Using the bridge.....

What do you do about the mechanical bridge?


  • Total voters
    97

buckshotshoey

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
You needed one more option. I shoot left handed. There are very few spots on a table whrre I have to use a bridge. I use the house bridge when necessary.
 

terryhanna

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Just a simple survey on bridge use.....
During a match yesterday on povpool stream at Hard Times i saw a bridge used by Oscar D he was playing Rodney he was jacked up on a ball and he put the bridge across the table side to side and used it to rest his bridge hand up off the table to shoot the ball thats the 1st time i ever saw anybody do it anybody else see it
 

The Renfro

Outsville.com
Silver Member
I shoot cross handed and behind the back... I carry my own bridge where you depend on the house.... Which means we have answers for what we do for the mechanical bridge when required.... I avoid it like the plague but learning 1 hole.. ack/cough/sputter taught me the need for being able to get to shots when you are stuck in the pack that will destroy you if you cannot cue them accurately......

Hoping you were the vote for use what the house provides.....

Chris
 

The Renfro

Outsville.com
Silver Member
During a match yesterday on povpool stream at Hard Times i saw a bridge used by Oscar D he was playing Rodney he was jacked up on a ball and he put the bridge across the table side to side and used it to rest his bridge hand up off the table to shoot the ball thats the 1st time i ever saw anybody do it anybody else see it

Interesting... there used to be a rule about bridge use and having to use equipment as intended... Back then Oscar may have committed a foul... These days I don't keep up with all the rule sets so I have no idea if what he did was legal... They actually used to have rules about how many bridges you could use and how..... from what I seem to recall.....
 

AtLarge

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
Interesting... there used to be a rule about bridge use and having to use equipment as intended... Back then Oscar may have committed a foul... These days I don't keep up with all the rule sets so I have no idea if what he did was legal... They actually used to have rules about how many bridges you could use and how..... from what I seem to recall.....

Those rules still exist, Chris, at least in the WPA rules:

"1.3 Player’s Use of Equipment
... The equipment must be used only for the purpose or in the manner that the equipment was intended. (See 6.16 Unsportsmanlike Conduct.)
...
(c) Mechanical Bridges – The player may use up to two mechanical bridges to support the cue stick during the shot. The configuration of the bridges is up to the player. He may use his own bridge if it is similar to standard bridges.
..."
 

The Renfro

Outsville.com
Silver Member
Those rules still exist, Chris, at least in the WPA rules:

"1.3 Player’s Use of Equipment
... The equipment must be used only for the purpose or in the manner that the equipment was intended. (See 6.16 Unsportsmanlike Conduct.)
...
(c) Mechanical Bridges – The player may use up to two mechanical bridges to support the cue stick during the shot. The configuration of the bridges is up to the player. He may use his own bridge if it is similar to standard bridges.
..."

I got called on using the bridge to span the table for a jump shot where I bridged off of the middle of it several years ago.... We argued intent but I knew I was in the wrong when the rule was brought up and read... I argued the intent of the mechanical bridge... It was intended to allow players to reach shots they normally could not and that was what I had done.... I argued to a draw but it left me thinking about it and with a bad taste in my mouth.... Wasn't a WPA event just cheap sparring but I have not forgotten it.....

Chris
 

Busboy

Wanna Play Some?
Silver Member
I try not too get out of shape too half too use one but if I do use the house one thought about getting a slip on too :grin:
 

Bella Don't Cry

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I take my own bridge when I play

I use what the house provides...

I use the bridge but I do have an extension which keeps me from needing to sometimes....


I ALSO like pie.......


I'm a simple man with a complicated life..! :thumbup:
 

mjantti

Enjoying life
Silver Member
I got called on using the bridge to span the table for a jump shot where I bridged off of the middle of it several years ago.... We argued intent but I knew I was in the wrong when the rule was brought up and read... I argued the intent of the mechanical bridge... It was intended to allow players to reach shots they normally could not and that was what I had done.... I argued to a draw but it left me thinking about it and with a bad taste in my mouth.... Wasn't a WPA event just cheap sparring but I have not forgotten it.....

