Terrible stroke

dquarasr said:
I’ve been working on stroke, trying to scratch in the same pocket as OB, CB set up three diamonds from OB, OB two diamonds from corner pocket, straight in shot. I can scratch now maybe every five-seven shots, and where I don’t scratch, I’m much closer than when I started. Checking that cue goes over the extra target donut to verify I’m cueing straight.

Every so often my elbow comes out a little, though less than before I started this drill.

Also, via video, and I can’t believe I was doing this, I found I was jumping up as I finished my stroke! I had no idea I was doing that. Still working on it all……
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Sounds like you're on the right track. Keep it up!👍
 
dquarasr said:
I’ve been working on stroke, trying to scratch in the same pocket as OB, CB set up three diamonds from OB, OB two diamonds from corner pocket, straight in shot. I can scratch now maybe every five-seven shots, and where I don’t scratch, I’m much closer than when I started. Checking that cue goes over the extra target donut to verify I’m cueing straight.

Every so often my elbow comes out a little, though less than before I started this drill.

Also, via video, and I can’t believe I was doing this, I found I was jumping up as I finished my stroke! I had no idea I was doing that. Still working on it all……
Click to expand...
See what you think of this. Before I started this video, I made this shot, scratching in the OB pocket five of seven. Here is a video where I followed the OB two out of three. I’m encouraged. Elbow seems in much better control; cue is pretty straight, falling over the target donut to prove I’m cueing straight. I’m happy with my progress.

 
dquarasr said:
See what you think of this. Before I started this video, I made this shot, scratching in the OB pocket five of seven. Here is a video where I followed the OB two out of three. I’m encouraged. Elbow seems in much better control; cue is pretty straight, falling over the target donut to prove I’m cueing straight. I’m happy with my progress.

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P.S. And I STILL jumped up on the shot. :( BTW, I opened my stance like a snooker stance, can see the shot line SO much better, can get my face and eyes much more square to the shot. Doesn’t seem to have hurt my ability to cue straight through the shot line.
 
dquarasr said:
P.S. And I STILL jumped up on the shot. :( BTW, I opened my stance like a snooker stance, can see the shot line SO much better, can get my face and eyes much more square to the shot. Doesn’t seem to have hurt my ability to cue straight through the shot line.
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Are you as successful at different speeds?

pj
chgo
 
dquarasr said:
Not yet. Shooting a bit firmer I tend to push the CB to my right. Not worried about that yet. Still trying to make this speed comfortable and repeatable. Baby steps.
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Just tried three racks of six ball ghost. Ran out after BIH two racks in a row. Third rack got to the six but bc of speed control left 45° cut to corner pocket with risk of scratch. Rattled the shot trying not to scratch. But just to be able to run two racks and five more on the next rack is orders of magnitude better than what I’ve been able to do the last four months. Encouraging. I’ll see tomorrow if it stays with me. Too many times in the last year I think I’ve fixed some problems only to fail to replicate the successes the next day. Expectations set accordingly. I’ll post here again tomorrow hopefully with a good report. Thanks for all your help.
 
Update: Today I haven’t shot very much but the little I have shot, I’m potting much better than last week. Today my head isn’t in it as much as yesterday. I’m hooking myself more today.

I have commitments until the weekend so it might be a good time for a break, let the subconscious work on it until then.
 
dquarasr said:
See what you think of this. Before I started this video, I made this shot, scratching in the OB pocket five of seven. Here is a video where I followed the OB two out of three. I’m encouraged. Elbow seems in much better control; cue is pretty straight, falling over the target donut to prove I’m cueing straight. I’m happy with my progress.

Click to expand...
Keep your right shoulder out of the shot and you will do just fine. ;)
John
 
dquarasr said:
Just tried three racks of six ball ghost. Ran out after BIH two racks in a row. Third rack got to the six but bc of speed control left 45° cut to corner pocket with risk of scratch. Rattled the shot trying not to scratch. But just to be able to run two racks and five more on the next rack is orders of magnitude better than what I’ve been able to do the last four months. Encouraging. I’ll see tomorrow if it stays with me. Too many times in the last year I think I’ve fixed some problems only to fail to replicate the successes the next day. Expectations set accordingly. I’ll post here again tomorrow hopefully with a good report. Thanks for all your help.
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I'm not an instructor, but have stayed at the Holiday Inn a few times in the past. My cautionary advice is to not jump the gun too soon. Ingraining new methods takes time but reverting back to old habits will happen before you even realize it.

