when you practice the straight in mother drill should your cue be directly in line with the shot......I can hit the shot well with no movement but my cue is always to the left slightly......i have read that everyone has a slight cross swing in there follow thru.....Is this a problem that should be corrected?? i kind of feel like its a by product if my backhand hitting my chest.....thank u for your insight as always
alignment after the shot
- Thread starter magicrat69210
- Start date
Well, I don't know what a mother drill is. However, if you are practicing straight-in shots, your cue should not waver in your follow through, nor should you be hitting your chest in your follow through. Sounds to me like you need a stance adjustment. I'm a PBIA Master Instructor and a former WPBA professional player, FYI.
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It could very well be just a byproduct of hitting your chest. The hand will naturally tend to move up the chest causing the tip to veer to the left a little on the finish. If you are shooting a stop shot, and the cb stops dead with no spin, then it is not a problem at all.
However, if the cb does have some spin on it, then you know that you are unintentionally applying a little english on the shot, and that needs to be addressed to where you actually hit the cb where you intend to.
The hand should always hit the chest, regardless of shot speed if you get down with the chin on the cue. It promotes a full follow through and less of a jabby type stroke on soft shots.
Now to what I feel could be the cause. I hit my chest on every shot with my grip, but my cue tip is always on the line of aim after. This makes me think it is either alignment mixed in with a counteracting kink in the cue action to compensate or you are hitting slightly off centre on the white causing the cue to deflect to the left.
Most commonly thought it is caused by the grip. When down with the tip at the cue ball with normal grip pressure clench the cue as hard as you would on your follow through, which for most people is quite hard, and notice how much the tip moves off the line of aim. Some people will move left, others right, up or down... Depends on the persons hands and type of grip.
I'm assuming you hit the straight in shots well enough to not apply unintentional side spin. If not, then the u intentional side spin is very likely the reason,even if the ball is potted.
Now to what I feel could be the cause. I hit my chest on every shot with my grip, but my cue tip is always on the line of aim after. This makes me think it is either alignment mixed in with a counteracting kink in the cue action to compensate or you are hitting slightly off centre on the white causing the cue to deflect to the left.
Most commonly thought it is caused by the grip. When down with the tip at the cue ball with normal grip pressure clench the cue as hard as you would on your follow through, which for most people is quite hard, and notice how much the tip moves off the line of aim. Some people will move left, others right, up or down... Depends on the persons hands and type of grip.
I'm assuming you hit the straight in shots well enough to not apply unintentional side spin. If not, then the u intentional side spin is very likely the reason,even if the ball is potted.
Because it's totally unnecessary to slam your fist into your chest. It doesn't do anything for your stroke.
Cole Dickson was the first Elite Player that I noticed finishing with his hand tight to his pectoral muscle. I copied that and have had success with that finish for my stroke. I do not bang my chest. I just finish with my hand touching or very near my pectoral muscle.
I don't think anyone advocates slamming your hand into your chest. But ending up with your hand touching your chest helps give a consistent stopping point for a completed stroke.
Steve
It would only be "consistent' relative to the table & the cue stroke line if one's upper body angle was the exact same relative to the table or cur stroke line.
I do not see that happening if the cue ball is near a short rail for one shot & then for the next shot it is out past the middle of the table.
That is one of the issues with a swing of the connection point to the cue, the hand, vs. the connection point to the cue, the hand, moving more in a straight line, like the cue stick actually is & like a piston in a cylinder.
Straight line movement vs swinging like a pendulum. For a real pendulum to be used to hit a ball at a certain elevation on the ball , the pendulum would need to be set up perfectly every time. When do most human beings set up or do anything perfectly on any consistent basis?
I just today opened a thread asking what type of 'cueist' are you & why do you think your way is better or best.
It seems that it will not get serious as there are too many 'comedians' on AZB.
Best Wishes for You & Yours.
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As to having a slight cross swing in the follow through. Here is a link to the last session in the match played by Ronnie O'Sullivan and Barry Hawkins in the 2016 World Snooker Championship. The best match in the championship so far. A great match to watch and you will see how pure and straight their strokes finish.
