open and closed bridge
- Thread starter phildozer
- Start date
Rail bridge.
Closed bridge from on the rail.
Open bridge from on the rail.
Bridging over balls.
Bridging on a pocket liner.
Bridging when shooting down a rail.
Just a few off the top of my head, and I'm no Scott Lee. :grin-square:
Besides Open and Closed bridges, there is the rail bridge, the extended rail bridge and the tripod. There are variations on each of these for specific issues, but these are the 5 primary bridges. Oh yeah, don't forget the mechanical bridge. It deserves as much attention as any of them.
Steve
Steve
Mr. Wiggles: Would you give us a strong opinion on:
1. Why do Instructors teach the open hand bridge and what are it's strengths?
2. Why do Instructors teach the closed hand bridge and what are it's strengths?
Thank you
randyg
bridging over balls
Bridging over balls is the toughest for me. Elaboration would be appreciated.
Bridging over balls is the toughest for me. Elaboration would be appreciated.
I think it is rare that a person can distinguish an adjustment of 1/2 of 1 mm with repeatable accuracy. Less and more sure till it looks right but to say i'm going to move my hand 1/2 of 1 mm and accurately do just that, seems to be unlikely.
Have you measured deliberate and purposeful adjustments to within 1/2mm in a large number of people of varying skill levels? Just curious.
No, I haven't.
Most people don't aim deliberately in my experience. They will make slight subconscious adjustments to make the shot feel right. What is clear is that they can get their bridge hands placed well enough to make, for example, spot shots. A typical good amateur player can make more than half of the spot shots he shoots. To make a spot shot, the bridge hand must be placed within a very small left-right range. I think that range is smaller than most will achieve in initial placement, so my conclusion (hypothesis) is that most players make adjustments after initial hand placement. This adjustment could be entirely in the fingers so the base of the hand doesn't move.
Here's the geometry (neglecting a slight correction for cut angle):
![CropperCapture[6].png](https://forums.azbilliards.com/data/attachments/122/122132-926f1d4b96f7ee858655a4386dfc8bff.jpg "CropperCapture[6].png")
Closed bridge
Not going to butt heads with probably the number one instructor on az. I will try and make a feeble attempt to answer your questions. But I do feel that same feeling I got the only time I ever spoke with an FBI agent. He already knew the answers to his questions. You teach the open bridge because you have to start somewhere and it's relatively easy for most. You teach the closed bridge later in someones career as another important bridge they should try and learn so they can progress even further. More bullets in your gun. As for the strengths of each, I won't attempt to go there. So you tell us. Merry Christmas to all the instructors and thanks for all the info.
And Merry Christmas to you also.
Great come back.
Foremost all of our new students are explained and demonstrated both bridges along with three other types.
IMO the Open Hand bridges allows unrestricted sighting much like a rifle barrel. For an Instructor the Open Hand bridge may reveal some stroking errors that could happen. Makes the healing process that much quicker.
A Closed Hand bridge may hide some stroking errors. We would like to see our students use both bridges in these different situations. When shooting "Follow", and Open Hand bridge is about all you need, very good sighting on both cue ball and target. When we pick up our speed or go to "Draw" the cue ball a Closed Hand bridge might assist in keeping any error to a minimum.
Naturally with a good stroke any bridge should work effectively.
Personally I use an Open Hand about 60-70% of my shots. I like to follow the cue ball as I feel it is more predictable. For stop shots and draw I go right to a variable Closed Hand Bridge. I actually have three different Closed Hand bridges for different situations.
SPF=randyg
Closed bridge to Randy G.
Thanks Randy. I see your analogy of sighting down the barrel with an open bridge, but more like a shotgun than a rifle. I have always been a standup shooter, not way up but about halfway up and I keep going higher the older I get! That's actually common in older players. I tried the chin on the cue thing years ago but I could not stay there. That being said, I don't get that look you speak of. I really think I see a great overall pic that you can't get being down low! I certainly would never advise anyone to adopt a stand up style, and I bet you have to teach people to get down. Three closed bridges? Makes me wonder if I have multiples. Can't really see myself while playing so it's hard to say. 60-70 percent open bridge! Thought it would be just about the reverse. I may do my own survey on my bridge just to see where I am on that. By the way what do you think of the MONK and his books and videos? Don't really hear much about him on az. Have a great holiday and stay off az Christmas day! I've already been warned by my wife!!!
