A hand in motion

[Lesh]

Today I was at the hall slapping balls around and started thinking about Kieth McCready (no man-crush here, honest) and the way he would shoot. So I started to shoot balls in like he would. Right arm hanging way the hell out there and the inevitable snap toward the end of the stroke. It's little wonder why this dude has such a killer break.

It was strange shooting this way, but I kept at it for a couple hours and noticed that the longer shots were really going in effortlessly. I paid attention to why the longer shots seemed so much easier shooting with my wrist and arm doing the outrigger thing, and it boiled down to comfort. Holding the cue down low and flat with my wrist flared out like that just felt better.

Since I have also recently abandoned the sacred pendulum action to my stroke in favor of comfort. I think I am keeping the McCready outrigger until is punishes me appropriately. All in the name of comfort and stability, I am totally revamping my game. So far Im happy with it and thought i would just share this with you people to have you do your own little experiments.

Incidentally, if you look at Willie Hoppe, he used to do the same thing with his right arm.... aaaaand I was told by the owner of the hall (Corner Pocket in Largo, FL - Stephanie - she was a pro for a while) that Kieth shoots like that because he just got used to it because he started playing pool seriously while he was still too small to fit over the damn table and it just stuck like that. See? He feels comfortable shooting that way.

Help me celebrate my 100th post and try something that makes your game better and yourself more comfy.

Lesh

 

[jay helfert]

That darn Keith! Another one who did everything wrong, except one little thing. He just kept making all the balls go in the holes. Maybe he just didn't know any better.

 

[Wedge]

Allen Hopkins

I believe that Allen developed his short choppy stroke playing in his house and there were walls too close to the table to have a proper stroke. Sorta like your story about Keith, Allen's stroke was a product of his playing environment as a youth!

Wedge

''Congrats on your 100th post: !

 

[bdorman]

I might give it a try because from the look of the picture it will alleviate one of my problems: my right hand hitting my right hip. But I'd have to be able to turn my head/neck around at a pretty sharp angle, which is hard with the arthritis in my neck. Worth a try.

 

[dawgcpa]

McCready

I've been messing around with it as well. I like it and get more action with this type of stroke. I think it helps me keep my head up and see the table better.

 

[Black-Balled]

Today I was at the hall slapping balls around and started thinking about Kieth McCready It's little wonder why this dude has such a killer break.

Lesh

I think you will need to citeyour sources there.

Keith would prob like to see that in his lifetime too.

 

[Lesh]

I think you will need to citeyour sources there.

Keith would prob like to see that in his lifetime too.

RE: Kieth's Break
You Tube is free my man. See for ya self. I think he has a great break.
Better than..... most, but is no SVB,

I think Appleton's break is awesome too. So there.

 

[pt109]

That darn Keith! Another one who did everything wrong, except one little thing. He just kept making all the balls go in the holes. Maybe he just didn't know any better.

Keith did the most important thing RIGHT......
....if you watch the cue between the bridge-hand and the cue-ball.....
....it looks like any other champion's stroke...

How you get the cue delivered doesn't matter.

 

[Slasher]

In the snooker world the wind of change blew through in the 80's.
Steve Davis brought about the change with his simplistic mechanical approach.
This method is accurate, reliable , consistent and easy to repair.
The game was never the same, the old guard was swept aside as the new generation of coached players took over. The same would happen in pool if the game ever moves to 5x10's with tighter pockets. luckily for you the game currently does not require that level of accuracy so side swing away :thumbup:

 

[BWColeman]

Kieth and a Bumble Bee

That darn Keith! Another one who did everything wrong, except one little thing. He just kept making all the balls go in the holes. Maybe he just didn't know any better.

You know from a areonutical engineering standpoint , it should be physically impossible for a bumble bee to fly , Only the Bumble Bee does'nt Know it so he just keeps flying.

 

[JAM]

I'm not an aficionado on pool strokes as much as others, but I was told by Tony of Black Boar cues that Keith's stroke was similar to Efren Reyes. I was kind of miffed, as I know Efren doesn't hold his cue anything like the way Keith does, but Tony said it's all about the "double fulcrum." He told me that not many players have the double fulcrum in their stroke, but the ones that do are usually great pool players.

I'm still not sure I understand the full meaning of the double fulcrum. I sure can't recognize it like Tony of Black Boar cues, but it has something to do with the shooting arm in mid swing.

As far as Keith's break, Keith has said he never liked his break, and that it was his break that sometimes prevented him from winning. He was clocked, however, running 21 games in a row in Tennessee many years ago.

After the advent of rack riggers, Keith succumbed to those who knew how to break and rack by cheating. It used to infuriate me that Keith would rarely check the rack when another racked it, and when it came to racking, Keith always tried his best to give a tight rack. Even though several players who shall remain unnamed tried to show Keith how to rig a rack and how to recognize a rigged rack and break a rigged rack, Keith never seemed interested in this skill set.

