Sometimes when i'm playing i start poking instead of stroking. It happens more often when i play on real fast tables. Lately when i've been playing i've been focusing on the contact point and following through in a straight line to that point and i've been playing pretty good doing this( On extreme cut shots i just use the fractional method). Is this a bad habit? Am i thinking too much?
Bad habit?
- Thread starter railroad82
- Start date
You have two questions here.
Poking at the ball makes it much more difficult to control the speed of the shot. As Scott often says, there is no shot that you poke at that I can't accomplish the same thing with a smooth stroke and a full finish.
As for aiming, there are dozens of different aiming systems. I teach more than one in pool school. They all are designed to accomplish the same thing...to get the cue ball to a specific place in order to contact the object ball at the point that will put it into the pocket. The contact point remains the same, regardless of which system you use to aim your shot. If the balls are going in, the system you are using is correct. Use whatever aiming system works for you.
Steve
Poking at the ball makes it much more difficult to control the speed of the shot. As Scott often says, there is no shot that you poke at that I can't accomplish the same thing with a smooth stroke and a full finish.
As for aiming, there are dozens of different aiming systems. I teach more than one in pool school. They all are designed to accomplish the same thing...to get the cue ball to a specific place in order to contact the object ball at the point that will put it into the pocket. The contact point remains the same, regardless of which system you use to aim your shot. If the balls are going in, the system you are using is correct. Use whatever aiming system works for you.
Steve
If you learn speed control on your practice table, it's fairly easy to adjust to faster or slower tables. That adjustment is how fast you close your elbow. Also make sure that your bridge and back swing length allow for a smooth stroke. If either are too short for the shot, it can promote poking.
Yes, you want to look at the distant target where you are throwing the cue to. Be careful as it's not the contact point, but a spot near by. Since you are making the shots, you are taking care of this subconsciously and that's fine.
You should think about this during practice time so that they become habits that don't require thinking during game time.
Thanks fellas, i think this is really going to help out.
That's a simplistic view. Keep in mind that you want to be smoothly accelerating the closure of your elbow. At slow speeds this can be difficult.
Another way to control speed is with the length of the back swing. It limits how long you can accelerate the cue, and works very will with soft and very soft speeds.