yes that's right
Accurate cue placement-Is it technique or is it talent
- Thread starter z0nt0n3r
- Start date
i'm not sure if i understand this but i think it is possible,if you place your back foot on the line and then lean your head towards the shot line to align it,then you can drop straight down to the shot.
You have a chance at this if you let go of the stick just right. Then you gotta catch it just right unless you did the first part just right and it bounces just right.
I'm with z0nt0n3r.
I also think it's possible to come down straight over the shot line. On a number of pro matches and also snooker matches, the commentators frequently point it out as a component of excellent fundamentals that's characteristic of certain players. It's something i try to do every time.
I'm not sure i understand the original question. I wonder if the OP is s asking if pros get down on the shot line perfectly every time, or if they get down and then make a 'micro' adjustment in their shot line while they're down .
I also think it's possible to come down straight over the shot line. On a number of pro matches and also snooker matches, the commentators frequently point it out as a component of excellent fundamentals that's characteristic of certain players. It's something i try to do every time.
I'm not sure i understand the original question. I wonder if the OP is s asking if pros get down on the shot line perfectly every time, or if they get down and then make a 'micro' adjustment in their shot line while they're down .
no i'm not talking about how they are getting down on the shot and i don't care if they do micro-adjustments,i'm talking about when they are down on the shot before they take the first practice stroke,is the cue perfectly placed on the shot line every time or is it slightly off the line?in my opinion i think it is on the line on about 90% of the shots they play.
Last edited:
Geosnookery
Well-known member
Who is the best billiard player in the world today? Many would answer Judd Trump, who is ranked number one and has earned about $2 million in just current World Snooker ranking tournaments. After him In ranking this year is Ronnie O'Sullivan who may be the best billiard player ever.
Neither play an orthodox style. Judd may be the best long ball hitter in the game but changes his cue angle at the last second. Ronnie never hits dead center but puts side ( English) on 100% of his shots.
There is a lot of excellent advice in the above posts. However, at some point stop looking to change your technique but perfect the technique that you use. I shoot left handed about 80% of shots. For over 45 yearsI have adjusted a hair’s width to the right on every shot I take. ( I don’t do this when shooting right handed). It gets me the results I want. The key is to be consistent. Watch snooker players and you will see a variety of techniques but what they all have in common is an almost robotic cuing execution.
We can always improve but after playing a couple years those improvements are micro in nature. Don’t chase big improvements. Adopt a cuing action, cue, tip, and stick with them.
Neither play an orthodox style. Judd may be the best long ball hitter in the game but changes his cue angle at the last second. Ronnie never hits dead center but puts side ( English) on 100% of his shots.
There is a lot of excellent advice in the above posts. However, at some point stop looking to change your technique but perfect the technique that you use. I shoot left handed about 80% of shots. For over 45 yearsI have adjusted a hair’s width to the right on every shot I take. ( I don’t do this when shooting right handed). It gets me the results I want. The key is to be consistent. Watch snooker players and you will see a variety of techniques but what they all have in common is an almost robotic cuing execution.
We can always improve but after playing a couple years those improvements are micro in nature. Don’t chase big improvements. Adopt a cuing action, cue, tip, and stick with them.
not everybody is judd trump,ronnie o'sullivan or bustamante who all play with an unorthodox style,the average player just doesn't have the talent required to play like them.
so imo,for the average player the best way to improve is by following orthodox technique fundamentals,studying & practicing them as much as he can.
That question has an easy answer: maybe never. Everyone always has some small error in their alignment. Maybe it's only a micron and the object ball goes in a tenth of a mm from the center of the pocket. Or maybe they swerve a little on the shot and put it closer to the center than when they were starting. Or maybe they put the cue down on nearly the right line and swerve the stick very, very slightly and come across the line a little.
If you ever have a situation where you have to measure something and put a number on it, you will learn that there is never zero error in any human physical endeavor. Even any robot you might build will have some amount of error on each shot.
No one has their cue stick on the correct line within a tenth of a mm the entire time they approach the table nor even the last foot of getting the tip in position. People don't work like that.