Chris

Supporting the jump cue with the mechanical bridge is clearly okay with the WPA rules, jump cue is a "cue" according to WPA. Supporting your bridge hand is not, so Oscar D committed a foul in the situation described earlier. Of course, we never know if players are taking advantage on certain situations on which they know that players/TD's are not strictly enforcing WPA rules. What I mean that it could be that Oscar is not familiar with this rule. I'd bet it's the latter.

On the original question: I'm usually too lazy to use my own moose head, but I bring it out if the equipment on the house (usually unstable plastic gimmicks) are not satisfactory to me. Oh well, I'm 6'6" so I don't need to use the bridge too often anyway :)
 
Last edited:

The Renfro

Outsville.com
Silver Member
Supporting the jump cue with the mechanical bridge is clearly okay with the WPA rules, jump cue is a "cue" according to WPA. Supporting your bridge hand is not, so Oscar D committed a foul in the situation described earlier. Of course, we never know if players are taking advantage on certain situations on which they know that players/TD's are not strictly enforcing WPA rules. What I mean that it could be that Oscar is not familiar with this rule. I'd bet it's the latter.

On the original question: I'm usually too lazy to use my own moose head, but I bring it out if the equipment on the house (usually unstable plastic gimmicks) are not satisfactory to me. Oh well, I'm 6'6" so I don't need to use the bridge too often anyway :)

Would have had to have been there but am betting Oscar knew better but got away with it...
 

gregcantrall

Center Ball
Silver Member
I take my own bridge when I play

I use what the house provides...

I use the bridge but I do have an extension which keeps me from needing to sometimes....


I ALSO like pie.......


I'm a simple man with a complicated life..! :thumbup:
Me too!:thumbup:
Edit: Oops, I also shoot with either hand.:cool:
 

CMarshall

D player at best
Silver Member
I shoot left-handed as much as I shoot right-handed. I'm rarely in a position that I need to use a bridge. When I got my own table, a good friend of mine suggested that I play both ways, I've never looked back.
 

Cornerman

Cue Author...Sometimes
Gold Member
Silver Member
I need the choice that says:

I have a bridge head in in almost every case I bring to a pool hall, but am too lazy to ever actually bring it out.

Freddie <~~~ hope that helps
 

Cornerman

Cue Author...Sometimes
Gold Member
Silver Member
during a match yesterday on povpool stream at hard times i saw a bridge used by oscar d he was playing rodney he was jacked up on a ball and he put the bridge across the table side to side and used it to rest his bridge hand up off the table to shoot the ball thats the 1st time i ever saw anybody do it anybody else see it

2005

------------------------------
 

KRJ

Support UKRAINE
Silver Member
You needed one more option. I shoot left handed. There are very few spots on a table whrre I have to use a bridge. I use the house bridge when necessary.

Why would that matter what hand you use. I have a lefty on my team, and he has to use the bridge just as much as anyone else... just on the opposite that we righty's do....
 

pt109

WO double hemlock
Silver Member
I've carried a Brianna slip-on for years.....
...but I got a 6.3 wing span so I rarely need it.

The moose head seems like a good idea but I have trouble aiming with it.
 

Maniac

2manyQ's
Silver Member
I always have a slip-on bridge head in my case, but if the house has a decent bridge, I will use theirs.

Not to hijack the thread, but I cannot emphasize the importance of learning how to use a mechanical bridge...and letting go of all the stigma attached to it ("it's for ladies"..."it's a crutch"..."only wimps use them"...etc.).

I can't count on all my fingers how many times I've seen a game lost because a player either didn't know how to use a bridge when they needed it...or they simply refused to use it. It's been around for years, and it's a tool much like the triangle rack and that $30 piece of chalk you're using...so why not utilize it too???

Maniac
 

BigNBeefY

Just Stopping By
Silver Member
bridge

yeah a couple of more options are needed...i have an extension that i use when i am overextended on a mid table shot...and i use a house bridge when i'm overextended and at a difficult angle. not a big fan of using the bridge but i will always pick it up when needed.
 

Maniac

2manyQ's
Silver Member
I take my own bridge when I play

I use what the house provides...

I use the bridge but I do have an extension which keeps me from needing to sometimes....


I ALSO like pie.......


I'm a simple man with a complicated life..! :thumbup:

This pretty much sums up my answer too!!!

Maniac (make mine cherry!!!)
 
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