Ain't No Thang But A Chicken Wang - Vid

cubc

cubc

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Ok so I videod myself for the first time October 27th. I had some inconsistencies in the viking tournament before that so I figured I would video myself in a practice session to see what was up. I showed it to a few people and they gave some suggestions.. after gagging over the fact I have a reverse fubar chicken wing :D. Anyway they said I should practice breaking and running out since it's harder than just throwing all 9 out.

So anyway I think the video of myself helped me even though I'm NOT changing my chicken wang. But heres the video I shot of me practicing breaking and running out from the break.

I'm using:
cue: Carolina Cue
break cue: 16.8oz Xbreaker Samsara
8' Table
Aramith super pros tv edition

Dog: 1/4 Pug and 3/4 Jack Russell

Thoughts welcome.. even criticism. You can most likely view this at work since it's hosted on my own site and not youtube or something.

http://www.immediateeffects.com/blog/vids/nov10.html

I personally still think throwing all 9 out is harder because it's a full run of 9 balls instead of 7 or 8 when breaking the rack. The end of the video I do a kick / safe battle w/ myself then the battery on the camera died because I was at the mountains taking videos / pics before that ;)
 
It's revealing when you videotape yourself isn't it? You never know what stroke characteristics you have until you can see yourself in play.

You were in a nice rhythm there and pulled off some nice position plays...you defintely are at "home" on the table and have the speed down very well. The generous side pockets really opened up options for you too.

As far as the chicken wing, you are at the top of the class. LOL You might want to work on it a *little* before you are sure you are "NOT changing my chicken wang". It's not an easy process...I know. I tuck my arm under a little bit and its perfectly comfortable for me.

When you play "in your rhythm" (same pre-shot "air stroke", same practice practice stroke sequence, and follow thru with confidence) you hit center pocket. When you nonchalant a shot and vary your pre-shot routine...you're not as accurate.
 
Neil said:
Try taking the same amount of time on each shot. On the 'easy' ones, you have a tendency to speed up. That caused the 5 to almost miss, and the 3 to miss.
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I've been working on that a LOT the past 2 weeks and it's improved consistency a lot. Now when I miss I dont think to myself "I cant believe I missed that easy shot" instead I think "Ah I took it for granted again" and it helps my concentration.

The first video I shot of myself on October 27th I missed 2 balls for that very reason, I shot too fast thinking they were that easy, and since I realized and practiced that, in league and individual matches I've had more break and runs than ever in my life it seems.

I generally play on 9' tables and like 9's better since it's not so crowded :D but I cant video myself on a 9'. This 8' is really fast so it's great practice for control. Really fast on a smaller table.

Thanks for the feedback!
 
Well you are obviously a decent player so the questin , which is always the hardest one is . . . is your stroke holding you back and how much ?

Where do you really want to go and can you make what you have get you there ?

That's always what it comes to. For every example of perfection realized ,there are examples of 'making it work' being plenty good enough.

You do have some big flaws , the 'wing' ;) of course and the fact that your upper arm pivots during the whole stroke almost as much as your lower arm does. :) The issue is those complex movements require exponentionally more work to maintain consistancy than that of a more text book stroke. So , if you can pull that off and keep it up then no changes are needed. If you can't , well then you do the math.

:)
 
I dont know if its holding me back. I played for 2 years from 18-20 years old then quit for over 6 years for an education and career. I've been shooting for only 6 months now after the 6 year break since I have a good job and live in a new area that has quite a few pool halls.

So total time is about 2.5 years of playing. I seem to be getting better with it. If it starts to hold me back I'll start trying to change it. Until then theres other things I'm working on like inconsistencies in the preshot routine and taking easy shots for granted like was mentioned above. If I iron out all those things and something doesnt click I'll fix it next :) For now the wing stays :p
 
Your choice of course. :)

I will tell you tho , that the instructors here (or anywhere most likey) are going to tell you that your not going to gain much ground anywhere else if your foundation is heavily flawed. That's probably going to impact the amount alternative responses your going to get. It's also the reason most intructors get frustrated , people ask for help and then refuse to make the suggested changes in favor of easier/faster fixes.

But like I said , you have to decieide how far you want your game to go and if you can get there without really changing anything.

Good luck what ever you deciede.
 
you have an interesting foot stance when you shoot. I've never seen it before. I tend to make my right foot(foot in the back) perpendicular to the cue. It looks something like this <----------------ll < my foot. cue is dotted line. then front foot is at a comfortable position. It changed the way i shoot(i also did a bit of the chicken wing, now much less.
 
RRfireblade said:
Your choice of course. :)

I will tell you tho , that the instructors here (or anywhere most likey) are going to tell you that your not going to gain much ground anywhere else if your foundation is heavily flawed. That's probably going to impact the amount alternative responses your going to get. It's also the reason most intructors get frustrated , people ask for help and then refuse to make the suggested changes in favor of easier/faster fixes.

