It's Not the same game...

Agreed. A player can have their head as high as two feet above the stick and still play exceptionally well.

Blindly imitate the super-low stance is a literal pain in the neck.
i've always been a 'high head' player. sometimes a "high" high head player at that. ;) that chin on cue has never been my deal.
 
The tables are now up higher which is probably part of it. Tables like the old gandys which were really low would destroy your back quickly if you always had your chin touching. Probably similar results with the brunswicks which were higher but still relatively low. The diamonds are significantly higher.
You know I just think of tables at 29" too 31" has this changed? So much I just don't know... Guy
 
i've always been a 'high head' player. sometimes a "high" high head player at that. ;) that chin on cue has never been my deal.
Only in the last 8 years or so have I noticed this with the Chinese players... I would think that putting ones chin on the stick for a long time would hurt someone physically... As an old man I've tried and can't... Talk about getting down on a shot... Wow. I to used to get straight but when my lungs quit so did I... Guy
 
I played with my hand near the end of the cue as a youngster. I also got down until I was almost laying on the table shooting some long fine cut shots. I anchored on the corner of my chin or higher.

I got a wrapped cue and discovered I hated playing with two different surfaces under my hand, half on and half off of the wrap with my hand in it's usual place. I moved it forward just to get fully on the wrap.

There was another issue. self taught as a teenager, I used to twist my wrist violently to the inside at the moment of contact trying to get more spin on the ball. Fifty years later if I grab the very end of the cue with a finger on the bumper muscle memory will still cause that twist sometimes! More effective to move the hand fully on the wrap and get better speed control anyway.

Hu
Yes, otherwise I see no need for wraps or leather, also this butt end handle eliminates the mfg cue balance system, I could never understand why all that work went into the mfg of cue and not use... Guy
 
I played with my hand near the end of the cue as a youngster. I also got down until I was almost laying on the table shooting some long fine cut shots. I anchored on the corner of my chin or higher.

I got a wrapped cue and discovered I hated playing with two different surfaces under my hand, half on and half off of the wrap with my hand in it's usual place. I moved it forward just to get fully on the wrap.

There was another issue. self taught as a teenager, I used to twist my wrist violently to the inside at the moment of contact trying to get more spin on the ball. Fifty years later if I grab the very end of the cue with a finger on the bumper muscle memory will still cause that twist sometimes! More effective to move the hand fully on the wrap and get better speed control anyway.

Hu
I hope that you will always have that wrist action , this can work for you as well... Guy
 
I believe, some point someone will come along and break, this current mold of players.
With some thing different. Just watching the Asian open you can see, it's done, on there terms. Things evolve and get better. But thay also go full circle again. You never know!!
I know down on the cue sure looks awkward to me, I tried i can't... Guy
 
The engineering that ( over so many years ) has gone into mfg of a cue stick could change this pool world in so many ways ( and has ) that we don't even seem to understand... Guy
 
I hope that you will always have that wrist action , this can work for you as well... Guy


Thanks, but this isn't the back to front movement that can make a shot seem effortless. This was a violent twist trying to time it perfectly to get extra juice on the cue ball, extra spin that is. It worked one time in a dozen or so but when it did work it was an uncontrolled spin that rarely got the cue ball where I wanted it.

I don't remember if that was an idea I came up with or if someone that knew no more than I did showed it to me. I did it for months during a formative time when I was fifteen. It has remained around to haunt me at awkward times ever since then. When stretching until I probably should get a bridge you can see my hand sometimes wrap around the very end of the butt with a finger or two dangling over the bumper. When I do that you will see me quickly move my hand forward enough that all fingers are on the near level part of the butt. If I don't do that, the wrist snap that I guess might work playing fooseball will sneak in! My unconscious memory doesn't seem to remember anything good for half a century but it seems I will go to the grave with that wrist snap the wrong way!

