chin on the cue or a more upright stance? (more stuff to argue about)

V

vapoolplayer

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
figured with the amount of threads people are arguing over lately, i'll add one to the mix.

overall.........which do the posters on here think is a better stance..........bent all the way over with the cue touching your chin, or a more upright stance?

(yes i know that some shots almost require one or the other, i'm asking about the normal day to day shots)

both give a different view of the table.........

pro women seem to have their chin on the cue mostly, pro men seem to have more of an upright stance.(hmmm, could this be a clue as to why men play stronger overal?)

i know which one works for me..........and i'm not saying which is better........i just think this will lead to some good conversation/arguements :D

feel free to give your opinions and converse.

VAP
 
I tend to think that you should go with however you feel the most comfortable and however you feel you see the shot better. I don't think its a female/male thing. Fats would keep his head well above the cuestick and Jersey Red liked to get low to see the shot.
 
I shoot with my chin on the cue....but you have to remember....you my not be able to get up from that stance the older you get.
 
I went to a tournament a couple of weeks ago and having just picked up a couple of instructional books, I was glancing through them in my spare time between matches. One was Phil Capelle's book, Play Your Best Pool. He started out stating that there are a wide variety of stances, grips, aiming methods, etc. in use and working quite well and that he wasn't going to tell us that any one of these variations was better than another. He stated that he felt that different choices work well for different people. One particular solution does not necessarily work for everyone. He did state that he had noticed that the top snooker players (men and women) tend to keep their chin close to the cue, use an open bridge, position an eye over the cue, and sight down the cue like aiming a rifle. He stated that he felt that most players might benefit from this approach. I decided to give it a try when I got home on the practice table. It definitely had some merit for me. It works especially well for me on longer shots and off angle shots (shooting at an angle where you can't see the pocket or target and are relying only on the aim spot on the object ball or rail). Conversely, on shots where the cue ball is very close to the object ball and the aim point can't be seen due to the proximity of the cue ball, I find it works better for me to stand way up over the shot so that I can see the aim point.
 
I shoot with my chin on the cue. I've tried both stances, and placing my chin on the cue allows me to pocket the object ball more accurately and prevents any movement or "jumping up" when I'm shooting a difficult shot.
 
bsmutz said:
Conversely, on shots where the cue ball is very close to the object ball and the aim point can't be seen due to the proximity of the cue ball, I find it works better for me to stand way up over the shot so that I can see the aim point.
Click to expand...
Ditto... the rest of the time my chin is on the cue... doesn't matter anyway... I can't play :rolleyes:
 
bsmutz said:
*SNIP*
One was Phil Capelle's book, Play Your Best Pool. He started out stating that there are a wide variety of stances, grips, aiming methods, etc. in use and working quite well and that he wasn't going to tell us that any one of these variations was better than another. He stated that he felt that different choices work well for different people. One particular solution does not necessarily work for everyone.
*SNIP*
Click to expand...

That's the mark of a good teacher. A good teacher recognizes that there is no single technique, either physical or mental, which will work for all players. When it comes to physical techniques, a teacher can offer suggestions, but ultimately, comfort, repeatability, and achievement of desired results should be the determining factors. A teacher is there to guide the way to that end. I'd say in your case, it worked.

Personally, I play with the cue touching the middle of my chin, lined up directly under my nose. While I recognize that people have a dominant eye (mine is the right eye), I don't personally subscribe to placing the cue under the dominant eye (hey, VAP, maybe that'll spark another convo/argument ;) ).

-djb
 
I do both. If the cue ball is far away, im upright a bit more because if im down, theres the chance that i hit another object ball with my body. Getting chin down also requires more room for my stance. Generally, the more precise a shot has to be, the lower i am. The more position required, the higher i am. But its really about what yur comfortable with. Snooker players are generally chin down, while carom players are higher up.
 
I'm 6-1 (easy LS77, I'm taken :p ) and have tried both ways. More upright feels more natural and I seem to be able to play better with it. Down low looks good to my eye, but doesn't seem to give my brain all the input (I know, garbage in-garbage out) to execute the full shot correctly on a consistent basis. It's like I need to have as much of the table as possible in my field of view.

Or, I could have been thinking about backhand english too much and had my head spin around like Linda Blair on my forward stroke. :rolleyes:
 
Generally having your cue under the chin gives better results since you are cutting down on the visual angle and visual distance (in other words your eyes are as close to the path of your cue as they can be). When I was younger I shot with my head low over the cue and had much better results than I do now with a bad back that forces a more upright stance.
Also, I've noticed that "SOME" of the women have "really" only started using this stance in the past couple of years.Both stances obviously work but getting down over the cue makes things much easier.IMHO

Terry
 
vapoolplayer said:
pro women seem to have their chin on the cue mostly, pro men seem to have more of an upright stance.(hmmm, could this be a clue as to why men play stronger overal?)
Click to expand...

