Help with stroke so I can quit embarrassing myself

Not sure this will help, I've always had a problem with hitting the cue ball in the center. Took me years to realize it, it looks to me like I'm hitting the center but I'm actually putting left english on the cue ball. It's some kind of optical illusion, I guess. I've been working on making myself cue up as though I was going to put right english on the cue ball. It's never made any difference what bridge I used, just how I cued the ball.

I would guess ur vision center is off causing u to think ur hitting center. Dr. Dave has a lot of info. on vision center and finding center cue ball. Google Dr. Dave pool.

Pro Tip: The very top and very bottom of the cue ball are at it's vertical center.

Start there.

You should see if you can find an instructor as they should be able to pinpoint your issues and get your stroke straightened out.

For starters, you could try moving your bridging hand closer to the cue ball to ensure a more accurate hit.
Then once you've worked on your alignment/vision center/stroke or whatever is causing you problem, you'll be able move your bridge hand further and further away and still deliver the cue accurately.

I'm not good by any means in my opinion but I used to do it a lot more often and for me its because my stance is a bit off so my body isn't sturdy so I can move around a bit. Same thing with the bridge you use make sure it's stable on the table and doesn't move around too much

A similar issue popped up on me where I was putting a hair of inadvertent right english on the ball.

I doubt that I ever would have really noticed it had I not started playing one pocket.

I made some adjustments that I thought might be the issue but what it ultimately was was that I had become left eye dominant as opposed to being right eye dominant for 4+ decades, or at least I thought that I was.

Anyway,

There is a thread by Sam Lambert regarding a similar issue & the help that he received from Gene Albretch & his Perfect Aim.

I would recommend Gene & what he knows to everyone even if just to make sure that one does not have an issue.

Good Luck with finding YOUR solution.

Dont think like that. All of us began somewhere. Start with soft easy stroke. Cue ball on head spot, softly drive cue ball into the footrail and back. Try to make it come back and pass through the head spot again. Repeat until result achieved. START SLOW AND SOFT.

Okay, it sounds to me like you're bringing your back hand in towards your body as you stroke the shot.

I would try to do the drill where you put one of those paper ring holes right in front of the ball, then try to touch it with your cue tip as you stroke.

I have the opposite tendency...to put an inadvertent left spin on the cue ball. I was cutting the balls to the right because of it. Focusing on putting the cue straight ahead has really helped.

Good luck.

Use Bert Kinister's drills...he has a 60 minute workout video with shots to develop a stroke...The Shot is Shot #1...google him..he has a website.

Here is a video of him doing the Shot #1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRHbgzNYIw4

This shot will change you game..do it everyday.

MoneyMakin52 said:

Use Bert Kinister's drills...he has a 60 minute workout video with shots to develop a stroke...The Shot is Shot #1...google him..he has a website.

Here is a video of him doing the Shot #1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRHbgzNYIw4

This shot will change you game..do it everyday.

Click to expand...

Bert is a hoot to watch and listen to. What a character. Great information, no doubt.

Sorry no one can tell you what your doing wrong without video but there are some shots that will let you work on getting consistent. two simple shots to shoot over and over until you want to stab yourself in the eye.

1) Put the cue ball on the spot and shoot it the length of the table aiming for the center diamond and have roll back straight at your tip. It's simple but pro snooker players do it for hours for a reason.

2)Long straight shot that your trying to draw straight back at your tip. vary the distance to make it a longer and longer shot.

Both these simple shots require exact tip placement to do over and over.

You're saying it's happening occasionally which leads me to believe you understand what the vertical center/center cue ball is and where it is. If you're putting right English on shots sometimes then it means your grip hand is not moving straight back and forth.

This inconsistency in your stroke would be emphasized on certain shots for you so my assumption is that this is only happening to you on specific shots. Could be on shots where you're trying to draw the cue back, etc. I don't know because there's no video.

Assuming that your grip/shoulder/elbow are the problem with your stroke then you'll find several responses you've gotten to be helpful.