But like I said , you have to decieide how far you want your game to go and if you can get there without really changing anything.

Good luck what ever you deciede.
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I met with an instructor and he said my stroke was straight even though I shot all weird, but as long as my stroke was straight thats all that mattered.

If any other instructors or the famed RandyG could give any input on that then that would be cool :D
 
just stating what everyone is thinking...

ranch dressing, a beer, and perhaps even a Hooter's outfit will do wonders for your chicken wang ;)
 
The little doggie is a ham! he knew he was getting air time! :) Good shootin, and I would agree with other poster that if you work on a better pre-shot routine you will go to the next level.
 
cubc said:
I met with an instructor and he said my stroke was straight even though I shot all weird, but as long as my stroke was straight thats all that mattered.

If any other instructors or the famed RandyG could give any input on that then that would be cool :D
Click to expand...

I would like to take this into a little more detail. I did say that even with the awkward mechanics, you did manage to move the cue forward in a straight line. I believe I also indicated that since you are determined not to change it, that a good bit of what I would normally be able to offer for instruction wouldn't apply. I also suggested that slowing down and developing a definite solid pre-shot routine would help prevent some of those misses that we both agreed you probably shouldn't be missing. Slowing it down will give you time to develop a good personal eye pattern, which will allow you to lock in on your target. We did talk about some aspects of the mental game, and it seems you are working on some of that. I hope what I shared with you helps. You indicated you have problems with the jump shot, and I believe some of that may be a direct result of your unorthodox stroke.

Is your stroke holding you back? There is only one way to know. You must be willing to try new, different, and sometimes even uncomfortable things to find out if they can make a difference. You can't know how good a Porche handles if you only drive a Chevrolet.

We tell all of our students that if you can't or won't open your mind to new ideas and concepts, you won't get the full benefit of the things we teach. You stated that you felt like you had problems at the tournament, but I don't think you really want to fix the problem. You seem to be looking for a "work-around". The fundamentals are the foundation of your game. Just like the foundation of a building, if it isn't stable, nothing you build on it will be stable either.

You are a very good player. I think you will continue to improve as long as you work at it. But I still think you could develop into an even better player with some changes. If you continue to do the same things the same way, you can't expect to get different results.

I took Randy's class several years ago. After 30 years of playing, I made some major changes to my game. My game took a dive after the class, but within a few months, it came up to a much higher level. I can't promise the same will happen to your game, but I can promise it won't, if you never give it a chance. Don't let what you know get in the way of learning something new.

Steve
 
I believe it Liljohn.. its doing it for my girlfriend >< ! I have to use it as punishment. "If you dont cook tonight I'm gonna make you use our house cue!"

Too bad that dont work :p
 
pooltchr said:
You can't know how good a Porche handles if you only drive a Chevrolet.

Steve
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LOL very funny.

The first thing I saw when I watched your video was the first thing that Scott Lee picked on me about... The amount of time that your where down on the shot. Can you really focus in that amount of time? I very much respect and understand this but I must say It's hard to adjust your pace. Nice shooting and good luck with your game.
 
Hi,
You obviously have a REALLY sporty game. No one breaks and runs that many in a row without having some major speed.

Others have already pointed out an occasional lack of commitment to some easy shots. So you might want to adopt the mantra....I will TOTALLY commit to EVERY shot...and especially the easy ones.

The chicken wing thing is a real dilemma. As you know, it takes physical muscular force to orient your forearm cocked in like that so you are adding muscle use that is entirely unnecessary and possibly harmful when the chips are down and all the small muscles start "twitching."

On the other hand Jim Furyk would be CRAZY to stop doing the wierd things he does in his swing. I think Trevino said that he wouldn't mind swinging like his Grandmother if he could do it 100% of the time.

But there is one issue that I see that I don't think would do you any harm and might do considerable good.

In your stance, you have your feet quite close together. In my opinion, you might want to try adopting the "traditional" 45 degree angle stance or the slightly more open stance that the former snooker players use.

I see no harm and possibly a lot of good if you would put a more solid foundation under your body.

Great shooting though!

Regards,
Jim
 
av84fun said:
The chicken wing thing is a real dilemma. As you know, it takes physical muscular force to orient your forearm cocked in like that so you are adding muscle use that is entirely unnecessary and possibly harmful when the chips are down and all the small muscles start "twitching."

On the other hand Jim Furyk would be CRAZY to stop doing the wierd things he does in his swing. I think Trevino said that he wouldn't mind swinging like his Grandmother if he could do it 100% of the time.
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Here's the difference tho , take a snap shot of Furyk right at impact . . . near perfection. :) That's why he's so good and it's true more times than not of those people with unusual other parts of thier motions.

:)
 
You seem to be comfortable at a quick pace. Perhaps its time to tighten up those pockets a bit if they're bigger than 4.5" to improve your overall accuracy and comfort during tournaments.
 
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