I've been working on my mechanics and stroke recently and came to sudden realization that may be obvious to others, but wasn't to me.
I first starting playing pool in the late 70s in NY when most people were playing 14.1. Back in those days I used a very short bridge and short stroke because that's what gave me the most accurate hit on the cueball and object ball. At that time a little of my stroke came from my wrist and a little from my elbow, but it was short and compact. Over time, I switched to playing some 14.1 and some 9-ball. My bridge length increased and my stroke lengthened over time with the changes in my game. It wasn't a concious change. It just sort of happened because 9-ball demanded doing more with the cueball on a regular basis. So I needed a longer more powerful stroke more often. I think more of my stroke came from elbow movement. As time passed, the length of my bridge got even longer. I'm not sure why. It just did. I then started dropping my shoulder a bit to keep my accuracy and power. What I just noticed yesterday during drills was that as I lengthen my bridge I need a longer stroke which in turn requires some elbow drop to remain accurate. If I lengthen it even further I need some shoulder drop to remain accurate. To me, this was a major revelation. I've been struggling with my back hand mechanics for decades. I played around with wrist action, elbow action, shoulder drop etc... searching for the magic bullet, but I never realized that bridge length is a component in stroke length which is then a component of the kind of movement you need in the back hand to remain accurate. For me. it felt like a ureka moment because my back hand, elbow, shoulder movement has been inconsistent and all over the place for a long time.
Does what I am saying make some sense?
Was this obvious to everyone except me?