staying down on the shot?

I try to not get up until the cue ball stops moving unless it is going to cross the path of my cue. Sort of a goal on each shot. Seems to work a little better than just thinking stay down. Doesn't work so well on stop shots though.

Also, before a match, I'll hit a few shots in the side and take the cue ball two rails back toward me and don't move until the cue ball gets back to me. Gets my mind in that zone I guess.

I'm not a pool instructor but I would recommend on shots where the object ball and pocket aren't in your line of sight focus on the cue ball striking the object ball and not watch it go in the pocket. The analogy is if you're 'peeking" to see if you made the shot you probably "didn't".

Allison Fisher has a good explanation of why she stays down so long after a shot its to make sure she can see "why" (if she missed) as well as follow through.

Something I do when I catch myself jumping is to stay in place until the cue ball has left my line of sight. I hear people using a counting method but that never worked for me.

The version of staying down I use when practicing is staying in place until the object ball goes in the pocket and cue ball stop moving (obviously don't let balls run into your cue or arm).

Tony Robles had a article on Billiard digest he said play some racks where you scatter 15 balls and you shoot any ball but if you move before everything (cue ball and object ball) stops moving you lost.

If your still jumping check to see if you feel balanced in your stance. If your off balance your making it hard on yourself.

If you're familiar with firearms the cardinal sin is shooting and quickly looking to see if the round hit the target. Key to follow through is seeing your sights "after" the shot breaks with pool it's seeing the cue ball strike the object ball.

Some hacker named Nick...

Varner told me if you stay down long enough to see the cue ball hit the OB that is long enough. Good enough for him good enough for me, you just have to practice it, like everything eles..Why cant it just be simple...

..................

I'm a little drunk (or shittered as the kids say these days) right now so I hope this makes some sense.

But...just focus on keeping still on your backstroke, and it will go a looooooogn way to ensuring you stroke the ball properly it work for times

One thing I focus on when I'm feeling a little funny at the table, is before getting up, I check to see if the follow through is in line with were I was aiming. IMO once you see that, there's no need to stay down any longer, the shot is well over and I stayed down during the stroke.

Dave

instroke2 said:

While practicing...

I am trying to get into the habit of watching the object ball go into the pocket. And even to watch exactly what part of the pocket the left, middle or right side. But when I am playing a game i can't seem to force myself to do this... how do you guys do this?

Click to expand...

to stay down more effectively you have to learn to stop watching where the balls go.. you should already know where they are going.. so keep your eyes focused on your aiming point .. even after the balls are gone.

don't be a spectator on your own shots

hope that helps

In Training or Practice: After every shot, CHECK YOUR TIP. It should be still always be in the same spot, pointing to the target, level or dipping down. That split second is all you need to help stay down.....SPF=randyg

instroke2 said:

While practicing...

I am trying to get into the habit of watching the object ball go into the pocket. And even to watch exactly what part of the pocket the left, middle or right side. But when I am playing a game i can't seem to force myself to do this... how do you guys do this?

Click to expand...

Don't watch the balls go into the pocket. If you do, you are not staying down long enough. You should only look up after your cue has made a complete follow through and has stopped.

If you pull up in a real game, then you are NOT practicing enough staying down on the shot. You must do this constantly in practice (and while playing) until it becomes so engrained it is second nature.

You can also practice staying down at work. Stay bent over where ever your walk, moving only your eyes to nagivate your vision. DO NOT USE THIS METHOD IN A GAY BAR!

Don't move your head. It's not about saying down or jumping up, it's about not moving your head. Keep your head absolutely, perfectly still while stroking through the cueball keeping your eyes focused on the contact point of the object ball until contact. Simplify everything in your mind by just keeping your head still. Don't worry about staying down or jumping up, just keep your head perfectly still while shooting and you'll see an immediate difference.

instroke2 said:

While practicing...

I am trying to get into the habit of watching the object ball go into the pocket. And even to watch exactly what part of the pocket the left, middle or right side. But when I am playing a game i can't seem to force myself to do this... how do you guys do this?

Click to expand...

Hi there,
I'm having a hard time not answering the questions that players are answering on this site. I feel like I have become an AZ'er 100%. The reason that people jump up or twist is one of 2 things. Either you didn't have the shot aimed right in the first place or you are not looking at the object ball last when you are shooting the shot. Either one will sabatoge your shot.
If you are a bowler and let's say you throw a curve ball. You aim at one of the arrows on the alley. Your right handed and when you throw the ball and for some reason you can tell you missed the mark to the right just before you let go of the ball. At that last second you give the ball a little twist to get it to curve a little more so it has a chance to get to the pocket for a strike.
Aiming a pool shot is the same thing. When you miss a shot or jump it usually didn't look quite right either before the shot or during. Your mind is trying to correct but it doesn't even know which way to correct. The whole shot turns into a disaster. All your mind knows is it didn't look right and something has to be done or you will miss the shot but unlike bowling where sometimes you can save the shot with pool it is past the point of return.
I get a kick out of this. Sometimes when I shoot a shot and I jump up and someone will tell me you missed the shot because you jumped up. If they could see what I saw I didn't feel comfortable with the shot right from the start. The reason I jumped up was the shot didn't look right from the beginning. The reason I jumped up was I didn't have it aimed right. Bottom Line,............................... Have a great pool day Geno.
If you take care of having the shot aimed perfect and looking at the object ball last, now you will be able to stay down with no problem.

Forget not jumping up-just concentrate on leaving your bridge hand on the table. You wont jump up if your bridge hand stays put.

I give you a tip that i did that helped me when i catch myself standing up on a shot. While down and executing your shot, take another practice stroke. Simple teaches your to stay down and finish your shot, plus helps with the stroke.

A cement block hovering 18 inches over the entire span of table works for me.

Freezing in your finish position gives you the opportunity to learn something from the shot. Checking your tip position, grip hand position and cue alignment will help you understand if your stroke was fundamentally correct. If you know your stroke was good, but you missed, then you can be pretty sure you aimed at the wrong place. If you don't bother to check your stroke, if you do miss, you don't know why you missed.

If I miss, I never have to ask myself "how did I miss that shot?". I can stand up and KNOW why I missed it.

Valuable information if you want to get better.

Steve

As we intently discuss this subject, I ask you to watch Efren video footage. His head rises during the shot almost everytime!

Still, staying down is key for most of us, but I would say don't overthink it if you are shooting well. If you aree shooting poor, work on that.

. . .but I am wierd. For me, follow through and staying ddown are about fixing my focus on the cueball, striking it at the exact spot and seeing my cue go through it.

nksmfamjp said:

As we intently discuss this subject, I ask you to watch Efren video footage. His head rises during the shot almost everytime!

Still, staying down is key for most of us, but I would say don't overthink it if you are shooting well. If you aree shooting poor, work on that.

. . .but I am wierd. For me, follow through and staying ddown are about fixing my focus on the cueball, striking it at the exact spot and seeing my cue go through it.

Click to expand...

Do you keep your eyes focused on the cue ball through the entire stroke routine???? SPF=randyg