You short term success with the ghost should not back burner your efforts in turning the tweaks in your technique into habit. I'm not saying to avoid the ghost. Just that you really should also continue with the drills for a couple of weeks minimum.
 
The_JV said:
I'm not an instructor, but have stayed at the Holiday Inn a few times in the past. My cautionary advice is to not jump the gun too soon. Ingraining new methods takes time but reverting back to old habits will happen before you even realize it.

You short term success with the ghost should not back burner your efforts in turning the tweaks in your technique into habit. I'm not saying to avoid the ghost. Just that you really should also continue with the drills for a couple of weeks minimum.
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Oh, my experience over the last year has taught me the lesson you impart above. No doubt.
 
Said this a couple times already, freeze two balls. Hit them along the line of centers a couple dozen times and you should get picture perfect straight shots right? Whatever actually happens is where your stroke error is.
 
Yesterday I recorded myself and noticed the elbow coming out to the right has returned. No matter how I tried to follow through straight, my elbow out to the right and the tip of the cue moved left.

I thought about stance and arm and elbow position and concluded that if I START OUT with my elbow a little farther away from my body I can stroke straight and my elbow doesn’t deviate side-to-side. I accomplish this by rotating my hips a little to the left. I visualize my arm not so

Is this “solution” a bad idea?

I am trying to line up a local coach who is said to be able to work on such issues.
 
dquarasr said:
Yesterday I recorded myself and noticed the elbow coming out to the right has returned. No matter how I tried to follow through straight, my elbow out to the right and the tip of the cue moved left.

I thought about stance and arm and elbow position and concluded that if I START OUT with my elbow a little farther away from my body I can stroke straight and my elbow doesn’t deviate side-to-side. I accomplish this by rotating my hips a little to the left. I visualize my arm not so

Is this “solution” a bad idea?

I am trying to line up a local coach who is said to be able to work on such issues.
Click to expand...
Not an instructor, but if you come down on the proper aim line in the proper stance, chicken wings tend to vanish. Maybe try putting your feet back (as in to the left if you're shooting right handed) 3-4" from "normal" and see what happens. I'm guessing by turning your body you're getting a similar effect. Not sure if that's good or bad, it would take someone more knowledgeable than me to say.
 
boogieman said:
Not an instructor, but if you come down on the proper aim line in the proper stance, chicken wings tend to vanish. Maybe try putting your feet back (as in to the left if you're shooting right handed) 3-4" from "normal" and see what happens. I'm guessing by turning your body you're getting a similar effect. Not sure if that's good or bad, it would take someone more knowledgeable than me to say.
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I already thought of this and tried it. I stepped my right foot a few inches left of the shot line. Felt really weird. I went back to aligning my right foot with the shot line, but pointed straight down the shot line, rather than at 45-degree angle. Maybe worked.

I think I'm lost. I need a very competent coach. Now, need to convince the spousal unit that a significant investment in my game with a very strong coach is worth her not hearing me complain about my sorry pool game. (@Scott Lee! - I'm working on it!)
 
dquarasr said:
Yesterday I recorded myself and noticed the elbow coming out to the right has returned. No matter how I tried to follow through straight, my elbow out to the right and the tip of the cue moved left.

I thought about stance and arm and elbow position and concluded that if I START OUT with my elbow a little farther away from my body I can stroke straight and my elbow doesn’t deviate side-to-side. I accomplish this by rotating my hips a little to the left. I visualize my arm not so

Is this “solution” a bad idea?
Click to expand...
If moving your hips/torso away from the stick results in a straight stroke, then it might be worth trying to get the rest of your stance to work with that change. For instance, you might need to turn your head a little to keep your sight correctly aligned with the shot.

pj
chgo
 
straightline said:
Ha ha. That works to a degree but you don't get good data out of it.
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Finding a straight line and noting I am not cueing straight (which I already gave ascertained) does nothing to help me straighten out my stroke. I already know I have a problem. Correcting it is my challenge.
 
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