Closed bridge help---Index finger position

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dawgcpa

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I had a great player once tell me that one of the secrets was to have your index finger flat on top of the middle finger. I see a lot of the pros with a bridge this way. Do you guys favor index on top of middle or on the side? Could it possibly matter that much?

Why do most top players I see use the index on top?

Here are 2 photos to help explain the two bridges.

View attachment 312424

View attachment 312425
 
Which every method you feel is more comfortable, just remember to keep it snug. There shouldn't be any sideway play when the shaft slides back and forth, otherwise it defeats the purpose of a closed bridge.
 
I find that my closed bridge configurations differ depending on the shot; draw and follow are different; shooting over/near another ball is different from an "open table" shot; stretched out to the 5th diamond is different from the 3rd diamond; etc. My break shot is always flat on the index finger.

It's whatever feels most comfortable at the time. Sometimes I get down on the shot and naturally fall into an open bridge (which I rarely use). I couldn't tell you why I used an open bridge, but I don't try to second guess what feels right.
 
It's relative...

I asked this question years ago when I went to first pro tournament. I was lucky enough to ask Stevie Moore this question as I saw him with the flat index finger.

He said that he used this type of closed bridge bc it was more stable. I tried but my fingers are not long and there was no way the cue could fit thru the loop.

Then I asked Earl Strickland bc he used the other closed bridge like I did. He swears by it!

So it's all relative to your fingers. If you can press it flat then I believe that's the best way to keep the cue tight so to speak. If you can't then go with the other loop.

In the end it's personal preference. What works best for you. Ultimately it's your choice!
 
I have very short fingers and not dextrous enuff to put on top of my middle finger.

I touch the tip of my thumb as in the second pic. Works for me ok.
 
I kind of rest my index finger on both my middle finger and my thumb, and flat like the first pic above, but not entirely on either, I mean the left side of the index rests on the middle finger, and the right side on the thumb, works perfect for me.

I think the key is you need to rest your palm firmly on the table, of course except for special cases, that will help your stroke far more stable
 
dawgcpa said:
I had a great player once tell me that one of the secrets was to have your index finger flat on top of the middle finger. I see a lot of the pros with a bridge this way. Do you guys favor index on top of middle or on the side? Could it possibly matter that much?

Why do most top players I see use the index on top?

Here are 2 photos to help explain the two bridges.

View attachment 312424

View attachment 312425
Click to expand...

The first pic would only be good to stop the cball or draw it. You would not be able to follow the cball with a bridge like that at all. The bridge is one of the most important parts of top level pool,. You need to learn how to bridge so that you can get the cball to do or go where you want ( the angle that your cue goes through the shot is what matters),whatever it takes to do that. I would prefer an open bridge to either one of those pics. IMO,keeping your palm on the table is one of the biggest myths in pool. If you watch top players close..you will see that most will have their palm off of the table on alot of shots. Take a look at Earl or SVB or Mike Siegel, or Johnny Archer for example.They don't make it look easy for no reason. They use the right bridge for the shot at hand.Open,closed,palm down,palm up in the air.Watch em real close and you will see. John B.
 
The first closed bridge that you show is definitely the most popular choice in modern pool players. I've taken lessons from a Canadian pro and that bridge was the first thing we worked on. One of the major differences (in my humble/amateur opinion) is the degree of stability that you get with the first bridge. The index finger pulls the cue into the top of the middle finger with a fair amount of force, with three points of contact all pulling in (2nd & 3rd segments of the index into the top of the 3rd segment of the middle finger).

With the old school traditional loop bridge, I often see quite a bit of light on top of the cue which means that the cue isn't quite as stable. It's more like an open bridge with some support on either side of the cue.

While this picture only shows these bridges being used with the palm flat on the table, all players that use a loop bridge also have an elevated version for hitting high ball or even middle ball.

The bridge that has your index squeezing the cue into the top of your middle finger will not feel natural to anyone at first. I know it took me several months of practice to be able to stretch my fingers into making this comfortable, but it is well worth the effort. I'm not saying that everyone's hands are big enough to make the stretch, but I do know from teaching mandolin, just how much your hands (body and mind as well) are capable of stretching and changing with practice. If you don't know that it's possible, you might dismiss before you've put the time into seeing if it actually is possible.

Alex Pagulayan uses this bridge all the time and look how small his hands are.

Anyhow, that's my 2 cents on the matter.
 
sytesounds said:
The first closed bridge that you show is definitely the most popular choice in modern pool players. I've taken lessons from a Canadian pro and that bridge was the first thing we worked on. One of the major differences (in my humble/amateur opinion) is the degree of stability that you get with the first bridge. The index finger pulls the cue into the top of the middle finger with a fair amount of force, with three points of contact all pulling in (2nd & 3rd segments of the index into the top of the 3rd segment of the middle finger).