HA! I had the convo the other night! My stance was that most women shoot with their chin on their cues was because they were not as tall as the men, thus being that far down for the boys would result in an un-natural stance. This all came about because my husband was trying to help me with my break. I tend to get way down on ALMOST everything. He was trying to get me to break a little more erect, thus the convo because it felt un-natural and I felt like I was giving up power....regardless of how true it was.

Anywho, my chin is more often on my cue than it isn't.
 
I think extremely upright stances and extremely bent over stances tend to hinder movement of the cue through the cue ball. I think a larger/longer follow-through becomes more natural with the head a few inches above the cue.

I am increasingly skeptical of "right ways" of playing, and I think it is more accurate to understand stroke mechanics as varying systems that have benefits and draw backs. Upright stances tend to allow me a better hit on the object ball, and lower head positions tend to allow me a better hit on the cue ball.

I have made the decision to try and split the difference, as I think this medium head position allows the optimum body position for varying ranges of stroke movement. Nevertheless, when I am in action I sometimes find my chin touching the cue.

kollegedave

vapoolplayer said:
figured with the amount of threads people are arguing over lately, i'll add one to the mix.

overall.........which do the posters on here think is a better stance..........bent all the way over with the cue touching your chin, or a more upright stance?

(yes i know that some shots almost require one or the other, i'm asking about the normal day to day shots)

both give a different view of the table.........

pro women seem to have their chin on the cue mostly, pro men seem to have more of an upright stance.(hmmm, could this be a clue as to why men play stronger overal?)

i know which one works for me..........and i'm not saying which is better........i just think this will lead to some good conversation/arguements :D

feel free to give your opinions and converse.

VAP
Click to expand...
 
Each player is built a little different, some have better eye sight, some have a more relaxed back (able to bend over farther)! Ultimataly, comfort and vision are the keys here, IMO. If you can't see the shot when up or down on the cue, then don't use that stance! If you don't feel comfortable up or down on the cue, then don't use that stance!
To each his/her own!

Zim
 
landshark77 said:
HA! I had the convo the other night! My stance was that most women shoot with their chin on their cues was because they were not as tall as the men, thus being that far down for the boys would result in an un-natural stance. This all came about because my husband was trying to help me with my break. I tend to get way down on ALMOST everything. He was trying to get me to break a little more erect, thus the convo because it felt un-natural and I felt like I was giving up power....regardless of how true it was.

Anywho, my chin is more often on my cue than it isn't.
Click to expand...

i think alot of it has to do with women having a different center of balance as well. i don't really know.

i have found that standing a little more upright gives me a better field of view on most shots. i'm not way up, but i'm not on top of the cue either, except for table length shots, and then i'm a couple inches off of the cue.

VAP
 
I'm 62 and I play with my chin on my cue. I have to. I just can't see the shot correctly when I'm up. I have to get as low as I can to see the shot correctly. I have no idea why. That's just the way it is. So I go with that flow.

I have a bad back but luckily playing pool with my chin on the cue does not exacerbate my back condition, is not painful and I'm still flexible enough to get down that far and be able to get back up just fine.
 
I line up with the left side of my chin on the cue, keeping my dominant left eye over the cue.
 
i find that i have a more fluid stroke if i am about 8-10 inches above the cue, the only times i have my chin close to the cue are when i have to reach or if i am against the rail.
 
Several things can affect this decision:

Several mentioned back pain. Bending the knees helps.

Knee pain. See above.

Eyesight. With glasses, chin on the cue is harder to align eyes for less distortion. With contacts or surgery, this problem is gone.

Seeing the shot. If you "drink in the shot" as you go down on it, then all the info you need to see is already in your head.

Bridge. A closed bridge can get in the way of a low viewpoint.

For women, your ass. It'll show more with a low stance.

For men, your butt crack. Plumbers take note.

That is all.

Jeff Livingston
 
Honesty is a virtue right! I think it is extremely important that the ladies keep their chin on the cue. I couldn't care less what the men do.
 
I think anyone who thinks one way is better than the other has lived a sheltered life. I also think the more current trend -- if you will -- is being lower over the cue. However there isn't a better, in general, the older generation of 14-1 players stood well above the cue and run hundreds of balls. They run racks of nine ball just as well from a higher view point.

Players still run tons of balls anywhere from bent over to standing upright and anywhere in-between. Use what works for you, your mind knows the best view point to see/visualize the shot path.

Personally at 5' 7" I stand 14" to 12" over the cue. Hell I think I'm really bent over at 10". I best paint a picture in my minds eye from that viewpoint. If I was to bent over to say 6" above the cue, I can't paint that picture/visualize, because it's lost in the process.

Rod
 
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