In all the training on stroke I have had and watched on video I don't see much mention of the upper arm. It is all about the forearm hanging straight down and not dropping the elbow. But looking at my stroke in a mirror I realized there could be a lot of variance in where my elbow is positioned. I saw most videos the players are bent way over and the upper arm is pretty straight and in line with their back. I have always let keeping the cue level and deciding where I want to hit the cue ball determine this and wherever my elbow was my forearm dropped straight down from there. But I notice my upper arm is not necessarily parallel to the floor. It may slope down quite a bit. The lower I hit the cue ball the lower everything gets as I keep the cue straight. But I COULD still hit low with my upper arm higher, I would just be hitting more down on the cue ball with a less level stroke.
I literally never considered raising my elbow. I just let the forearm swing from wherever the elbow was comfortable with a level cue. If I lift up on my elbow the cue tip points more down and I have to slightly raise my bridge. It is not as comfortable with my elbow higher and you may wonder why I would consider lifting it. The reason is clearance. I often hit my chest in the back swing and that knocks my stick offline. I have to stand a little more upright or move some way or another to get an unrestricted swing. This happens mostly on very long take backs for power draw or force follow shots.
So I get the forearm hangs straight down and the upper arm doesn't move and the elbow doesn't drop. But should the upper arm be parallel to the floor or does that even matter?
I literally never considered raising my elbow. I just let the forearm swing from wherever the elbow was comfortable with a level cue. If I lift up on my elbow the cue tip points more down and I have to slightly raise my bridge. It is not as comfortable with my elbow higher and you may wonder why I would consider lifting it. The reason is clearance. I often hit my chest in the back swing and that knocks my stick offline. I have to stand a little more upright or move some way or another to get an unrestricted swing. This happens mostly on very long take backs for power draw or force follow shots.
So I get the forearm hangs straight down and the upper arm doesn't move and the elbow doesn't drop. But should the upper arm be parallel to the floor or does that even matter?