Tip gap and grip position

L

Lockbox

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I'm not even sure what my question is. However, my warm ups consist of stopshots, draw shots and follow shots - all straight in. I notice that I am most inconsistent with the follow shots.

My thinking is that when I ground my tip on stop shots/draw shots, I have an accurate/better gauge of where my grip should be such that it will be at the bottom of the pendulum at contact.

However, on follow shots, I don't ground my tip. I try to get it close to the cue ball and adjust my grip accordingly. My grip usually ends up much more "forward" (towards the tip) on the follow shots despite having a similar bridge length as on stop and draw shots.

Any advice on how to improve consistency on follow shots? I've also noticed that i'm much more consistent with an open bridge than closed, but I typically force myself to try to use a stable closed bridge in order to improve it.
 
BilliardsAbout

BilliardsAbout

BondFanEvents.com
Silver Member
Lockbox said:
I'm not even sure what my question is. However, my warm ups consist of stopshots, draw shots and follow shots - all straight in. I notice that I am most inconsistent with the follow shots.

My thinking is that when I ground my tip on stop shots/draw shots, I have an accurate/better gauge of where my grip should be such that it will be at the bottom of the pendulum at contact.

However, on follow shots, I don't ground my tip. I try to get it close to the cue ball and adjust my grip accordingly. My grip usually ends up much more "forward" (towards the tip) on the follow shots despite having a similar bridge length as on stop and draw shots.

Any advice on how to improve consistency on follow shots? I've also noticed that i'm much more consistent with an open bridge than closed, but I typically force myself to try to use a stable closed bridge in order to improve it.
Click to expand...

There are three ways to adjust tip gap, and two of them are wrong:

1. Adjust the grip arm/hand
2. Slide the bridge hand forward
3. Stand the correct distance from the ball

I'll let you consider what I've said and experiment.
 
BC21

BC21

https://www.playpoolbetter.com
Gold Member
Silver Member
BilliardsAbout said:
There are three ways to adjust tip gap, and two of them are wrong:

1. Adjust the grip arm/hand
2. Slide the bridge hand forward
3. Stand the correct distance from the ball

I'll let you consider what I've said and experiment.
Click to expand...

Good post!
 
L

Lockbox

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
BilliardsAbout said:
There are three ways to adjust tip gap, and two of them are wrong:

1. Adjust the grip arm/hand
2. Slide the bridge hand forward
3. Stand the correct distance from the ball

I'll let you consider what I've said and experiment.
Click to expand...

While it would seem to me where one stands would be fundamentally important, i'm not quite sure that you can equivocally say that two of your statements are wrong, per se.

Nevertheless, my issue deals with the differences between hitting low on the cue ball vs. high on the cue ball. It would be wrong to have your grip and bridge on the same part of the cue, right? This is assuming that at address, using a pendulum stroke, you want your grip hand to be perpendicular to the plane of the table.
 
Tony_in_MD

Tony_in_MD

You want some of this?
Silver Member
Find your natural bridge distance and back hand location that has your forearm perpendicualar to the floor. Put a small rubber band on your cue where your index finger touches.

That should help you at least setup the same for each shot.


Lockbox said:
I'm not even sure what my question is. However, my warm ups consist of stopshots, draw shots and follow shots - all straight in. I notice that I am most inconsistent with the follow shots.

My thinking is that when I ground my tip on stop shots/draw shots, I have an accurate/better gauge of where my grip should be such that it will be at the bottom of the pendulum at contact.

However, on follow shots, I don't ground my tip. I try to get it close to the cue ball and adjust my grip accordingly. My grip usually ends up much more "forward" (towards the tip) on the follow shots despite having a similar bridge length as on stop and draw shots.

Any advice on how to improve consistency on follow shots? I've also noticed that i'm much more consistent with an open bridge than closed, but I typically force myself to try to use a stable closed bridge in order to improve it.
Click to expand...
 
L

Lockbox

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Tony_in_MD said:
Find your natural bridge distance and back hand location that has your forearm perpendicualar to the floor. Put a small rubber band on your cue where your index finger touches.

That should help you at least setup the same for each shot.
Click to expand...

I have to be honest, I think this is a great tip. I'll try it out next time i'm at the table. Obviously, this would imply that the bridge position vis-a-vis its distance to the cue ball should be the same each time, but that shouldn't be an issue.
 
S

Scott Lee

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Do not listen to this BS. Nothing is absolutely right or wrong about anything pool. The trick is to find what works best for you, and that you can make consistent in your process. Why is it that you have to belittle people Matt? :nono:

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

BilliardsAbout said:
There are three ways to adjust tip gap, and two of them are wrong:

1. Adjust the grip arm/hand
2. Slide the bridge hand forward
3. Stand the correct distance from the ball

I'll let you consider what I've said and experiment.
Click to expand...
 
S

Scott Lee

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Lockbox...Tony is correct. This is one way that we "train" our grip hand to hold the cue in the same place for most SOP (normal) shots..whether we're cueing at center draw or follow. When your hand falls directly under the cue, and your tip is touching the CB, is the correct place to hold it. You must learn to get your tip very close (under 1/2 inch) to the CB at ball address. This verifies where you're aiming on the CB. Then pull the tip back to your hand, pause, and swing the grip hand to the chest...without tightening up on the cuestick. The tip will always end up on or near the cloth, even cueing extreme top, if you finish your stroke the same way. The higher you stand over the cue, the more likely your tip touches the cloth when you're done. :thumbup:

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

Lockbox said:
I have to be honest, I think this is a great tip. I'll try it out next time i'm at the table. Obviously, this would imply that the bridge position vis-a-vis its distance to the cue ball should be the same each time, but that shouldn't be an issue.
Click to expand...
 
F

FranCrimi

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Have someone measure, as precisely as possible, your bridge length at setup from bridge hand to the impact point on the cue ball, including the gap, for each of the three types of shots you shoot in practice. Was the bridge length different at your top spin setup?
 
Last edited:
F

FranCrimi

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Tony_in_MD said:
Find your natural bridge distance and back hand location that has your forearm perpendicualar to the floor. Put a small rubber band on your cue where your index finger touches.

That should help you at least setup the same for each shot.
Click to expand...

I understand the logic in recommending this as an exercise but the problem I have with that is that it's not realistic to set up every shot with the same bridge length. Different shots require different bridge lengths. Even for something as basic as top spin vs. back spin --- a player may feel more confident lengthening or shortening their bridge length for various reasons.
 
BilliardsAbout

BilliardsAbout

BondFanEvents.com
Silver Member
Scott Lee said:
Do not listen to this BS. Nothing is absolutely right or wrong about anything pool. The trick is to find what works best for you, and that you can make consistent in your process. Why is it that you have to belittle people Matt? :nono:

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
Click to expand...

I didn't belittle anyone. I'm not aware that anyone teaches 1 or 2. If you do, and you'd like to discuss it, let's discuss it.
 
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