ring finger

wigglybridge

wigglybridge

14.1 straight pool!
Silver Member
i posted this in Ask the Instructor, but thought some of you might be interested:

a few weeks ago i got Phil Capelle's latest (and in my opinion, greatest) book & DVD: Break Shot Patterns. for straight pool players, the DVD alone is like eating desert for 2 hours and 15 minutes: watching great player after great player execute the final 4 balls of a variety of ingenious patterns leading to the perfect break ball; 110 runouts in all.

one thing i was reminded of right away by this is the way Mike Sigel tucks his ring finger under in his closed bridge, and more often than not, he wiggles it, not just in pre-shot, but even While shooting!

then tonight, i was watching the DVD for the umpteenth time, and realized that not just Mike, EVERY player on the DVD does Something quirky with his ring finger. it might be subtle or only very occasional for some of them; for others, it's very consistent. but after a lot of reflection, i can't think of a single pro pool player over my lifetime that doesn't do something a little strange with it, even in the open bridge sometimes, too. it doesn't seem to have anything to do with bridge height or amount of top or draw or anything else i can see.

in the closed bridge, all of them at some point or other tuck it under, at the very least.

now, i'm the sort of person who doesn't believe these things happen by accident.

do any of you experts know why virtually 100% of the top players have this habit?
 
I have always notice Mike doing this, but I am going to watch the DVD again andwatch the others closely. I do not know if there is a secret here.
 
Folks:

Although I'm no Mike Sigel, I do this, too. I use the same "index-finger-pressing-on-top-of-middle-finger" closed bridge (sometimes called the Filipino bridge). Very, very often, I'm not only folding/tucking my ring finger under the palm of my hand, but I'm also very lightly touching or tapping the ring finger's nail against the cloth.

This is actually an outcropping (a symptom, if you will) of something else that is more important -- i.e. reminding yourself that you are supporting your bridge with the tripod formed by the heel of the hand, the middle finger, and the pinkie. I do this -- fold/tuck/tap the ring finger -- to "remind" myself that, other than the heel of the hand, the only fingers that should be supporting the outermost periphery of the bridge -- the outer two legs of the tripod -- are the middle and pinkie fingers. I'm making sure that of the available fingers to support the bridge, only the two fingers that are farthest apart (the middle and pinkie fingers) are used for the widest-possible "stance" of the bridge. Obviously, the wider the "stance" in the tripod, the more stable it is, so of the three available fingers to be used for those two legs, you want to make sure the weight/pressure is place on the two fingers that are farthest apart. You'll also see that these players "squash down" upon the middle and pinkie fingers to such a degree, that you may see these two fingers' tips bent backwards against the cloth.

And no, distributing the weight/pressure evenly amongst those three available fingers doesn't work in real practice -- that ring finger tends to "steal" some of the support and stability that would normally occur from anchoring upon the other two fingers that are widest apart.

I hope that helps explain it!
-Sean
 
Sean, that makes a whole lot of sense!

thanks for posting a good complete description (and for copying it in the other forum so i didn't have to).

this, in fact, suggests that i should pay some attention to my bridge...
 
I do the ring finger thing as well, and I don't think that generates the high runs... Especially if you have seen me shoot..

All kidding aside, I think it's a sign of a player being focussed. I notice when I am focussed and playing well I have a different rythem in my stroke !!!

Think it's just a player quirk !

Steve
 
wigglybridge said:
i posted this in Ask the Instructor, but thought some of you might be interested:

a few weeks ago i got Phil Capelle's latest (and in my opinion, greatest) book & DVD: Break Shot Patterns. for straight pool players, the DVD alone is like eating desert for 2 hours and 15 minutes: watching great player after great player execute the final 4 balls of a variety of ingenious patterns leading to the perfect break ball; 110 runouts in all.

one thing i was reminded of right away by this is the way Mike Sigel tucks his ring finger under in his closed bridge, and more often than not, he wiggles it, not just in pre-shot, but even While shooting!

then tonight, i was watching the DVD for the umpteenth time, and realized that not just Mike, EVERY player on the DVD does Something quirky with his ring finger. it might be subtle or only very occasional for some of them; for others, it's very consistent. but after a lot of reflection, i can't think of a single pro pool player over my lifetime that doesn't do something a little strange with it, even in the open bridge sometimes, too. it doesn't seem to have anything to do with bridge height or amount of top or draw or anything else i can see.

in the closed bridge, all of them at some point or other tuck it under, at the very least.

now, i'm the sort of person who doesn't believe these things happen by accident.

do any of you experts know why virtually 100% of the top players have this habit?
Click to expand...


In my opinion, I always thought it was a rhythm thing, possibly as a psr/possbily not. I have seen local players do the same thing, even with an open bridge as you've mentioned. I have even found myself wiggling my middle finger during an open bridge with my ring finger tucked in as well. Though I do use the filipino bridge (Since I am filipino :P) but dont wiggle it there for some reason. Anyway to get back on topic, I do believe it's a rhythm thing, at least for me it is. Maybe note and see how many times he wiggles it and see if it's consistent almost every time.
 
