What are “Soft Hands”?

GideonF

GideonF

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Scott and JJ repeatedly talked about certain players having “soft hands”, letting them hold the CB or make certain shots.

I mean I get that hitting the ball softly and with a good stroke is helpful, but what exactly are they talking about? Is it a specific technique like an extra loose back hand? Is it something else?
 
GideonF said:
Scott and JJ repeatedly talked about certain players having “soft hands”, letting them hold the CB or make certain shots.

I mean I get that hitting the ball softly and with a good stroke is helpful, but what exactly are they talking about? Is it a specific technique like an extra loose back hand? Is it something else?
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I think they are just referring to having a soft touch- that they don't overhit the ball (overrun position) unintentionally
 
GideonF said:
Scott and JJ repeatedly talked about certain players having “soft hands”, letting them hold the CB or make certain shots.

I mean I get that hitting the ball softly and with a good stroke is helpful, but what exactly are they talking about? Is it a specific technique like an extra loose back hand? Is it something else?
Click to expand...
They are referring to a very loose grip. This LOOSE grip makes you very sensitive to the cue and the force/feel of each shot. You don't muscle the cue, you let the weight of the cue and your stroke/tip placement on the cue ball do the work.

Some great players only have ONE finger around the cue (in their grip) with a little stabilization by the thumb. Watch Dennis Orcollo, or Tony Chohan. Extremely loose grips. Some have the cue "laying" in all four fingers, and it appears they have it in a choke, but it's not - it's super loose. I think Buddy Hall would be a good example of this. As Garczar said, watch Efren play and see how much feel and control he's able to have with that loose grip/soft hands..
 
Look at Efren make his kill spin shots, that is pretty much the pinnacle of what you are talking about IMHO.
Me and a friend spent months working on getting a soft stroke and cue ball action that is effective like his, and it does look pretty when it works and is a great position tool.
 
more a case of soft hands versus hard hands. you see construction workers and many labor persons get hard hands and callouses. this makes it hard to hold the cue softly.

this is why so few pro pool players have a job as they know that keeping your hands soft is paramount to playing well.
 
For pool I don't think it's critical to have an extremely loose grip. When you're playing straight rail carom there are shots where if the grip and wrist are not lose, I don't think it's even possible to make the shot consistently, your speed will be off. You are killing your feel on the ultra soft shots when you hold the cue too tightly. I played pool with a death grip for many years, and the need for those ultra delicate shots is so rare that it's not much of a handicap. Even the softest common shots in pool can be made consistently with a death grip.

You can get quite a bit of power with little effort with a soft grip and a whip of the wrist so it works in both ends of the scale.

IMO there is a trade-off. If I go to the extreme and use an almost tea-cup like grip, I feel I lose control of the cue and miss the long shots. If I clamp down too much, the cue action gets too rigid. I feel the snooker technique has the best of both worlds.
 
GideonF said:
Scott and JJ repeatedly talked about certain players having “soft hands”, letting them hold the CB or make certain shots.

I mean I get that hitting the ball softly and with a good stroke is helpful, but what exactly are they talking about? Is it a specific technique like an extra loose back hand? Is it something else?
Click to expand...
The velvety touch with control

The absorption of the stroke into the hands, like a feather easily catching a boulder

Dropping the hammer to kill the shot with no rebound
 
GideonF said:
Scott and JJ repeatedly talked about certain players having “soft hands”, letting them hold the CB or make certain shots.

I mean I get that hitting the ball softly and with a good stroke is helpful, but what exactly are they talking about? Is it a specific technique like an extra loose back hand? Is it something else?
Click to expand...

IMO, when it comes to pool the term "soft hands" would refer more to your bridge hand vs your grip.

Lou Figueroa
 
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iusedtoberich said:
I've never heard the expression "soft hands" in 30 years of watching pro pool matches. (or any other sport, actually). Did they just make it up, or adapt it from another sport?
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Just like they renamed a shot Souquet, and Fillipinos have been playing for years the "Gorst/Filler" - or a bank shot "the Alcaide" - get a little bit of sick in my mouth every time this WWE style nonsense comes up in the commentary box. Usually it's Karl Boyes. Can never work out if he actually knows what he's on about, or just really good at dumbing it down. Phil Yates is another one. Starting to mute matches more and more...
 
At this point these guys are just saying things to fill the air. It's actually kind of sad what passes as good commentary now. I don't mind JJ or Frost, but long gone are the days where actual mastery of the language (and it's literature) were a prerequisite. Not that I could do any better since I'm as dumb as the next guy. Where's the stuffy English prick with the Shakespearen quotes? Or I'd take Grady with his obscure crossword puzzle words that I don't know. Basically, I'd prefer if these guys could just make me feel like a big dummy.
 
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