Bridge/Crutch Question

u12armresl

u12armresl

One Pocket back cutter
Silver Member
Is anyone seeing people using bridges on a bar table?
I've been seeing almost as many bridges as I have jump cues.

20 years ago you'd never see a bridge on a bar box and very few jump cues.

What are your thoughts on this?
 
u12armresl said:
Is anyone seeing people using bridges on a bar table?
I've been seeing almost as many bridges as I have jump cues.

20 years ago you'd never see a bridge on a bar box and very few jump cues.

What are your thoughts on this?
Click to expand...

I've never been in a bar without a mechanical bridge.

I've been in lots of bars where the locals called it a granny stick.
 
u12armresl said:
Is anyone seeing people using bridges on a bar table?
I've been seeing almost as many bridges as I have jump cues.

20 years ago you'd never see a bridge on a bar box and very few jump cues.

What are your thoughts on this?
Click to expand...
You didn't see a bridge on a bar table 20 years ago? Stevie Wonder could see one in every pool hall and bar across this great country. This has to be some kind of tongue and cheek thing?
Jump cues maybe 30+ years ago were more rare.

I'm confused
 
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u12armresl said:
Is anyone seeing people using bridges on a bar table?
I've been seeing almost as many bridges as I have jump cues.

20 years ago you'd never see a bridge on a bar box and very few jump cues.

What are your thoughts on this?
Click to expand...

I see it all the time. I have a bridge head in my bag if needed or don't like the one that is available.

Yes, some people have an aversion to the bridge and refuse to use it (their choice). They would rather shoot a crazy town shot than touch the granny stick, pu**y stick, bi*ch stick, crutch, or whatever term they think will rattle you.

They can heckle me all they want, but if I need it, I need it. I'm not going to give up the table over some ego thing.

I have been practicing left handed shooting (still awkward and needs more practice) for some shots, but other shots still need the bridge to reach, even on a bar-box.
 
I see them in pretty much every bar I play leagues in. I use them fairly often myself because I'm fat and many times I can't lean way over the table without fouling. My team mates used to heckle me all the time over it until I got them to agree that they could only heckle me if I used the bridge and missed the shot. They only get to heckle very rarely now. It's also starting to dawn on them that using the bridge and taking a high percentage shot is better than not using it and missing.
 
Speaking as someone who plays on 6" or 7" tables with English pool, I'd say it's pretty uncommon to see people using rests. Most people tend to use butt extensions to reach far shots. I imagine they're common enough Stateside, though.
 
A lot has changed since the last decade that i was playing. I'm packing my own bridge end plus i have an extension for my cue. People use to know how to kick balls. Now it's get out the jump cue any chance they can get. Plus these guys are also getting shape on the ball after a jump too.
 
u12armresl said:
Is anyone seeing people using bridges on a bar table?
I've been seeing almost as many bridges as I have jump cues.

20 years ago you'd never see a bridge on a bar box and very few jump cues.

What are your thoughts on this?
Click to expand...

Depends on where and who, bar bangers tend to not use a bridge or jump cues. Good players don't care, they just use what is needed. There is as much need for a bridge on a bar table as on a full size table, unless someone is tall. At 5' 6" I need to use a bridge even on a 7 footer on some shots. I think it's more to do with the character and type of player than table size. Big manly truck drivers/bikers that can barely get through a game in 20 minutes show disdain for the bridge and make fun of people for using it. Those that want to play the shot correctly use one.
 
I personally never understood the whole stigma surrounding the use of the Bridge with some folks.

To me, using the Bridge looks elegant when cued and then lifted-away from the table correctly - I am amazed how often I see people who are otherwise excellent pool-players, handle the removal and lifting-away of the Bridge like a scene from The 3 Stooges - and, I mean elegant in terms of a surgeon concentration on making a careful incision.

Way back in my youth, in either Ray Martin's 99 Critical Shots in Pool, or, Minnesota Fats' On Pool - both being the 1st 2 books I read on playing pool as a youngster - the suggestion was put forward by the author to practice all shots with the Bridge, and not to neglect integrating practicing with the Bridge regularly within the other training.