Hu
 
I know down on the cue sure looks awkward to me, I tried i can't... Guy
I've never done it that way. I tried once, table looked weird. I was too low. My chin is about 2 and a half inches above the cue. When I had a break from pool in 2015. I played snooker like that. After a few months I made a couple 50 plus breaks.
It was nice to play something different. I got the bug back about 6 months later. All I could think about was pool!!!!!!!!!
 
Thanks, but this isn't the back to front movement that can make a shot seem effortless. This was a violent twist trying to time it perfectly to get extra juice on the cue ball, extra spin that is. It worked one time in a dozen or so but when it did work it was an uncontrolled spin that rarely got the cue ball where I wanted it.

I don't remember if that was an idea I came up with or if someone that knew no more than I did showed it to me. I did it for months during a formative time when I was fifteen. It has remained around to haunt me at awkward times ever since then. When stretching until I probably should get a bridge you can see my hand sometimes wrap around the very end of the butt with a finger or two dangling over the bumper. When I do that you will see me quickly move my hand forward enough that all fingers are on the near level part of the butt. If I don't do that, the wrist snap that I guess might work playing fooseball will sneak in! My unconscious memory doesn't seem to remember anything good for half a century but it seems I will go to the grave with that wrist snap the wrong way!

Hu
I don't see it as bad, you talk of unconscious memory, this will loosen your grip and compensate for any problems... in order to forcefully change slightly , have you tried a bowling wrist glove ?
 
I've never done it that way. I tried once, table looked weird. I was too low. My chin is about 2 and a half inches above the cue. When I had a break from pool in 2015. I played snooker like that. After a few months I made a couple 50 plus breaks.
It was nice to play something different. I got the bug back about 6 months later. All I could think about was pool!!!!!!!!!
Our games compared to snooker are so confined, but easy to see the difference... Guy
 
Our games compared to snooker are so confined, but easy to see the difference... Guy
Guy, one thing You will find in snooker is, it's even more robotic. But the biggest thing is, your stance and your head. I was lucky, I had years of playing like that, I was always able to keep my head real still, well above the cue. I've just learnt not to move. I think that is one of the main reasons, today you see players chins so low. Helps keep the head still and cue straighter.
 
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I think your height and weight is going to make a big difference in how close you can get your chin to the cue. It also makes some difference in where your height is . Some people are taller from the waist up and some are taller from the waist down.

Good example of that is me and a buddy are the same height but when sitting in a truck both sitting straight my head is closer to the roof than his by a couple of inches, and he is able to step over taller objects than me.
 
Guy, one thing You will find in snooker is, it's even more robotic. But the biggest thing is, your stance and your head. I was lucky, I had years of playing like that, I was always able to keep my head real still, well above the cue. I've just learnt not to move. I think that is one of the main reasons, today you see players chins so low. Helps keep the head still and cue straighter.
Yes your wright, I started my pool world at age of 5 years on a snooker table at my dads legion hall, but never played snooker. I never cared for the game and didn't have time for as time went by. As an old man now I like 8' if I could play... 8'ers will give us the mental and physical needed to enjoy the games... I see for most players it not possible to have chin on cue and and hand on balance point... Guy
 
I think your height and weight is going to make a big difference in how close you can get your chin to the cue. It also makes some difference in where your height is . Some people are taller from the waist up and some are taller from the waist down.

Good example of that is me and a buddy are the same height but when sitting in a truck both sitting straight my head is closer to the roof than his by a couple of inches, and he is able to step over taller objects than me.
Yes and that shows on a pool table... Also with chin on a cue or close to we lose many good shots and ball placements someday players will see this... Guy
 
You mean from stiffness?
NO, there's a space in time of going down on a shot that we lose our subconscious balance point and I believe this is the time that we lose track of our cue ball placement, I call it getting greedy, and during this time we lose our shot line, ( then force ) comes into play and we must fix next time... Guy
 
NO, there's a space in time of going down on a shot that we lose our subconscious balance point and I believe this is the time that we lose track of our cue ball placement, I call it getting greedy, and during this time we lose our shot line, ( then force ) comes into play and we must fix next time... Guy
I think I get it. There are ways to always be on the shot. Course young helps. :D
 
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