A shot that is giving me problems

[midnightpulp]

That probably means your CB is going to the right, which means you're putting left spin on it. If you're right handed, this isn't a "wrist tuck" problem - that would cause right spin. It could be your back hand "swoops" away from your body on power strokes, or that you're tightening your grip, which causes your wrist to turn outward (untuck). Either of these would cause your tip to swoop left.



Only if you're hitting offcenter.

pj
chgo

Dead on. I was putting left spin that of course causes deflection to the right.

Shot a couple of these shots a few minutes ago. Relaxing my grip hand proved helpful, which I always know I should be doing, but I sometimes tense up in the heat of the shot.

However, still not getting good action on the cue ball - two to three feet. Not sure if it's me or the equipment I'm playing on: old felt, old balls, etc...

 

[midnightpulp]

I've seen this problem many times. The first step for treatment is to check your eyes. By this I mean verifying that you are actually sighting to the middle of the ball when you set up. You can do this by loading up your tip with chalk and a Jim Rempe training ball. Set up to shoot your shot, and then touch the Rempe ball very lightly. You'll be able to see if you are on the vertical center line. If you don't have a Rempe ball, a measles ball will work (set it up so a spot is at the bottom), or use a regular ball, but be very careful about how you set it up.

This happens most often with people that shoot with their chin very close to the cue stick.

If this is not the issue, I would guess that your stroking arm is too far from your body. This causes a pronounced "pull" when stroking hard. And pulling in (to the left) when shooting causes the tip to hit to the right of your intended spot. Try pulling your arm a little tighter and see if that doesn't help you hit the right target on the cue ball.

Lastly, a quick fix you can use is to raise your head up a little bit (about 6-10") from the cue stick. This will change both your eye position and your arm position. It won't indentify or fix the underlying problem, but it should stop the frustration for a playing session.

Try these suggestions and report back.

-td

One final note I didn't mention. After reading PJ's post, I agree that you should be aware of your grip. Try opening up a finger or two (pinky and ring finger) on your grip. NB: DON'T try a bunch of changes at the same time or you'll never be able to identify the problem! Either change your eyes, your grip, or your arm. Not all 3 at once.

Thanks TD, will do.

 

[JimS]

Take a lesson and get the table recovered. Either/both will help your game and your attitude.

 

[Tim5000]

I had the exact same problem. Had Stan Shuffett evaluate it one day. We used the black stripe training ball (Joe Tucker?) determined I was hitting the cue ball off center to the right every time. I cued up perfectly dead center but when I stroked the ball I hit it about 1/4 to 1/2 tip off center. The harder I hit, the more off center.

My advice... use the trianing ball and also video tape your back hand and wrist from directly behind, as well as your stroke from the front. I learned the hard way no amount of practice will help this kind of defect, you must correct it first.

 

[Patrick Johnson]

Me:
That probably means your CB is going to the right, which means you're putting left spin on it. If you're right handed, this isn't a "wrist tuck" problem - that would cause right spin. It could be your back hand "swoops" away from your body on power strokes, or that you're tightening your grip, which causes your wrist to turn outward (untuck). Either of these would cause your tip to swoop left.

midnightpulp:
Dead on. I was putting left spin that of course causes deflection to the right.

Watch out for the natural tendency to compensate for this by tucking your wrist on power strokes. You don't want to fix one problem with another.

pj
chgo

 

[poolplayer2093]

just get a predator or ob1!

just messin with you. just practice doing the shot over and over. when i'm down on a straight in shot like that i pay special attention to my stroke. i'll usually look down and watch the cue moving to make sure it's moving in a straight line while i stroke

 

[Tim5000]

just get a predator or ob1!

just messin with you. just practice doing the shot over and over. when i'm down on a straight in shot like that i pay special attention to my stroke. i'll usually look down and watch the cue moving to make sure it's moving in a straight line while i stroke

I would warn against practicing the shot over and over, at least not until you identify the defect. Otherwise you're just reinforcing the defect the more you practice it.

 

[poolplayer2093]

I would warn against practicing the shot over and over, at least not until you identify the defect. Otherwise you're just reinforcing the defect the more you practice it.

it worked for me. sometimes that's how i'll warm up. i'll shoot that shot until i can make it 10 times in a row. if i miss i start over. i usually notice what 'im doing wrong so i can make adjustments.

getting a friend to video tape you could help you see from the outside in what's wrong

 

[CreeDo]

Another idea

There's a possibilty that nobody has brought up, and that's simply that you are cutting the object ball a hair to the side every time. On a shot of this length with this much force, I would expect the OB to cheat the pocket one way or the other, I don't expect to hit the heart every time.

Subconsciously, people tend to cut shots like this a little towards the rail. This is illustrated in one of Bert Kinister's videos. A ball that needs to be cut slightly towards the side rail is aimed as if you want to hit it right in the face, with no cut at all. Somehow it goes in anyway. A ball that is truly straight in tends to get cut a little towards the long rail if you aim to hit it right in the face.

I don't know why this is. It might be some subconscious mental process where your brain thinks of the rail as a happy helpful friend (maybe because when people do rail cuts, they tend to use the rail to help the OB in, rarely do they put it clean in). This translates into a slight change in your stroke or even before the ball is stroked.

I don't want to make you have the bad habit of aiming to shoot one way and hitting somewhere else, you should try to stroke straight... and there's a fair chance you just keep putting sidespin on the ball without meaning to. But being aware of this weird mental issue helped me and it might be useful to you.

 

[Jason Robichaud]

Try placing balls on same side of table one ball off rail OB 1 diamond from corner and CB 2 diamonds from corner. Your shot requires 10 diamonds of draw. So hit this above example until you draw back 10 diamonds. Count the diamond moving forward to OB... If you make it down to the end rail that will be 8 diamonds of draw. You will have to hit the rail and come out another 1-2 diamonds to get your 10. Practice that stroke and use the same stroke on the shot you have the problem with. You might be surprised to see they will be the same.

 

[midnightpulp]

Thanks for all the advice, guys.

Hitting this shot much better. I pocket it everytime and get great position about half the time, sometimes coming up short. I'm confident that on better equipment, I should be able to do this shot near 100% of the time.

The most beneficial adjustments were not attempting to "power draw" the cue ball, making sure to keep my grip hand relaxed, and performing a long follow through.

Thanks again.

 

[Billy_Bob]

I have videotaped myself shooting long draw "power" shots and played it back in slow motion. I notice that my arm is going sideways! Not straight like with a slower shot.

So the trick is to slow down.

I find I get plenty of draw by shooting low on the cue ball and following through a lot with a slower speed.

I use regular blackboard white chalk to mark the positions of the balls so I can shoot the same *exact* shot over and over. 50 times!

Chalk before every shot, look at tip under the light, no black spots on tip! (Tip in excellent condition recently scuffed with sandpaper shaper.) Then shoot slowly, shoot low on cue ball. Follow through until the tip of your cue is a foot and a half past where the cue ball was. (In other words, tons of follow through!) The tip should be pointing at the center of the object ball after your stroke.

Following through is what does the trick for me, not more speed. Actually less speed and more follow through works better!