chalk with opposite hand...why?

Reasons to chalk with the grip hand.

1...so that your bridge hand remains clean, shaft gets less dirty.
2...you're more coordinated with that hand, and chalking can be a b*!ch sometimes.
3...Fels eats his pizza slice with his bridge hand.

Reasons to chalk with the bridge hand.

1...the wrap gets all blue if you chalk with the grip hand.
2...it's good to be ambidextrous.
3...but Fels eats popcorn with his grip hand.
 
If you shoot right handed, chalk left handed or the other way around. You use both sides of your brain. Just like one should spend a few minutes a day shooting off handed. At first you can hardly make a bridge using your shooting arm or have a half way decent stroke with your off hand. But if you intend on becoming a good player I would suggest both. You become more versatile or the word could be ambidextrous. Either way I think it will make you a better player.

Rod
 
KoolKat9Lives said:
It's strange the things we do via subconscious habit. Like chalking. I'm a righty and usually chalk lefty. But not always... Pool is like making love to a woman... Bare with me, mmkay? I don't think I'm alone in utilizing this moist effective, spiritual process.

Sometimes, when I've stroked one in the hole and come to notice my next one is going to be a sticky wicket, I realize I need a moment to analyze twats before me. So, I place put my butt down on the ground and hold my shaft with my left hand. I proceed to apply the friction modifier with my right hand, afterwhich I get focused on the task at hand. Then, an in-out.. a few more in-outs.. and BAM! I let 'er go without abandon. I find this process to be boneficial to not selling out. It keeps me in tall cotton. That'll be $69.99 please.

What's that story about the young bull and the experienced bull up on the hill? :)
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Damn...that's a lot of innuendo in one post. ;)

It's cool to see a thread I don't think has been discussed before. I've never really thought about this before, but now that it's been brought up, I chalk with my grip hand. I even look at my tip while I'm doing it; I'm pretty meticulous, actually....you might even say "anal". :D

You make a great point about slowing it down for the critical shots, my natural rhythm is fairly slow normally, that's how I play my best pool. Anything that gives a reason to pause and think for a couple extra seconds is worth it, imo.
 
The heel of the bridge hand picks up dirt and chalk from the felt. If you chalk with your bridge hand, that debris gets transferred to the top 4 inches of your shaft, creating an uneven patina.

If you switch hands, the heel of your back hand is clean and will keep your cue shaft looking good.
 
When I chalk with my grip hand (right) I can see the tip while chalking. If I did it with my bridge hand (left) I would be far less precise and get chalk on my ferrule.

I am not exactly tall so that might be a factor too. Also, I use a magnetic clip to hold the chalk and it is in my right side so...

Can you swipe the chalk with your bridge hand rather than drilling into it? I can't. :sorry:
 
Chalk

thought this might help.

5. And then there's the best of all those short-term improvement tips: Try chalking your cue with the hand you don't normally use. You'll very likely see a perceptible change in your play almost at once. We can get into why this should be so at some other time


Thanks Rob
 
BillyKoda said:
Paralysis by analysis, this is going a bit to far. The last thing i'm thinking about is which hand to chalk with.
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Amen brother.

If you play too fast, that's a problem with another solution, but which hand to chalk with? . . . you gotta be kidding me. :speechless:
 
I'm right handed.... when I chalk, I use my right hand. I wish I had good reasons; however, with me--- I'm SOOOOOO uncoordinated, when I chalk left-handed I drop the damn thing all the time and it rolls underneath the table. Next thing I know, I'm on my hands and knees on a search expedition trying to find my chalk.

When I WAS successful chalking left handed, my entire hand looked like Crusty the Clown and my shaft turned blue....so nix that cool move. Now, I switch my cue to my left hand and chalk with my right. I look goofy but I'm literally that uncoordinated.
 
trob said:
I was reading George fells top 30 pool tips and he said for immediate improval in your game chalk with the opposite hand. He said he won't go into why right now...just do it. 25 years of playing and I've never heard of this. So can anyone tell me why?? and is he right? I like george fels a lot. One of the main things I miss about billiards digest.
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You chalk with the opposite hand because, for some people, it will make you play better.

