Grip hand tells the true tale
dabarbr:
Rep for ya on this one. This is my technique as well -- watch that grip hand closely -- lots of subtle hints here. No matter how good someone is at fading pressure by trying to maintain confidence around the table (e.g. stride, sticking their chest out, et al.), that grip hand tells the real tale. For one thing, folks stuck in a pressure cooker don't even think about the grip hand -- they're too busy thinking about fading the other signs of pressure. Yet it's the most instinctive human thing to do -- to grip harder, lock the wrist, or contort the fingers differently than when the opponent was loose. Especially that cocking of the wrist; that's more noticeable than trying to discern a "tighter than usual" grip on someone that already has a very closed grip (e.g. snooker players that scrunch the "V" web of skin [between the thumb and index finger] against the top surface of the cue). For those opponents that already have a cocked wrist, look more at the fingers -- do they look natural, or do they look very white in some places (blood being forced out of that area from pressure), yet very red in other places (e.g. bloodflow blocked and pooled in that area)?
Even for someone aware of this "drop dead giveaway," the grip hand posture is a very difficult feature to fade; think about concealing the warning signs of pressure in that back hand too much, and one drains concentration from the shot in front of them. A veritable Catch-22!
Anyway, hope that's helpful,
-Sean
dabarbr:
Rep for ya on this one. This is my technique as well -- watch that grip hand closely -- lots of subtle hints here. No matter how good someone is at fading pressure by trying to maintain confidence around the table (e.g. stride, sticking their chest out, et al.), that grip hand tells the real tale. For one thing, folks stuck in a pressure cooker don't even think about the grip hand -- they're too busy thinking about fading the other signs of pressure. Yet it's the most instinctive human thing to do -- to grip harder, lock the wrist, or contort the fingers differently than when the opponent was loose. Especially that cocking of the wrist; that's more noticeable than trying to discern a "tighter than usual" grip on someone that already has a very closed grip (e.g. snooker players that scrunch the "V" web of skin [between the thumb and index finger] against the top surface of the cue). For those opponents that already have a cocked wrist, look more at the fingers -- do they look natural, or do they look very white in some places (blood being forced out of that area from pressure), yet very red in other places (e.g. bloodflow blocked and pooled in that area)?
Even for someone aware of this "drop dead giveaway," the grip hand posture is a very difficult feature to fade; think about concealing the warning signs of pressure in that back hand too much, and one drains concentration from the shot in front of them. A veritable Catch-22!
Anyway, hope that's helpful,
-Sean
I've seen this move in action and it's just fantastic to watch how it plays. I seen a guy win a set for 4 figures...take the money and say he's done and not giving the guy a shot at it back...other guy stews, flips out, yells, damn near blows the place up...then and only then does the guy come back in and say let's play some more then...needless to say the guy who won the 1st set, won all the sets, all the money, a new cue and case, and an award for "Move of the Year".
