New to the forum! A few questions

I don't recommend using a 10-inch bridge on softer shots. Try going back all the way to the ferrule but with a 3-inch or 1-inch or 5-inch bridge as the softer speed of the shot demands.

Too many players use a backstroke that is short with a long bridge on too many shots, forcing them to jerk the cue to accelerate the cue stick.

What works for me.

Lockbox said:

, focusing on the point on the CB I want to contact, and trying to hit that point (instead of going 'through' the ball).

Click to expand...

For me the pre-shot routine is a whole shot routine. Starting with aiming the object ball to the pocket. Then if possible coming into the set position from behind as opposed to sliding sideways into position. I remain focused on the object ball as I assume my stance. First going to a position as if I am going to shoot one handed. Then transition to a position for a very upright stance. Then dropping to a chin on the cue snooker type stance. Aiming for the line from cue ball to object ball at each position.

Once I have established that I have my cue on the line of the shot, I focus on where I want to strike the cue ball. My final focus is on the exact point I wish to hit the cue ball and the path of the cue tip through that point, for the depth of the cue ball.

While I am striving for a pendulum type stroke, I focus on the feeling of starting the stroke with my fingers. By mentally putting my fingers in charge of the stroke I achieve the best cue ball control possible (for me).

Looking at the cue ball when striking it is a viable option. It is not taught by the majority but works well for some. Here is a link to my findings regarding that topic.
Experiments in looking at the cueball while delivering the stroke.

Lockbox said:

First of all, thank you to everyone for the replies. They are much appreciated.

I see that there is some controversy as to which ball to look at last when taking a shot CB or OB. My main reason for looking at the exact spot on the CB where I wish to make contact just prior to hitting a soft shot is that I saw a lot of improvement when working jacked up shots. Whenever I focused on the OB, my % made would go down. Immediately, when I focused on lining up the shot, and forced myself to look at the CB and the point where I wanted to hit hit the CB...my % made goes up.

Now I am struggling with my grip. On my straight-in stop shots, I have a tendency (when shoot from the right side of the table towards the left) to shoot the CB slightly to the right consistently. I am trying to use a pendulum stroke, to keep my grip relaxed, and to only use my first two fingers. However, I can't help but notice there is something going on. Obviously, you readers aren't there in the practice room with me - but is there any advice, drills, or best practices I should try?

Click to expand...

Send me a message with your email address and I'll provide a write up that will cure this issue.

Have fun

John

Lockbox said:

First of all, thank you to everyone for the replies. They are much appreciated.

I see that there is some controversy as to which ball to look at last when taking a shot CB or OB. My main reason for looking at the exact spot on the CB where I wish to make contact just prior to hitting a soft shot is that I saw a lot of improvement when working jacked up shots. Whenever I focused on the OB, my % made would go down. Immediately, when I focused on lining up the shot, and forced myself to look at the CB and the point where I wanted to hit hit the CB...my % made goes up.

Now I am struggling with my grip. On my straight-in stop shots, I have a tendency (when shoot from the right side of the table towards the left) to shoot the CB slightly to the right consistently. I am trying to use a pendulum stroke, to keep my grip relaxed, and to only use my first two fingers. However, I can't help but notice there is something going on. Obviously, you readers aren't there in the practice room with me - but is there any advice, drills, or best practices I should try?

Click to expand...

While I admire your efforts to improve your game, I would highly recommend you spend some time with a qualified instructor, preferably one who uses video analysis. A good instructor can help isolate and correct any flaws in your mechanics, and help you address your problem areas. I spent about 20 years trying to figure it out on my own. 3 days in pool school got me on the right track, and the improvement came much more quickly. That experience is the reason I decided to become a professional instructor. You would be amazed what the right guidance and a solid plan can do for your game.
Steve

Some discussion of various types of strokes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VODQn8GtrMA&list=PLSdlfdk6zG-rru2CB4H0Qty8u078N-bLl&index=20

Lockbox said:

Hello everyone,

As a novice pool player for many years, i've only begun to take the game seriously in the last few months. I have a friend who i shoot with on a weekly basis who I beat roughly 15-20% of the time. We seem to be challenging each other, which has been good for our games. I, however, want to improve.