With the old school traditional loop bridge, I often see quite a bit of light on top of the cue which means that the cue isn't quite as stable. It's more like an open bridge with some support on either side of the cue.

While this picture only shows these bridges being used with the palm flat on the table, all players that use a loop bridge also have an elevated version for hitting high ball or even middle ball.

The bridge that has your index squeezing the cue into the top of your middle finger will not feel natural to anyone at first. I know it took me several months of practice to be able to stretch my fingers into making this comfortable, but it is well worth the effort. I'm not saying that everyone's hands are big enough to make the stretch, but I do know from teaching mandolin, just how much your hands (body and mind as well) are capable of stretching and changing with practice. If you don't know that it's possible, you might dismiss before you've put the time into seeing if it actually is possible.

Alex Pagulayan uses this bridge all the time and look how small his hands are.

Anyhow, that's my 2 cents on the matter.
Click to expand...

I agree with that. The first bridge pictured is the one I learned from watching a old dude that played like a magician and looked just like Willie Mosconi with a mustache. The is still my favorite bridge to use today. You won't find many that provide that amount of stability in providing a path for the cue in stroking. The only drawback to this bridge is it requires a bit drier conditions because of the friction caused by the tighter grip on the cue with the fleshy parts of your fingers. I keep the powder handy if I am playing under humid conditions. :)

Aloha.
 
I prefer Index on top currently

*****For those that feel they cannot get their fingers in this position

Neither could I, But I was told by someone I respect that it would help.

As many other players have done - I taped my fingers in that position until my fingers could get in position comfortably. Slept w/ taped fingers for a week.

I am a lunatic though.
 
for me it's index on top of the middle finger, and that's what i try to teach newbies.

However, i find that when i start falling into stroke, i go to an open bridge on about 80% of the shots.....weird, but works for me.
 
Eagleshot said:
I prefer Index on top currently

*****For those that feel they cannot get their fingers in this position

Neither could I, But I was told by someone I respect that it would help.

As many other players have done - I taped my fingers in that position until my fingers could get in position comfortably. Slept w/ taped fingers for a week.

I am a lunatic though.
Click to expand...

The player who told me said it must be done. Keep stretching and working each day until you get it. It is interesting to see people who have had good players say the same thing but to my knowledge, it has never been written in any instruction manual.
 
So no one notices the other difference in the bridge hand? In the first pic, the wrist is more straight. In the second pic the wrist is turned and bent. There's more information to digest than just the position of your fingers of your bridge hand.
 
I don't think the position of the wrist is as relevant. I think whatever facilitates good alignment is most important. What I mean by that is the grip hand is directly below the elbow (no twisting) with elbow shoulder and aiming eye/eyes as aligned as possible. Even though all of the top players have a great deal of variance and many do not have this alignment, I think this is still the optimal technique and takes a lot of work to make your natural stroke.

Wrist angle will also depend on how big your loop is. The smaller the loop that you are able to make, the more perpendicular to the cue your hand will be to allow it to fit in there. Also, wrist angle will likely change as you elevate this bridge.

Again, for most people, this bridge can take weeks/months to actually become a useful tool. The only way of knowing how great and an improvement it is, is to invest the time and a little pain to find out. When you need to put a lot of extreme spin or power draw the ball for example, you will see what the difference is.

That's my 4 cents now!
 
sytesounds said:
I don't think the position of the wrist is as relevant. I think whatever facilitates good alignment is most important. What I mean by that is the grip hand is directly below the elbow (no twisting) with elbow shoulder and aiming eye/eyes as aligned as possible. Even though all of the top players have a great deal of variance and many do not have this alignment, I think this is still the optimal technique and takes a lot of work to make your natural stroke.

Wrist angle will also depend on how big your loop is. The smaller the loop that you are able to make, the more perpendicular to the cue your hand will be to allow it to fit in there. Also, wrist angle will likely change as you elevate this bridge.

Again, for most people, this bridge can take weeks/months to actually become a useful tool. The only way of knowing how great and an improvement it is, is to invest the time and a little pain to find out. When you need to put a lot of extreme spin or power draw the ball for example, you will see what the difference is.

That's my 4 cents now!
Click to expand...

