Miscued again #$*^%(&&)^*&$#^#&^%$^*&*

CaptainJR

CaptainJR

Shiver me timbers.
Silver Member
When I think about things that have caused game loses one of the first things that come to my mind is miscuing on draw shots. This should not be! I'm not saying that it can't happen. I am saying it shouldn't happen enough that it comes to mind when you think generally about your pool problems. I definitely don't think this should be the case when the player is one of the top players in his league. (number 2 at the moment, statistically) So how does a 'at least decent' player manage to goof up a draw shot that badly.

What swing flaws can cause this? Let's make a list so I can work on all of them.

You can hit lower on the cue ball than you intend to by…………..

Most common one I think would be - by lifting up during the hitting stoke.

Here is a controversial one. - by not dropping your elbow.

Here is another controversial one. - by stretching back to far away from the cue ball.


That's three, come on, I know there are more.



Below is how I was going to start the thread. As I was typing I thought, 'someone is going to get bored with this and close it without ever getting to the question. So I put it down at the bottom here in case someone wants to read my venting.

Last night at league (8 ball) I had a game that after the brake my opponent made a shot that moved several balls on the table. It made about 3 clumps of balls. I immediately said to myself 'this is going to be a long game, and who ever loses patients first if going to lose the game'. So I very patiently maneuvered my balls into position. He lost patients and made all his balls except two. I then played a combo pocketing one of his last two, leaving him an impossible hit on his last ball. Now I have ball in hand and hit the cluster that his ball is in to open it and leave him no hit again. I now have everything of mine broken out and ball in hand again. I felt great about how I played the rack, putting myself in perfect position with ball in hand and ready to run out. The only ball that could even conceivably be a problem was the 6 ball that was a little close to the 8 ball, I had to pick something to start with so I figured that was as good as any. Just pocket that ball in the corner, draw back to the side rail and out to the center of the table and the rest should be very easy. MISCUE!!! He has a shot on his ball, makes it and then the 8 ball, I lose.
 
Excellent post. I also wonder about drawing too much. For now, the only thing I came up with that it takes several things without miscueing (if ur drawing very low):
To make the cue as level as possible.
Good delivery.
Finesse (or that is good follow-thru).

And I am assuming there are some limitations to how low a person could draw. I know when aiming low on my CB, that I can only go a certain amount, too low and I am asking for trouble.

So what is the mechanics behind this anyone?
 
CaptainJR said:
What swing flaws can cause this? Let's make a list so I can work on all of them.

You can hit lower on the cue ball than you intend to by…………..

Most common one I think would be - by lifting up during the hitting stoke.

Here is a controversial one. - by not dropping your elbow.

Here is another controversial one. - by stretching back to far away from the cue ball.


That's three, come on, I know there are more.
Click to expand...

Not dropping the elbow or being too far choked up on the cue allows the tip to pivot down from your bridge as your arm comes up to your chest. I think this "pinches" the cue ball between the tip and the table bed and causes miscues.

Also, miscues lead to miscues...the harder you try, the more problems you will have. You have to relax, and stroke the ball. The harder you hit it, does not equal the amount of draw that you can get. You can cue as low as almost touching the cloth and shoot a draw shot easily and watch the cue ball strike the object ball and pause for a split second before it comes ripping back at you. - Even for a short draw, this is the action that you will get from a good stroke.

When miscues start occuring, simplify. Your tip/cue is not traveling through the cue ball as you are intending it to.
 
tigerallenyim said:
Excellent post. I also wonder about drawing too much. For now, the only thing I came up with that it takes several things without miscueing (if ur drawing very low):
To make the cue as level as possible.
Good delivery.
Finesse (or that is good follow-thru).

And I am assuming there are some limitations to how low a person could draw. I know when aiming low on my CB, that I can only go a certain amount, too low and I am asking for trouble.

So what is the mechanics behind this anyone?
Click to expand...