Something I find helpful when my stroke starts acting up is I line up two ball dead straight into the side pocket. Then when I get down to shoot, I just forget about aiming and all that. I line myself up to make it comfortable to stroke the cue through the cue ball into the object ball. It's hard to describe, but what I'm trying to do is get that feeling doing of a long, dead straight stroke.

I also do the same thing from corner to corner. I set up a very long shot, and then I really concentrate on driving the cue dead straight through the cue ball to the object ball. Once I've done that a dozen times, it really starts feeling like my stroke gets grooved, and it's easier for me to feel when I'm pulling offline (most often because I setup wrong, and then I try moving my head and body around to compensate....and that never really works for me).

To get one

Stroke has to be developed. Practice at the kitchen table several times a day. Stroke into starbucks coffee jar then get it down to 16oz plastic bottle. Its takes several thousand strokes to make some permanent improvement. Just do it. It works.

Break and One said:

Hey everyone. I am hoping for a little help with my stoke. I know it can be a little difficult because i have no pics/video of my stoke. Hopefully you guys can give me a little insight on some ideas to try.

Here is the issue,I am occasionally putting right english on my shots. I don't know how or why of course. And it is not consistent at all. It just happens sometime. I do not seem to notice any left english ever being put on the ball mainly just right. I would say maybe one out of three shots. I shot with a measles cue ball at home and notice the spin.

I normally shoot with a closed bridge but have tried an open bridge and do use an open bridge on shots that i need to stretch and the bridge seems to make no difference. Also i have recently moved where I place my back hand, from the bottom of the wrap to the cue butt. That also made no difference.

The reason I say so I can quit embarrassing myself is that the two weeks that i have been in a league on the lag. I have shot on the left hand side. Both times my cue ball has hit the opposing rail and english takes affect and i have hit my opponents ball.

Any help is appreciated.

Click to expand...

hmmm

Shoot a ball from the spot, straight up and down the table until it comes straight back to your tip. I favor right hand english because my vision center was off for so long. Your cue probably need to be under your right eye a little more. I bet you do it a lot when cutting balls to the left. As an experiment, trying lining up normally with right English and shoot shots with center, see what happens. If you make the shots there is a good chance you are using right because of your eyes not your stroke.

If this is really a stroke issue or is a combination of the two: Place an object ball on the second diamond after the side pocket and the cue ball on the diamond before the side pocket. Shoot this shot with draw and follow, over and over and over. Its best practiced on a tight table because stroke errors will cause you to miss but it helps you see what you are doing to the cue ball and where you are missing.

A couple training aids you may want to look into are the QMD (www.cue-md.com) and the Third Eye Trainer (www.joetucker.net/product/3rd-eye-stroke-trainer).

The stroke.

I would find an instructor that can help you with your stroke, they can help you develop a straight stroke and find "center cue ball" Denny Stewart is in OH and he is a Master instructor and a great guy to work with.

I had a stroke problem and contacted Scott Lee, it opened my eyes to a whole new world of pool and cut years off of learning process. This is coming from a guy that thought he new a lot about pool when in fact I didn't know what I didn't know! :thumbup:

1.) Setup a spot shot to the center diamond of the head rail.
2.) Setup a doughnut (paper reinforcement sticker) or mark your table about 4 inches in front of the spot.
3.) Put a piece of masking tape on the cue ball and put a small dot on it with a pin or marker.
4.) Set the dot dead center facing you as you shoot and chalk up good.
5.) Take the shoot, don't move so you can see if your stick is over the spot and the mark in front of it.
6.) Get the cue ball and look at the spot you marked on it. Is your chalk mark right/left/high/low or dead on?

If possible setup a video camera to record this. Take note of your aim line, stick line on that aim line, your back elbow and your head. Did any of it move up/down left/right during your stroke?

Taking 5 and 6 along with video will help you determine the problem. In a nutshell, I am going to say you need to really evaluate your stroke from start to finish and if possible it would a good idea to get an instructor to help you.

I am guessing a combination of 2 things are happening. 1 you are not actually hitting center of the ball and 2 you are sweeping the cue as you stroke. If you are dropping your elbow or lifting your head it will cause you to hit higher or lower on the ball, not left or right unless you are sweeping from center as you do it.