How often do you see your local players with a really good, and solid Pre shot routine?

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vintagecollectibles831

Well-known member
Curious, how often do you see your local players with a really good, and solid Pre shot routine?

And, when you do, are they often fairly consistently strong players?

Speaking for myself, and I admit, it has just been laziness, I have never cared to try to learn a Pre shot routine, and therefore, I have never felt really comfortable while down on any shot.

CJ Wiley was talking about the placement of your feet being the most important thing in the Pre shot routine.

When I was a kid, everything felt perfect, with out even thinking about it, but now, after not playing nearly as often as I used to, everything feels wrong, and very uncomfortable.

I really miss playing, but I think I would get a lot more enjoyment out of the game, if I could get a good, and consistent Pre shot routine.

Curious if anyone knows of any good videos online, that explain really well about the way the feet are supposed to be placed, among other good tips?

Thanks.
 
The tables at the pool hall I mostly play are hard, the rails are very jumpy so the pockets play tighter than they really are. Without a good pre shot routine it’s hard to pocket balls.
Most people that come are bangers so they don’t matter, but in league and tournaments you find the better players and the better players are the consistent players and they all have a consistent pre shot routine.
 
If the local players around here would see me going through a pre-shot routine (like an Allison, Buddy, Nick, etc) they would start laughing and complaining. Then start telling me to hurry up and shoot!
 
Even mere top local players pretty much always have an ingrained, seemingly subconscious preshot routine that they go through on pretty much every shot.

There is a lot of advice on preshot routine, including the examples posted above. While I agree that foot placement is near if not at the top of the list of things to get right, you cannot merely copy someone's blueprint for foot placement. Dr. Dave has a lil video on this too and goes over how the right foot placement for you may not match someone else's. Bodies are different. Strokes are different. Some players play with different arm angles relative to their bodies. It would make absolutely no sense for a 6'4" lanky man who plays with his arm on an island, isolated away from his body, to have anywhere near the same foot placement as a 5'6" stocky man who plays higher off the cue with his arm tucked by his body. These are two extremes of course, but the point is that stances will vary between individuals and what works best for them.

When working with players, I generally like to start with the top and make sure that the arm and upper body are working well together and naturally for that individual. Once the proper plane relative to their body is determined, it is a matter of getting the base right in order to get that top setup on the shot line. Only then do we bother with marking out their exact foot position and develop a process for setting those feet up first while at the table as part of their PSR.

The entire point is to get your feet in a spot that sets up all the other joints in the place they need to be relative to one another and the shot line so you have the exact same setup every time. But you absolutely cannot merely copy someone else's ideal foot placement because unless you get lucky and have pretty much the same stroke concept and body dimensions, your base won't match your top and you will be left fighting a bad setup.

As I mentioned, Dr. Dave did a video on variances in stances and foot position that had a lot of good advice in it regarding finding what works best for you. Also, ShortStopOnPool (I think that's his handle) has a very good video on stances for taller players where the foot work often includes an extra step that people of average size and below needn't really ever have to use.

Foot placement needs to be very precise and repeated on every shot for max consistency, but there is no one size fits all blueprint for where feet go. Find yours and take elements from the videos in posts above and those discussed in the vids I mentioned, to find a way of getting into your best foot placement consistently.
 
Basic lesson one starts with an analogy. Diving from the one meter diving board. 🤷‍♂️ Always start with a square and at rest stance, exactly the same distance from the end of the board er uh from the cueball. My cue held at balance on the middle finger is my measuring device. First learn the stance then the dance. Simple. 🤷‍♂️
My favorite dive was a jack knife half gainer. A blind dive that was forbidden at the Chico public pool. The lifeguard did open with, "Nice Dive" " but it's not allowed. " followed shortly with a shrug.
 
WobblyStroke said:
Even mere top local players pretty much always have an ingrained, seemingly subconscious preshot routine that they go through on pretty much every shot.

There is a lot of advice on preshot routine, including the examples posted above. While I agree that foot placement is near if not at the top of the list of things to get right, you cannot merely copy someone's blueprint for foot placement. Dr. Dave has a lil video on this too and goes over how the right foot placement for you may not match someone else's. Bodies are different. Strokes are different. Some players play with different arm angles relative to their bodies. It would make absolutely no sense for a 6'4" lanky man who plays with his arm on an island, isolated away from his body, to have anywhere near the same foot placement as a 5'6" stocky man who plays higher off the cue with his arm tucked by his body. These are two extremes of course, but the point is that stances will vary between individuals and what works best for them.

When working with players, I generally like to start with the top and make sure that the arm and upper body are working well together and naturally for that individual. Once the proper plane relative to their body is determined, it is a matter of getting the base right in order to get that top setup on the shot line. Only then do we bother with marking out their exact foot position and develop a process for setting those feet up first while at the table as part of their PSR.

The entire point is to get your feet in a spot that sets up all the other joints in the place they need to be relative to one another and the shot line so you have the exact same setup every time. But you absolutely cannot merely copy someone else's ideal foot placement because unless you get lucky and have pretty much the same stroke concept and body dimensions, your base won't match your top and you will be left fighting a bad setup.

As I mentioned, Dr. Dave did a video on variances in stances and foot position that had a lot of good advice in it regarding finding what works best for you. Also, ShortStopOnPool (I think that's his handle) has a very good video on stances for taller players where the foot work often includes an extra step that people of average size and below needn't really ever have to use.

