian

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Only top top players have a good understanding of just how Important It Is
to use the right bridge for the shot.Not only that, It's very Important
to have the right angle on the cue as It goes through the cball at that time of the shot
.But this Is just a matter of MHO.This was and Is a very well thought out thread you guys have.John B.

Damn....I feel like a headlighted deer.

What do you mean by this?
 
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walrus_3d

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
All funnin' aside, walrus_3d's observation that "opinions backed by experience" is a very sound one. I'm a firm believer in that.
[...expletive deleted...]
I still do stand by the notion that one shouldn't be experimenting during "show time" (i.e. a match), but that's not a "one size, fits all" thing, either. If you personally find out you do better by "shaking things up" with changes/experiments, then that obviously works for you.Hope that helps clarify,
-Sean

I think a lot of what we do in the mental game is so purely mental that if we're doing something wrong, we have to do something else mental to fix it. You can't really fix a bad day at the table by correcting your stroke, unless your stroke is the only thing you're doing wrong. If your rhythm is off, either you're having a bad rhythm day or something is affecting you mentally that affects your rhythm, so it's a question of figuring out what's actually wrong based on the symptoms.

Sometimes, I find I'm having a bad day, can't really figure out why, and finally it hits me: I'm [nervous/annoyed/not having any fun/excited/rushed] (you can fill in with anything that throws you off mentally). Hopefully I've got enough time left in the match that I can change something up and get it fixed. That'll be when I throw in something silly, simple, crazy, et al. If I've been playing slowly and badly, I'll trot around the table a time or two before my next easy shot. If I've been playing aggressively and badly, I'll play two safeties in a row just to make sure I still know how. Sometimes I'm just in a foul mood so I make myself tell some jokes to my team to lighten things up.

Actually, I'm usually in a foul mood regardless of how well or badly I'm playing. It's kinda fun that way.

Anyway I just wanted to clarify that I'm not throwing in crazy things when I'm already shooting well, just when I'm off and I'm not sure why.
 

John Brumback

New member
Silver Member
Damn....I feel like a headlighted deer.

What do you mean by this?

Hehe,Let me confuse you a little more.You can cue high and still stroke down through the cball or you can cue low and still stroke up through the cball.Alot of people I have worked with don't seem to realize this. It depends on the bridge you are using.A real low flat bridge vs a real tall bridge.Cue angle as It goes through the shot, has alot to do with the way the cball reacts.Clear as mud as they say,uh.Hope that helps.I can show better than I can tell,as you can probably tell.John B.
 

C.Milian

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
ALright thats enuff. Put the cat back in the bag.

ya right. Tell them how long it'll take to get this....

Top top you mean about 10 guys in the country right? or less?
 

John Brumback

New member
Silver Member
ALright thats enuff. Put the cat back in the bag.

ya right. Tell them how long it'll take to get this....

Top top you mean about 10 guys in the country right? or less?

Well....I mean the top pros.Yeah all the guys and gals In the top 100 have got It.Who's them?But whatever,I'm done with this also.Thanks though,It's been fun.John B.
 

C.Milian

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hehe,Let me confuse you a little more.You can cue high and still stroke down through the cball or you can cue low and still stroke up through the cball.Alot of people I have worked with don't seem to realize this. It depends on the bridge you are using.A real low flat bridge vs a real tall bridge.Cue angle as It goes through the shot, has alot to do with the way the cball reacts.Clear as mud as they say,uh.Hope that helps.I can show better than I can tell,as you can probably tell.John B.[/QUOTE

Thanks. Can I confuse you?

Prolly not. Take care. I'll tell sean you said bye.
 

sfleinen

14.1 & One Pocket Addict
Gold Member
Silver Member
[...]
I can show better than I can tell,as you can probably tell.John B.

"But-but-but John, if you show we can tell that you can show better than you tell, how can you tell that we can show better than we tell, when you clearly showed that you can tell?"

:p :D

-Sean
 

BasementDweller

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Try This With An Open Bridge

I don't know that I have seen anyone else do this but I bet there's someone out there.