Some of today's American pool super stars, again, who shall remain unnamed, are some of the best rack mechanics in the world. In fact, it's become a pool societal norm to rig a rack, sad to say. If you don't know how to rig a rack or break a rigged rack, then you will not fare well in the pool world.

But what separates Keith's game from the others is that he thrives on audience involvement. The more involved the audience is, the better Keith plays. His pool philosophy is that pool should be fun, and he likes to get his audience involved in the game when he's at the table. He's a yapper. That gift of gab is probably Keith's best skill set in his arsenal of pool shots. :grin-square:

 

[JAM]

Tony of Black Board Cues, Keith, and Christina Pool Player Nick Mannino.

 

[JAM]

Side-stroking even when down on a ball.

 

[pt109]

In the snooker world the wind of change blew through in the 80's.
Steve Davis brought about the change with his simplistic mechanical approach.
This method is accurate, reliable , consistent and easy to repair.
The game was never the same, the old guard was swept aside as the new generation of coached players took over. The same would happen in pool if the game ever moves to 5x10's with tighter pockets. luckily for you the game currently does not require that level of accuracy so side swing away :thumbup:

The first man, that I know, to run 4 centuries in a row in competition was
Eddy Agha from Montreal....he may have been the first to have two 147s
also. He was noted for his accuracy.
He was more side-arm than Keith.

Eddy was still running hundreds in his seventies.

 

[Cornerman]

You know from a areonutical engineering standpoint , it should be physically impossible for a bumble bee to fly , Only the Bumble Bee does'nt Know it so he just keeps flying.

I wish people would quit saying this false myth. I also wish people would stop with the false myth that scientists thought the world was flat.

Freddie <~~~ knows why a bumble bee can fly

 

[Slasher]

The first man, that I know, to run 4 centuries in a row in competition was
Eddy Agha from Montreal....he may have been the first to have two 147s
also. He was noted for his accuracy.
He was more side-arm than Keith.

Eddy was still running hundreds in his seventies.

Never saw him play and I cant find any official records for him but I assume he played quite good. There are always exceptions to the rule but you know Davis changed the game.

 

[pt109]

Never saw him play and I cant find any official records for him but I assume he played quite good. There are always exceptions to the rule but you know Davis changed the game.

Yeah, Eddy Agha was mostly pre-internet and never traveled to Britain
in his prime.....in those days, if you won the World snooker title, an
overseas player wouldn't cover his expenses.

George Chenier, who died undefeated as North American snooker champion,
called Eddy a phenomenal and took him on exhibition tours.

Mordecai Richler mentions Eddy in his book on snooker.

 

[Slasher]

Yeah, Eddy Agha was mostly pre-internet and never traveled to Britain
in his prime.....in those days, if you won the World snooker title, an
overseas player wouldn't cover his expenses.

George Chenier, who died undefeated as North American snooker champion,
called Eddy a phenomenal and took him on exhibition tours.

Mordecai Richler mentions Eddy in his book on snooker.

Chenier was before my time but all the older guys I grew up playing around always spoke of him as a great player.
I used to play with the same finger tip grip and arm tucked in like Cliff Thorburn, I was stuck in a rut making 50 60 the odd 80 but really inconsistent and no power or long game after I moved to the UK I changed to the standard Davis style and within six months started making ton's and was much more consistent.

 

[pt109]

Chenier was before my time but all the older guys I grew up playing around always spoke of him as a great player.
I used to play with the same finger tip grip and arm tucked in like Cliff Thorburn, I was stuck in a rut making 50 60 the odd 80 but really inconsistent and no power or long game after I moved to the UK I changed to the standard Davis style and within six months started making ton's and was much more consistent.

You have good taste, sir....in my opinion, of course.
Steve Davis took snooker to a new level....
...he also happens to be the sanest snooker player I ever met.

I consider the Steve Davis-Barry Hearn hook-up the billiard world's
equivalent to Elvis and the Colonel.

 

[Lesh]

Just wanted to issue a summation of my experiment with the Kieth McCready outrigger right harm stroke thingy. I have to say that I am impressed with the stability that I have gained by this change to my right arm. I have essentially eliminated the effort required to master keeping my wrist straight throughout the entirety of my stroke by flaring it out to the comfortable extent of its range of motion and it is pretty much locked there until the shot it completed.

Elimination uncertainty in the stroke I feel is a rather large concern for any and all. For me, it has been quite an improvement which I notice most dramatically in the longer shots, but it even helps in applying highly accurate short shots which require a good deal of finesse. I estimate a 40 - 50% increase in accuracy for my stroke since I started in on this. I will update later as I develop this more.

Lesh