Anyone else been taught this?

Luxury

Luxury

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
An instructor is teaching me that my swinging arm should be at a 90 degree angle when the tip makes contact with the cue ball.

To do this I have to hold the stick way further back than I'm used to. There is only about 3 inches left of the butt past my pinkie finger.

I'm getting used to it.

Will holding the fat part of the stick hurt me in any way?

Anyone else been taught this way?
 
Yes, this is what most would teach. 90 degrees or slightly forward when you make contact. If you held further up on the cue you are "running out of stroke" by the time you make contact with the ball.

Are you a tall person? If you are, holding close to the end of the cue is ok. If you are not then your bridge may be too long making you move so far back on the cue.
 
Yep, I would say that is very standard for MOST istructors that teach fundamentals!
 
I'm six feet tall.

What I like about it is I seem to be further away from the shot so my view is better.

I've also thought that my bridge was too short. I've noticed the better players use longer bridges then I do. Hopefully now I will get used to it and play better.
 
Be wary on lengthening the bridge early in your developement. Many top players use a real long "flowing" bridge. This requires a very developed and fluid stroke to pull off shooting that well. If you don't have time to play as much as these players, a real long bridge will only hurt your game. Six to eight inches is what most would instruct. I usually notice my game dropping if I get my hand away from the cue ball after watching Alex P videos. It looks really cool but hurts most guys that don't play high level pool.

I only asked about your height becuase this would effect your back hand placement. I was teaching a newbie that was about 5' 8" to hit the ball at 90 degrees and his back hand was on the butt plate because he watches too many videos and uses a 18 inch bridge.
 
Luxury said:
An instructor is teaching me that my swinging arm should be at a 90 degree angle when the tip makes contact with the cue ball.
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Depends. 90 degress relative to what? Your bicep? The floor?

If you mean that your arm angle should be 90 degrees, then I don't think this is true. For the vast majority of players nowadays, the angle the forearm makes with the bicep is almost always less than 90 degrees at impact.

However, if you mean your forearm is 90 degrees relative to the floor, which also means that your forearm is completely vertical on contact, then I think this is much more true.

EDIT: Oops, I misunderstood. I'm looking at the wrong hinge. If you mean your forearm should be 90 degrees relative to the cue, then that's probably right.
 
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that's the way I was taught, it seems to make sense...and I was taught by Hillbilly (one of the greatest strokes I've ever seen).
 
Luxury said:
... Will holding the fat part of the stick hurt me in any way? ...
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It may cause you to play like Buddy Hall. If that's not a problem, go for it.

Many top players grip their cues slightly "forward" of the perfect pendulum position. If you are a hand ahead, I wouldn't worry about it. If you are holding the stick, for example, at the balance point, then your fundamentals are probably holding you back. Without seeing you, it's impossible to give perfect advice.

As for bridge length, if you have trouble hitting where you want on the cue ball, a longer bridge will probably hurt. If you can hit the ball hard enough without forcing your stroke, your bridge is long enough. Bustamante is not a good role model if you are a beginner working on fundamentals. Unless you have 14 hours a day to play, a 25-inch bridge will make an accurate hit impossible. Again, without seeing your present situation, perfect advice is not available for you.
 
Luxury said:
An instructor is teaching me that my swinging arm should be at a 90 degree angle when the tip makes contact with the cue ball.

To do this I have to hold the stick way further back than I'm used to. There is only about 3 inches left of the butt past my pinkie finger.

I'm getting used to it.

Will holding the fat part of the stick hurt me in any way?

Anyone else been taught this way?
Click to expand...

When speaking about the angle, I think it is best to state it as perpendicular to the CUE STICK...not the floor.

Even most "level" strokes are "jacked up" at least slightly due to the existence of the rail but perpendicular to the ground is good enough for government work.

But when intentionally jacked up to a meaningful degree, then the forearm should be perpendicular to the cue, not the floor.

Of course, not all top players do that. Some are slightly forward but by my observation a large percentage (80%+) hold the forearm perpendicular to the cue.

As Keith and Busta prove, you can have a very loopy stroke or hit it sidearm and still be a champion. But for the rest of us who don't possess such super-human muscle control, sticking to a set of mechanics most likely to produce a repeateable stroke is VERY wise advice.