I followed that advice, and it served me well.

I also recall as a young teen, how we at first deemed the Bridge as 'very uncool' to use - especially after learning from older teenagers how to do the 'behind the back' shot as an alternative solution. However, today, and for many, many years, whenever I see some grown adult pull that 'behind the back' move, rather then employing the Bridge, it just screams "Amateur Pre-Teen shooting pool in the basement rec-room" to me.

I know for a fact that I subconsciously judge a fellow-player's overall "Cuemanship" level on how well - or not! - he handles the Bridge. I have always found it jarring and discordant to watch an excellent shot & position player, suddenly look awkward and uncomfortable when the Bridge is called for. Of course this immediately flags in my mind, someone who didn't follow that advice about practicing with and learning to properly handle the Bridge - regardless if they make the shot or not.

I don't know, maybe I am a 'Bridge Snob'; but to me, it just looks so bad when I watch the obvious discomfort, and then, when the two stick awkwardly and clumsily separate and flail about with an improper take-away removal ; and, concerning those people who poo-poo the Bridge as a 'Crutch, B-Stick, etc', just seem to me to be announcing their ignorance and lack of complete appreciation for the craft of this aspect of the cuing arts.

Yeah, so rightly or wrongly, I guess I have to own it, I am a Bridge-snob. - GJ
 
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Just another tool that should be mastered. I rarely use one on a BB just because it's much smaller. If I need one, I will use one, no questions asked. There is very few areas that they are required, but it all depends on the person's height and stretching ability.

I see them in almost all bars.
 
hang-the-9 said:
Depends on where and who, bar bangers tend to not use a bridge or jump cues. Good players don't care, they just use what is needed. There is as much need for a bridge on a bar table as on a full size table, unless someone is tall. At 5' 6" I need to use a bridge even on a 7 footer on some shots. I think it's more to do with the character and type of player than table size. Big manly truck drivers/bikers that can barely get through a game in 20 minutes show disdain for the bridge and make fun of people for using it. Those that want to play the shot correctly use one.
Click to expand...
This can't be right, but I have no stats to back this up. I rarely use them on small tables, but on my 9' at home I use the bridge almost every practice session.
 
My local bar has two 6½ footers and no bridges.
All the local pool halls have bridges.

I do not carry a bridge in my bag, but I can use one accurately when needed.
 
couldnthinkof01 said:
You didn't see a bridge on a bar table 20 years ago? Stevie Wonder could see one in every pool hall and bar across this great country. This has to be some kind of tongue and cheek thing?
Jump cues maybe 30+ years ago were more rare.

I'm confused
Click to expand...
A bridge for bar tables, no never saw one.
A pool hall that had both, yes there were bridges on the 9ft side, no bridges on bar tables.
 
easy-e said:
This can't be right, but I have no stats to back this up. I rarely use them on small tables, but on my 9' at home I use the bridge almost every practice session.
Click to expand...

I don't mean that you would use it as often, just that you still need it even though it's a shorter table. Meaning you can't just say "it's a small table so no need for a bridge". I was actually at a place near Indianapolis a few weeks ago, nice place with a ton of 7' Diamonds and two tight 9' Diamonds, and no one there knew where the bridges were, a few people told me there were none. A very odd thing especially considering how nice the tables were and it was filled with good players when I was there during their leagues.
 
I'm a geezer and tend to relive my youth. Two tables in the basement. A GC IV with two bridges, both with a Moosehead. Then a Valley bar box with a brass head bridge hanging on the wall. That heavy brass head bridge reminds me of Joe's Last Chance Saloon in NY where I spent the disreputable part of my youth some 55 years ago. A quarter for a beer and a quarter for the box. A buck would go a long way.
 
Howdy All;

I look at a bridge as a tool, one that needs to be learned and used when necessary.
Otherwise your playin' pool like your tryin' to use slip-joint pliers to pull a spark plug.
It can be done but it's a whole lot easier with the proper tool.

hank
 
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