What killed the slip stroke?

Johann Chua uses a slip stroke on longer draw shots. He did a video demonstration several years ago. Ive tried to do it, but not very successfully.
 
Wouldn’t the slip stroke be a version of the piston stroke. If so I wonder if it dying had something to do with all the pool schools popping up that teach the pendulum stroke?
 
The slip stroke adds an extra moving part that requires even more timing than a fixed grip. Modern instruction in every sport emphasizes repeatable mechanics, and the slip stroke is difficult to teach and learn especially when most people probably could never master it even with a great coach. Try teaching NBA Great Jamaal Wilkes’s jump shot or MLB great Gary Sheffield's swing… too many moving parts to teach.

In the 40s–60s and even 70’s a lot of players learned pool on their own or from local hustlers, so quirky strokes survived if they worked for that individual. Today, with books, video, and pro instruction, there’s more focus on fundamentals… straight cue delivery, stable grip, repeatability. This hold true in all sports.

The slip stroke yes was used by a few notable great players of the past but it was never use as a prevalent stroke by many and is a technique that takes timing that not everyone could or can master. And when people say “slip stroke,” they’re lumping together a couple of different techniques or methods that served different purposes. There’s a frontstroke and a backstroke style/version of a slip stroke. Jimmy Moore is the one most closely identified players that used a slip stroke it and probably the only one (at least that I know of) who made it his signature.

Jimmy Moore’s was a backstroke slip style On the backswing, the cue would slide backward through his grip hand. At the end of the backstroke, he would re-grip the cue in its new position before beginning the forward stroke. This made his stroke more compact while still generating full power, because he didn’t need a long exaggerated backswing. I’d argue that if it could be mastered would still be useful in today’s game. I was lucky enough as a kid to see him play numerous times and my father used to point his stroke out to me when he was about to use it. He did it so naturally that if you weren’t looking for it you never see it.

Edit- I’ll add that Jimmy Moore used his slip stroke in all games that he played and it was never used on every shot.
 
Last edited:
I'd guess the loss of the slip-stroke as a technique was natural as players transitioned from playing mainly 14.1 to 9 ball. Those 14.1 players tended to grip the cue much further forward than today's players. All the short, precision shots required in 14.1, just didn't need as much cue power. On the odd shot where a player would need a little more oomph, they would naturally slide their grip hand back.

Fast forward to playing mainly 9 ball, and players realized it made sense to move the grip hand back. I do think here in the past 10 years or so, players have greatly exaggerated their "need" for more cue as more and more players added cue extensions. I think a lot of players, even really good ones, misunderstand where cue power comes from. Just putting your grip hand further and further back, doesn't necessarily give you more power. It may actually be the opposite. It's all a bit counter-intuitive.
Yea I did notice that. They didn’t get down low over the shot either. Some stood nearly straight up in their stance.
 
No…i dont think so
To differentiate
Stroke slip …………stroke….. cue slips forward
Slip stroke….. hand slips then cue goes forward
I consider it a grammatical thing. Adverb first. SS1 SS2 would do. You could say toss stroke - stick is hurled ( :ROFLMAO: ) at the cue ball and slip stroke (the inert stick is released to set the backhand) would retain the original reference.

:p
 
  • Like
Reactions: bbb
i've read this correction before but always forget it. i don't see any use for a slip stroke of this definition whatsoever
I don't see a need for a special or sequential distinction. They can be defined in as much detail as your publisher wants but there are only two of 'em. The first one is well known and the new one is a toss stroke that has to be caught - technically a slip.

Here's the logic as offered by KPY:
Once you let go of the stick it has to travel in a straight line.
 
Back
Top