Body Alignment

[bizzy]

Hi guys. What kind of body alignment techniques do you know? One technique I've heard of is to hold the cue high in the line of the shot in a 90° angle to the floor. Then just get down without moving the cue and you should be right on the line of the shot.

Are there any drills or something to learn it the proper way? Or maybe to test or correct possible errors?

 

[Railbird Hero]

I had to have tumors removed from my spinal cord and found that after a few hours of playing it gets harder to lean down on the shot right. My advise would be read a few books and try those particular technques. Almost everybook on billiards starts with stroke, technique, etc. Personally I try to follow the basic mechanics that I see most pros use.

 

[selftaut]

Standing behind each shot put your cue in the "port arms" position , run the shot through your mind before you get down , its critical to be convinced you are comfortably on the correct angle behind the shot before you get down on the shot, when you feel 100% that your in line your shoulder should be in line with the shot, then step into the shot with your left leg (assuming your right handed) and leaving your right leg in position , Jimmy Reid gives this method on his website http://www.freepoollessons.com , click on the 4 ball on the left menu , then "lesson 1" at the top of that page , then click "addressing the ball".

 

[dmgwalsh]

Hi guys. What kind of body alignment techniques do you know? One technique I've heard of is to hold the cue high in the line of the shot in a 90° angle to the floor. Then just get down without moving the cue and you should be right on the line of the shot.

Are there any drills or something to learn it the proper way? Or maybe to test or correct possible errors?

In the PAT videos from Germany Ralph Eckert talks about something like that. hold the cue lightly at its balance point and let it swing in whatever direction is natural when it comes to rest it is pointing in a certain direction. Then just move your body until it is pointing in the direction you want the cue ball to go. That way you are not fighting against your body's natural tendency and the shot feels much more comfortable.

They have a drill where you just hit object balls into the far pocket. Set 5 balls up . get over them, to where the cue tip is right over the ball to be shot, then get down and shoot it one handed. then walk down to the diagonal
pocket and do it again., and again and again and again to get the technique ingrained.

 

[3kushn]

Standing behind each shot put your cue in the "port arms" position , run the shot through your mind before you get down , its critical to be convinced you are comfortably on the correct angle behind the shot before you get down on the shot, when you feel 100% that your in line your shoulder should be in line with the shot, then STEP INTO THE SHOTwith your left leg (assuming your right handed) and leaving your right leg in position.

DO NOT KICK YOUR RIGHT LEG BACK. Most players stand very close to the tabel then kick their right leg back when getting down over the shot. This motion makes it extremely hard to be consistantly in good alignment.
I can't think of any other sport where stepping backwards (in the bucket)is proper technique. It isn't here either although some get away with it.

 

[JoeW]

Here is a common sense notion and it works for me. You move the rifle to your eye and make it conform to you. Then you move your body as needed. I do the same with a cue stick and think in those terms.

Several beginners books talk about laying the stick on the rail and then wrapping your body around it. This probably works to learn to aim. Once you know how to aim, you aim the stick, it does not dictate to you.

I like the “line your shoulder up” in the pre shot routine. Hold the cue stick in the back hand and it is lined up. Move the bridge hand as needed. For fine adjustments move your hips when you are down on the shot and everything stays lined up. When you are ready to fire, lock your hips and your knees before the warm up strokes. This helps detect any body movement once you are aligned.

 

[3andstop]

another little thing you can play with is shooting some balls into the far corner pockets by placing them a few feet off the bottom rail and play your cue ball between them. Then, rest your cue stick on the bottom rail being sure you are not creating too steep an angle from perpendicular with respect to your cue stick and bottom rail, then... shoot with one hand. Put your other hand on your knee or whatever feels comfortable. Get down as low as comfortable.

That will give you an idea if you can deliver the cue stick straight through your shot with accuracy or if your front hand is needed to battle the cue back on path.

 

[KMRUNOUT]

A few years ago I started using the "Practice Pro" pocket reducers. This creates a pocket on my table that is 3.5" wide. If you touch the sides at all, the ball will bounce out. Needless to say, this requires a damn straight stroke. What I have learned over the years is that accuracy is about 90% stance related. Aiming is a skill that most humans seem to bring to near perfection relatively quickly. At that point, making the cue go straight is the obstacle. Now the elbow works in such a way that if you can swing only your forearm, its pretty much going to go straight. So the final obstacle is orienting your body so that the swing of your arm is exactly on the line of the shot. This is the part that many people do not practice at all.
I have a particular method that works quite well for me and the few people I have tought it to. First, I stand behind the line of the shot, facing the shot as squarely as possible. Ideally, this means that the center of my head will be right on the line of the shot. By "line of the shot", I mean the line that the cueball will be travelling on. Rememeber-all shots are straight. You only ever shoot the cueball straight (excluding masse shots). So here is the order of events from this position:
1) Stand at the right distance from the cueball. This will vary for everyone. For me, the distance is about the length of my cue. I am just over 6'2", so this is probably wrong for most people. I stand with my feet about shoulder width apart.
2) Place my back foot (the right for me) on the line of the shot. For me, I place my heel on the line. Different people might prefer a different part of the foot. Maybe the toe, maybe the instep, etc. You will have to experiment and find the right part for you. I am not stepping forward with this foot. I am simply turning it about 45 degrees to the line of the shot and placing it on the line.
3) Next, I step *straight* forward with my front foot. The amount I step forward is enough so that I feel balanced. This results in a situation where my body is roughly 45 degrees to the shot, maybe even a little more.
4) At this point, I will be holding my cue verticle. My looking "through" my cue, I can see the line of the shot. I am holding the cue where I would normally, and my bridge is made around the cue in the place where that would normally be.
5) The next thing I do is bend *at the waist*. Only bend my waist. Try not to "curl" your back. A straight back creates a great deal of stability in your stance. Also, over time, it will be far less fatiguing. Finally, I feel a straight back makes it easier to keep your head up and face the shot. For me, bending at the waist feels very tight in my front hamstring.
6) I place my bridge hand down on the table along the line of the shot. If I did everything above, I should be able to close my eyes and just swing the cue and make the ball (I can).

This is a proven method. Everyone I've tought it to immediately shoots straighter. The things you have to come up with on your own are the distance you stand from the ball, and how far you step forward with your front foot.

I can explain further if you wish.
Hope this helps,

Kerry

 

[Big Bad Bern]

I also believe that there is a subconcious aspect to aligning to a shot. It was previously mentioned that you should not "step in the bucket" when getting aligned with a shot, not only do I think this makes it harder to consistently align as your foot placement can vary greatly affecting your ballance day to day and match to match it also signals your mind you are afraid of the shot.
If you are walking in the woods and round the corner on the path only to see a bear you immediately step back (your bodies fight or flight response developed over thousands of years) signaling your fear, at the same time if you rounded the path corner to see a beautiful women you would step toward her to introduce your self, (signaling a desire to be in the situation and asserting self confidence) you would feel good about the and physically show a desire to be there.

Similarly I think stepping away from a shot creates mental fear and loss of control of the situation leading to poor performance; and steeping into the shot creates mental confidence and ownership of the situation leading to a better performance and outcome.


Bern