Basic funadmental. My Stance

MasterClass

MasterClass

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Can some one please comment or criticize this crasy dudes fundamentals please.

Is the bridging too far? too near? Perpendicular to cue? too stiff? Legs too straight? too bent? Anything anything at all.

stance3.jpg

stance2.jpg

stance1.jpg
 
this guy might be a champ for all i know and play lights out.....but to me it looks like his stance isnt square, his feet are kind of one right behind the other. In that first pic it looks like a small shove would knock him over
 
the only thing I see is the grip, looks like the cue is laying in the back part of the hand, like this the follow through isnt going to be what its needs to be... you need to grip the cue with your pointer finger and thumb, the rest of the hand is relaxed, you dont need to hang the other fingers down, just relax them.. likely you tighten up on delivery and this will cause problems..

Using the Pointer finger and thumb allows for free movement of the wrist, allowing you to stroke straight through the cue ball..

I am looking at pictures, so I can just go on by what I see, I do think you have a solid foundation and an overall good stance..

Thats all I could see that might need some tweaking, as long as you are right eye dominant..

SPINDOKTOR
 
scottycoyote said:
this guy might be a champ for all i know and play lights out.....but to me it looks like his stance isnt square, his feet are kind of one right behind the other. In that first pic it looks like a small shove would knock him over
Click to expand...
In square as in when u are standing up you will be facing at about a 45 degree direction as in the snooker theory?

1 leg in front back leg to the side? I use to do that when playing snooker as in the pre shot routine i would plant the right leg in the line of shot first then move the left leg to the front on the side. But i watched some taiwanese pool coaching videos they advocates planting the lead leg which is my left leg first and moving the right leg back where comfortable. This is what i end up with.

What should it be or which is the better way?
 
He gets down on the shot well, but his backhand is a little too far forward. In the address position the knuckles should be pointing to the ground. This will also help him get the cue more level. In the finish position they should be pointed up towards the arm pit. His stance is fine as long as he is comfortable and balanced.
 
SPINDOKTOR said:
the only thing I see is the grip, looks like the cue is laying in the back part of the hand, like this the follow through isnt going to be what its needs to be... you need to grip the cue with your pointer finger and thumb, the rest of the hand is relaxed, you dont need to hang the other fingers down, just relax them.. likely you tighten up on delivery and this will cause problems..

Using the Pointer finger and thumb allows for free movement of the wrist, allowing you to stroke straight through the cue ball..

I am looking at pictures, so I can just go on by what I see, I do think you have a solid foundation and an overall good stance..

Thats all I could see that might need some tweaking, as long as you are right eye dominant..

SPINDOKTOR
Click to expand...
You are right. I hold the cue with my thumb and middle finger. Not sure why i do that. I think i saw a lot of players there i can see that their pointing finger is slightly open. But you provided some interesting information. I will go try it out tonight and see how it feels.

What do you think about the feet being 1 behind the other or close to that?

I have been tweaking my basic for as long as i can remember. Hence the inconsistency. But eventually if i can look good, play better, have fun, I am happy! I dun mind working hard to become better.
 
Big C said:
He gets down on the shot well, but his backhand is a little too far forward. In the address position the knuckles should be pointing to the ground. This will also help him get the cue more level. In the finish position they should be pointed up towards the arm pit. His stance is fine as long as he is comfortable and balanced.
Click to expand...
What do you think of the backhand position in the second picture? Looks perpendicular? I think that is because of the cushion. I have been trying to achieve that on my normal stance after reading some of the previous threads on that topic by holding the cue a little further behind. But it feels quite uncomfortable as it is unnatural to the balance of the cue. Hmmm!! an excuse to get a new cue! I think i also shorten my bridge to try acheive that. But for the picture my bridge already seems too short.
 
In the first pic, your feet are fine, width wise, the second close to the side of the table, could be a bit wider, but moving your left foot to much will also cause alighnment problems, so really I wouldnt mess with it to much...

you might also want to try lowering the butt of the cue slightly, when you do this you will naturaly spread your feet wider..if you want your chin to remain on the cue...

yes, Id say if your having problems it directly related to the grip, your either going to have to shorten your bridge hand, or correct the grip IMHO..

So if you came to me Id say, lower the butt of the cue slightly, work on the grip, then Id have you go through some drills..

some you can find under what to practice on my site..

GL! and please let me know if I can help...


SPINDOKTOR



MasterClass said:
You are right. I hold the cue with my thumb and middle finger. Not sure why i do that. I think i saw a lot of players there i can see that their pointing finger is slightly open. But you provided some interesting information. I will go try it out tonight and see how it feels.

What do you think about the feet being 1 behind the other or close to that?

I have been tweaking my basic for as long as i can remember. Hence the inconsistency. But eventually if i can look good, play better, have fun, I am happy! I dun mind working hard to become better.
Click to expand...
 
I have horrible mechanics,lol,my stance and my bridge hand are just VOMIT!
 
Last edited:
Big C said:
He gets down on the shot well, but his backhand is a little too far forward. In the address position the knuckles should be pointing to the ground. This will also help him get the cue more level. In the finish position they should be pointed up towards the arm pit. His stance is fine as long as he is comfortable and balanced.
Click to expand...

Good observation!
Steve
 
Sorry once again to be a contrarian. I love the way this guy gets down over the cue. He's really looking straight at his shot.

