Developing a powerful stroke

Straightpool_99

Straightpool_99

I see dead balls
Silver Member
As we all know, athletes use a lot of resistance training and specialized excercises to develop power needed in their dicipline. Having played pool for a long time now, I never really developed the extreme power that some people posess. I get by, but I sometimes wish I could draw the ball just a little bit further, especially on the carom table. What would be the best way to help your pool/carom "power" other than just shooting shots various ways?
 
Straightpool_99 said:
As we all know, athletes use a lot of resistance training and specialized excercises to develop power needed in their dicipline. Having played pool for a long time now, I never really developed the extreme power that some people posess. I get by, but I sometimes wish I could draw the ball just a little bit further, especially on the carom table. What would be the best way to help your pool/carom "power" other than just shooting shots various ways?
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I would imagine that you would want to target specific fast twitch muscle fibers.

Two principles cor developing more fast twitch muscle fibers which develope more speed and explosiveness are:

1) lift haevy
2) fatigue the muscles

Lift heavy- Body builders workout different than power lifters in that body builders generally lift a weight that they can perform 8- 12 reps with before exhaustion. Poser lifters stay in the 1-3 reps range (heavier weight) power lifters develope more speed, strength, and explosivenes xoing this because they hit way more fast twitch muscle fibers. Bodybuilders build more mass with their routine because they develope more slow twitch muscle fibers. Sprinters will also use the heavy weight routine to develope strength and add speed.

Fatigue the muscles- You want to fatigue the muscles to let the fast twitch totally kick in. For example lets say you are doing a set of squats and it hurts so you see gyys pause briefly to make it through the set. They just robbed themselves of kicking in the fast twitch fibers. Wjen you start a set dong quit, and dont pause until you cant do no more.

Sprinters also work on their form with lots of repetitions.



I'm not sure if you ca translate this to pool but maybe some if that information has helped in some way.
 
Straightpool_99 said:
As we all know, athletes use a lot of resistance training and specialized exercises to develop power needed in their discipline. Having played pool for a long time now, I never really developed the extreme power that some people possess. I get by, but I sometimes wish I could draw the ball just a little bit further, especially on the carom table. What would be the best way to help your pool/carom "power" other than just shooting shots various ways?
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If you are the type that is set in their ways then that means you have been using the same tips for a long time. I can get more CB action with a softer tip than I can a harder tip. I just acquired a shaft from a friend that has a G2 hard tip on it. I can notice I really have to stroke the ball harder to get the same results as the med tip I was using on my other shaft. Sure I can still draw almost any shot I need to with it but I have to put a lot more in it on those power shots. I actually like the Hard but I have been thinking about changing to the G2 Medium just to try it out before installing the other hard tip I bought I have on my other shaft. Which ever route I go I will have both shafts the same setup.
 
Straightpool_99 said:
As we all know, athletes use a lot of resistance training and specialized excercises to develop power needed in their dicipline. Having played pool for a long time now, I never really developed the extreme power that some people posess. I get by, but I sometimes wish I could draw the ball just a little bit further, especially on the carom table. What would be the best way to help your pool/carom "power" other than just shooting shots various ways?
Click to expand...

an efficient way would be to learn & practice artistic billlard ,beginning by learning the coef. 5 , 6 & 7 shots.
the 1st problems being to draw the positions on the cloth & to find a table to practice.
 
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Wear wrist weights while jerking off...... helps the power stroke tremendously.... :thumbup:

Seriously though, the long straight in shot with power is not only a great 'drill', its also an excellent test of stroke and overall fundamentals. I personally need use it again myself, as I have taken an almost 3 year break from playing anything competitive since moving to Portland. :o

You can shoot it as a stop, draw or follow shot, and I recommend about 10-15 minutes of each daily. You will feel your stroke getting straighter and better able to control it as far as the cb goes. ;)
 
Great advice so far. Question for you. Have you ever clocked your break speed? That might give you an idea on if it is power that is holding you back. Another thought. Have you seen the Mike masse 2 table draw shot? If you set it up the same way, how far can you draw currently and how far would you want to?

