Piston stroke?

The old players often used three or more strokes depending on the situation. A long piston stroke as defined here, the cue moving like a piston in a cylinder, is possibly the most gimmicky of all. It takes a lot of moving parts to keep the cue moving back and forth like it is in a cylinder for very long. Considering maybe two inches of your stroke matters, why fight for something that serves no purpose?

I did try the piston stroke very early in my pool development, ye gads, over fifty years ago! Revisited it briefly several times afterwards but it is a lot of effort for no purpose. My stick has little or no left to right movement, slight up and down movement with it in a nice flat straight line for three or four inches around cue ball contact.

I have tried most strokes. For me as I age a full arm stroke works best. Around the cue ball it is identical to a piston stroke, without the wasted effort trying to flatten out parts of the stroke that don't matter. Aside from anything else, trying to flatten out parts of the stroke that don't matter can create error in the part of the stroke that does.

I like the slip stroke for it's elegance and try to practice it a little most sessions. I have found it best for a few shots but mostly it serves little purpose a simpler stroke can't. I do use the full arm with a slip stroke and I suppose it could be called a piston stroke as the cue itself stays in a very straight line.

Hu
 
straightline said:
If you watch the business end of Sigel's stroke, it's nothing but pistonic. Well most shots anyway.
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Actually watching a 1993 match vs Earl rn. Guys of that era def had different strokes for different types of shots. Seen a pure pendulum, the cleanest J-stroke possible, and a slew of others, including his body-english specials. So ye, 'pistonic' for some shots is def true. But he is def quite a departure from what I imagine when I think of a piston stroke. To me, those techniques really reveal themselves when the stroke gets longer and Mike doesn't have a piston stroke on just about any stroke where the bridge is over 7". It's very easy to keep things nice and flat over a short distance and he does that often and very well.
 
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This reminds me of the many baseball hitting stances. Gary Sheffield's rocking and bat wagging… so much movement but at contact it all came together. Some people can put all the movement, along with lifting the lead foot, stepping into the swing and timing like Ricky Henderson because they are so gifted athletically and or have incredible hand eye coordination. Coaches would never teach their stances because there is way too much going on for most people to put it all together but they will always use their contact point body position for examples. A more modern coached stance especially for youngsters is “Squash the Bug.” It takes most of the unnecessary body movement out of the stance for an efficient swing and it’s easier to teach but even then some coaches don’t agree with the effectiveness.

From Keith to Fedor and everyone in between.
 
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Bob Jewett said:
All former snooker players?

Many snooker players are known for keeping their chins on the cue stick during the stroke which nearly guarantees a piston stroke. I haven't checked carefully, but there may be "native" pool players who do the same. Pro pool stances are generally much lower than 50 years ago.

At one time I noted that both Jeremy Jones and Lori Jon Jones had piston strokes but I don't know if they still do. She has a different last name now.
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Tyler Styer, I don't think he has any snooker background.
 
ShootingArts said:
The old players often used three or more strokes depending on the situation. A long piston stroke as defined here, the cue moving like a piston in a cylinder, is possibly the most gimmicky of all. It takes a lot of moving parts to keep the cue moving back and forth like it is in a cylinder for very long. Considering maybe two inches of your stroke matters, why fight for something that serves no purpose?

I did try the piston stroke very early in my pool development, ye gads, over fifty years ago! Revisited it briefly several times afterwards but it is a lot of effort for no purpose. My stick has little or no left to right movement, slight up and down movement with it in a nice flat straight line for three or four inches around cue ball contact.

I have tried most strokes. For me as I age a full arm stroke works best. Around the cue ball it is identical to a piston stroke, without the wasted effort trying to flatten out parts of the stroke that don't matter. Aside from anything else, trying to flatten out parts of the stroke that don't matter can create error in the part of the stroke that does.

I like the slip stroke for it's elegance and try to practice it a little most sessions. I have found it best for a few shots but mostly it serves little purpose a simpler stroke can't. I do use the full arm with a slip stroke and I suppose it could be called a piston stroke as the cue itself stays in a very straight line.

Hu
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Twin sons of different mothers.😂
 
Like in earth moving equipment. The piston is part of an articulated arm. Even in combustion motors, the energy transfer is through articulated linkage; albeit backwards. Just saying the stick itself remains linear no matter how the stroke articulates.
 
straightline said:
Just saying the stick itself remains linear no matter how the stroke articulates.
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With a "piston" stroke the elbow moves up and down (like a piston) to keep the grip hand/stick/tip in a straight horizontal line. With a pendulum stroke the elbow is still and the grip hand/stick/tip rises and falls with the stroke (returning to address position at tip/ball contact).

pj
chgo
 
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mr3cushion said:
IMPO, a 'Slip Stroke' is a form of a 'Hesitation Pendulum' stroke.
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Bill,

I have to admit you have lost me there. A slip stroke involves the grip hand slipping backwards on the cue as the hand and cue are both going back. The slip can be anything from less than an inch to close to six inches in some cases. Then the shooter regrips the cue at this further back location which has the effect of making the cue seem longer between bridge and cue ball when you go forwards. Most commonly used with other strokes, I don't know if I have ever seen it used in pool with what I would call a "pure" pendulum.

Apologies for going over the basics but I have a feeling that we are using the same term for different things. Purely an AZB thing, we long ago decided to refer to letting a cue slip through the hand while slowing or pausing the hand on the forward stroke as a stroke-slip. That never should have been referred to as a slip stroke as the older different stroke referred to as a slip stroke should always have had precedence.

Just trying to get on the same page if we aren't. I am not familiar with a hesitation pendulum stroke.

Hu
 
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