Variability of fundamentals in pool

nibrobus

nibrobus

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I was just thinking about how different people's playing styles in pool are compared to snooker and 3 cushion.

Snooker players of course tend to have a very square stance, chin low/touching the cue, primarily open bridge even on power shots, and very deliberate (for lack of a better word) stroke.

3 cushion players tend to have more of an upright stance, stand less square to the shot, and it appears that they tend to grip the cue tighter as well (from simple visual observation).

I understand that pool, snooker, and 3 cushion are all different games and require their own set of fundamentals for the type of shots a player will face. I was just wondering why pool seems to have such divergent styles compared to the other 2 cue sports. You'll see widely varying degrees of head elevation over the cue, different stroking styles, and stances; why isn't there a "standard" set of pool fundamentals?

I remember hearing about pool academies/schools in Asia where young kids can go to train and receive structured coaching. Do these schools teach a set of pool fundamentals or do they allow the students to sort of find their own stance/stroke that works for them, and rather focus on things like shotmaking, pattern play, safeties, etc?
 
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Cameron Smith

is kind of hungry...
Silver Member
My guess would be the lack of prevalence of coaching in pool. I know coaching exists, but it's not quite the same as in snooker where we know that Shaun Murphy works with Chris Henry and Mark Allen works on and off with Terry Griffiths, for example. You see a bit more uniformity in pool in China and Taiwan where there is coaching and they get instruction early in their careers. But without coaching, players tend to find their own style which may or may not ultimately work for them.

But the days of one size fits all in snooker are pretty much gone. We are seeing more varied stances and cue actions in snooker these days compared to the '90s when a lot of players tried to emulate Steve Davis. But one of the reasons why cue actions in snooker tend to look more similar to each other is that you just can't pot balls as a beginner without focusing on a straight cue action. Whereas in pool, you can at least get by in your first year with good alignment and a wonky cue action. As the player gets better, their cue action at least straightens out as it hits the cue ball.

I can't speak much for 3 cushions, but I feel like there are variations in strokes and stances. Though most players do stand more upright, but I think that has a lot to do with trying to see the path of the cue ball during their practice strokes. In snooker, I tend to have my head positioned a bit higher on some kicks.
 
nibrobus

nibrobus

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Cameron Smith said:
My guess would be the lack of prevalence of coaching in pool. I know coaching exists, but it's not quite the same as in snooker where we know that Shaun Murphy works with Chris Henry and Mark Allen works on and off with Terry Griffiths, for example. You see a bit more uniformity in pool in China and Taiwan where there is coaching and they get instruction early in their careers. But without coaching, players tend to find their own style which may or may not ultimately work for them.

But the days of one size fits all in snooker are pretty much gone. We are seeing more varied stances and cue actions in snooker these days compared to the '90s when a lot of players tried to emulate Steve Davis. But one of the reasons why cue actions in snooker tend to look more similar to each other is that you just can't pot balls as a beginner without focusing on a straight cue action. Whereas in pool, you can at least get by in your first year with good alignment and a wonky cue action. As the player gets better, their cue action at least straightens out as it hits the cue ball.

I can't speak much for 3 cushions, but I feel like there are variations in strokes and stances. Though most players do stand more upright, but I think that has a lot to do with trying to see the path of the cue ball during their practice strokes. In snooker, I tend to have my head positioned a bit higher on some kicks.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input! Do you have the names of some snooker players that deviate from the more classic snooker style? I would like to see some video of their approach for comparison.
 
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Cameron Smith

is kind of hungry...
Silver Member
nibrobus said:
Thanks for the input! Do you have the names of some snooker players that deviate from the more classic snooker style? I would like to see some video of their approach for comparison.
Click to expand...

Kyren Wilson has a crouched stance, Luca Brecel is another player with an a-typical stance and longer than normal cue action. Mark Allen has his own style entirely. Gary Wilson has an interesting head position.

Not all top players have totally straight cue actions either, though you need to see down the cue to notice it. But Stuart Bingham is an example of a player pulls his cue a bit to the side on his backstroke.

Those are some that I can think of off the top of my heard.
 
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