Preshot routine

BasementDweller said:

I'm guessing your #4 is just a typo because I can't imagine it would be your practice to pause after the backstroke to see if everything looks or feels right. Are you talking about before that l
Backstroke? The way you typed it sounds like a recipe for disaster. A way of really juggling your conscious/subconscious processing.

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If you watch many professional players they have an extended pause before the forward stroke. Everyone pauses. It is impossible to reverse the direction of the cue forward without stopping the backward motion, it is a matter of how long a pause. Tor Lowry mentions if you incorporate an extended pause into your stroke it takes time to develop that. Scott Lee uses a very short pause, more of a fluid transition to the forward stroke with no extended pause. Here is Brett Lee demonstrating both a front pause and a back pause https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnWK0zJYtls

Several pros discuss the subject here http://billiards.colostate.edu/threads/stroke.html#pause_reasons and they are correct in why I use it. It corrects a flaw in the transition from back stroke to forward stroke.

During the pause I get a feeling that all is well or maybe not. If I am a little off balance reaching or feel I have aimed wrong or whatever, I stop, get up and start over. I think most of us have made shots we were uncomfortable with just before shooting and went ahead anyway, then said "I knew I shouldn't have shot, I was ....". The thought process is just a flash, it doesn't take long, it is just a feeling of readiness before beginning the forward stroke.

It helps me, especially when the backstroke doesn't go well. If I bump my side a little or some small error occurs in the back stroke I "stabilize" before starting forward. It is just a sub conscious check that all is well. I also find my speed control is better with a longer pause. I bleed off the Kinetic energy developed from the back stroke. The only time I don't pause much is on the break with a really crappy slow bar table where I need every bit of energy to make a ball. There I need the build up of the back stroke to help add speed to the forward stroke or I just can't hit hard enough to make a ball. :angry:

BasementDweller said:

Don't get me wrong -- I love the pause at the end of the backstroke and I do it too, but it's definitely not a go/no-go pause, since by this point all conscious thought has been shut off for me. That just seems way too late in the process to be doing that. I think the vast majority of players do this go/no-go while paused at the cue ball.

I would love to hear other opinions on this as it just seems like a horrible idea to me.

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That may be. For me it is simply a feel that all is well before release. If I am uneasy I don't shoot. I don't think it is so much a conscious analysis.

BasementDweller said:

Pause at end of backstroke = very good.

Having your brain turned on right before you pull the trigger = very bad.

For me, I would rather miss balls than come that close to shooting and hitting the abort button. Seems like a good way to develop what golfers call the yips.

Then again -- I could be over thinking this.

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Tiger Woods was even able to stop his swing on the down swing, something very few ever achieved. Crazy.

I get what you are saying and I checked myself to see what I was doing during that time. I discovered I was re-locating my exact aim point and allowing tension to release. It is working incredibly well for me and it seems the only time I miss now is when I hurry a little. I was plagued by running 6-7 balls, feeling the run was over, taking the shot for granted and missing an "easy" shot. Last night I did a full runout and took a little extra time on the 8 ball as I got less than perfect shape. I was relaxed and just wanted to hit my aim point EXACTLY where I wanted. It slid right down the rail and into the pocket for a 10-0 win.

I avoid any thoughts other then aim and speed. Seems to work. Might be a crutch I abandon later. :smile:

Neil said:

That back pause can also be a trigger to turn off the conscious brain. I know that is when I do it completely. Other triggers start to turn it off, that one completes it. Done correctly, the shot then shoots itself. I never say, "now stroke forward and shoot". I am paused, and then observing what happened.

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That is pretty much the way I see it. I don't consciously think "Ready". Mostly I realize my focus drifts away from the object ball at some point and I am not focused on the shot. I am "thinking too much about where the cue ball is going to go". I literally forget my aim. So I use the pause to re-focus on the exact aim spot and feel the speed I will need. I clear my head of the position, where we stand in the match, how important the shot is, etc. I just get comfortable. If I can't get comfortable, something is wrong in my set up and I do get up. That is not often.

