Thoughts on players who seemingly take Zero practice strokes, before shooting / final follow through?

[vintagecollectibles831]

Edit: Watching this kid, Austin Axe, for the 1st time today, made me wonder about this question.

Have you ever seen any really strong players who get down on the cue ball, and seemingly do not take any practice strokes, before their final follow through.

Either that, or their practice strokes are so short, that they can't even be seen, by the audience, or anyone else.

I find it pretty amazing, that players are able to play really good like that. Getting down on the cue ball super fast too, as if they already have everything lined up before they did so.

Is this a style that some instructors teach, or is that probably just naturally how the player learned to play, on their own? I mean, the part about the ultra short / undetected practice strokes.

Thanks for any thoughts.

 

[Lowell]

I know loads of people who take a million practice strokes each time and miss shots by a mile on a regular basis.

I speculate that being properly aligned in the first place is considerably more important than how many prestrokes one does, but I'm far from an expert of course.

 

[middleofnowhere]

Have you ever seen any really strong players who get down on the cue ball, and seemingly do not take any practice strokes, before their final follow through.

Either that, or their practice strokes are so short, that they can't even be seen, by the audience, or anyone else.

I find it pretty amazing, that players are able to play really good like that. Getting down on the cue ball super fast too, as if they already have everything lined up before they did so.

Is this a style that some instructors teach, or is that probably just naturally how the player learned to play, on their own? I mean, the part about the ultra short / undetected practice strokes.

Thanks for any thoughts.

Maybe they take very short strokes like Hopkins and DiLiberto. Or are ready to shoot right away like Keith. They are certainly lined up and aiming at something.

I don't see how many of today's players play with such long bridges. I mean really long.

 

[sparkle84]

What a lot of them are doing is called feathering, very tiny movements. Think about it. If the most important things is hitting the CB in an exact spot then spending most of the time with the tip very close to that spot should facilitate accuracy. It's easier to dial in on the exact spot than sawing back and forth does with only one brief pause at the CB at the end.
I personally think long strokes (including air strokes) don't help anything other than maybe dissipating nervous energy. Plus they're annoying as hell to watch sometimes. JMO

 

[vintagecollectibles831]

Maybe they take very short strokes like Hopkins and DiLiberto. Or are ready to shoot right away like Keith. They are certainly lined up and aiming at something.

I don't see how many of today's players play with such long bridges. I mean really long.

Just imagine, a player getting down on the cue ball, and seemingly no part of their body moving, and them seemingly only going back once (1 stroke) before follow through on the cue ball. Like a statue, for maybe 5, to 10 seconds, and then pulling back for just 1 single stroke.

 

[qolbrand]

What a lot of them are doing is called feathering, very tiny movements. Think about it. If the most important things is hitting the CB in an exact spot then spending most of the time with the tip very close to that spot should facilitate accuracy.

i like this.

Just imagine, a player getting down on the cue ball, and seemingly no part of their body moving, and them seemingly only going back once (1 stroke) before follow through on the cue ball. Like a statue, for maybe 5, to 10 seconds, and then pulling back for just 1 single stroke.

pagulayan hits the ball like this occasionally


edit: i remember earl playing like this too except it was .5 seconds instead of 5-10

 

[DJKeys]

Grady Matthews and Allen Hopkins both did this, and they played great. I am not sure how they developed this, but it works for some players.

-dj

 

[Magictrat007]

I just went to the U.S. Open and believe I saw a pro player doing this. U can definitely shoot well doing this.

 

[skor]

There are a few top players like that.
I say, whatever works for you is good.
Practice strokes are not ment to adjust final stroke speed, just to make sure that the stroke is straight, if you don’t need it then it’s fine

 

[LC3]

Maybe some of these players use getting down on the shot as part of their alignment routine and feel that practice strokes would throw that off. Just a thought.

 

[vintagecollectibles831]

Grady Matthews and Allen Hopkins both did this, and they played great. I am not sure how they developed this, but it works for some players.

-dj

Allen Hopkins had a Poke stroke, right? I read that when he was growing up, playing on his home table, he did not have enough room to have a long back stroke (if I am saying that right), due to the walls being too close to the table(?), so he was unable to go back much, on his stroke, before follow through.

Anyways, that is not what I was talking about.

 

[boogeyman]

The reason some players can shoot without warm-up strokes is because they have their vision center correctly locked in much quicker.
In that case, warm-up strokes become a mere "formality." If a player is seeing the shot correctly according to his or her biology, then warm-up strokes do nothing more than create momentum (as is expected).

It's not because the player doesn't necessarily need to "warm up" it's just the setup is correct and ready for delivery from the outset.
Unfortunately, most players never learn their true vision center and this limits their playing levels.

Think of the fast players: Lou Butera, Earl Strickland, and Joshua Filler among many others. They get into an efficient, natural, and correct shot alignment. They're champions because they also have the other intangibles: a relatively comfortable setup, excellent eye-hand coordination, great concentration, etc.

 

[markjames]

the snooker player marco fu shoots like this

 

[Jaden]

Maybe they take very short strokes like Hopkins and DiLiberto. Or are ready to shoot right away like Keith. They are certainly lined up and aiming at something.

I don't see how many of today's players play with such long bridges. I mean really long.

That's because shafts have gotten so much lower in the CB deflection department. The reason that the old school teachings had the bridge 8-10 inches was because that's where the standard wood shafts had their natural pivot point. Bridging at the pivot point gives a higher margin for stroke error/deficiency.

Deflection has gotten so low that the pivot points are much farther back. I've seen them as far as 19". So players naturally now end up bridging farther back and if you play with a low deflection shaft, it would behoove you to find your cue's pivot point and bridge there. This is also independent of using bhe.

People may think that parallel english works on sld(super low deflection) shafts but it doesn't. The only way that works is on tables with big pockets. On my table I'd miss every shot without adjusting aim or stroke somehow (3.9" corners). BHE and fhe are the best methods, but holding the bridge near or at the pivot point is beyond adjusting for side spin. It allows for stroke errors like swiping. Your cue ball won't go anywhere near where you were expecting but you'll still make the shot.