I’m looking for direction to help a friend and competitor understand how unnecessary back hand english can lead to fouls. He has what I call a “Yip Stroke” in which he decelerates and then accelerates his stroke through the ball. The strike is more of a thud - You can see the tip deflect and then strike the cue ball again.
We leave fouls to the digression of the shooter. If I’m the shooter, I’ll ask the opponent what did he see. In this case, he fouls on every other shot within a diamond length. I shrugged it off and asked him to watch his stick movement.
The last straws broke when he tried to play a weird combo. His follow through veered to the right and moved a couple of balls. I asked him if he felt the balls move, and retorted that he never touched any balls.
I again cautioned him on controlling his cue stick, and his BHE was causing unnecessary fouls. He loudly said that this was his style, and that he wasn’t going to change. I told him that it’s call whether to call a foul as agreed, and all I could do is make him aware, and call the subsequent fouls.
To prove my point, I replayed Dr Dave’s video on double hits. He stopped being belligerent and was very quiet. I didn’t tell him how to shoot, just that his actions carried real consequences.
If you were in a match with this type of player, would you take the same path as I did, or would you walk away? I stuck it out, and played through the shark. And I shot quite well after getting out of a stress jacket.