Foot placement needs to be very precise and repeated on every shot for max consistency, but there is no one size fits all blueprint for where feet go. Find yours and take elements from the videos in posts above and those discussed in the vids I mentioned, to find a way of getting into your best foot placement consistently.
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Thanks for your reply. This makes sense. I think this is why I need personal instruction from a great instructor. Maybe Mark Wilson for example.

I think that even just a 1 hour lesson would greatly help me. I just want to be comfortable at the table.

I tend to run into my chest, on follow through, and I have no idea why I do that.

Thanks again.
 
The best ones are the ones you barely notice. Plenty of great players, plenty of things to be learned about approaching the table from them. Of course, for every great player, their are 15 idiots who have watched too much YouTube, jerking their cue off and take 30minutes per shot...
 
I have probably seen Mark give several dozen lessons and I know how he teaches foot placement however my personal opinion is that you don't build a pool stroke from the bottom up but rather from the top down.

More than anything else your grip is going to determine your setup and the final, natural placement of your feet, as well as the rest of your body.

Get your grip right and all else follows.

Lou Figueroa
whaddaIknow
 
Of the various PSR around here - even noobs will settle into some kind of PSR. They mostly break down into functional and non functional. Even good shooters can have non functional PSR. They will step on the gas for what it's worth and take the inevitable bow to the unforgiving structure of pool. And there's the functional PSR; one designed and optimized for consistency. I fall just over the line in this direction.
So anytime I watch Filler, Gorst, Chang, Ko(s), Souquet, I know there's more...
 
WobblyStroke said:
... Foot placement needs to be very precise and repeated on every shot for max consistency, but there is no one size fits all blueprint for where feet go. ...
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I'm amazed by some snooker pros who have their "back" foot either even with or in front of their "front" foot.
 
Bob Jewett said:
I'm amazed by some snooker pros who have their "back" foot either even with or in front of their "front" foot.
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Probably drilled into them until zombie like repetition.The older generation of British sports really hammer 'technical models' home. 50 steps for a simple action, all illustrated in a nice handbook usually. The 'right' way to do something. It was the same in cricket when I was growing up. Now (thankfully) there is a move more toward 'essential points' and manipulating what works relevant to the individual. Though there are still some purists who don't like change.
 
i just walk up and plop down and adjust if it doesnt feel right. done it that way forever. if i was to try to start thinking about it i would end up playing like the rest of the bangers.

you have to do what is natural for you without thinking about it.

if you dont have a straight stroke no matter what you do you wont get any better than you are now.

and if you have a dead ass straight stroke the balls go where your tip goes.
 
maha said:
i just walk up and plop down and adjust if it doesnt feel right. done it that way forever. if i was to try to start thinking about it i would end up playing like the rest of the bangers.

you have to do what is natural for you without thinking about it.

if you dont have a straight stroke no matter what you do you wont get any better than you are now.

and if you have a dead ass straight stroke the balls go where your tip goes.
Click to expand...
This is why pool is so different for people depending on how much natural ability you have. There is no one size fits all. 🤷🏻‍♂️ some guys just Bend over and play some people can work their ass off and still be terrible. As for me I have a very tight pre shot routine that I spent a lot of time to make 2nd nature along time ago. When I help people with it my focus is foot placement but also teaching these new players how important it is to be aiming when your standing up so when you take that step into your shot your dropping into your line. Not making a bunch of body movements when you down on the ball. Seems simple but a lot of new players don’t get that and it makes a big change to their consistency quickly

Willie hoppe is my favorite example. You would never teach anyone a side arm stroke. It’s terrible to aim lol I think his feet are place strange as well but there he was as a child already doing exhibitions across Europe and became so great as a pro they had to change the rules just to stop him from dominating.
 
as you adapt and make your so called routine mindless. i bet mine is the same place every time i take a shot. i just dont follow a set way of doing it.
but ive practiced just putting my cue down and just poking immediately forward at the cue ball.

i make all but the the longest or tough shots of which i am close anyway. so the straight stroke no back and forth needed is the real key after i guess you are in position. its a good test to see if you are lined up and have a stroke that is repeatable.
this shows after playing for a time you automatically get in line for the shot. at least for me.
 
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lfigueroa said:
I have probably seen Mark give several dozen lessons and I know how he teaches foot placement however my personal opinion is that you don't build a pool stroke from the bottom up but rather from the top down.

More than anything else your grip is going to determine your setup and the final, natural placement of your feet, as well as the rest of your body.

Get your grip right and all else follows.

Lou Figueroa
whaddaIknow
Click to expand...

Hi, I notice that a lot of the great players have their grip very far back, almost to the very end of the butt sleeve. I never held my cue anywhere near that far back.
 
vintagecollectibles831 said:
Hi, I notice that a lot of the great players have their grip very far back, almost to the very end of the butt sleeve. I never held my cue anywhere near that far back.
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Off the topohmehead, I'm thinking of players like Mizerak, Murphy, Hall, and even slip strokers like Cowboy who held their cues way back back in the day.

But I do agree with you that it has become much more common and all the baby pool players out there are aping that style. Personally, I'm with you and more from the Mosconi school and am not anywhere near that far back.

Lou Figueroa
 
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