Striking the cue ball

Patso44

Patso44

Underdog
Silver Member
What does a smooth stroke actually feel like?

I'm at a point in my game where I don't care about aim or position. It is important to have aim and positioning ability but I want to know the feeling of striking the cue ball correctly. If you can not strike the cue ball correctly then aiming and position play is not gonna matter.

I have seen when the pros strike the cue ball correctly, they barely hit the cue ball. You can barely hear the cue strike the cue ball and the ball spins so easily around the table.

Players like Dave Daya and Tom Monoski from my Location are perfect examples...Not much video on Tom but you can see how these two strike the ball!!!!



Dave Daya

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BvU0Avvwp4



Tom Monoski

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcFQmCuMdAY



I know I seem repetitive with the last few threads but I am just trying to find my game.

Please help with my request....
 
Getting a smooth, silky stroke doesn't happen overnight and it often takes years of playing to develop one. But if you're lucky enough to have some great players around you, your best bet would be to get some lessons and have them help you develop your stroke.
 
That is a great explanation.
Be fluid, don't tense up, and don't "muscle" it. It's hard to be relaxed and focused at the same time but if you can find the median it will feel natural and your actions will be as well.
 
Think of other dexterious things you do with your hands automatically, without a whole lot of thought, but took a little practice to do slickly...like flipping a coin, twirling an object through your fingers, shifting/downshifting a standard transmission, shooting a freethrow, throwing a football with a tight spiral, etc. Repetition makes those actions almost second nature, you don't have to concentrate deeply on the mechanics of it, you can focus on the end result. To me, that's what a fluid stroke feels like.

In fact, I don't really concentrate on English that much at all, unless I really have to juice it. Once I'm lined up, I don't even look at the cue ball at all. I bore a hole in the contact point on the object ball with my eyes, and keep my eyes on that point until contact...my stroke just puts the cueball there. I visualize drilling the shot and what I want the cue ball to do after contact with the object ball, and my hands unconsciously make the micro adjustments to my stroke to address the cue ball correctly and make it all happen.
 
Think of a great baseball pitcher, once he's wound up with the ball at the complete back of his throw, its the increase in acceleration/transition from the back to the front. In pool, the softer the shot, the acceleration/transition aspect stays the same, just much less backward to forward movement. Its no different that a two foot putt with a small back and forth pendulum, or a 30 footer with much more back then forward motion. KIS

I'm sure RG can simplify explaining this aspect of execution even better.
 
This might sound ridiculous but if we're strictly talking about what it feels like, to me it feels like, for lack of a better word, a push.
Of course its not a real push its simply the best term I can think of.

If you study the comments above. Acceleration through the CB, Same Cue Speed, Visualizing Cue Tip to the OB. These are all aspects and methods to
achieve a smooth stroke.

Here's maybe a way to feel it.
Practice a looonggg pause at the back swing after a painfully slow draw back then concentrate on a smooth "acceleration rate" as you go "through the CB".
Kind of like when the light turns green and you slowly but continuously push the pedal further down so the speedometer continues to climb at the same rate. NO jack rabbit starts.
 
don't want to be rude but Daya's stroke doesn't look that smooth to me... I mean, it looks to me an average stroke, nothing too incredible. Watch Deuel and Stalev for the smoothest strokes.
 
Neil said:
Too many people try and hit the cb. By trying to hit the cb, the mind CAN make you actually slow down your stroke on the way to the cb. Try this some time- once you are set, and you know you will hit the cb where you want to, forget about the cb. Pretend the ob is the cb, and you are trying to hit it. Of course, your follow through won't allow you to actually get to the ob unless you are very close, but you will see the affect of it.

You want to stroke THROUGH the cb, not HIT the cb. You want the cue to do the work, you do that with a loose grip on it.
Click to expand...

This is spot on.
 
I think you can get a sense for the proper feel of it by using only 1 finger to hold the cue (in back hand).
 
I was surprised to hear someone ask me "how can I get my stroke smooth like yours", I thought mine was kind of jerky. Turns out it can happen without even trying for it. Honestly I don't think there's a trick to it, it's the automatic result of having all your other ducks in a row. Be aware of the times when you're putting unnecessary BS on the cue. Do you drop your tip to get better draw? Jab to make the CB stop? Swerve left when applying heavy left spin? Knock all that stuff off. Don't overthink the warmup strokes or the follow through.

Especially don't get superstitious into thinking you need multiple "styles" or "types" of stroke, most strokes are the same regardless of the english you're applying, there's no special draw stroke or stop stroke or on-the-rail stroke. Similarly there's no two kinds of "hit" on the ball. The hit is the hit. The tip just contacts the cue ball at X speed. You can't hit the same point on the CB with the same speed and same stick... but somehow get two different results. Thinking that way will eventually drive you nuts.
 
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