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I should add in that my top recorded break speed is 23mph and I can get around 1.5-1.6 of a table draw on the Mike masse power draw shot so if your top break speed is close to that it might not be power.

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99,

I don't know what type of stroke you use or how much if any wrist action you have, but a loose connection to the cue with a loose flowing wrist & letting the elbow drop works for me with my soft tips.

Also adding elevation & hitting a bit down on the ball can get a significant amount of what I call quick draw from less stroke. But I only like using that method when the balls are not too far apart.

I agree with the AZB blasphemy spoken earlier about getting more from less with a soft tip.

If you're using a piston action, CJ Wiley advocated doing tricept 'push ups' by facing away from the table & placing one's hands on the rails & dong 'dips'. I'm not sure how 'necessary' that is.

He also advocated what he called his 'hammer' wrist action. I think there is whole thread about it here somewhere. That is about timing & depends on what type of stroke one is using.

The bottom line is timing the peak velocity AT & through contact. I personally think there is a larger window for doing that consistently with a piston type stroke as it does not require a perfect setup like some other 'strokes'.

I think you probably know most, if not all of this, but I just thought I'd throw it out.

Good Luck with finding YOUR solution.

Best 2 Ya,
Rick

PS1 No doubt you're going to get the check your contact on the CB to see if you're hitting as low on the ball as you think you are. That may be telling but then figuring out why, if not, then becomes the question.

PS2 I also use a closed bridge when drawing the ball & I lower it compared to hitting center or high on the ball. It makes in more stable & easier to get the tip low on the ball.
 
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When trying to get back spin on the ball to draw it back sometimes less results in more. Sometimes hitting the CB very hard will have the CB skidding instead of spinning backwards when it hits the OB. Besides that when shooting the CB very hard will cause you not to hit it where you think you are.

First off chalk the tip.

Start with the CB about 2 ft away from the OB. This is so you can follow thru without having to jerk away. Then as you feel comfortable move them further apart.

Use a smooth straight stroke with follow thru hitting the CB about 1 or 2 tips below center. First try with experimenting a very soft or slow speed then gradually shoot a little harder.

What you need to do is take a CB and make a big plus sign on it. Practice with that with that to make sure that you are hitting the CB where you think you are. The chalk mark should show when it was hit. Set the CB up on each shot so the intersection the two lines is in the center. If you hit it correctly the chalk will be on the verticle line below the horizontal.

Watch the pros and you will see that they are not hitting the balls as hard as you think. You can tell sometimes by the sound that the balls make when hitting the pocket.


🎱
 
Straightpool_99 said:
As we all know, athletes use a lot of resistance training and specialized excercises to develop power needed in their dicipline. Having played pool for a long time now, I never really developed the extreme power that some people posess. I get by, but I sometimes wish I could draw the ball just a little bit further, especially on the carom table. What would be the best way to help your pool/carom "power" other than just shooting shots various ways?
Click to expand...

I personally don't think that resistance training will add power to your stroke at all. Timing trumps strength in a well executed stroke. Look at Bustamante. Dude probably hasn't lifted anything heavier than 19 ounces since he was 10 years old, but he has one of the most powerful strokes ever - a thing of pure beauty the way he can generate that kind of power with so little apparent effort.

I used to be a very powerfully built young man, and spent a lot of time working with heavy free weights. I could easily curl 80 pounds in each arm, and my guns were impressive to look at. But when it comes to a pool stroke, I'd say I'm at the bottom third of players when it comes to accelerating the cue. I'd crush Bustie, Shane, or Earl in an arm wrestling match, but I'll never have a stroke close to what those guys have.

Exercise is great for health and fitness, but get a good coach to help you refine your fundamentals if you want to increase your power with a cue. Just my 2¢.
 
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