So we're talking about bridge hands and wrist, and you bring up a grip hand for what reason? And actually, the wrist plays a far bigger role in your bridge hand than your fingers do. Your fingers are there to keep the cue from falling off your hand, your wrist determines how tightly you'll be gripping the shaft. In the first pic, you'll notice how much tighter his fingers appear around the shaft. Second pic there's a big gap. But the gap is not all due to the wrist. Because when you turn and cock you wrist to the side like that, your index finger has a much, much harder time sitting up on your middle finger.

But then again, we're implying there's a right and wrong way to hold a cue. There isn't. My hand don't look like yours, so my bridge wont either. The bigger problem is people not putting weight on their bridge hand, attempting to hold the entire cue with their back hand. That leads to bigger bridge problems than the type of bridge you're attempting to make.
 
John Brumback said:
The first pic would only be good to stop the cball or draw it. You would not be able to follow the cball with a bridge like that at all. The bridge is one of the most important parts of top level pool,. You need to learn how to bridge so that you can get the cball to do or go where you want ( the angle that your cue goes through the shot is what matters),whatever it takes to do that. I would prefer an open bridge to either one of those pics. IMO,keeping your palm on the table is one of the biggest myths in pool. If you watch top players close..you will see that most will have their palm off of the table on alot of shots. Take a look at Earl or SVB or Mike Siegel, or Johnny Archer for example.They don't make it look easy for no reason. They use the right bridge for the shot at hand.Open,closed,palm down,palm up in the air.Watch em real close and you will see. John B.
Click to expand...

I DEFINITELY agree with this. With the "index-finger-on-top-of-middle-finger" style of closed bridge, an internal "V"-channel is created, and the orientation of that "V"-channel is more important than the palm of your bridge hand on the table. For instance, in the first photo at the top, the OP has the entire bridge hand "collapsed" and flat on the table, which means the "V"-channel formed by the index finger pressing down upon the middle finger, is laying on its side, like this: ">". So the natural "rise" of the cue -- as the shaft rides over that sideways "V" -- moves from right to left during the forward stroke, and left to right on the back stroke. ("Rise" means the exact centerline of the shaft, btw. As the taper of the shaft encounters the "V" channel laying on its side, instead of the centerline of the cue moving up and down, it's instead moving left and right.)

You'll see most pros, for this reason, arching their bridge hand upwards so that the palm is away from the table.

_mg_0822.jpg

p26.jpg

15sp-01l.gif

Or, in Alex Pagulayan's case, he "scrunches" the index and middle fingers inwards, to orient the "V" channel so that it is straight up and down, even when the palm is on the table.

alex-pagulayan-break-shot.jpg

patricia-murphy-alex-pagulayan1.jpg

In all these cases, the intent is to strive for proper alignment of that internal "V"-channel so that it is oriented as straight up and down (and not laying on its side) as possible.

-Sean
 
I definitely prefer it on the side. I actually let the cue glide on my thumb nail instead of rubbing on my skin. It allows me a lot more touch as there's nearly zero resistance cueing this way. But it does wear away my thumbnail lol.
 
sfleinen said:
I DEFINITELY agree with this. With the "index-finger-on-top-of-middle-finger" style of closed bridge, an internal "V"-channel is created, and the orientation of that "V"-channel is more important than the palm of your bridge hand on the table. For instance, in the first photo at the top, the OP has the entire bridge hand "collapsed" and flat on the table, which means the "V"-channel formed by the index finger pressing down upon the middle finger, is laying on its side, like this: ">". So the natural "rise" of the cue -- as the shaft rides over that sideways "V" -- moves from right to left during the forward stroke, and left to right on the back stroke. ("Rise" means the exact centerline of the shaft, btw. As the taper of the shaft encounters the "V" channel laying on its side, instead of the centerline of the cue moving up and down, it's instead moving left and right.)

You'll see most pros, for this reason, arching their bridge hand upwards so that the palm is away from the table.

_mg_0822.jpg

p26.jpg

15sp-01l.gif

Or, in Alex Pagulayan's case, he "scrunches" the index and middle fingers inwards, to orient the "V" channel so that it is straight up and down, even when the palm is on the table.

alex-pagulayan-break-shot.jpg

patricia-murphy-alex-pagulayan1.jpg

In all these cases, the intent is to strive for proper alignment of that internal "V"-channel so that it is oriented as straight up and down (and not laying on its side) as possible.

-Sean
Click to expand...

Sean.Seems like to me alot of people don't pay near enough attention when watching top players. Example,SVB regrips his cue on his final stroke. (Kinda like a tiny slip stroke) I have never heard of anyone that ever mentions that. Do what the pros do if you want to play like a pro. Or at least try it!! They don't do what they do just for the fun of it.lol John B.
 
Thanks Sean for posting the pics. I'm going to try the arching rest the next time I practice.
 
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