1. I am using Joe Tucker's Guaranteed Improvement (i'm a big fan of Joe's). For the last few weeks/months, I have mainly been working on the straight in shots. Revising my stance, bridge, grip, the stop shots have improved.

Where I need improvement, I have noticed, is on the slow, straight shots.

Here is the question: on my stop shots, while focusing on my PSR I have been drawing the cue back slowly all the way to the ferrule. However, I have found more accuracy on slow shots by not taking the cue back so far, focusing on the point on the CB I want to contact, and trying to hit that point (instead of going 'through' the ball).

Is this advisable? Should the backswing be 'less' if i'm not hitting the CB as hard? Thoughts?

2. Rules. UPA, WPA, APA...should we use one, pick and choose or rotate? I want to get into leagues and/or tournament play - is one of these rule systems more preferable than the other or more commonly used?

I will have more questions later. For now, thank you for any and all responses!

Click to expand...

Not personally an instructor but drawing on many cds from professional instructors on the topic I would comment:

There seem to be 2 schools of thought,
1. as Matt suggests take a shorter bridge and draw all the way back
2. Take the same bridge if you like but don't draw back as far

The thing to avoid (as in golf) is deceleration. With a long bridge and long back swing it is hard to do a controlled slow forward stroke. There is a balance between how far back you take the stick and how far forward you go through.

skipbales said:

Not personally an instructor but drawing on many cds from professional instructors on the topic I would comment:

There seem to be 2 schools of thought,
1. as Matt suggests take a shorter bridge and draw all the way back
2. Take the same bridge if you like but don't draw back as far

The thing to avoid (as in golf) is deceleration. With a long bridge and long back swing it is hard to do a controlled slow forward stroke. There is a balance between how far back you take the stick and how far forward you go through.

Click to expand...

Thank you, Skip, but when (most) people use a long bridge and short backstroke, to avoid deceleration they put on too much acceleration and jerk the stroke. The point about drawing all the way back is that you tend to accelerate without conscious effort, smoothly, going forward again.

BilliardsAbout said:

Thank you, Skip, but when (most) people use a long bridge and short backstroke, to avoid deceleration they put on too much acceleration and jerk the stroke. The point about drawing all the way back is that you tend to accelerate without conscious effort, smoothly, going forward again.

Click to expand...

I didn't recommend the practice. Personally I prefer the shorter bridge method but it is taught both ways by top pros. If you are going to take the long bridge the key is to not take it all the way back and decelerate.

In watching top players I am always surprised by the number who take a very long bridge for every shot. Certainly that is harder to perfect but it is also the most common at the highest level. I rarely see the top pros take a short bridge. I guess if you are good enough you can pull it off but at the amateur level, clearly the short bridge is the most accurate and easiest to perfect.

Lockbox said:

First of all, thank you to everyone for the replies. They are much appreciated.

I see that there is some controversy as to which ball to look at last when taking a shot CB or OB. My main reason for looking at the exact spot on the CB where I wish to make contact just prior to hitting a soft shot is that I saw a lot of improvement when working jacked up shots. Whenever I focused on the OB, my % made would go down. Immediately, when I focused on lining up the shot, and forced myself to look at the CB and the point where I wanted to hit hit the CB...my % made goes up.

Now I am struggling with my grip. On my straight-in stop shots, I have a tendency (when shoot from the right side of the table towards the left) to shoot the CB slightly to the right consistently. I am trying to use a pendulum stroke, to keep my grip relaxed, and to only use my first two fingers. However, I can't help but notice there is something going on. Obviously, you readers aren't there in the practice room with me - but is there any advice, drills, or best practices I should try?

Click to expand...

