Changing One Thing Made The Difference

stevekur1

stevekur1

The "COMMISH"
Silver Member
Hey,

Today i set out on one of my practice seesions like i do every weekend, and things werent goin to well. i think in the first 20 innings my average was 2, that was until i changed one thing and i was a pocketting machine. no high runs because i kept on missing my second breakshot every time. with the exception of the 34 that i hit. nothing big, but definate improvement over the way the day had started !

well that one thing i changed was my Bridge. i changed it up a little and switched to an open bridge. I dont know if it stablized my hand or enabled me to sight the shots better. or it just took my mind off what i was doing wrong, and switched it to what i was now doing right.

for some reason it really helped me feel fluid and natural, so much that my elbow didnt drop once. it really helped me to open up and feel loose. i will bring that with me to the table tomorrow.


So my advice here is, to change it up a little. stop fixating on what we all do wrong. change One thing and move forward without turning back !!!


-Steve

i will update this tomorrow with some more results !!!
 
Thanks Steve. Isn't it amazing sometimes how actually changing your routine actually helps your shots?

For me, I seem to have good and bad days related to pocketing balls. I had a friend over THursday night to play pool, 5 innings in, we both looked at each other and said, "Wanna play 8-ball?" It was hilarious. We never play 8, but we were both shooting so poorly it was the only option.

We switched to 8, and I ran 6 out of 8 racks. Nice change, so we switched back to Straight. I beat him 50-11 in a quick half game. No large runs...

I still have no clue what order to shoot the balls in, but I am working on that. I seem to THINK I am shooting the balls to get me my BB position, and when I focus on that, I usually get stuck somewhere before then. When I just worry about pocketing balls, I more often then not, get them all in. NO break shot though
banghead.gif


Hope to get some time over the next couple of months when I am not traveling to get some coaching, or do some reading. Practicing ain't helping so far...
 
I check and recheck my mechanics everyday....and am always open to change if it helps improve my game.

I remember John Schmidt saying in an interview that only time he plays with the closed bridge is when he needs to generate power.




stevekur1 said:
Hey,

Today i set out on one of my practice seesions like i do every weekend, and things werent goin to well. i think in the first 20 innings my average was 2, that was until i changed one thing and i was a pocketting machine. no high runs because i kept on missing my second breakshot every time. with the exception of the 34 that i hit. nothing big, but definate improvement over the way the day had started !

well that one thing i changed was my Bridge. i changed it up a little and switched to an open bridge. I dont know if it stablized my hand or enabled me to sight the shots better. or it just took my mind off what i was doing wrong, and switched it to what i was now doing right.

for some reason it really helped me feel fluid and natural, so much that my elbow didnt drop once. it really helped me to open up and feel loose. i will bring that with me to the table tomorrow.


So my advice here is, to change it up a little. stop fixating on what we all do wrong. change One thing and move forward without turning back !!!


-Steve

i will update this tomorrow with some more results !!!
Click to expand...
 
Tried the same approach today and it seemed to work well, I peaked at a run of 68. I can't say that this is the fix, but what it has done is allow me to relax and focus on the racks and not everything that I am doing wrong.

BTW I stopped at 68 because I scratched on a breakshot... Man I just love when that happens ..... Lol

-Steve
 
stevekur1 said:
Hey,

Today i set out on one of my practice seesions like i do every weekend, and things werent goin to well. i think in the first 20 innings my average was 2, that was until i changed one thing and i was a pocketting machine. no high runs because i kept on missing my second breakshot every time. with the exception of the 34 that i hit. nothing big, but definate improvement over the way the day had started !

well that one thing i changed was my Bridge. i changed it up a little and switched to an open bridge. I dont know if it stablized my hand or enabled me to sight the shots better. or it just took my mind off what i was doing wrong, and switched it to what i was now doing right.

for some reason it really helped me feel fluid and natural, so much that my elbow didnt drop once. it really helped me to open up and feel loose. i will bring that with me to the table tomorrow.


So my advice here is, to change it up a little. stop fixating on what we all do wrong. change One thing and move forward without turning back !!!