The reasons for this is that some people can use the act/motions of switching hands into a more productive and perhaps more precise PSR. In actuality, the chalking part of it has nothing to do with it -- it's what you do after that's important. You can try this out for yourself: stand at the table, switch hands and chalk and then get into shooting position. When you get to this part, you can play with/alter a number of things: where you hold the cue with your opposite hand to swing it to your grip hand; your footwork; and where you end up contacting the cue with your grip hand. There are actually more things that can be involved, but that's for starters. By trying variations on these, some players can come up with a very natural, repeatable, and precise PSR. For others, it may not do diddly do-da and they're better off doing whatever it is that they are doing.

There are a number of great players that do this opposite hand chalking. Allen Hopkins immediately comes to mind. If you watch him, he religiously changes hands to chalk and then immediately swings into his PSR. Even if he gets up to reevaluate, he will switch hands and chalk again. Frankly, I don't know why he does it, but I'm guessing he has a reason he's so anal about it and that reason is probably because it helps him set up the same way for every shot. YMMV.

Lou Figueroa
 
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Bud Winger said:
I shoot RIGHT handed and I chalk right handed and
it keeps my bridge hand clean and my shaft clean ....
This is important to me ...
Bud
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Well then you are just all f'd up!:grin-square::wink:
I shoot LEFT handed and I chalk left handed and
it keeps my bridge hand clean and my shaft clean ....
This is important to me ...

I think it is that one holds the cue a certain way and there is no need to adjust the monkey wrench with your damn turnin' hand! Hurry up, boy!
 
Rod said:
If you shoot right handed, chalk left handed or the other way around. You use both sides of your brain. Just like one should spend a few minutes a day shooting off handed. At first you can hardly make a bridge using your shooting arm or have a half way decent stroke with your off hand. But if you intend on becoming a good player I would suggest both. You become more versatile or the word could be ambidextrous. Either way I think it will make you a better player.

Rod
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I'm in total agreement, I forced myself to use my left hand to get some capability with it. In my younger days, being a regular handball player, it sure helped to practice using my left hand. If you're worried about a bit of chalk sticking to your hand and dirtying(sp.) your shaft, just give your hand a wipe on your shirt or pants, make it part of your pre-shot routine:grin-square:
 
Lance Link....correctamundo!!!

Lance Link is correct!!! I bridge with my Left hand and hold the butt of the cue with my right hand(my speed control hand). This forces me to go thru my pre-shot routine and with just a few balls on the table it is easy to get careless.
 
I think George means to chalk with your grip hand. That makes you put the butt of your cue on the floor, which makes you "exit" your previous shot completely, stand completely up, spend an extra moment or two looking the table over and planning your next shot (and, not incidentally, chalk your tip more carefully) - before starting your approach for the next shot from scratch. It's a "don't cut corners" thing.

pj
chgo

EDIT: Oops! Changed "bridge hand" to "grip hand". Changes the entire post - damn!
 
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What does it mean, if I chalk using both hands?

I have no idea how often I do this, but I will use my left hand on occassion and right on others.
 
Patrick Johnson said:
I think George means to chalk with your bridge hand. That makes you put the butt of your cue on the floor, which makes you "exit" your previous shot completely, stand completely up, spend an extra moment or two looking the table over and planning your next shot (and, not incidentally, chalk your tip more carefully) - before starting your approach for the next shot from scratch. It's a "don't cut corners" thing.

pj
chgo
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How does chalking with your bridge hand make you put the butt of the cue on the floor? Chalking with your bridge hand lets you grind the chalk in and not even look at the tip. It's exactly the opposite, chalk with your grip hand. Look at snooker players. They all chalk with their grip hand and put the butt on the floor.

LOL.
 
i use both hands, left when I'm playing, right when I'm waiting to shoot. so its 50/50 for me, i dont even think about it, when my shaft gets dirty I wipe it down with a damp cloth or paper towel, nothing more ever.

I play right handed.
 
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