chicken wing

I've had students with what appeared to be terrible chicken wings (tucked in or tucked out). Some of them, however, were still able to deliver the cue in a dead straight line. For them, the chicken wing was not a problem. See if you can aim up and down the centerline of the table, and bring the CB straight back to your tip. If you can, then you don't need to "fix" anything. Don't fix what's not broken.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

KingJerryO said:

I noticed while watching myself straight on in a mirror that I have developed a bit of a chicken wing elbow away from the body. So I figured, that the best way to fix it would be to stand in the mirror and stroke back and forth holding my elbow in the proper position. I feel like to do this, I have to flex my back muscle to pull my elbow in. and after about 20 minutes of stroking, my back muscle felt like I had worked it out. Is this normal?

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When your elbow is out like that, it's usually a sign that you are crowding the line of the shot with your torso and you may be restricting your arm swing. If you try to straighten your arm out without adjusting your stance (if you're right handed --- stand more to the left) then I would imagine that you would be putting some strain on your back muscles trying to keep that arm straight.

You can't just adjust the top portion of your body to fix this issue. You have to adjust your feet. It's a good thing to fix, and I applaud your effort. It's not an easy fix, but can be done once you feel what straight is. You need to line up a shot, especially your feet, to properly fix your arm, so instead of standing in front of a mirror, stand at the table and have someone watch you -- or even better, film you each time you adjust your feet.

FranCrimi said:

When your elbow is out like that, it's usually a sign that you are crowding the line of the shot with your torso and you may be restricting your arm swing. If you try to straighten your arm out without adjusting your stance (if you're right handed --- stand more to the left) then I would imagine that you would be putting some strain on your back muscles trying to keep that arm straight.

You can't just adjust the top portion of your body to fix this issue. You have to adjust your feet. It's a good thing to fix, and I applaud your effort. It's not an easy fix, but can be done once you feel what straight is. You need to line up a shot, especially your feet, to properly fix your arm, so instead of standing in front of a mirror, stand at the table and have someone watch you -- or even better, film you each time you adjust your feet.

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Any suggestion where that elbow should be in-line in relation to the back-foot Fran ?

JoeyInCali said:

Any suggestion where that elbow should be in-line in relation to the back-foot Fran ?

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A good starting point would be directly over the back heel. Slight adjustments can be made from there if needed, depending on body type.

KingJerryO said:

After shooting extensively in a mirror, and having someone watch me, I have figured out exactly what I do. I found a video on youtube of someone doing the same thing. Here is the link.

http://www.youtube.com/user/TGSnooker#p/u

Now my question is why do I do it, and how do I fix it. Thanks for your replies.

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The obvious purpose for the video is to demonstrate the technology, however it does not show how to fix the problem. I don't see how anyone watching that video can figure out how to accurately fix the problem. I'm not against an elbow drop however, that is not the solution to this particular problem. I know that snooker players like to have 'anchors' where they rub against their body at certain points but I don't think that slamming your arm into your chest shot after shot is such a great thing to do, but hey, maybe that's just me.

Good luck figuring it out. I'm clear.

I need to start checking out this instructor area, good stuff and no arguing like in the main area!!!


Once again Fran is on point - I can sometimes have a bit of chicken wing when the elbow is outside of the perfect line, I noticed it creeping in recently. As she said, it happens for me when I'm crowding the shot, so my hand gets tucked in more than usual trying to stay in line with the shot and the elbow is pushed out. I know when that happens my stroke doesn't "feel" straight, and even though I can continue to make most of my shots normally I lose some confidence especially on difficult shots.

Usually one of two things work - either the obvious, sliding your back foot more to the left either under or just inside the shot line. Sometimes also rotating your back foot (or even front foot depending on stance) slightly away can help change your body position enough where things fall in line as well. Try those in a mirror and see if it helps.
Scott