There are as many different styles as there are pool players. THERE IS NOT ONE RIGHT WAY TO PLAY! Or too stand, bridge, stroke etc. Please read the first sentence in this paragraph again. It may save you some money someday. :)

The filipinos have shown us this many years ago, and this guy looks filipino. Right away I know he can play. No Rotation for you sir! Only Banks or One Hole!

And I sure like his choice of footwear. :D
Is he related to Fatboy?

I wouldn't change a thing he is doing. This man can already play pool, I guarantee it. I would have to watch him play to see where he needs help. It may be the mental side of the game, or strategic choices of shots, or his pace of play. Helping him is probably on a more advanced level than fiddling with his stance and bridge etc. That's my read on this dude.
 
Last edited:
Big C said:
He gets down on the shot well, but his backhand is a little too far forward. In the address position the knuckles should be pointing to the ground. This will also help him get the cue more level. In the finish position they should be pointed up towards the arm pit. His stance is fine as long as he is comfortable and balanced.
Click to expand...
I don't understand what you mean when you say that the knuckles need to be pointing to the ground in the address position. Can you elaborate. Or show a picture of what you mean?

I sometimes feel that my hand isn't in exactly the same position. Sometimes my knuckles seem to be pointed more toward the ground and sometimes toward the wall. Or I guess another way to say it is that I notice my wrist is broken more sometimes and in a straight line sometimes. Where should the wrist be at the beginning through the end of the stroke?

Mike
 
jay helfert said:
Helping him is probably on a more advanced level than fiddling with his stance and bridge etc. That's my read on this dude.
Click to expand...

And at what level do you think someone no longer needs to worry about their stance??

I personally think anyone at any level isn't immune from any foundation changes. Look at Tiger woods. He completely went through a full foundation wipe and started over because something was wrong. Then took off again doing extremely well.

I dont like this stance. A lot of room for his hand to move. And no real solid foundation. I'm sure he can play but it certainly would only help him to have a more solid foundation.

edit: By the way the guys hand holding the cue in the picture is correct in how it's positioned in terms of where his knuckles are pointing. It's a little far forward in regards to being perpendicular to the ground.
 
Last edited:
Mike Templeton said:
Where should the wrist be at the beginning through the end of the stroke?

Mike
Click to expand...

It depends who you are.

Sometimes I have seen guys wreck their games by trying to adopt something that actually helped someone else's game.

Once way back when, I had entrusted someone to help me with my game and in doing so they completely wrecked my rhythm and my confidence.

Everything you do has to have a natural flow to it. If you do not have that natural flow, you will find it extremely difficult to advance in this game.

With my students, I have them get into their stance as quickly as possible and take a shot. This allows their natural stance to occur as well as their natural stroke. Nothing is rehearsed, nothing is "un-natural". From there, we can work out some of the intricate details and tighten the bolts so to speak.

I am a firm believer in "if it ain't broke don't fix it." I've seen too many guys spend months- sometime years - working on crap that is doing absolutely nothing but confusing them and throwing off their natural balance and their natural stroke rhythm. Matt24 and I have spoke about this at length - and basically what it comes down to, is confidence in your natural abilities as a player. That, and a lot of practice to make it stronger.
 
Last edited:
Stance

1) First guy, not bad stance, needs to turn 1-2" more towards his cue.
His forearm is not vertical (perpendicular to the floor) when his tip is at the cue ball. (His grip arm is too far forward a little). Plus he grips the cue with a full fist which causes a bent wrist. I would say, his follow through suffers from his grip, plus he misses long shots, at least occasinally, or a certain type of shot.

People that grip with a full fist can not follow throughly properly because the palm of their hand will not let them, so they will shorten or abruptly end their stroke at the end, short of a good follow through. It causes them to pull certain shots, or else the cue stroke varies, usually down and left at the end.

These are unconscious things he did because he was insecure with his stroke when he was learning the game. He is trying to control the cue ball instead of letting his stroke control the cue ball. He is overcompensating.

2) 2nd guy - Gripping with full fist (see above). This guy also looks like he is tucking his arm some. (grip hand closer to the body than his elbow). This is also a 'control technique' by players that are not secure with their stroke. Trying to 'guide' the cue ball.
 
Last edited:
By looking at a static picture, there's no way to tell if a guy is a 30 ball or a 100 ball runner. Don't get me wrong, I like textbook style, but that's not what separates great players from average ones.
 
1. Do you sometimes "scoop" the cue ball when using extreme draw? If so, you might try gripping farther back (so your grip arm is perpendicular with the cue rather than with the floor). Gripping too far forward can make your tip dip toward the cloth before you hit the ball rather than after.

2. Do you have trouble getting your stroke in line with your eyesight? If so, you might try holding your elbow a little farther from your body (so it's directly over your stick). This can help to "straighten" out your stroke. [This might happen automatically if you change your foot position as suggested in #3 below.]

3. Do you feel as if your "shot picture" isn't steady? If so, you might try moving your front foot a little to your left. Having your feet too parallel with the shot can make you sway a little while you're stroking - maybe not enough to be visible to an observer, but maybe enough to make it hard to aim precisely.

4. If you sometimes play with shoes and sometimes without, that slight difference in your height can be a distraction.

pj
chgo
 
Last edited:
MasterClass said:
... Anything anything at all...
Click to expand...

Forgot your shoes that night. :)

I think your stance should be a little less straight on according to the books. I know I couldn't shoot properly that way. On the other hand, if you're comfortable that way and it doesn't effect your stroke, I guess it's alright.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top