backstroke movement

Hooper840

Hooper840

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hey guys, I've been watching a lot of pro pool over the last few months and have noticed a lot of guys (SVB and Mika especially) seem to bring the cue back and then slightly up during the backstroke. What is the "proper" way of doing this? Straight back and straight through, or with a little movement?

BTW I'm not speaking of wrist movement which seems to be a hot topic right now, i am specifically talking about the entirety of the backstroke.
 
If you are talking about the butt of the cue and you use a pendulum stroke with a stationary elbow, the cue will rise on the backstroke, go level at the ball, and rise on the forward stroke (just like a pendulum).
 
A lot of pros do it and I find comes naturally for a lot of people. Instead of going straight back and forth like a piston, they move the cue in a circular motion. Some feel that it's more rhythmical and smooth, others feel it's a bad habit that reduces accuracy. I've heard people call it a "bicycle stroke" and personally don't feel like it's something you'd want to add to your game on purpose. I got rid of my "bicycle" few years back and haven't looked back since, but to each his own.
 
Hooper840 said:
Hey guys, I've been watching a lot of pro pool over the last few months and have noticed a lot of guys (SVB and Mika especially) seem to bring the cue back and then slightly up during the backstroke. What is the "proper" way of doing this? Straight back and straight through, or with a little movement?

BTW I'm not speaking of wrist movement which seems to be a hot topic right now, i am specifically talking about the entirety of the backstroke.
Click to expand...

It works for them but it's an unnecessary movement, not something to emulate. Straight back and straight forward is ideal. Any time you pull the cue off it's intended path you are just creating more work for yourself to get it back to the line of aim.
 
Hooper840 said:
Hey guys, I've been watching a lot of pro pool over the last few months and have noticed a lot of guys (SVB and Mika especially) seem to bring the cue back and then slightly up during the backstroke. What is the "proper" way of doing this? Straight back and straight through, or with a little movement?

BTW I'm not speaking of wrist movement which seems to be a hot topic right now, i am specifically talking about the entirety of the backstroke.
Click to expand...

It's not just Shane and Mika...

You see a bunch of the high end professionals do it... The elbow actually raises just a touch at the back of the back swing and they drop the cue back down in the slot to pull the trigger... You don't see it much in the warmupstrokes but you see it in the actual stroke....

May be a timing thing or it may be a swing key....

It works for them but that's not saying it will work for everyone... try it out and if it works keep it... If not keep working on your stroke to make it yours... Noone can tell you what YOURS will look like until YOU finish that painting....
 
Thanks for the replies. A lot of good insight.

Just from playing around with it, I seem to get a lot more cue ball action when I do this. I don't seem to be any more or less accurate, but I feel as if my stroke is "straighter" so to speak. May be in my head, or there may be something to it. I'm going to continue working it out.
 
notice that when the shoulder moves up slightly, the tip will move down

Hooper840 said:
Hey guys, I've been watching a lot of pro pool over the last few months and have noticed a lot of guys (SVB and Mika especially) seem to bring the cue back and then slightly up during the backstroke. What is the "proper" way of doing this? Straight back and straight through, or with a little movement?

BTW I'm not speaking of wrist movement which seems to be a hot topic right now, i am specifically talking about the entirety of the backstroke.
Click to expand...

This is done to keep the connection from the shoulder, all the way to the tip. You'll notice that when the shoulder moves up slightly, the tip will move down a fraction.

This is something I do in my pre shot routine, although I don't do it on my backstroke, my connection is established earlier in the stroke.
 
They're just imitating Francisco Bustamante's famous loop-di-loop stroke :D

If I did that, I'd probably miss the CB entirely.
 
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