2 Types of Closed Bridges

Jen_Cen

Jen_Cen

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
You know how there's 2 types of closed bridges?

1-Cue shaft encircled by the index and middle finger (Johnny Archer)
2-Cue shaft encircled by the index finger and thumb (Jennifer Chen)

What are the technical names for these 2 types of bridges, if there are any? Any opinion on which is best?
 
Jen_Cen said:
You know how there's 2 types of closed bridges?

1-Cue shaft encircled by the index and middle finger (Johnny Archer)
2-Cue shaft encircled by the index finger and thumb (Jennifer Chen)

What are the technical names for these 2 types of bridges, if there are any? Any opinion on which is best?
Click to expand...

No technical names that I know of. I use the Johnny Archer style. Though it is more difficult for people with short fat fingers. I don't think one is better than the other. Use which ever one feels best for you.
 
Jen_Cen said:
Any opinion on which is best?
Click to expand...
There is probably some dependence on the length of your fingers. Otherwise, as with all things pool, find something that works and keep with it.

-td
 
The index and middle finger bridge is sometimes called the "cross-over bridge."

The other one you mentioned is more standard or the "basic" closed bridge.

The Pilipinos seemed to have perfected, and thus made more common, the cross-over bridge. It seems to me that their hands are more flexible than most others and they have no problem with this bridge; whereas some people do struggle to perfect it, so they use the satndard closed bridge.
 
Jen_Cen said:
You know how there's 2 types of closed bridges?

1-Cue shaft encircled by the index and middle finger (Johnny Archer)
2-Cue shaft encircled by the index finger and thumb (Jennifer Chen)

What are the technical names for these 2 types of bridges, if there are any? Any opinion on which is best?
Click to expand...
If you look closely, you will see far more than two varieties of closed bridge. I can think of at least seven or eight.

The goal of the bridge is to give the most stable, consistent guide possible for the front of the stick. Most players never come close to that goal.
 
Bob Jewett said:
If you look closely, you will see far more than two varieties of closed bridge. I can think of at least seven or eight.

The goal of the bridge is to give the most stable, consistent guide possible for the front of the stick. Most players never come close to that goal.
Click to expand...


I have been struggling the last 5 days or so and realized my closed bridge sucks and I was using it a lot. Went to almost everything open bridge and I am shooting lights out again. I need to work on the crossover bridge...............
 
i was actually gonna post a thread up tonight about this. i find it impossible to do the cross-over bridge as it's called. this one:

bridgess0.jpg


my index finger is just no way in hell flexible or long enough to go over the shaft and put my finger tip on top of my middle finger.
 
When you do the Archer style bridge with no cue, it looks like there's no way a cue can slide through that hole.

But once you hold a cue and make the bridge, it works well. I personally use all types of bridges depending on the shot. I use an open bridge (Allison Fisher) most of all.
 
Jen_Cen said:
You know how there's 2 types of closed bridges?

1-Cue shaft encircled by the index and middle finger (Johnny Archer)
2-Cue shaft encircled by the index finger and thumb (Jennifer Chen)

What are the technical names for these 2 types of bridges, if there are any? Any opinion on which is best?
Click to expand...

I like the index/thumb loop (braced against the middle finger) because it's looser and I can raise and lower it more freely.

I use an open bridge whenever I can, which is on every shot unless I don't have room to make an open bridge. So the only reason I make a loop is to get another finger out of the way and make my hand narrower - I want my closed bridge to otherwise act just like my open bridge (hence the looser loop).

My opinion might be different if I didn't use an open bridge - maybe then I'd like the secure feeling of a tight loop around my shaft. Maybe as an open bridger my opinion is irrelevant.

pj
chgo
 
Another loop that has been failed to mention

Don't forget about carom players!

