Almost every pool instructional video, as well as snooker, warns us of the horror of the "death grip". Now, the word "death grip'" is somewhat open to interpretation, but to me it signifies a grip where the hand is tightened well beyond the "holding a baby bird without hurting it" grip pressure. I mean, I'm not crushing golf balls with my fist like Oddjob, but if a sparrow is in my hand, those ribs are not going to hold up so well...Why is this so detrimental? To be honest, I don't know? I can see in some of the more delicate situations, especially those in games like straight rail, balkline and maybe sometimes in one pocket, where you are barely tapping the balls, that a tight grip may diminish the control slightly. But that's not even 5% of our shots, not even 1%...What about the rest?
A relatively tigth grip, for me, seems to tighten up the wrist, especially in the "side-to-side" direction. While it does slightly kill the wrist action, it doesn't completely ruin it, and there is plenty room to help with it, as long as you're not trying to crush your cue with your hands.
What else? A tight grip avoids "cheating" with your alignment. Your hand is in a fixed position and cannot really allow you to hold the cue seemingly on line and only to then move to the side when the final stroke is made, because the arm is not properly in line.
A tight grip keeps things constant, for those of us who are slightly nervous and tend to clench up when the pressure is on. If you're allready tight in the hand, there is nowhere to go wrong.
A tight grip allows me to slam the balls without worry about the cue flying off to the side or up. It allows me to put very slight downwards pressure on rail shots, making it nearly impossible to miscue, even with power shots.
A lot has been said about the accuracy of a relaxed arm, how it helps feel etc..That's great and all, but personally when I've tried it, I cannot get those benefits. The tighter grip is just as accurate as a lose grip, and more importantly it stays the same. The more things stay the same, the more I like it.
I don't do the textbook stuff, anymore. I'm making my own textbook, to suit my needs. I recommend you try it some time. The textbook will always be there, if you want to go back. That textbook, btw, seems to be written largely by Billiards players. Nothing wrong with that, but I'm not trying to do a Chuck Nurse, or Rail Nurse, when I'm playing pool....
A relatively tigth grip, for me, seems to tighten up the wrist, especially in the "side-to-side" direction. While it does slightly kill the wrist action, it doesn't completely ruin it, and there is plenty room to help with it, as long as you're not trying to crush your cue with your hands.
What else? A tight grip avoids "cheating" with your alignment. Your hand is in a fixed position and cannot really allow you to hold the cue seemingly on line and only to then move to the side when the final stroke is made, because the arm is not properly in line.
A tight grip keeps things constant, for those of us who are slightly nervous and tend to clench up when the pressure is on. If you're allready tight in the hand, there is nowhere to go wrong.
A tight grip allows me to slam the balls without worry about the cue flying off to the side or up. It allows me to put very slight downwards pressure on rail shots, making it nearly impossible to miscue, even with power shots.
A lot has been said about the accuracy of a relaxed arm, how it helps feel etc..That's great and all, but personally when I've tried it, I cannot get those benefits. The tighter grip is just as accurate as a lose grip, and more importantly it stays the same. The more things stay the same, the more I like it.
I don't do the textbook stuff, anymore. I'm making my own textbook, to suit my needs. I recommend you try it some time. The textbook will always be there, if you want to go back. That textbook, btw, seems to be written largely by Billiards players. Nothing wrong with that, but I'm not trying to do a Chuck Nurse, or Rail Nurse, when I'm playing pool....
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