Here's some different information. Everyone has a measurable personal shooting template. This includes how you stand at the table, bridge on the table, hold the cuestick in both hands, what your warmup cycle is, how far you bend over the cue, how close your tip is, which is related to where you hold your cue on the back end. Timing and sequence training are also included in this. If your grip position matches up with your bridge hand (with tip on CB), you shouldn't have to move either your hand up or your cuetip closer, to get close to the CB.
All of these things are measurable...if you know what and how to measure them. Stance is one of the smallest parts of having much to do with how close you get your tip. That said, stance has a LOT to do with how you line up on the shot, and how accurately you're able to deliver the cuestick. jmo
Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
Thanks. I have been saying this forever. Things can be measured, but not everybody is "measured the same".
Every player is unique. They may have a style that "looks" like another player, but no two players are exactly the same.
There are tons of players who try to emulate somebody else and it doesn't necessarily equate to making their game better.
People will ask, "how long is Earl's cue", when their arm span is a foot shorter than Earl's. So, using a 70 inch javelin isn't going to make them hit like Earl no matter what they do.
People will say, "bend over like a snooker player". What if the snooker player can bend over 90 degrees at the waist but you are 300 pounds? That shit isn't going to work.
If you are 6 feet 5 inches tall, you aren't going to be able to bend over and "see" the same way as a 5 foot guy. Your eyes will be farther from the balls than the short guy. The short guy may have to alter his stroke because he has a harder time reaching up to table height. For example, people who learn to play pool as a kid, usually cock their wrist a bit to the side because they learned to do it in order to keep their swing above table level.
In order to play pool to the best of your ability, you have to find out what works best for YOU. Then you have to practice until it becomes second nature and until it is ingrained into your mental and physical memory. That's not to say, you can't make little adjustments to improve, it's just saying you can't make dramatic changes that aren't going to work for you no matter what you do.
I can watch people and see what they are doing wrong, but it takes a lot of convincing to get them to change bad habits. Habits can be changed, but you can't change people's physical characteristics or "perceptions". It is kind of like trying to explain aiming to someone. Everybody eventually learns how to aim at some point (maybe not very well), but you can't make them see what you see. Everybody's mind interprets things a little bit differently.
For me, I am pretty damn close to the same distance from the cue ball on every shot. I know exactly where my bridge hand is going to be and my grip hand before I ever get down on the ball (assuming the table layout allows me to position my body correctly). I also know how far my follow through is going to go be by where I place my bridge hand and how far my body is away from the table.
I hold my bridge about 10 inches from the tip and my grip hand is about 2-3 inches down the wrap on 90% of all my shots. That is where my cue is balanced for me and that is where I've figured out what works best for me (my stance, my visual perception, stroke, follow thru, squirt, swerve, etc.). Because I have a "baseline" that I have figured out, I'm not constantly guessing when I'm trying to make minor adjustments to something.
Just because we can train somebody to bend over like Mosconi, stroke like Mosconi, use a cue like Mosconi's, etc. doesn't mean they will ever shoot like Mosconi.
Basic fundamentals are the foundation for a good game, but not every fundamental will be the same for every player (stance, stroke, bridge, etc.).