-Steve

i will update this tomorrow with some more results !!!
Click to expand...

Good advice Steve.
 
The Willie Hoppe closed bridge, and the relationship of the "V" it forms

Steve:

Congratulations, my friend! Sometimes those l-e-e-t-l-e bitty things like switching up your bridge makes a huge difference! I know that happened for me for quite a while when I switched almost exclusively over to the open bridge, especially when I play snooker (as you know, accuracy in snooker is at a premium on a 12'x6' table).

A couple years ago, I started playing around with the closed bridge again, using various formations of it:

  • the traditional one taught by Mosconi in his red book (i.e. clasping the tip of the index finger between the pad of the thumb and the second joint of the middle finger)
  • pad of index finger over tip of thumb
  • the Filipino index-finger-overlapping-and-pressing-down-on-the-middle-finger
  • a couple variations of the Willie Hoppe closed bridge (essentially the Mosconi closed bridge, with the modification of folding the middle finger under the palm to fill that void, as well as provide a more horizontal "stanchion" for the index finger to pull the cue onto)
The variation of the Willie Hoppe closed bridge I use today is one which does NOT cause the flesh of my fingers to move as shown in this video:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=sc4iaJWu8Ak#t=155

(BTW, that link will take you to 2:35 in the video. The whole video is good viewing, and it also shows how "technique" has changed over the years, with the "then" advocated stroke movement coming from the shoulder, vs. today's advocacy of coming from the elbow.)

When I look through my modified Willie Hoppe closed bridge, I see a perfectly-formed little "V" in there (just like an open bridge, but with the index finger providing a "ceiling" for stability during power strokes). The "V" is formed by the downward/folded-under middle finger (where a ring would go, if I were to wear a ring on the middle finger) and the pad of my index finger. I'll have to take a picture and post it. It's EXTREMELY stable -- the most stable closed bridge I'd ever tried.

I used to use the Filipino index-finger-overlapping-and-pressing-down-on-the-middle-finger type of closed bridge years ago, but the problem with *that* bridge is that the "V" it forms, is laying on its side, like this: ">" (angled slightly downwards, but still "laying on its side"). The issue with that is that as you stroke the cue through it -- even with pro-taper shafts which *do* still have a conical shape to them at some point -- the centerline of the cue moves left and right to "follow" the sideways "V". I'd discovered this was the reason why -- at that time -- an open bridge was more accurate for me, because it "righted" the "V" to point straight up and down. My new Willie Hoppe style closed bridge addresses all those limitations now.

Anyway, I hope this is helpful!

Keep up with smashing through that high run ceiling!
-Sean
 
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Thanks for sharing your knowledge, Sean. I've noticed a significant change in my own game when transitioning between open & closed bridges (I'm unhappy with my closed bridge...lousy stubby fingers). I try emulate the snooker open bridge. You see the contact point on the CB better & it feels so much more comfortable to me. English is more precisely applied too.
 
Great Info.

sfleinen said:
Steve:

Congratulations, my friend! Sometimes those l-e-e-t-l-e bitty things like switching up your bridge makes a huge difference! I know that happened for me for quite a while when I switched almost exclusively over to the open bridge, especially when I play snooker (as you know, accuracy in snooker is at a premium on a 12'x6' table).

A couple years ago, I started playing around with the closed bridge again, using various formations of it:

  • the traditional one taught by Mosconi in his red book (i.e. clasping the tip of the index finger between the pad of the thumb and the second joint of the middle finger)
  • pad of index finger over tip of thumb
  • the Filipino index-finger-overlapping-and-pressing-down-on-the-middle-finger
  • a couple variations of the Willie Hoppe closed bridge (essentially the Mosconi closed bridge, with the modification of folding the middle finger under the palm to fill that void, as well as provide a more horizontal "stanchion" for the index finger to pull the cue onto)
The variation of the Willie Hoppe closed bridge I use today is one which does NOT cause the flesh of my fingers to move as shown in this video:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=sc4iaJWu8Ak#t=155

(BTW, that link will take you to 2:35 in the video. The whole video is good viewing, and it also shows how "technique" has changed over the years, with the "then" advocated stroke movement coming from the shoulder, vs. today's advocacy of coming from the elbow.)