One of the things I find myself doing to check my lineup is after I think I'm lined up on the center of the cue ball and directed at the aim point on the object ball, I will take my cue, using an open bridge and stroke it above the cue ball and point it toward the aim point on the object ball. So I basically extend my cue probably about 4-6 inches past the cue ball. You got it??? This just reinforces that I'm lined up properly for the shot. I do this a lot when I'm positioned near a rail and I can't get the normal clear view and feel for my allignment.

This is one example of where I think the "sighting down the barrell" analogy holds true. When you are using this technique you definitely want to use an open bridge. At least for the allignment part. I suppose you could switch back to the closed bridge after you do the check but I never do.

Hope you guys understand this. I have found it helps me out and you may want to give it try.
 

Wolven

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
One of the things I find myself doing to check my lineup is after I think I'm lined up on the center of the cue ball and directed at the aim point on the object ball, I will take my cue, using an open bridge and stroke it above the cue ball and point it toward the aim point on the object ball. So I basically extend my cue probably about 4-6 inches past the cue ball.

I know a few people that do that and it makes sense. While it helps with aiming it also helps with being the right distance from the CB.
When I’m playing well and it has been a while, I will do that as I’m going down on almost every shot.
A lot of people are too far away from the CB and contact CB at the wrong time in the stroke.
 

Siz

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
... the closed bridge construction of those pros that use a closed bridge ...[is] actually the "index finger pressing down upon the middle finger" style closed bridge, sometimes referred to as "the closed bridge the Filipinos use." ...And it works, even with conical tapered shafts, because of how Alex orients it: with the "V" channel straight up and down, and not laying on its side...

Great observation Sean.

Coming from a snooker background, like you did, I had to go through a period when I forced myself to use the closed bridge on every shot, just so that I got comfortable with it. I soon worked out that the 'index finger pressing on the middle finger', as you have described it above, was the variation that worked best for me.

Having got over that, I can now just switch off and select open or closed bridge on auto-pilot. Neglecting special situations like rail bridges, I think that it comes out about 90% open.

However your post has made me realise that I haven't got the 'V bit right - in my case, it is very much sideways. Maybe with a better-formed closed bridge, I would use it more?

But how do you get the 'V' oriented vertically, without raising the bridge?
 

smashmouth

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I'd love to see some scientific testing on this, would be very hard obviously


What I find interesting,

-old school pool players used closed
-carom guys use closed
-snooker guys use open

only pool guys seem to mix it up, and the guys who go back a few years like Earl and Efren tend to use the open alot more than they did years ago

I've seen crazy cueball action via an open bridge, but that in and of itself doesn't dismiss the claim that action is easier with closed, most of the guys with insane open bridge cueball action have insane strokes in general

would love to see the results of two groups of newbies after a couple years, one group playing close, the other open

alot of people dismiss the closed as being too awkward but I would suggest that there are alot of missed shots from open bridges due to the cue not being level with the table

if they ever develop a shaft that can compensate for perspiration we'll see the closed come back in a big way
 

sfleinen

14.1 & One Pocket Addict
Gold Member
Silver Member
How to vertically-orient the "V" in the index-pressing-upon-middle finger bridge

Great observation Sean.

Coming from a snooker background, like you did, I had to go through a period when I forced myself to use the closed bridge on every shot, just so that I got comfortable with it. I soon worked out that the 'index finger pressing on the middle finger', as you have described it above, was the variation that worked best for me.

Having got over that, I can now just switch off and select open or closed bridge on auto-pilot. Neglecting special situations like rail bridges, I think that it comes out about 90% open.

However your post has made me realise that I haven't got the 'V bit right - in my case, it is very much sideways. Maybe with a better-formed closed bridge, I would use it more?

But how do you get the 'V' oriented vertically, without raising the bridge?

Siz:

Thanks!

To get right to answering your question, there are two ways to vertically-orient the "V" channel in the "index finger pressing down on the middle finger" bridge:

1. Lift the bridge in the air, like Mike Sigel does:

Mike-Sigel-Sigel_shooting.jpg

(Mike uses this "floating" style of this bridge virtually on every shot on the bed of the table that he doesn't have to jack-up over balls with. Even then, I've seen him use this bridge.) What's nice about this style of bridge, is that you are *used to* having your palm not touching the table. So when it comes to "variations" of this bridge where you find you can't palm the table (e.g. half-on, half-off the cushion), this bridge comes naturally.

