Do you pause

[fastone371]

We hit so many shots that are different.

Some will so no, they are all the same.

No, not really & not in reality. That is one deluding one's self for psychological reasons or being told to treat them as such for psychological reasons.

We hit many different types of shots. Therefore I think to approach each one the same is not being realistic.

The last 5 years or so I have done away with any stroke other than the actual stroke.

I set the tip with the cue aligned & then make the stroke, most with no pause.

Then there are certain shots that I do the same thing but do make a distinct very short pause & a VERY deliberate stroke.

I think whatever one does should "fit" them & NOT be a dictate or any kind of best practices kind of dictate.

If it does not "fit" one & their personality it can be just as much of a detriment for one individual as it can be an aid & asset for another individual.

And I certainly know the physics that a change of direction involves at least an instant of pause, but THAT is not what I think the OP is asking about.

I think if one does not know themselves in this area, they should experiment with both & do what works best with the best results for THEM.

Sometimes what feels best or seems to work best is not always the case or not even the same thing.

On should pay very close attention during their experimentation & perhaps revisit it after the initial decision from the first experiments.

I sincerely think that if one pays very good attention they might find that different types of shots may be better suited to either one or the other & they may wind up doing it both ways with one way being their predominant way & the other for certain shots.

Best Wishes to ALL.

No matter ones personality or whether or not they want to conform to a set pattern everyone needs to relax certain muscles and contract others to stop the back stroke and then start the forward stroke.

I have a pause at both ends, first at QB making my go/no go decision on alignment and then a short pause at transition from backstroke to forward stroke.

 

[skins]

.....but the backstroke pause remains an essential part of the stroke and you can alter it any way you prefer as long as your cue remains perfectly level or angular for a raise bridge. It's when you hold a pause too long or have barely any or none whatsoever, that you start screwing things up....

Matt B.

I guess Efren's been doing it wrong all these years. He'll be happy that you pointed out the missing "essential" part of his stroke. It may keep him from "screwing things up"..

 

[Pidge]

I pause at the front and at the back. Its a highly personal choice and keeps the bodies natural rhythm flowing without rushing.

 

[Bavafongoul]

Skins....are you always such a perpetual butthead; do you have to remind yourself everyday to act like one? My remarks were intended for recreational, average, day to day pool players.

Pros and advanced players can get away with shooting any way they want........did you ever hear of Lee Trevino? How about Doug Sanders? Julius Boros? Jim Furyk?

All of those very successful, famous professional golfers had, and still do, ugly...horrible golf swings by any standard. You could cringe at the way they swing a golf club in contrast to how
the golf swing is actually taught.Their success was based on one sole factor.......predictability of their golf swings.....consistency .......minimal change, except "as needed".......same applies to pool.

Well, just because Jim Furyk still consistently wins golf tournaments and US Ryder Cup matches using a crooked golf swing that moves and changes direction, well, that's hardly a reason to copy
Furyk's swing......most persons will do better sticking to basics and let the pros do their own thing.......and the very same applies to pool.

 

[skins]

Skins....are you always such a perpetual butthead; do you have to remind yourself everyday to act like one? My remarks were intended for recreational, average, day to day pool players.

Pros and advanced players can get away with shooting any way they want........did you ever hear of Lee Trevino? How about Doug Sanders? Julius Boros? Jim Furyk?

All of those very successful, famous professional golfers had, and still do, ugly...horrible golf swings by any standard. You could cringe at the way they swing a golf club in contrast to how
the golf swing is actually taught.Their success was based on one sole factor.......predictability of their golf swings.....consistency .......minimal change, except "as needed".......same applies to pool.

Well, just because Jim Furyk still consistently wins golf tournaments and US Ryder Cup matches using a crooked golf swing that moves and changes direction, well, that's hardly a reason to copy
Furyk's swing......most persons will do better sticking to basics and let the pros do their own thing.......and the very same applies to pool.

Why would you resort to name calling when YOU are the one that came on here mentioning NOTHING about the status that the player had to be, pro OR otherwise, BUT just that the "pause" IS AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THE STROKE otherwise you'll start "screwing things up"..... Never mind.

 

[ceebee]

Yep... that is the way I learned.

