Hand position on the butt

paksat

paksat

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I've begun to experiment with varying positions of the hand in comparison to my shots.

I first noticed this watching Corey Deuel.

Observe at 4:37 in this vid http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkmZt0F1K7A

Corey has his hand at the VERY end of the stick here.

Now if you observe at 18:08 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXKP2Pqtjxs&feature=channel

You will notice John Schmidt here with his hand much farther up. Earlier at the 14:57 mark, you can pretty clearly see that John has his hand closer, but not quite as far as Corey has his.

Is there something about this that I don't know? Seems on the closer shot, John moves his hand closer to the middle of the stick, while on the longer shot, he moves it further back.

Corey from what i've seen keeps his hand at the same position regardless.
 
perhaps

Only my opinion here but I think there is more touch with your hand further forward when you contact the cue ball, easier to apply a little bit more to the cue ball if the hand is further back when you hit the cue ball.

When you hit the cue ball with your forearm at a right angle to the cue this is the neutral position. If you hit it with your arm before this point you are said to hit the cue ball early. If your arm is beyond this point you are hitting the cue ball late. It has been my observation that most top shooters tend to hit the cue ball a little late. Some old time players favored hitting early or late depending on the shot they were shooting. Of course many had a handful of strokes in their arsenal instead of one basic stroke. "Best" can be argued endlessly. Whatever gets you a win in my book.

Hu


paksat said:
I've begun to experiment with varying positions of the hand in comparison to my shots.

I first noticed this watching Corey Deuel.

Observe at 4:37 in this vid http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkmZt0F1K7A

Corey has his hand at the VERY end of the stick here.

Now if you observe at 18:08 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXKP2Pqtjxs&feature=channel

You will notice John Schmidt here with his hand much farther up. Earlier at the 14:57 mark, you can pretty clearly see that John has his hand closer, but not quite as far as Corey has his.

Is there something about this that I don't know? Seems on the closer shot, John moves his hand closer to the middle of the stick, while on the longer shot, he moves it further back.

Corey from what i've seen keeps his hand at the same position regardless.
Click to expand...
 
ShootingArts said:
Only my opinion here but I think there is more touch with your hand further forward when you contact the cue ball, easier to apply a little bit more to the cue ball if the hand is further back when you hit the cue ball.

When you hit the cue ball with your forearm at a right angle to the cue this is the neutral position. If you hit it with your arm before this point you are said to hit the cue ball early. If your arm is beyond this point you are hitting the cue ball late. It has been my observation that most top shooters tend to hit the cue ball a little late. Some old time players favored hitting early or late depending on the shot they were shooting. Of course many had a handful of strokes in their arsenal instead of one basic stroke. "Best" can be argued endlessly. Whatever gets you a win in my book.

Hu
Click to expand...


ahh I hear ya
 
If you are setting up with your arm perpendicular to the cue, then the position your hand grips the cue will vary with bridge length. Shorter bridge will bring your hand forward on the cue, longer bridge will make your grip hand closer to the end of the butt.

If your stroke has little to no elbow drop, then your tip would be moving in a downward motion after you you pass the the 90 degree (perpendicular (sp)) point. So some players will tend to grip a with a little less than 90 degrees on draw shots to make sure they hit where they want or below on draw shots. May grip a little farther back, or more than 90, for follow shots to make sure the tip hasnt dropped below where they want to strike.

Most modern instruction also suggests gripping a little forward (less than 90) for breaking.

Experiment with your grip position on some shots and see if you notice a difference.

Woody
 
Perhaps it has something to do with the reach of the person. A broad wingspan may inhibit or prohibit a certain grip.
 
For a thread titled "Hand position on the butt" I expected much better pictures.
 
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PoolBum...Well, we know where YOUR mind is! :grin: However, that IS funny!

Woody's explaination is spot on! The grip position on the butt changes with the bridge length. Almost all of us will have a "natural" bridge length, that we use 90% of the time; and likewise we have a "natural" grip position on the cue. Many times these match up with the 'personal shooting template' concept that we teach (forearm at 90 degrees to the cuestick, when the tip is close to the CB). When they don't, it's generally easier to 'retrain' the grip hand slightly, than it is to find a bridge length that is different from what you've become used to. Great post Woody!

Oh yeah...that'll be $2.50 from each of you readers out there! Paypal will be fine! This is a tongue-in-cheek joke from another thread about how I never offer free information here!

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

PoolBum said:
For a thread titled "Hand position on the butt" I expected much better pictures.
Click to expand...
 
sometimes you have to stretch out over the table sometimes more sometimes less

it's all about keeping a level cue and the back arm at 90 degrees whenever possible and shifting the grip position does this ... it's all about learning the SET position..

all gear heads know TDC Top Dead Center as it relates to pistons in engines

in pool you need to relate your grip hand to BDC Bottom Dead Center as it relates to the beginning of your stroke tip at the ball, arm at BDC where you grip to achieve that is a result of adapting to the shot at hand ..

IF!!! you have grown accustomed to beginning your swing from a fixed point as it relates to the muscles in your arms..

where the cue lands to get the tip to the ball and your arm at BDC the SET position.. is the perfect grip for that particular shot..

JMO
 
TX Poolnut said:
Perhaps it has something to do with the reach of the person. A broad wingspan may inhibit or prohibit a certain grip.
Click to expand...

Great point. Both Nick Varner and Jose Parica, very short players, held the cue near the top of the wrap. (Just a few inches from the joint)

Taller players, Buddy Hall, Jeremy Jones, etc. tend to hold the cue on or near the butt cap.

A players wingspan does make a difference where they hold the cue, and it has been speculated (By Mark Wilson himself) that shorter players have a natural advantage. There is less room from backswing to foreswing to make an error. (I'm 6'2...that must be why I miss so often..)
 
For me it relates mostly to the length of the bridge or if I want to hit a more powerful shot I'll grip slightly forward and take a longer stroke. As Hu pointed out, I like to do touch shots with a 3 to 5 inch bridge length and a decidedly forward rear hand.
 
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