Well, you're using the very fingers that will cause your cue to twist --- the first two. Try using a relaxed fist grip ---That's your entire hand on the cue but relaxed so it doesn't hinder your stroke.

Lockbox said:

Interesting thought - my initial assumption would be the fewer the contact point(s) (i.e., only one finger holding the cue), the more less chance for twisting.

In reality, my default is to put the four fingers on the cue, but to attempt to stay relaxed. It's only when I remember do I remove the last two. I guess my focus either way should be on just staying relaxed?

I'll try to incorporate your suggestions, Fran. Thank you.

Click to expand...

Happy to help. You do have to hang on to the cue as it moves, so with less stability as with just the first two fingers, you will either have to grab the cue to hang on to it or let it fly. The natural instinct would be to grab. In most cases like this, grab = twist.

FranCrimi said:

Happy to help. You do have to hang on to the cue as it moves, so with less stability as with just the first two fingers, you will either have to grab the cue to hang on to it or let it fly. The natural instinct would be to grab. In most cases like this, grab = twist.

Click to expand...

Good advice, listen to this.

Also mind that how you hold your wrist can have a huge impact on twisting or going sideways. Try aligning the back of your hand in the same plane as the top of your forearm so you have a straight line from your knuckles to your elbow, and from there experiment turning your wrist in towards you and out away from you until you find a position where the cue just feels like it wants to fly in a straight line through the CB when you do nothing but hinge your elbow. This will of course be different for everyone depending on how you turn towards the table, how low you get, and how far away from your body you hold the cue. The key is to set up the same way every time and always keep your shoulder and elbow in the same line over the cue, making sure you don't have a chicken wing or an inconsistent wrist. Practicing in a mirror, taking video of yourself, and of course, having an instructor look you over will all help identify which parts of your setup are creating stroke variances.


Slow straight shots are challenging regardless -- remember that when you're straight-in you can still hit firmly and control how far you follow by varying where you put the tip on the CB, hitting a drag shot (e.g. you can start with slight backspin or a sliding CB and control the pace so that the CB picks up only as much roll as you want to control the distance it travels after contact) ...

You can do this to avoid having to slow-roll the CB a long distance in a straight line (really important if you don't know/trust the condition of the table) and reserve the slow rolls for when you have to limit the object ball's pace, like going into a side pocket at a shallow angle or playing a soft safety, combo, or carom.

skipbales said:

I didn't recommend the practice. Personally I prefer the shorter bridge method but it is taught both ways by top pros. If you are going to take the long bridge the key is to not take it all the way back and decelerate.

In watching top players I am always surprised by the number who take a very long bridge for every shot. Certainly that is harder to perfect but it is also the most common at the highest level. I rarely see the top pros take a short bridge. I guess if you are good enough you can pull it off but at the amateur level, clearly the short bridge is the most accurate and easiest to perfect.

Click to expand...

If you use a long bridge, you can "pick up" the cue into your fingers/hand a LITTLE bit on those shorter backstrokes--then you have control stroking forward again. Try it.

Lockbox said:

I'm sorry but what does this even mean? Can you elaborate?

Click to expand...

You bet. In terms of leverage/wrenching vs. ease of leverage/power, think of the cue stick like a lever/seesaw and your bridge hand as the fulcrum. There are three basic "moves" you can make with a long bridge:

1. Backstroke all the way to your fingers, yielding smooth acceleration without needing to apply effort/force consciously.

2. Backstroke part way to your fingers and then either decelerate coming forward or apply conscious effort (I prefer natural as in #1 above).

3. Backstroke part way to your fingers but instead of lunging forward/thrusting awkwardly/stabbing at the cue ball pick up the cue slightly into your hand/close your hand/curl your fingers into your hand. Now you have control of the stick and you'd be amazed at how short a backstroke you can take this way, how long you can pause comfortable at the end of the backstroke, how much power you can apply coming forward again with control.

Many fine players use strokes that slightly change the vertical plane the elbow, hand and/or cue passes along during the stroke. #3 above is like a small loop in the stroke motion.