 

[JohnnyOzone]

Yes......I.....pause

Seriously, yes, like B Hall or N Feijen - but not with the same results unfortunately!
Been working some of the snooker fundamentals into my game over the last couple of years also, and most of them really pause at the end of the backstroke

 

[tommyhill]

boy there is sure a lot of animosity on this one. I am a current PBIA instructor and a former sponsored touring professional player on both the PBT ( professional billiards tour ) and the Camel pro tour back in the 80s and 90s. no I am not trying to toot my own horn and I hope no one takes it that way, just putting it out there that I have some knowledge on the topic. PBIA instructors teach the SPF, set pause finish. personally I have always paused with the cue extended to the cue ball after taking my practice strokes, this is the set position then pull back and have a very brief pause then finish through the cue ball.
As far as Pro players with bad mechanics playing world class pool yes that does happen in every sport. some people have talents that are unexplainable while others try harder than anyone and never improve. I believe that good mechanics will always benefit the average player.

 

[skins]

boy there is sure a lot of animosity on this one. I am a current PBIA instructor and a former sponsored touring professional player on both the PBT ( professional billiards tour ) and the Camel pro tour back in the 80s and 90s. no I am not trying to toot my own horn and I hope no one takes it that way, just putting it out there that I have some knowledge on the topic. PBIA instructors teach the SPF, set pause finish. personally I have always paused with the cue extended to the cue ball after taking my practice strokes, this is the set position then pull back and have a very brief pause then finish through the cue ball.
As far as Pro players with bad mechanics playing world class pool yes that does happen in every sport. some people have talents that are unexplainable while others try harder than anyone and never improve. I believe that good mechanics will always benefit the average player.

It's my opinion that a pause at the end of the back swing of the stroke can either help or hurt depending on the player. When it comes down to it, it's all about the accuracy of what comes next, the follow through. All other things being equal, pause or no pause, if your follow through is true the results will be the same. Teaching a pause at the end of the back stroke may be good for some but in my opinion it is not an "essential" part of the stroke. Too many great players from the Americas, Phillipines, Taiwan, China etc..that prove that....

 

[tommyhill]

Skins, I totally agree with you. if I pause to long in my backstroke it screws me up. I do have a pause but it is very brief. some guys pause longer than others and a lot of guys have no pause at all. what ever works best for each guy is what that guy should do. when I am working with a student I do teach the SPF system however I think all good instructors, PBIA or otherwise will use that as a starting point and try to help them find their best pace and stroke. Bottom line is that there is no single perfect way to do anything and I think we can all agree with that one.

 

[CreeDo]

I pause on the backswing. I think it's the nuts. But I'm lazy about it. I don't bother on the easy shots so much, just the long tough ones.

At first it didn't feel natural and I had a hard time forcing myself to do it. Now I dunno how I lived without it, it really seems to encourage a nice straight stroke when I have to do a long shot.

Some people feel like they need that back-to-forward motion to deliver a powerful stroke, but I think that in terms of physics or biology, you don't really have to. You can hit the ball just as firmly and accurately from a dead stop. It just feels weird and tense.

 

[purpdrag]

I pause at the backstroke. I don't even remember where or how I first heard about it but it's not something I used to do. I tried it and noticed that I pocket the balls a significantly higher percentage of the time when I can remember to do that pause.

Unfortunately, it has been difficult getting that to become automatic and I sometimes forget to pause and my game does suffer for it. So I am still struggling with that and for now I try to remember to make it a part of my shot routine and stroke thoughts to pause ... and follow straight through slong the aim line. It still doesn't feel totally natural but I can't argue with the results.

 

[purpdrag]

I pause on the backswing. I think it's the nuts. But I'm lazy about it. I don't bother on the easy shots so much, just the long tough ones.

At first it didn't feel natural and I had a hard time forcing myself to do it. Now I dunno how I lived without it, it really seems to encourage a nice straight stroke when I have to do a long shot.

Some people feel like they need that back-to-forward motion to deliver a powerful stroke, but I think that in terms of physics or biology, you don't really have to. You can hit the ball just as firmly and accurately from a dead stop. It just feels weird and tense.

This just adds to my post above and I totally agree with this entire post. I played you once in Alexandria about a year or so ago and enjoyed losing. You had me by a ball or two. We've probably both improved somewhat since then so you'd probably still beat me now but I'd like to get together and try it again sometime.