When I transitioned from inside to perpendicular, it took a LONG time to feel comfortable. At the end of the back stroke, I felt like my right hand was out in the back yard somewhere!

But now, it feels very natural and I would not go back. Stick with it.

Regards,
Jim

Regards,
Jim
 
Thanks for all the help. I will try to keep my bridge from getting too long.

Here's the thing: I've steadily gotten better faster than my peers due to live instruction as well as books and videos. (it's cool to get advice from Bob Jewett after reading about him in so many of Byrne's books.)

I'm still just a league player though.

My greatest feat is breaking and running 3 straight 8ball racks in league. I know that the majority of guys on here have ran way more.

I have a table at home and practice every night. My question is will lengthening my bridge from about 8-10 inches ( from bridge hand to ob) to about 12 to 15 inches help take me to the next level?
 
Luxury said:
... I have a table at home and practice every night. My question is will lengthening my bridge from about 8-10 inches ( from bridge hand to ob) to about 12 to 15 inches help take me to the next level?
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Here's a shot you can try both ways to see what it feels like. It's a hard shot, but the easy shots aren't going to tell you much. It requires both speed -- which a longer bridge helps -- and precision -- which a shorter bridge helps.

Go to www.sfbilliards.com and get the free Basics Clinic outline (it's a PDF that you can download and print). Read up about progressive practice. Do the level 4 progressive practice draw shot. (Shot 4C on page 11.) It's not obvious, but the cue ball is in hand behind the line and the object ball moves away to make the shot harder. If level 4 is too easy, do 5. Try both bridge lengths, and see which works better. To be fair, you need to put in some time with the longer bridge first. I don't think anyone here can tell in advance what your outcome will be.
 
Thanks Mr. Jewett for a good tip on testing my new stroke mechanics. I like the progressive system and I found that with the new stroke I'm using as described before I could draw back to the end rail from #5 five times in a row.

I've tried practicing draw like this before without the progression and miscued badly.

I'm also focusing on pausing and accelerating through the shot now and that helps too.

I will use more of that pdf I'm sure.

Keep on being good for pool!
 
longer bridge

I used to shoot with a pretty long bridge. Nick Varner watched me play for about a minute and said: "Shorten that bridge way up". I said that all of the Filipino players play with a long bridge. Nick said: "You ain't Filipino". So I shortened up to about a 4" bridge and my shotmaking percentage went way up.

Now my eyes are going and my shotmaking is way down again. Maybe I should lengthen my bridge so I lose enough money to quit the game and take up checkers.
 
Jerry Forsyth said:
I used to shoot with a pretty long bridge. Nick Varner watched me play for about a minute and said: "Shorten that bridge way up". I said that all of the Filipino players play with a long bridge. Nick said: "You ain't Filipino". So I shortened up to about a 4" bridge and my shotmaking percentage went way up.

Now my eyes are going and my shotmaking is way down again. Maybe I should lengthen my bridge so I lose enough money to quit the game and take up checkers.
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What makes you think you can even play "checkers". I challenge you to the "Old Pool Players Checker Championship". (don't say that wrong). I will come your way for the big show-down.......:-) randyg
 
Arm

90 degrees (why don't they have a degree mark on keyboards) is right. Less than 90 is wrong, wrong, wrong, and those people usually use a a full fist grip which prevents their cue from staying straight at the end of the stroke, in fact, it causes the cue to dip left at the end of the stroke, and they forever wonder why they are not consistent with the long shots with high right on the cue ball.

BTW, if you use a full fist grip, you are limiting your stroke and your game because your wrist can not break at the end to maintain a straight line.

For good mechanics, Mika is a good one to watch for good standard form.
 
Bridge length

Jerry Forsyth said:
I used to shoot with a pretty long bridge. Nick Varner watched me play for about a minute and said: "Shorten that bridge way up". I said that all of the Filipino players play with a long bridge. Nick said: "You ain't Filipino". So I shortened up to about a 4" bridge and my shotmaking percentage went way up.

Now my eyes are going and my shotmaking is way down again. Maybe I should lengthen my bridge so I lose enough money to quit the game and take up checkers.
Click to expand...
I like a long bridge, but i'm more consistent using a shorter bridge with my shot making. I get better action for position play with the longer bridge and I can move the cue ball much better, but I risk missing a shot now and then when I play with that bridge.....

James
 
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