2. "Scrunch" the index finger further up on your middle finger, like Alex Pagulayan does:

_mg_4066.jpg

(That is, your index finger is pressing down on your middle fingers *second* joint, not the first joint. Yes, this puts more pressure on your middle finger [that second joint specifically], but also orients the "V" more vertically.) When you're focusing on that "inwards scrunching," you may find yourself unconsciously folding the ring finger underneath the hand as well. Don't worry about it -- for the most part, that ring finger isn't needed anyway, since you already have a three-point contact to the table surface with the palm, middle finger, and pinkie.

Alex also raises his palm up off the table in many, many cases, as well:

patricia-murphy-alex-pagulayan.jpeg

alex08derby.jpg

On that note, you may be surprised at how many pros raise the palm off the table to achieve as close to a vertical "V" orientation as they can:

mika08usopen.jpg

dsc_5024.jpg

img_2977-300x200.jpg

ShaneVanBoeningmatchroom09.jpg

I personally use approach #1 most often. It seems to come naturally, because I like to "bridge my cue in the air" (like I were holding a rifle to my body, "present arms" style), then "come down onto the table" with it. This way, I come down onto my finger pads, and anchor it right there. The palm touching the table is unnecessary, because the fingers, being bent backward a bit, give more than enough stability. And, the straightened bridge wrist is also sort of an "aiming device" as well -- with everything "pointed forward" like that (and not bent downwards), my body feels like it's lined up.

Give those two approaches a try!

Hope this is helpful,
-Sean
 

Pushout

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
To get right to answering your question, there are two ways to vertically-orient the "V" channel in the "index finger pressing down on the middle finger" bridge:

1. Lift the bridge in the air, like Mike Sigel does:

Hope this is helpful,
-Sean

I did this for many years when I first started playing. I still catch myself doing it from time to time, but not so often anymore.
 

JoeW

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hehe,Let me confuse you a little more.You can cue high and still stroke down through the cball or you can cue low and still stroke up through the cball.Alot of people I have worked with don't seem to realize this. It depends on the bridge you are using.A real low flat bridge vs a real tall bridge.Cue angle as It goes through the shot, has alot to do with the way the cball reacts.Clear as mud as they say,uh.Hope that helps.I can show better than I can tell,as you can probably tell.John B.

Is that like trying to explain to someone why above center draw has its place in one's bag of tools?
 

JoeW

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
The OB and CB are near the rail shooting to the opposite side pocket. You need draw for position. Think jump shot without jumping and you can draw the CB. But you knew that. :)
 

Pushout

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
The OB and CB are near the rail shooting to the opposite side pocket. You need draw for position. Think jump shot without jumping and you can draw the CB. But you knew that. :)

Yeah, I was gonna post something else but for some reason it wouldn't take so I edited it:rolleyes:
 

Siz

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
To get right to answering your question, there are two ways to vertically-orient the "V" channel in the "index finger pressing down on the middle finger" bridge:

1. Lift the bridge in the air, like Mike Sigel does...

2. "Scrunch" the index finger further up on your middle finger, like Alex Pagulayan does...

Sean,

Some excellent information here - thanks! And thanks for taking the time to include all the illustrations - very helpful and much appreciated.

Both methods look interesting. I am sure I would never have thought about lifting the base off the palm off the table, because of stability considerations. But it doesn't seem to have done Mike Segal any harm...

Anyway, I look forward to trying out both of these techniques.

* *Siz
 

walrus_3d

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Siz:

Thanks!

To get right to answering your question, there are two ways to vertically-orient the "V" channel in the "index finger pressing down on the middle finger" bridge:

1. Lift the bridge in the air, like Mike Sigel does:

2. "Scrunch" the index finger further up on your middle finger, like Alex Pagulayan does:

Give those two approaches a try!

Hope this is helpful,
-Sean

One thing I found interesting with most of these photos is that I usually try to get my bridge elbow on the table (or rail) for a little more stability, but the pros seem to do that only about half the time. Any comments on whether getting your elbow down is better or worse?

I think if the wrist/palm are off the table, the elbow should be on.
 
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