broken hand

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khristophleon

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so last friday night i broke a bone in my bridge hand. doctor says it will be in a splint for 2-4 weeks. i've tried playing one handed, but that seems to frustrate me even more. prior to the injury, id been playing the best pool of my life and im afraid of loosing so much progress. any have a similar experience or have suggestions for how to keep my head in the game? keep in mind that its hard for me to watch and not play.

please forgive the lack of caps, typing with one hand is hard.
 
I broke my right elbow last June and it was very tough. I could not play at all for 6 weeks. I would suggest you might want to get into some physical therapy. I went to an excellent Sports Doc, after the first Doc I saw, did not take my pool playing concerns seriously. It made all the difference, they put me into physical therapy immediately and I was playing exactly 6 weeks later...
I honestly think I would have had a much harder time getting back to playing had I not done that...
2 to 4 weeks is really not too bad and I would suggest being careful not to aggravate it and make it worse. Watch some pool videos (the Derby live streaming on the billiards network is excellent) and you will be back before you know it.
 
Switch hands. Learn to shoot with your opposite hand...believe me it will come in handy. Most all of the greats do it well. Efren shoots maybe better left handed. When he switches you are like WOW what a stroke. It will make you really focus on stroke mechanics as you learn to even make simple shots. You can slightly alter your cast if needed with a dremel so you can hold the butt of the cue with your cast. You really only need thumb pressure. Depending on your cast you may be able to even still use it as your bridge hand but using an open bridge. You just need to be able to balance the shaft on your thumb in some steady fashion. Hope this helps. I've broke both hands, each one twice. Eventually you learn to make a VERY tight fist so you don't shatter the bones in whats commonly known as a boxer's break!;)
 
Lot's of books! You could list the ones you've already read here and you'll get some great advice on some new ones.

Maybe if you have limited shooting, you could work on mind skills like diamond system stuff if you haven't already.

You never know. If you do this right, it might be the best thing that ever happened to your game!

Good luck!
 
if i can address some of the replies given so far:

physical therapy is out of the question for financial reasons. for that matter so is the doctors bill, but whatever.

varney: shooting left handed is out too. this stupid split wont let me move my left wrist at all. moreso i'm afraid of picking up bad habits i'd have to get rid of when its healed. (and i swear i didnt punch anyone! i stiff armed a buddy as he tried to tackle me)

ive tried to read as much as i can, which is mostly a few byrne books at the library. ive been told by a local teacher that i need to get my hands (or hand, as the case might be) on "the 8-ball bible" and i forget the authors name. its written down here somewhere, but i dont know how to get ahold of one for cheap.

also, i'm not taking chances on damaging it more by rushing back into the game. i broke the same bone on the other hand a few years ago during softball season and thought i could take an at bat a few weeks too soon. a grounder to the pitcher and a pinky that sits about half an inch away from the rest of my hand later i think i learned that lesson.

i'm trying to look for the good in it all, hopefully it will best thing to happen to my shot. thanks for the help guys, anything else i could be doing?
 
Well, I'd venture to say that competitive play is out for a few weeks. If you're jonesing too bad to get to the table this would be a fantastic oppurtunity for you to work on your rake skills. A lot of people take the rake for granted. I used to break one handed and then shoot every shot with the bridge. You'd be amazed at some of the stuff you'll come up with doing that.
MULLY
 
khristophleon said:
physical therapy is out of the question for financial reasons. for that matter so is the doctors bill, but whatever.
Click to expand...

I understand that, I did not have insurance when my accident happened but I was able to barter a deal with my doctors...so you never know? If you have a skill you might be able to work out something! If not, you may be able to find something with a sliding scale or check out the local medical schools, they sometimes have low priced programs so that Docs and Physical Therapist can get hands on training...
 
Sorry to hear about your misfortune. :(

When I was in college, I fell down in a drunken stupor :p looking for a place to go to the bathroom on a hillside in high heels, lost my balance and cut my hand to the bone on an oil barrel lid on my bridge hand. I had the dr. cast my hand with a groove for the cuestick to slide through. For some reason, I played pretty good with that thing on...I guess it held the cue steadier than my bridge hand. See if they can do something like that. :)
 
I saw a guy playing APA that had an injury to his arm that required a sling. He used a sand bag as a bridge. Just fill up a sock or whatever cloth kind of bag. The only problem I saw was getting it back off the table when the shot was done. He could use his left hand (attached to arm in sling) to pick the bag up quickly when he needed to. He shot darn well with that thing. Easily an SL6. Might be worth a try.
 
Back when I was a senior in HS, I lost a pool match, went to the bathroom and punched the stall, twice. Lil did I know it was solid 1 inch thick steel. OUCH!! 3 knuckles and several small bones later, my right hand was swollen. Surgery, therapy, etc I needed. My grad pics actually show my cast. What an idiot I was. But for 8 weeks, I couldn't play much. I did practice one handed and practiced with a bridge as another member suggested. Both of which helped expand my game from that point forward. Once I got the cast off, it still took a couple weeks to get full movement out of my hand and then I was back playing. It's like riding a bike, you won't lose anything. Maybe a bit rusty, but it will all come back to you.

ez
 
I've seen guys use a table brush, set with the handle side down, bristles up, as a bridge workaround. Works pretty well. Again, there's the issue of snatching it up quick enough.
 
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