To find out how low you can go, place your tip touching the cloth and raise it up from there in 1mm increments until you do not miscue. Shoot it a few times and get a feel for how low you can really go...most people are amazed when they see how low you really can go.
 
I think a lotta players make a hurried forceful jabby attempt at striking the CB well below center when they miscue. In a nutshell they get too excited, instead of making a smooth calm level stroke.

Maybe in your situation, it wasn’t an inability to draw but rather attention to the task at hand. Thinking of the outcome instead of the details.

Rick
 
hustlefinger said:
I think a lotta players make a hurried forceful jabby attempt at striking the CB well below center when they miscue. In a nutshell they get too excited, instead of making a smooth calm level stroke.

Maybe in your situation, it wasn’t an inability to draw but rather attention to the task at hand. Thinking of the outcome instead of the details.

Rick
Click to expand...
I concur.
My mentor has told me that most of the shots I missed in the past was due to poor execution - show a little class, and make a smooth delivery. And definitely noticed that on draw shots, not much force is required, just good follow thru.
 
When this happens to me, it's ussually because I'm a little jacked up and the Cueball is 8" or less to the rail. I just tell myself that I need to follow through and stay down. When I do those two things, I rarely miscue.
 
Lack of good follow-through on draw shots leads to miscues. If I start miscueing it's because I am not completing my stroke to its natural finish.
 
Me too

I'm glad you started this thread because I am also having a miscue problem. My problem is strange though...
There is a local bar here that has a Friday night 8-Ball Tourney. Every time I go to play there, I miscue on shots that I KNOW I have made on my own table at home. In trying to figure out what was going on, I have eliminated the cue ball as a reason because we always use red dots for the tourney. It may boil down to the fact that I am just not stroking the cue correctly, however, I play the same kind of shots at other tournaments without miscuing. This may make everyone laugh at me, but I am wondering if the room humidity is affecting the shot. When I play there, after a few minutes, the surface area on my chalk turns dark and it becomes difficult to apply chalk to my tip. Could I be on to something or am I just making up an excuse for a bad stroke?

Vinnie
---------
Stroke.
 
Vinnie said:
I'm glad you started this thread because I am also having a miscue problem. My problem is strange though...
There is a local bar here that has a Friday night 8-Ball Tourney. Every time I go to play there, I miscue on shots that I KNOW I have made on my own table at home. In trying to figure out what was going on, I have eliminated the cue ball as a reason because we always use red dots for the tourney. It may boil down to the fact that I am just not stroking the cue correctly, however, I play the same kind of shots at other tournaments without miscuing. This may make everyone laugh at me, but I am wondering if the room humidity is affecting the shot. When I play there, after a few minutes, the surface area on my chalk turns dark and it becomes difficult to apply chalk to my tip. Could I be on to something or am I just making up an excuse for a bad stroke?

Vinnie
---------
Stroke.
Click to expand...

Are you using their chalk or yours (the one you use at home-no miscue, other tournament-no miscue)? You might try using your own chalk piece and see it it helps you.
 
Check your tip without chalk.

If it is shiny, that's a big oops.

That's normally what causes me to miscue.
 
Jack Madden said:
Are you using their chalk or yours (the one you use at home-no miscue, other tournament-no miscue)? You might try using your own chalk piece and see it it helps you.
Click to expand...

I use my own Master chalk in a chalk holder hanging out of my back pocket. Another thing I failed to mention before was lighting. That place has poor room lighting and I'm wandering if that could be affecting how I'm addressing the cue ball. Just a thought.

Vinnie
 
A faulty stroke can be the culprit but not always. You can hit the cue ball pretty low without making it jump provided you are properly chalked up.

You should chalk up before every shot, but any time you are required to do a spin shot (left, right, top, bottom) make sure the sides of the tip have and adequate amount of chalk applied. You should also do this when the cue ball is on the rail.
 
