i found an old post here but i can't fully understand and imagine what this person is trying to say:
"My reasoning behind accurate bridge placement, first and foremost, is in relation to your shooting arm. Your shoulder is a ball hinge. Your elbow cannot move side to side, swoop in or out, without the shoulder. Your elbow, however, is a fixed hinge. You can only swing your forearm straight back and forth. Now, once you get down in your stance, your right elbow (for a righty) should be fixed in place as you take your practice strokes.
This leads me to the next part. If your elbow is a fixed hinge, and you have no shoulder movement, then how come you can still have a crooked stroke? How come you have to twist your wrist inwards or outwards on the forward-delivery of the cue alot of times?
The reason for this is because your bridge hand is not in line with your elbow, which I say again, is a fixed hinge. When you get down on a shot, lets say you overshoot your bridge hand, past the line of your fixed-hinge (elbow) by an inch. When you try to take your practice strokes, you will wonder why your cuetip wants to go to the right, just before you are at the cueball. This will cause you to put right english on the shot. The only way to not do this, is to get your elbow and/or wrist involved in the stroke. You have to twist to keep your cue in line.
Same scenario, but let's say that instead of overshooting your bridge hand to the right of your fixed-hing's path, you undershoot it to the left. When you get down on the shot, your tip is gonna want to go left on your forward stroke. Again, elbow and wrist movement are required to prevent yourself from invariably putting left english on the cueball.
You absoloutely MUST get your bridge hand directly in line with your shooting arm's elbow. That doesn't mean the elbow from any direction. Get down in your stance without the cue, and look at your stroking arm. Take some practice strokes, and find out exactly what line that fixed hinge is on. The bridge must be on that same line to have a consistent, repeatable, and powerful stroke.
Back to your point about bridge placement in relationship to the shot. Lets say you have your cue in line with the line of your stroking elbow's line, if you can accurately put your bridge hand down on the cloth on the line of the shot, over and over again, that's what builds a great shotmaker.
Alot of people get down on the shot, and because of poor bridge placement, they move their elbow to the left or right, to compensate for what their eyes percieve to be on the right line. If you do all that moving and adjusting, you are bound to throw something off, and you won't be consistent that way."
"My reasoning behind accurate bridge placement, first and foremost, is in relation to your shooting arm. Your shoulder is a ball hinge. Your elbow cannot move side to side, swoop in or out, without the shoulder. Your elbow, however, is a fixed hinge. You can only swing your forearm straight back and forth. Now, once you get down in your stance, your right elbow (for a righty) should be fixed in place as you take your practice strokes.
This leads me to the next part. If your elbow is a fixed hinge, and you have no shoulder movement, then how come you can still have a crooked stroke? How come you have to twist your wrist inwards or outwards on the forward-delivery of the cue alot of times?
The reason for this is because your bridge hand is not in line with your elbow, which I say again, is a fixed hinge. When you get down on a shot, lets say you overshoot your bridge hand, past the line of your fixed-hinge (elbow) by an inch. When you try to take your practice strokes, you will wonder why your cuetip wants to go to the right, just before you are at the cueball. This will cause you to put right english on the shot. The only way to not do this, is to get your elbow and/or wrist involved in the stroke. You have to twist to keep your cue in line.
Same scenario, but let's say that instead of overshooting your bridge hand to the right of your fixed-hing's path, you undershoot it to the left. When you get down on the shot, your tip is gonna want to go left on your forward stroke. Again, elbow and wrist movement are required to prevent yourself from invariably putting left english on the cueball.
You absoloutely MUST get your bridge hand directly in line with your shooting arm's elbow. That doesn't mean the elbow from any direction. Get down in your stance without the cue, and look at your stroking arm. Take some practice strokes, and find out exactly what line that fixed hinge is on. The bridge must be on that same line to have a consistent, repeatable, and powerful stroke.
Back to your point about bridge placement in relationship to the shot. Lets say you have your cue in line with the line of your stroking elbow's line, if you can accurately put your bridge hand down on the cloth on the line of the shot, over and over again, that's what builds a great shotmaker.
Alot of people get down on the shot, and because of poor bridge placement, they move their elbow to the left or right, to compensate for what their eyes percieve to be on the right line. If you do all that moving and adjusting, you are bound to throw something off, and you won't be consistent that way."