I personally don't tuck any fingers under. I, too, "wiggle" my ring finger; to me, it seems to help me feel the shot--can't really explain it, but it gets the nerves all firing in my hand and kind of reminds me where all my fingers are. Kind of like when you stand in one position with no movement for a while, you lose a sense of feeling exactly how all you body parts are situated. Wiggling my ring finger (tapping out morse code) seems to make me aware of my bridge hand a little more, which helps me.

On an open bridge, I also like to hook my index finger in an arch, with the very tip of my index finger touching the cloth, instead of the whole pad of the tip. It's unusual, but I like it. In a closed bridge, I can't make the Pinoy style overlap work...can't control the level of pressure/friction that way, the old looped index finger to thumb works best for me. To each his own!
 
slowly tappin or movin that finger for me just happens and it happens more when im in stroke and focused. never thought about it. more rythm maybe for me.
 
West Point 1987 said:
I personally don't tuck any fingers under. I, too, "wiggle" my ring finger; to me, it seems to help me feel the shot--can't really explain it, but it gets the nerves all firing in my hand and kind of reminds me where all my fingers are. Kind of like when you stand in one position with no movement for a while, you lose a sense of feeling exactly how all you body parts are situated. Wiggling my ring finger (tapping out morse code) seems to make me aware of my bridge hand a little more, which helps me.

On an open bridge, I also like to hook my index finger in an arch, with the very tip of my index finger touching the cloth, instead of the whole pad of the tip. It's unusual, but I like it. In a closed bridge, I can't make the Pinoy style overlap work...can't control the level of pressure/friction that way, the old looped index finger to thumb works best for me. To each his own!
Click to expand...

The bolded parts above are key, IMHO. "Reminding" yourself where and what position the various fingers are, help ensure a stable bridge that doesn't move. What's especially key is that you're reminding yourself where the contact points (on the cloth) your fingers are. Arching the index finger such that the very tip (not flexed backwards so that the pad) is touching the cloth helps one to realize, "yes, I feel the cloth right 'here' and my bridge is stable." You have a very solid point about that "reminding" thing.

Although I didn't mention it in my previous post (which, remember, was devoted to the closed bridge, per the OP's question about Mike Sigel and other pros "doing weird things with the ring finger in a closed bridge"), in an open bridge, I do the same thing you do, West Point 1987. I arch both my index and pinkie fingers and make sure the very tip of both of them is contacting the cloth, and I lock them there (I tend to tap the middle or ring finger in an open bridge). It seems to make my hand more stable than pressing the pads (flexing the fingertips backwards), and helps remind me "the two legs of the tripod are 'these two' fingers" (i.e. index and pinkie).

And, like others mentioned, once in the zone, it's part and parcel of a solid PSR and rhythm. All in all, a good thing -- not something you'd want to "get rid of."

Good stuff,
-Sean
 
sfleinen said:
The bolded parts above are key, IMHO. "Reminding" yourself where and what position the various fingers are, help ensure a stable bridge that doesn't move. What's especially key is that you're reminding yourself where the contact points (on the cloth) your fingers are. Arching the index finger such that the very tip (not flexed backwards so that the pad) is touching the cloth helps one to realize, "yes, I feel the cloth right 'here' and my bridge is stable." You have a very solid point about that "reminding" thing.

Although I didn't mention it in my previous post (which, remember, was devoted to the closed bridge, per the OP's question about Mike Sigel and other pros "doing weird things with the ring finger in a closed bridge"), in an open bridge, I do the same thing you do, West Point 1987. I arch both my index and pinkie fingers and make sure the very tip of both of them is contacting the cloth, and I lock them there (I tend to tap the middle or ring finger in an open bridge). It seems to make my hand more stable than pressing the pads (flexing the fingertips backwards), and helps remind me "the two legs of the tripod are 'these two' fingers" (i.e. index and pinkie).

And, like others mentioned, once in the zone, it's part and parcel of a solid PSR and rhythm. All in all, a good thing -- not something you'd want to "get rid of."

Good stuff,
-Sean
Click to expand...

wow read your post twice. first time,hilarious, second time i got it. but whats Westpoint 1987?
 
West Point 1987 said:
I personally don't tuck any fingers under. I, too, "wiggle" my ring finger; to me, it seems to help me feel the shot--can't really explain it, but it gets the nerves all firing in my hand and kind of reminds me where all my fingers are.
Click to expand...

Ding! We have a winner. There are two styles of shooting out there, mechanical, and feel. A feel shooter will always have movement is their hands to get a sense of what the cloth is going to allow them to do. I see it in every good shooter out there, every, single, one. For where I live, of the shooters who could be called better than average, there are two people who don't move their fingers when shooting, all the rest of us do. It's not a twitch, or just making sure your hand is where it's at, it's much much more than that. You are trying to get an understanding for how much english to use,how hard to hit it, and if the table roll will be a problem.
 
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