Thanks Randy. I see your analogy of sighting down the barrel with an open bridge, but more like a shotgun than a rifle. I have always been a standup shooter, not way up but about halfway up and I keep going higher the older I get! That's actually common in older players. I tried the chin on the cue thing years ago but I could not stay there. That being said, I don't get that look you speak of. I really think I see a great overall pic that you can't get being down low! I certainly would never advise anyone to adopt a stand up style, and I bet you have to teach people to get down. Three closed bridges? Makes me wonder if I have multiples. Can't really see myself while playing so it's hard to say. 60-70 percent open bridge! Thought it would be just about the reverse. I may do my own survey on my bridge just to see where I am on that. By the way what do you think of the MONK and his books and videos? Don't really hear much about him on az. Have a great holiday and stay off az Christmas day! I've already been warned by my wife!!!
when making a bridge wether open or closed........the hand must be like water.....you put your hand upon the rail and it becomes the rail.....you put your hand on the table it becomes the table....
theres another closed bridge I think they refer to it as a stacked bridge? I could be incorrect on the terminology but I use it on the rare occasion.
Sang Lee used this bridge quite a bit playing 3cush......
no matter what you just have to learn to get your hand comfortable and stable where you place it and use it. Some places are a tighter fit so your typical bridge styles will have to be "modified" to work most of which comes by way of varying the position of the "SET" fingers in the bridge that form the foundation.
-Grey Ghost-
theres another closed bridge I think they refer to it as a stacked bridge? I could be incorrect on the terminology but I use it on the rare occasion.
Sang Lee used this bridge quite a bit playing 3cush......
no matter what you just have to learn to get your hand comfortable and stable where you place it and use it. Some places are a tighter fit so your typical bridge styles will have to be "modified" to work most of which comes by way of varying the position of the "SET" fingers in the bridge that form the foundation.
-Grey Ghost-
The Pearl finger extenders!!
Saw Earl the Pearl on mosconi cup using fingers extenders. He likes equipment you know. Looked like surgical tape, not real fancy but it gave him really long fingers for a really high bridge. He better put a patent on them or someone will be selling them soon. Maybe me.
Saw Earl the Pearl on mosconi cup using fingers extenders. He likes equipment you know. Looked like surgical tape, not real fancy but it gave him really long fingers for a really high bridge. He better put a patent on them or someone will be selling them soon. Maybe me.
you need to spread your base fingers more.......IF you can in the situation when your jacked up on the shot.....besides that you just need to practice it more and gain more comfort being in that position b/c its not always easy and sometimes you have to plain old make up a new bridge on the fly to be able to get to a shot.
I could probably think of a dozen bridge variations with no problem......i know there are a set handful we need to be familiar with and stuff but there are tons more b/c the hand goes where the hand can fit.....sometimes we have the benefit of the space being enough for whatever bridge we choose....but sometimes the space chooses the bridge, and sometimes there aint no bridge you've ever used thats going to work in that space.....
play jazz make some thing happen...........
open
i use open almost all the time. no problem. if i use a closed bridge its usually stacked which i picked up playin as a youngster. small hands make for some creative solutions. full table draw is no problem. also my bridge length is something like 16-18 inches if i have the room. except in 3c,lol
cheers
i use open almost all the time. no problem. if i use a closed bridge its usually stacked which i picked up playin as a youngster. small hands make for some creative solutions. full table draw is no problem. also my bridge length is something like 16-18 inches if i have the room. except in 3c,lol
cheers
If it's comfortable for you, try resting your bridge elbow on the table. It helps keep the bridge stable for jump shots as well.
I actually do this quite often. I feel it helps me to have my upper body in the same position...consistently. Whereas, if you don't rest your bridge elbow on the table, then you have to have your feet placed in the same position and back bent at the same angle on every shot.
So, for you baseline stroke/stance/shot which should be your highest majority of shots, you need to be aligned the same way consistently.
I find having my bridge elbow resting on the table will have my shoulders at the same elevation on a consistent basis.
So, I line up my shot with the same bridge length, my shoulders are at the same elevation, and I rest my cue on the rail and elevate just enough to clear my grip hand of the rail. And this gives me a very good baseline stroke/stance/shot.
If you're bridging up on your fingertips to shoot over the ball, shift more of your weight forward in the stance so you're pressing firmly down into your bridge hand. Your fingertips will settle a bit and your hand will feel more solidly place. Leaning into your bridge hand will generally give you more stability on the bridge, but it may alter some other part of your stance, so definitely practice with it.