ndakotan said:
On the WPBA website, Sarah Rousey says that Brieseth's one arm drill is great for stroke training (she said she did it for 6 hours). Can anyone tell me what the drill is? Do you get in your regular stance and shoot at the cue ball without a bridge hand?
Any insight would be appreciated.
SouthofCanadan,
Here is a description from the thread on Sarah's forum - based on my lessons with Jerry B.; I don't think she had any corrections of my description.
Just some additional clarification of Jerry's one-handed drill. In my discussions with Jerry, he described this drill as the best and quickest way to give a new player (or an older one with bad habits like me) the feel of a proper stroke - smooth acceleration, let the cue do the work, move the arm only from the elbow down, long and PERFECTLY STRAIGHT follow through, TENSION-FREE grip throughout the stroke (drill can even be done with the cue just resting lightly on one finger of your grip hand - helpful if your stroke is a complete mess like mine). It is not a drill to learn jacked-up or jump shots. It is a great drill to learn to move the cue stick without tension and jerking from your grip hand.
To set up the drill, line some balls up along the short rail, 3-5 inches off the rail. You will then shoot these balls the length of the table into a corner pocket. Set up to shoot the ball as you normally would (I'm assuming you are right handed). Then without moving the cue (cue is resting on the rail), remove your left hand, and rest your left hand on your left thigh (you can use your left arm to stabilize and support your body). This will leave your body position a little higher than you usually shoot. Make sure that your right hand is behind the plane of your body (if not, then move your right hand position further back than usual). From this position make your one-handed stroke using the SAME pre-shot routine that you would if shooting normally. A typical example is slow but rhythmic back swing (eyes on target), bring cue tip back to ball (eyes on cue tip and cue ball as tip comes forward), a second slow but rhythmic backswing (eyes on target), bring cue tip back to ball (eyes again switch back to cue tip and cue ball as tip comes forward). Pause at this point, decide if aim and stroke feel correct (if not, then reposition slightly and repeat the 2 warm-up strokes), if correct then SAME slow but rhythmic backswing, stroke through the ball with a smooth stroke, dead straight follow through, moving right arm only from the elbow down (tip dropping to touch the cloth). You judge your stroke by the quality of the stroke and the tip position at the end - NOT by the pocketing of the ball. This will really give you the feel of letting the cue do the work, and of getting the tension out of your right hand grip (if you have had trouble trying to "steer" the ball during the stroke).