Neil said:

Now the "other side of the coin". Your timing has to be on, or that longer back pause will mess you up big time. And you will almost guarantee to screw up the shot.

By timing, I mean that all must be done, and you have full confidence in your procedure to be able to "let go". Your final slow backswing is to assure you that you are dead on with what you already see happening in your mind. The pause is like the slow pull of the trigger. You have committed yourself at that point, and are just letting it fire when it does.

You have to train yourself that if anything changes during that pause, such as doubt, you have to stop everything immediately or that shot may still go off. You have to have full confidence.

I know, that for me, when I have it working properly, it is like a whole different game. The game becomes almost effortless.

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That is what I am working towards.

BasementDweller said:

I guess I was looking at it more in a on/off fashion while you two are saying it's more of a shutdown process. That makes more sense to me and I can see how that would be workable.

Thanks for the clarification.

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I am still working it all out myself. The pause may shorten as it is less mechanical. I think I mostly lose focus on my aiming point and need a moment to get that back. If I didn't lose that focus to begin with I probably would not need the extended pause to get it back.

The other variable is speed control. With the extended pause I lose some momentum and need to add a little speed as I start from a stopped position to equal the momentum of the more continuous stroke. Still working on it and I appreciate all the input.

Scott Lee said:

Skip...I have always been a "feel" player. That, however, is not something you can teach someone...they have to come to their own conclusions about what "feel" means to them...as it may not be the same for everyone. That said, like Knels mentioned, being in "the zone" or "deadstroke" is probably the most sought after ability a poolplayer can strive for. Anyone who has ever run a rack of pool has experienced deadstroke...even if just for a few shots. What we can control, and deliver under pressure, is a physical and mental routine to accurately set up and deliver the cuestick. Something must be trained physically (consciously), before it can enter the subconscious level of application. This is the real reason why doing the same thing the same way on every shot is the quickest way to see solid improvement, like your friend did. What we are really doing, is creating opportunities for us to fall into deadstroke more frequently (and hopefully for a longer time) Are you less trainable? I doubt it. What you are (imo) is unsure of something about what you do...maybe your stroke, maybe your aim, maybe something else...which is why you continue to seek the "holy grail"...whatever that is. While, in the end, it is different strokes for different folks...simpler is better. KISS rules! :thumbup:

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

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I don't know if anyone cares but I settled on something I really like. I re-watched my Jerry Briesath video and realized I remembered it wrong. He takes a long pause with the cue close to the cue ball and decides if it is a go or no go. It is his final aim, looking down the stick where he pauses and decides, not in the final back swing.

This works for me and gives me all the standardization you taught me without the count. I take some short CJ Wiley aiming strokes without a count, I may or may not take some full length stokes to release tension then put the stick almost against the cue ball and stop. I take final aim and decide go or no go. If no go I start over and may even stand up and step back into the shot. But if it is a go, I do what Fran and you and Jerry and the whole world suggests, I take it back slowly then shoot. I don't worry about the length of the pause at the back, just the slow take back.

I hope that qualifies my routine as doing something predictable for my sub conscious. It feels just right. :thumbup:

FranCrimi said:

Well, heck. You just changed the whole thread. You just realized that Jerry didn't say what you initially thought he said. That changes everything. Geez! LOL

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Nobody ever accused me of getting things right the easy way.

One Pocket John said:

Hey Skip.

Watch Mr. 400 363 ball run in 14.1. (1hr 34min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUJ3yLs1Jk8&feature=share

What I would like you to pay attention to is his pause (or change of feel for the forward pushing of the cue)

He feathers the cue ball (measures the shot/gets a feel for the shot) pulls back the cue, stops and then pushes the cue thru the cue ball. The purpose of the back swing is to go from measuring to pushing (you have to stop on the back swing to begin the pushing motion of the cue)

He is very pronounced with this movement.

Hope this helps.

John

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Nice video and yes it does help. I guess what has changed for me is less conscious thought in the back stroke pause and more rhythm. All the thought is while stationary with the cue extended.

As an aside I have watched a couple of players who do such a swooping stroke they don't go back and forward so have no pause at all. It is a circular motion. Like the old Mazda engine stroke. :smile: