Different Grip for type of shot?

O

opcoog13

Registered
When using draw its seems to help if I hold the cue firmer than I do with follow.Is it better to tighten/loosen grip for shots with more english/power to them? What about when breaking, always heard lighter is better,'you can speed the stick faster with a light grip'.

thanks
 
Loose grip on all shots...including the break. Let the weight of the cue, and timing, with a relaxed cradle grip, create the speed of the stroke. It's not so much how you hold the cue, as it is learning not to "clench" the cue when you strike the CB.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
 
First off always keep in mind whatever works better for you is what you should be doing; just because it’s “non-standard” doesn’t make it wrong. If you watch the pro’s you will see some with a tighter grip but most with a very loose grip; because for most people as you tighten up your grip your wrist tends to lock up.

Just as a side note you professional instructors feel free to correct me on this point. I like to explain it like this for most people a loose wrist is the way to go because you want more of a porch glider rather than a porch swing motion because the glider goes straight back and straight forward no up and down this is the kind of motion you want. Here is another thing; what part of a pendulum moves the most; the end or the axis? Well the end moves more and a loose wrist allows the “outside” to move more so that’s best accomplished by having a loose wrist again that’s “for most people”.

One of the big things about this game is to do as many things the same way as you can; having a couple of different grips for most people is probably not the best idea.
If it works for you by all means go do that but tightening up that wrist for most people is going to have more up and down motion and is also going to move less. I would actually have to see exactly what you are talking about to give you any more info. Good luck with exploring this for yourself.
 
Trying to make the cue move in a linear motion requires movement of more joints than just swinging the cue from the elbow. The additional joint movement at the shoulder and wrist (and I've even seen fingers), decreases accuracy of the hit on the cueball and deceases consistency and repeatability. Decreasing consistency and repeatability will seriously slow the learning curve when a new player tries to do the same thing 10 times in a row and gets 10 different results. Having a single joint moving (elbow) creates a fixed path for the cue to travel in, thereby limiting the variation in its travel path, increasing accuracy and consistency of the hit on the cue ball. The cue ball has no idea what the cue stick is doing. It only 'knows' where it was hit and in what direction.
 
I'm no instructor, but have gotten some instruction. The best analogy I can give you is your grip should not be any firmer than it would be if you had a tube of tooth paste in your hand, and didn't want to squeeze anything out of the tube. Too firm a grip tightens all the muscles in your arm and shoulder which is not a good thing.

Mine was so tight when I went to see the instructor for the first time, my knuckles were white. My tube of tooth paste would have been flat as a pancacke, with nothing left inside.:)
 
opcoog13 said:
When using draw its seems to help if I hold the cue firmer than I do with follow.Is it better to tighten/loosen grip for shots with more english/power to them? What about when breaking, always heard lighter is better,'you can speed the stick faster with a light grip'.

thanks
Click to expand...

Yes, a tighter grip does help in certain situations, particularly when you want to transfer power into certain shots.

If you were to try to break the balls hard by moving the cue fast --- if you kept a light grip on the cue all the way through, it would probably go flying out of your hands. It's happened to me plenty of times.

Top players often start the stroke with a light grip and then will time the 'grab' to where it will have the most positive effect of maximum speed and transfer of power, just about at impact.
 
grip pressure

Shooting the last few days, I think what is happening is that when I hold the stick lighter I have a natural tendency to shoot thru the cueball FASTER. this fast "stroke" I guess is becoming more of a poke and the contact betweed tip and cueball is not lasting long enough to apply the english I am trying to get. I HOPE THIS IS GETTING THE POINT ACROSS CORRECTLY. When i grip a little tighter(NOT A DEATH GRIP) I can feel the stick and cueball actually touching and I am getting at least some english on the ball. I really only have this problem with DRAW shots, I have never been able to get a good/confident draw stroke and have been shooting about 20 years.......I can follow the ball and spin it with left or right fine.

I work my butt off trying all different techniques but have not found the one for me yet.....
 
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