Shots off the cushion and Issues with Double Hitting CB

[ChrisinNC]

For some reason shots where the cue ball is within a few inches of the cushion and I’m shooting perpendicular to the cushion, have increasingly become nightmare shots for me. I never had this problem before.

Sometimes I’ll even accidentally double hit the cue ball - even when the object ball is not even close. I realize this has largely become a mental / lack of confidence thing for me more than anything.

Any suggestions as to how to overcome this affliction in terms of stoke thoughts / technique? Thanks

 

[SBC]

Level cue, just enough to clear the rail. Use an open bridge and grab the rail with your bridge hand to basically extend the rail. Put downward pressure on your cue into your bridge hand by holding the butt of the cue a bit tighter and turning it. Will keep the shaft from deflecting up off the top of the cueball. You get alot more energy into the cueball.

 

[ChrisinNC]

Level cue, just enough to clear the rail. Use an open bridge and grab the rail with your bridge hand to basically extend the rail. Put downward pressure on your cue into your bridge hand by holding the butt of the cue a bit tighter and turning it. Will keep the shaft from deflecting up off the top of the cueball. You get alot more energy into the cueball.

So you mean you actually rotate the cue a little bit on the stroke and follow through. For me as a right handed player, I assume that rotation would be in a clockwise direction?

Isn’t it tough to incorporate that grip twist in your off the rail shots but not doing so in all your other shots?

 

[straightline]

Not sure about your issue but sometimes I catch myself stroking too close to horizontal, scalping the cue ball. A workable follow stroke has to point a few degrees down.

 

[SBC]

So you mean you actually rotate the cue a little bit on the stroke and follow through. For me as a right handed player, I assume that rotation would be in a clockwise direction?

Isn’t it tough to incorporate that grip twist in your off the rail shots but not doing so in all your other shots?

No, you hold the cue a bit tighter and push in into your bridge hand with a downward pressure...by extending your back hand towards the floor. It isn't a twisting... It isn't much pressure down into your open bridge at the base of your thumb, but it will keep the cue from skimming the back of the ball. It doesn't allow the shaft to bend up as much. Allows you to hit harder if needed.

I only need to do this on shots that require a harder hit when the cueball is near the rail. If you jack up to shoot these, you will invariably hit the cueball off center, impart spin and swerve the cueball...and greatly increase your odds of missing.

Play with it. Dead level cue...you will see what I'm talking about.