Ronnie O'Sullivan v Barry Hawkins Session 3 World Championship 2016
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It has to do with where you place your feet. If you changed your stance you wouldn't have to do that. I know what I'm talking about, Greg.
yea i know what u mean....i tried with my feet placed to where my arm was free and didnt hit my chest.....feels good but im still slightly to the left......as for the video mr greg it would be impossible to tell if someone is a cue tip or 2 off to one side or the other(or so i would think)....but i can draw the cue ball straight back like this and follow it into the pocket w/it being slightly off.....I slowed down a bit a forced it to lay straight but i felt i was really forcing my stroke to do something unnatural. thanks for all the input i respect everyones point of view
I had watched the match live that morning and was amazed by the play of Barry Hawkins. His stroke appeared to be the same on every shot no matter what. Power shots, finesse shots, stretched over the table, all had the same pure straight stroke with the same finish at or very near his chest. Ronnie finishes with a little more vertical movement in the shaft but who could argue with his success. He seemed to finish a little shorter on soft shots. When he hit with power he finished on his pectoral.
The camera work is excellent on these matches and provide lots of great looks at the form of the players from various angles.
I just recently answered a PM question from a young man about just such an issue & what it comes to is that we are all individuals with variations in bodies regardless of how similar we are.
Hold the cue in just your shooting hand with your arm hanging naturally down at your side. The cue will not be pointing straight out at 90* to your hip line. Our arms/hands are 'rotated' inward at an angle & that angle is slightly different from one individual to the nest to the next, etc. That is partly why cookie cutter approaches do not fit everyone & probably not more than one.
We all need to turn or rotate a slightly different amount clockwise so that the cue in our hand can be moved back & forth without 'wanting to be 'pulled' or 'pushed' off line by our natural body angles.
I hope this helps.
Best Wishes for You & Yours,
Rick
PS1 CJ Wiley talked about 'aiming' with his front foot. I would not so much call it aiming as I would aligning.
PS2 I would suggest listening to Ms. Crimi... She DOES know what she is talking about... much more so than others IMO.
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Most people give up too soon. Getting the right placement for your feet takes time and effort. You don't have to hit your chest with your hand --- ever --- not even the slightest. And you can be deadly accurate at the same time.
Some instructors on here still don't get the significance of stance. There's a lot more going on with feet placement than they think. I recommend that they take a step back and take a long hard look at feet placement. It's not to be taken lightly.
Instead of insulting him why not tell him why you believe he's wrong?
I know what I am talking about. Perhaps YOU do not know what I am talking about.
Relativity...
& the word IF can sometimes be an enormous word.
Stand tall & slam the hand into the chest.
Lean over nearly flat on the table & slam the hand into the chest.
With what is it consistent?
That it lands on the chest. Okay, so relative to what else is it consistent?
Our head consistently sits on top of our shoulders. Why is that relative & to what?
Since you are here & seem to be in a more talkative mood than normal, would you tell me/us why you are no longer president of the PBIA Board.
I noticed when I was on the site & was just wondering why.
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Things that make you say Hmmmmm.
Fran,
As you well know, that is just not how some individuals operate. Instead of supporting what they say with a logical rational explanation that makes sense, they almost immediately resort to the 'attack the messenger tactic'.
I think you know that...
finishing by hitting the hand to the same point on the chest can create a physical 'muscle memory'.
We play a game of millimeters. If the set up is not perfectly in tune, alignment wise, with the shot, then that 'muscle memory' of that finish position can cause the cue to be "swung" off line for the shot at hand.
If the upper body is leaning over on an angle across the line of the shot, then the angle of that bend then effects the height of the landing spot or finish spot & THAT height difference then effects the cue line relative to the actual line of the shot, IF the hand is brought up to that same spot.
(I do not understand why one would ever want to bring the hand up unless they want the tip to go down instead of straight to & through the ball.)
So... a consistent landing or finish spot, while consistent onto it self is NOT consistent to anything else unless the set up is prefect for the line of the shot.
Trying to fix body parts at appropriate points in 3D space is extremely difficult to do & virtually impossible relative to other components & especially with any consistency that is proper for a physical endeavor that requires accuracy within millimeters.
This was not directed to you Fran but instead is just some general statements as food for thought.
Best 2 Ya,
Rick
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