Something to share with tall players

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Espartaco_7

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I´m playing for about 2 1/2 years now, through this journey I´ve seen that everything in pool is developed for average heigh people. Ex. you can´t buy a longer production cue other than elite 62" sneaky pete.As with cues, I´ve noticed that lessons are given the same way to everybody.

There´s a point I noticed yesterday when I recorded myself playing the ghost and it was that my lower back was at the same level as my head or upper (I shoot with the cue almost touching my chin), and I noticed I have to put a lot of stress on the neck and my left shoulder to see the OB.

I tried to fix this by bending my knees more and lowering my waist at the level of the table or lower, and straightening my back, the result was noticeable inmediately.

With this stance I have more balance, more accuracy, more power, more vision, more finese, less stress in my upper body and in the end my game feels a lot better from that moment.

I wonder how many of you share the same problem I had, and I wonder how you work your stance.

CONS: all the pressure is in the legs now and you feel it after a long period of time playing.
 
I'm 6'3, right handed, cross-eye dominant. I tried to keep a journal of my evolution in my stance and stroke, and I STILL couldn't keep track of all of the things I tried. So it is hard to tell you exactly how I arrived to a comfortable stance, but I definately did struggle around with it.

I cue with the stick on my chin, and because of this I began emulating snooker players. One big thing that really helped was learning how to "pop out" my hip on my right leg. Before this I would roll over the table with my back, as if I were going to lift a heavy cardboard box in the highly unrecommended way. The muscles in your lower back hold your torso in place, which is stressful and tiring, and leads to back pain. Bending "only" at the hip, at first, will feel weird... it'll feel like the last thing you should do if you were in prison, if you know what i mean, lol. But, it channels your weight properly into your skeletal structure instead of through your soft tissue.

From that point, a lot of practice, the stance will settle into twhat your body feels is most comfortable, be it square to the table or boxer style. Also, bringing the back stroking hand (right hand) up near your rib cage instead of near your hip helped me.

I wouldn't worry about textbook, or how you look. Focus on being able to stay down on the ball for a long time. You should be able to take a nap in your stance position :)
 
I know there are a few things you can try to do differently, but the best thing you can do is to find a stance that works well for you. The best way to go about that, that I've found anyway, is this drill.

You set up 2 balls so that a ball can pass through with about 1/4 inch on either side, and freely roll into the pocket behind it. Use paper hole protectors as spot markers to hold the balls in place. Then you line up your cue ball to take a path straight through the gap to the cup. then all you do is shoot at the cup. Try different stances till you find one that lines you up correctly, is comfortable, and balanced. (Someone should be able to lightly push on you with out knocking you off balance.)

I attached a small diagram. It's quick and kinda crappy looking, but it will work. Just make sure there's only a 1/4" gap where the cue ball passes through. This will allow you to gauge if the way your getting down on the ball is messing with your aim.

This drill make sure your addressing the cue ball correctly, and improve you aim/accuracy. This drill pry helped me more than any other. It's a good tune up as well if your consistently missing because of your aim.

Hope this helps. I know it helped me and others around here A LOT.

best,

Justin
 

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Dear Fellow Tall Guys,

The suffering of tall people who try to play pool and billiards is an untold saga full of tears. The descriptions in billiard books of how to take a stance are, for a tall person, derisible. (That's the uptown word for LOL.) Most pool fans are not aware of how short most of the top players are, and always have been. I wish I had been able to take one step forward and let my body simply tip down from the waist so my bridge hand fell in place and I was all ready to stroke while having a perfect view of the line from the object ball to the pocket, but that is an advantage I can only dream of.

We should bring a class action suit to force the table manufacturers to raise the standard height of the tables. We are being discriminated against!
 
As a tall person with a lot of back pain, I've been doing Alexander Technique for a number of years. My teacher and I have gone next door to the bar and did some work on my stance at an actual pool table. What you're describing is essentially what I do but the AT work taught me how to move/hold my body so I don't have any strain/tiredness in my legs or neck.
 
Espartaco_7 said:
I´m playing for about 2 1/2 years now, through this journey I´ve seen that everything in pool is developed for average heigh people. Ex. you can´t buy a longer production cue other than elite 62" sneaky pete.As with cues, I´ve noticed that lessons are given the same way to everybody.

There´s a point I noticed yesterday when I recorded myself playing the ghost and it was that my lower back was at the same level as my head or upper (I shoot with the cue almost touching my chin), and I noticed I have to put a lot of stress on the neck and my left shoulder to see the OB.

I tried to fix this by bending my knees more and lowering my waist at the level of the table or lower, and straightening my back, the result was noticeable inmediately.

With this stance I have more balance, more accuracy, more power, more vision, more finese, less stress in my upper body and in the end my game feels a lot better from that moment.

I wonder how many of you share the same problem I had, and I wonder how you work your stance.

CONS: all the pressure is in the legs now and you feel it after a long period of time playing.
Click to expand...



My good firend is very tall and for years struggled with stability over the shot. He worked a lot on stance and head position and eventually cured his head movement.

What you're doing is more stable and easier on the back - it's basically squatting instead of setting up like a tripod. There should be less pressure on your bridge hand.

The other thing you can do to make more room for your taller body to function is to set up with your hips more open to the shot (for a right handed player, the line your hips form would be turned more to the left).

The trick is to find a stance you are comfortable with that allows you to relax and shoot, that also provides stability for your head and upper body, without putting a strain on your lower back.
 
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Seems I´m not the only one either :D. Squating and snooker position is what I´ve found to work better for me. A longer cue helps a lot too.
 
Espartaco_7 said:
Seems I´m not the only one either :D. Squating and snooker position is what I´ve found to work better for me. A longer cue helps a lot too.
Click to expand...

Im 6-2 and i have back issues and i try to bend my knees more also. It does create more stress on the legs but its better than the back. I usually after 2 hours will do a hamstring stretch right there near the table, putting my leg on a chair and bending forward and it releases a lot of the stress.
Gets me some funny looks from people, but who cares what they think when its to your benefit.
 
I'm 6-5, and shoot left handed with a 66" stick.

When I get down on the shot, my chin is about four inches off the shaft. The apex of my front foot to the stick is about 12-14".

I found that when my weight is shifted back onto the back foot, with a slightly bent knee, there is no problems getting low on the shot. Basically, I stop going down on the stick when my shoulder and upper arm are parallel to the ground.
 
I'm 6'6", and I feel ya. Do some stretches before shooting. It goes a long way. The only thing worse than not being able to get all the way down on every shot is hearing other players tell me I have to get lower.
 
I'm 6'2"...I went with a 60" cue, that helped alot...I also bend both legs, point my left foot along the parallel stick line (which helps square my stance just a wee bit more) and this has pretty much solved my lower back strain. I frankly don't notice any signficant fatigue in the legs, I just barely break the knees...maybe a little more, not sure, but there's no "burn" in my legs. I also push down pretty hard with my bridge hand, which provides a little more support, so it's not all in the lower back...
 
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