I just look at it mechanically. Vertical drop is 100% impossible. Ok, humanly unlikely. Even a CNC machine would sweep into it albeit within the tolerances Bob cited. It's this required sweep that messes things up. So much simpler to have the cue in place first.
The key to playing great pool is finding a grip that allows the cue to travel in a straight line. If you can find a grip that just naturally unfolds on the backswing and then naturally returns (folds back) to your intended target, you'll start playing better. Light grip strength and letting the weight/momentum of the cue do the work (getting the fingers out of the way) for you is the key. Steering is the enemy.
Last edited:
actually now that i'm thinking more about it,the percentage that pros place the cue stick bang online could be lower because even if 90-95% of their shots are going in,they aren't pocketed in the correct part of the pocket.sometimes they purposely cheat the pocket by intentionally aiming at a different part of the pocket but other times the pots aren't going in clean.
but even if most of their shots are pocketed in the correct part of the pocket,it is not good enough evidence that the cue was placed bang online prior to hitting the ball,maybe the ball was pocketed clean by starting off with the cue slightly across the line and then steering the cue a little.maybe a better way to tell is to watch if the cue was delivered very straight and the ball was pocketed in the correct part of the pocket.
Last edited:
If you work out a way to do this please let us know your results. I think it would take quite the camera setup to get any accuracy.
Perhaps you missed it, but in another thread Dr. Dave pointed out that if the camera is not exactly along the line joining the cue ball to the ghost ball -- from the center of one to the center of the other to be precise -- any up-down rocking during the stroke will make it look like the cue stick is not moving in the vertical plane.
Are you familiar with the "spot shot" at pool?
DTL said: If you can find a grip that just naturally unfolds on the backswing and then naturally returns (folds back) to your intended target, you'll start playing better.
I don't know where this quote by DTL came from --- when I click on it in Patrick's reply it keeps bringing me to a video. I don't believe there's a natural unfolding and folding of the hand during the stroke. A player has to train himself to do it and I find it to be totally unnecessary. I also find it totally unnecessary to grip with the 2nd finger and thumb which are twisting fingers at the least. Light pressure on the thumb and index finger with the grip pressure mainly on the back three to me works best. Pressure points will change slightly as the cue moves through with minimal natural hand movement on the cue.
I don't know either. I quoted DTL's post (#91), the one just above the one with the link (KenRobbins #92).
I appreciate your comments about it.
pj <- a mystery wrapped in an enigma
chgo
In order for the stick to be pulled back in a straight line, the back fingers have to get out of the way. If you keep them glued in place, something has to give in order for the stick to stay on that straight line --> like a very limited (short) back swing, or you'd have to engage the shoulder joint which would raise the butt of the stick (S. Frost/M. Davis), or the stick will have to rotate by twisting the hand/wrist unit (counter-clockwise on the back swing and clockwise on the follow-through - Earl does this).
With a light grip the stick will simply push the fingers out of the way (naturally....if you let it happen - no "learning" involved). And with the perfect grip pressure they will just slide right back to where they were during the forward stroke. Most top snooker pros do this. Pro pool players that do this will ofter put powder on their grip hand fingers to help facilitate this.
Some players solve this issue by eliminating the 4th/5th fingers altogether - by just letting them hang loosely off the cue (Orcullo). Hennesee does this by default.....lost those fingers in an accident. No doubt this is why he's a straight shooter.
Last edited:
Unfolding and folding were your words. That does not imply a light movement of the back hand as the cue moves through. If you're referring to the hand opening and closing, that is not a light movement. Also, the pinkie is the stablizing finger of the grip. Years ago, players removed the pinkie because they stood taller at the table and needed to be able to flex their wrists during the stroke, because when you stand tall your arm swing is limited. Players in later generations did the same but mainly because they were taught that way without understanding the reason for it in the first place. Removing the pinkie is an intentional destabilizing move, not the opposite as you say.
For most shots you can swing through better letting the cue pivot on the ring and pinkie. I don't always adhere to this delivery. Certain strokes feel more comfortable with a full grip.