Closed bridge or open..?

[catscradle]

You left off "I use both bridges depending upon the situation"

 

[stevea]

I use both, depending on the shot. Of course if you have to lean over the table far you will need an open bridge. For the poll i picked "closed bridge" even though i use both there was no way i was going to pick American idol.

 

[cuetechasaurus]

Answer is fairly simple, the grip. When you hit a draw shot with a firm stroke, the tendency is to over tighten the grip hand. Kind of a reflex action. Once your follow through reaches the end of it's range, the tight grip lifts the cue out of the bridge hand.

If you practice drawing with a smooth follow through, level cue and keep the grip hand relaxed throughout the stroke, the problem should go away.

I highly recommend watching Wu Chia Ching play. Won the WPC at age sixteen using the open bridge for every shot but off the rail/break. His cue never leaves his open bridge. Pei Wei Chang made it to the WPC finals against Pagulayan and he lifts the cue for every shot.

Edit: IMHO, the reason most people struggle with the open bridge is they don't believe it's secure and they get tense/nervous on shots where they have to use a firm stroke. When you get over this fear, you can really start to open your game up. People fear what they don't know or can't trust. If you tackle your fears, they'll become strengths.

It's not only the tightented grip that makes the cue pop up. If your grip is loose, the tip hits the table and bounces in the air. I've experimented with this quite a bit, and I dont think it's the grip. It's gotta be in the stroke IMO.