Evaluate my stroke - do I turn my wrist?

You may benefit from making your backswing slower if not for your practice strokes and final backswing then just for the final backswing. I didn't notice a twist in your wrist in the 2nd video.

Besides slowing down your backstroke, try to find a colored paper adhesive dot, and put it on your ferrule. When you setup orient it straight up. At the finish of your stroke see if it is in the same orientation. This will tell you if you are twisting your wrist any.

As far as other advise I really need to view both videos again and more carefully. I have questions about you allowing your stroke to finish naturally that I need to look at some more.

Your grip is too far back on the cue. You should move it forward an inch or two.

As for your thumb, I don't see it pointing down. It seems to be curling around the cue. You're using your thumb and 2nd finger to grab the cue and you're releasing the back part of your hand.

I prefer the opposite, but that's a matter of personal taste.

pleforowicz...Just another point of view. I watched both videos very carefully, pausing several times with your tip at the CB. Your grip is NOT too far back. Most of the time it is perfectly perpendicular to the cuestick when the tip is at the CB. On a couple of shots you were actually a little ahead of perpendicular at contact. In the longer video I noticed a lot of up and down movement of your elbow, which means you're engaging the shoulder (not something that is valuable in a pendulum swing). There was none in the shorter video. Looks to me like you let the cue actually slide in your grip hand a couple of times...that's okay, but again unnecessary. Good process (looks like you have a good natural finish against your chest)...try to pause longer at the CB, before you do your last backswing, and still have a smooth transition to the forward accelerated stroke. I didn't see any twisting of your wrist, but Tony's suggestion of the sticky dot on your ferrule will tell for sure! Keep up the good work! :thumbup:

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

pleforowicz said:

Hello everybody,

I have been using a pendulum stroke for a month or so and I decided to change the cue grip with the thumb pointed straight down ( as suggested by greyghost), as I was very inconsistent with the previous one. I've noticed a significant improvement and to make sure it's not just a good run I would like you to judge whether or not my cue and wrist action in each of the shots look more or less OK.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAjbGDzzUDc&feature=youtu.be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SfkxzzGkDU - 2 shots with camera focusing on the wrist/elbow action.

I know i don't pause but im going to work on it in the nearest future .

Every object ball ended up in a pocket, though some of the shots were not-so-straight.

I appreciate any feedback. Thanks in advance !

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Yes, original poster, your grip is just a tad too far back and your arm swings up a bit in your backstroke. It's not much but it's enough to make a difference. I hope you consider the adjustment I recommended.

Since one PBIA Master Instuctor is definitively contradicting another PBIA Master Instructor, I took a look, but I am not a 'certified' instructor at all.

It is difficult to tell for sure if you have any wrist roll from that veiwpoint, but non is apparent. The marking the ferrule thing should tell you for sure.

I would ask, how tall are you & what is your sleeve length. You might be better suited to a longer cue. The way you set the tip down so far behind the cue ball & then the way you go into the set up makes it difficult to tell for sure where your back hand should be relative to the set up in many of the vids of those shots, but it appears that you are holding the cue farther back than most would be. That is why my questions regarding your height & sleeve length. The fact that you said that some of the shots were not made dead center when you were trying for that tells me that there must be some issue. I would suggest that you send in another video from behind the pocket & also from behind the stick.

Best Wishes,

pleforowicz said:

I'm 188 cm tall - 6'2 more or less I guess. With regard to sleeve length I can't recall having had it measured. Gonna do this soon.

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If you have a yard or meter stick or a tape measure, it's from the shoulder joint to the wrist along the outside of the arm.

Do you foul on the cue ball often?

Why so many 'practice strokes'? Why are they so fast? Where are you looking? Have you thought about improving your pre-shot routine?

pleforowicz...Look at the CB for warmups...look at the OB when you shoot (before the stick moves forward).

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

pleforowicz said:

4. I look at the CB and I know it's wrong. That's yet another habit I intend to get rid of.

Click to expand...

I would say the main thing you should concentrate on is getting the cue through in a more level fashion - it swings up and down too much to hit the CB in the desired spot with any consistency.

Again, I have to disagree. With a pendulum stroke, and the correct grip position, the cue is level at contact (which is the only time the cue needs to be "level")...and contact with the CB only lasts 1/1000th of a second.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

Pathetic Shark said:

I would say the main thing you should concentrate on is getting the cue through in a more level fashion - it swings up and down too much to hit the CB in the desired spot with any consistency.

Click to expand...

Pathetic Shark said:

I would say the main thing you should concentrate on is getting the cue through in a more level fashion - it swings up and down too much to hit the CB in the desired spot with any consistency.

Click to expand...

I agree. It takes a 'perfect' set up for the tip to make contact moving anywhere near 'level' & not either up or down with all of the up & down tip movement that a 'pendulum' stroke involves.

Also, there is almost no chance that it will move linearly straight through the cue ball during contact even with a 'perfect' set up. I think this is more of a problem when trying the hit center or high on the cue ball rather than low as I think the tip is more often arching down than up through contact with a 'pendulum' stroke.

Naturally all of this is JMHO & I am not 'certified' as an instructor.

I believe randyG mentioned a 'sweet spot' when the tip is moving 'level' for several inches. Maybe he or another instructor that teaches the 'pendulum' stroke can explain what mechanism allows for that.

I know what allows it in a linear piston stroke but I don't see it in a 'pendulum' stroke with the elbow 'pinned' in place & the grip that seems to be taught with it. However I am open minded if it can be explained appropriately.

Regards,

ENGLISH! said:

I agree. It takes a 'perfect' set up for the tip to make contact moving anywhere near 'level' & not either up or down with all of the up & down tip movement that a 'pendulum' stroke involves.

Also, there is almost no chance that it will move linearly straight through the cue ball during contact even with a 'perfect' set up. I think this is more of a problem when trying the hit center or high on the cue ball rather than low as I think the tip is more often arching down than up through contact with a 'pendulum' stroke.

Naturally all of this is JMHO & I am not 'certified' as an instructor.

I believe randyG mentioned a 'sweet spot' when the tip is moving 'level' for several inches. Maybe he or another instructor that teaches the 'pendulum' stroke can explain what mechanism allows for that.I know what allows it in a linear piston stroke but I don't see it in a 'pendulum' stroke with the elbow 'pinned' in place & the grip that seems to be taught with it. However I am open minded if it can be explained appropriately.

Regards,

Click to expand...

Hi all,

I bumped this as I had hoped someone would pick up on the bolded portion above.

Does anyone know to what I believe it was randyG was referring.

Basically what, if any, biomechanical 'mechanism' would allow for the tip to travel 'level' for several inches when one is using a true 'pendulum' stroke?

Does anyone know? Or, are those that believe that it can & does incorrect in believing that?

I'd really like to know. This could change my opinion of the 'pendulum' stroke if several inches of 'level' cue tip travel is truely possible. If not it will re-enforce my preference for other than a true 'pendulum' stroke.

I'm looking for good 'scientific' biomechanical 'evidence' not just opinions based on a belief system.

Thanks in advance to anyone that has & provides the true info.

Regards,