Cameron Smith said:
A faulty stroke can be the culprit but not always. You can hit the cue ball pretty low without making it jump provided you are properly chalked up.

You should chalk up before every shot, but any time you are required to do a spin shot (left, right, top, bottom) make sure the sides of the tip have and adequate amount of chalk applied. You should also do this when the cue ball is on the rail.
Click to expand...

You said everything I was going to say. Usually, it's a chalk problem. The sides of your tip need to be chalked all the way around. Actually look at it while you are chalking every time you are going to put massive english, draw or follow on the ball.
 
seymore15074 said:
Not dropping the elbow or being too far choked up on the cue allows the tip to pivot down from your bridge as your arm comes up to your chest. I think this "pinches" the cue ball between the tip and the table bed and causes miscues.
Click to expand...
First part is correct, what I think happens (speaking as someone with a very forward griphand) when the tip dips, you are miscuing/golfing the cueball, because the point you are aiming at on the cb, is not what you are hitting. The tip drops below the aim point on follow through. The way to correct that particular problem is to focus on as straight-line a follow through as you can.
And of course, its too late to chalk up AFTER a miscue.
Chuck
 
There is only one thing that causes this in my game- back hand is too far forward. When I use a 10" bridge and my back forearm is vertical when hitting the ball I never miscue on draw shots. It is never caused by lack of chalk. I will miscue with or without chalk. It doesn't matter.
 
rackmsuckr said:
You said everything I was going to say. Usually, it's a chalk problem. The sides of your tip need to be chalked all the way around. Actually look at it while you are chalking every time you are going to put massive english, draw or follow on the ball.
Click to expand...


This brings up a good point. I don’t ever seem to recall miscuing on a shot with follow. Draw sure but never follow, does this sound familiar to anyone else? If so why do you think that is?
 
Worked with my teacher last evening on this. It was like taking your car to the mechanic and saying, "It was doing this!". Of course it won't do that then. I must have shot a hundred or so draw shots and I only miscued once and had to just blatantly flail at the cue ball to get it to happen.

Since I didn't miscue at all, (except for that one that I really tried to) the two things we came up with were. My tip may have been a little flatter than it should be and I should pay a little more attention to my chalking.

He made a suggestion that just to be more confident and solid with the draw shots I could move my bridge hand just a little closer to the cue ball. 'He said that this reduces the amount of draw you get slightly, but that wasn't an issue with me because I get plenty of draw regardless.' I really did like the solid feel I got on the hits when I moved my bridge closer to the cue ball. So much so that I think I'm going to try to keep it there for all shots. Instead of 8 to 9 inch bridge, move it to 7 to 8 inch bridge.

I think I'm going to start a bridge length thread.
 
rc11 said:
hmm...

this may be strange, but i've caught myself looking at the direct spot of the CB that i want to hit on the last 3 srokes instead of the object ball... a habbit i've picked up, and it seems to be helping me game a little :o .

a little off topic here but what kinda chalk are you using? :)

Your arm length may play some part in this as well, muscles and all that.
Click to expand...


If looking at the cue ball last instead of the object ball seems to be helping you at the moment, that is fine. But after doing that for a while gets what ever stroke problem you had taken care of, I'd suggest going back to looking at the object ball. That is what all the books say.

I use master chalk. Carry my own chalker.

Arm length? Hmmm don't know. Unless you had unusually long or short arms, I don't think it would make a difference as long as you used them correctly.
 
Not that I'm a pro player or anything, but after a miscue, I always look at the tip to see what kind of mark is left behind. It's usually an oval shaped black mark and if it looks like I made good contact with the cueball, then either I didn't chaulk correctly or maybe the cueball might have had a greasy, sweaty fingerprint or something on it. If it's just a half oval or less on the edge, then I definitely miss-stroked it.

I wonder how different waxes or cleaners on cueballs affect miscues.

Does anyone else check their tip this way after a miscue?
 
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