When I look through my modified Willie Hoppe closed bridge, I see a perfectly-formed little "V" in there (just like an open bridge, but with the index finger providing a "ceiling" for stability during power strokes). The "V" is formed by the downward/folded-under middle finger (where a ring would go, if I were to wear a ring on the middle finger) and the pad of my index finger. I'll have to take a picture and post it. It's EXTREMELY stable -- the most stable closed bridge I'd ever tried.

I used to use the Filipino index-finger-overlapping-and-pressing-down-on-the-middle-finger type of closed bridge years ago, but the problem with *that* bridge is that the "V" it forms, is laying on its side, like this: ">" (angled slightly downwards, but still "laying on its side"). The issue with that is that as you stroke the cue through it -- even with pro-taper shafts which *do* still have a conical shape to them at some point -- the centerline of the cue moves left and right to "follow" the sideways "V". I'd discovered this was the reason why -- at that time -- an open bridge was more accurate for me, because it "righted" the "V" to point straight up and down. My new Willie Hoppe style closed bridge addresses all those limitations now.

Anyway, I hope this is helpful!

Keep up with smashing through that high run ceiling!
-Sean
Click to expand...

Great post. Myself and others here appreciate your knowledge. I really enjoyed watching the video link about Willie Hoppe. There is a few other videos that are very interesting too that are in a list to the side.
Steve, there are some great 14.1 players from Europe that play with an open hand bridge. So, if you believe it is helping you, stick with it and improve from there. Keep us posted on your success.
 
14-1StraightMan said:
Great post. Myself and others here appreciate your knowledge. I really enjoyed watching the video link about Willie Hoppe. There is a few other videos that are very interesting too that are in a list to the side.
Steve, there are some great 14.1 players from Europe that play with an open hand bridge. So, if you believe it is helping you, stick with it and improve from there. Keep us posted on your success.
Click to expand...

mosconiac and 14-1StraightMan:

Thank you for the kind words. I have a motto in life when it comes to knowledge (and *that* comes from my involvement in the "open source" movement in Information Technologies) -- "what mine, is yours."

The Willie Hoppe closed bridge is what brought me back to century runs. In the mid-80s, I'd run my high run of 133 during a money match at Q-Masters Billiards (at the original, now-burned-down, location of Sewell's Point Road) in Virginia. After putting my cues down for 14 years so I can focus on my I.T. career, I'd fought with fundamentals issues for the greater part of 3 years before I found that valuable Willie Hoppe clip. Heck, I'm willing to try anything, as long as I'd burned a couple neurons on it thinking about it. I tried it. Oh-my-gosh, the ability to deliver the cue accurately, and without "sticking," did the trick for me. I ran that 122 in June of this year.

I plan to smash my high run of 133 before the year is out. And this, coming from a player that CAN'T play more than twice a week due to his work schedule. But you know what? I don't care. I'm GOING to do it. I have a couple weeks more than a month to do it before year-end. I FEEL IT. I WILL.

-Sean
 
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thanks for all the great imput and motivation to push forward with my newly discovered find.

like i said, i am not saying that this is gonna save the worlds problems. but it has allowed me to stroke the shots more freely and more relaxed when i am down on a shot. what i do notice alot more is that it allows me to shoot alot more finesse shots, i noticed that when i shoot kill shots using inside juice.

to do that one thing that feels right it allows me to focus on playing the patterns, and i feel now this weekend that i am higher run percentage. Next weekend might just be a totally different outcome, especially after all that turkey !!!

Have a great Holiday everyone !

-Steve
 
Here's a tip I don't see very often. When playing with an open bridge, make sure your index finger is pointing in the direction of the object ball.

Helps with alignement.
 
Cameron Smith said:
Here's a tip I don't see very often. When playing with an open bridge, make sure your index finger is pointing in the direction of the object ball.
Click to expand...
that kinda contradicts with the way the open bridge is formed like I've been taught. Because to make it stable one is supposed to turn the bridge forming palm a little bit inwards (that it to the right if you are right-handed)
 
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