shoulder dislocation & pool

Ouch. Mine's come out 8 or 9 times. Really the only fix (apart from surgery: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bankart_repair) are those exercises your PT insisted you do and which you probably quit after a couple weeks - internal & external rotations. Keep at that and you'll be plenty stable enough to control your stroke.

But even with a loose shoulder I'd think you should be able to deliver a straight stroke; your arm is hanging straight down, there shouldn't be much of any sideways forces involved. Maybe take another look at your video and focus on what your elbow's doing, instead of your upper arm.

Have you tried seeing a local instructor? AZ may be great for generalize answers, but nothing beats in person interaction. As a generalized advice, are you finishing in the same spot?

Swoop! there it is... ;-)

Our brains have evolved to allow us to effectively manipulate the world around us without even having to really think about it. What I mean specifically is; via trial and error most people will reach a certain level of proficiency at almost any physical test if given enough time. Our brains will just work it out. tell someone that they need to swing their arm to hit a ball while holding a cue your brain will adjust your swing to your body position over time. Eventually you start making balls with more accuracy than when you started.

Most instructors whom I have studied with seem to agree that your arm is located on the outside edge of your body. I suspect they would also agree that your elbow will extend in one plane. The trick is aligning that plane along the path that the cue must travel in order to move the cue ball towards the object ball. Keep in mind I am not a certified instructor but Locally I do help many people with their game.


It seems to me most people's stroking errors tend to stem from poor body alignment I know you said you have tried to adjust your stance but it hasn't helped. It isn't the stance you are using that I am talking about here its really where you put your stance. Although I have never seen you shoot a ball I would suspect that you are stepping back into your stance from the table. Most recreational players seem to ...

Many players will place their hand on the table then take steps back from the table to settle into their stance aiming and adjusting as they go. They then continue to adjust while they get ready to stroke the ball.

When they finally stroke the ball their brain without conscious control moves their hand in whatever path is necessary to strike the cue ball and make the shot. This unconscious control is the swerve you are observing it has to be there because of where you are standing and probably has little or nothing to do with your shoulder. If you want to make the shot from where you are standing your brain will have to adjust the path of the cue in motion in order to hit the cue ball in the right direction.

So how do you fix this?

The shot line is going to be the path the cue ball needs to travel from where its sitting to where it is going. If the cue were floating in space and could move in a straight line along the shot line into the cue ball the cue ball would make the shot every time and we would be magic. Sadly we have to do this with our body which makes the process more complicated.

As I described previously most folks step back from the table into their stance. this is like trying to draw a straight line from the middle out. Lets draw our straight line (shot line) from one end to the other instead.

(I am going to describe this via the point of view of a right handed player)


You can use your cue as an aiming tool if it helps you to sight the shot line. Once you are comfortable with the shot line place your right foot on the on the shot line it is not going to move after you step forward. You are defining the shot line first with your cue then with your right foot and right shoulder (it turns out your right foot is attached to the same side of your body as your right shoulder). The more effectively you do this the more accurate you will be. You will have to pivot your right foot in order to step into the shot. The shot line will be running somewhere across the arch of your foot.

Step forward comfortably and place your bridge hand on the table, on the shot line behind the cue ball. Idealy your cue is now on the shot line and your elbow is aligned on the shot line along its plane of motion.

(This is where some people get crazy. I like SPF I understand that some folks don't thats fine for them)

In this position with the cue at the cue ball you are at your set position or 0 on an imaginary number line that will make up your stroke. The back stroke will be negative numbers and forward stroke will be positive numbers. But remember this location 0 is where you will be hitting the cue ball. Your head eyes and arm are your only moving parts from this point on.

If you move your body forward backward or to either side after this point you will not be hitting the cue ball at 0 where you aimed. (Frequently this is one of the reasons people cannot draw well. They aim then move then stroke higher or lower than they aimed because they moved) When I say don't move your body this includes your wrist and grip. Your cue needs to be resting lightly in your hand. Squeezing the cue tightly will recruit wrist muscles and stabilizer muscles in your shoulder this tension can be a major issue. So rest the cue lightly in your hand and begin your practice strokes.

I dont know if you are familiar with SPF but I am going to skip the p (pause) for now and go straight to the f (finish). Once you start your final stroke you are going to "Finish" with your hand resting lightly on your body in my case with my thumb on a rib under my pectoral. This is kind of a reflection of our earlier concept of drawing our line from one end to the other. We start our final stroke at the back where we change direction and we finish at the front against our body. The path between these two points is a straight line and is primarily traveled via elbow swing. (btw most elbow drop is caused by where on the cue you grip. Grip the cue too far forward and your arm runs out of travel and has to drop the upper arm in order to complete the stroke.)

Obviously stay down on your shot so you can tell what, if anything you did wrong. How does it feel? Did you finish well? Is your wrist twisted? Do you have a death grip on your cue? Did your shoulder hurt (Ideally you shouldn't be using the smaller muscles of your shoulder much so it shouldn't hurt).

To practice set up a straight stop shot into the pocket place a paper hole reinforcement rings on the shot line under the cue ball, under the object ball and 3 or 4 inches in front and behind the cue ball. After the shot look down is your cue in line over the whole reinforcement rings? Is you foot on the shot line? Is your hand resting against your body? This practice will help develop a Kinesthetic image for this process in your mind and muscle memory. Its a way of training your mind on a simplified micro level to understand the motion. Like a batting cage or a driving range.

Good luck hope I could help.

Where do you live that you cannot find someone locally? Are there poolhalls, snooker parlors, or carom billiard rooms? Are you willing to post a video?

z0nt0n3r said:

well i don't think there is a certified coach in my country & i don't even have the money for coaching.i have seen a number of times where my tip is finishing to the left after delivery which is caused by the upper arm side to side movement but i don't know what to do to fix this

Click to expand...