Their style of hand bridging is almost similar only the pinky, ring, and middle are usually curled rather than straight like normal pool players. Just watch some great carom players in action and take a good look at their bridge hands.
 
worriedbeef said:
i was actually gonna post a thread up tonight about this. i find it impossible to do the cross-over bridge as it's called. this one:

bridgess0.jpg


my index finger is just no way in hell flexible or long enough to go over the shaft and put my finger tip on top of my middle finger.
Click to expand...

Is that photo the Archer bridge? I can't do it either. I can't describe my closed bridge, but I'm pretty sure it's terrible.

Tom
 
The cross-over (Archer) bridge is tighter on the shaft, making less wobble in the stroke, and allows the thumb to be used as part of the base for better support. That's why you see most pros using it, but there's a few that still use the index-thumb bridge. I use the index-thumb because that's how I learned 45 years ago and is just what comes natural to me now, although I have tried the cross-over and do see it's advantages. I'd rather be comfortable...
:p
 
mosjohnny2bd9.jpg


better picture. wish i could do it, but it seems you either have the fingers for it or you don't. he seems to have a very long middle finger. you know what they say about people with long middle fingers? ok i wont go there lol
 
Last edited:
The cross-over (Archer) bridge is tighter on the shaft, making less wobble in the stroke
Click to expand...

I've heard this claim a lot - that a tighter bridge makes the stroke less wobbly - and I've never understood it. If the back hand is traveling offline, creating wobble in the stroke, how can tightening the bridge help?

pj
chgo
 
i suppose it's because the cue isn't as loose, which limits movement. anyway, the main advantage i can see with it is like rayjay said about the thumb. you dont need it to make the bridge so u can put it on the table.
 
RayJay:
The cross-over (Archer) bridge is tighter on the shaft, making less wobble in the stroke

Me:
... If the back hand is traveling offline, creating wobble in the stroke, how can tightening the bridge help?

worriedbeef:
i suppose it's because the cue isn't as loose, which limits movement.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's what I figure is meant by it, but I can't think of any movement that the bridge can prevent. Wobbling or not, your cue moves the least at the bridge, and the bridge can do little or nothing to affect the movement at the butt and the tip where it matters.

The only kind of movement I can think of that your bridge might affect is if your shaft is actually lifting out of it - and if that's the case you need more than a tighter bridge.

pj
chgo
 
Patrick Johnson said:
I've heard this claim a lot - that a tighter bridge makes the stroke less wobbly - and I've never understood it. If the back hand is traveling offline, creating wobble in the stroke, how can tightening the bridge help?

pj
chgo
Click to expand...

IMHO - this is something that happens over time.
You are right about the wandering back hand not being controlled
any better by a tighter bridge. So it can't help for the current shot.
But you might realize you are cueing off line, and take steps to
correct your stroke.

Perhaps you get more feedback(?) with a tighter bridge
because you feel a sidways pressure that you wouldn't feel with a loose
one.

I bridge tight-ish mostly because Mosconi's little red book said to.
I used the cross-over with thumb touching the middle finger
because there was a world class player from our town who bridged that
way, so everybody did. It only took me 20 years to realize
that my fingers were way too short, so I changed to basic looped.

Dale<former slow learner>
 
I've heard this claim a lot - that a tighter bridge makes the stroke less wobbly - and I've never understood it. If the back hand is traveling offline, creating wobble in the stroke, how can tightening the bridge help?

pj
chgo


IMHO - this is something that happens over time.
You are right about the wandering back hand not being controlled
any better by a tighter bridge. So it can't help for the current shot.
But you might realize you are cueing off line, and take steps to
correct your stroke.

Perhaps you get more feedback(?) with a tighter bridge
because you feel a sidways pressure that you wouldn't feel with a loose
one.
Click to expand...

That's a possibility I hadn't thought of. I can see how snugging the bridge some could help this way.

pj
chgo
 
anyone who has to use a closed bridge to stop a wobblie stroke, needs to work on their stroke, its possiible to play run-out 9 ball with an open bridge on every shot except masse shots, I have friend who is a snooker champion and he never plays with a closed bridge.
 
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