Does the elbow HAVE to stay level?

[TheBook]

If you pay attention to the way most pros shoot instead of watching the CB hit the OB you will see that they all drop their elbow a little during the follow thru but everything else stays motionless. Their elbow does not drop before CB contact. This is most noticable on shots that need the CB to travel.

I think the main thing is not to drop our shoulder. Don't confuse elbow drop with shouilder drop.

 

[Andrew Manning]

That's quite a tall stance. Try it with your chin rubbing the cue, that's the way a play. If you don't have some degree of elbow drop you'll drive the cue into your chin. I've tried it and it doesn't work for me.

I normally shoot with my chin touching the cue, I just tried it 10" higher because the original poster said that was his stance.

With my chin touching the cue, my follow-through gets shorter than what I said, more like 5 inches. Also, I do sometimes bump my chin with the forearm of my cue at the finish of power draw shots. When I remember to do so, I solve this by raising my chin an inch or two higher before shooting a power shot.

-Andrew

 

[sfleinen]

I normally shoot with my chin touching the cue, I just tried it 10" higher because the original poster said that was his stance.

With my chin touching the cue, my follow-through gets shorter than what I said, more like 5 inches. Also, I do sometimes bump my chin with the forearm of my cue at the finish of power draw shots. When I remember to do so, I solve this by raising my chin an inch or two higher before shooting a power shot.

-Andrew

Just a humble suggestion, but the "truncated" follow-through can also be solved by using a "rear-fingered" grip on the grip hand. That is, instead of gripping the cue with the first, first two, or first three fingers in the grip hand -- which accentuates the "raising of the butt" of the cue on the finish (naturally, because as the grip hand tilts upwards towards your chest, those fingers are now positioned "on top") -- grip the cue with the rear two fingers instead, which result in a more level stroke, since even with the upward tilt of the grip hand, those fingers are "on the bottom" resulting in a more gradual raise of the butt of the cue, and therefore a less pronounced "seek of the cloth" by the tip. In order to do this, the front fingers -- the index and middle -- need to be slightly opened up and loose, to allow them to slip past the cue as the grip hand starts to tilt upwards the closer it gets to the chest.

A good example of a professional player who rests his chin on the stick *and* has a long follow-through aided by a rear-fingered grip is the great Ronnie O'Sullivan. If you watch his stroke carefully, you can see his "primary fingers" (index and middle) aren't even touching the cue at all -- the cue is fulcruming (if that's a word?) on his grip hand's rear two fingers.

I tried my best to explain this in text to make it understandable; I hope I did a decent job and that the suggestion is helpful?

-Sean

 

[Fatboy]

here we go again, everyone is different, some do some dont.

 

[Craig Fales]

OK. If that is the case, why do you feel it is necessary to drop your elbow at all. If you are doing it after contact, what benefit do you get from the added movement. After all, the ball is already long gone.

One of the benefits of stroking through without moving the elbow is you can easily have a consistent and repeatable stroke. By having a specific finish point for EVERY stroke, you will immediately know if you have a flaw in your mechanics. You also reduce the possibility that the elbow drop might actually creep in before contact, creating unwanted spin.

So if there is no benefit to dropping your elbow, and several benefits to not dropping it, why would you want to do it?

Steve

Elbow drop is part of the follow through, and I have seen Allison drop her elbow, not a lot but you need SOME degree of it properly deliver the cue to AND THROUGH the cue ball.

 

[pooltchr]

Elbow drop is part of the follow through, and I have seen Allison drop her elbow, not a lot but you need SOME degree of it properly deliver the cue to AND THROUGH the cue ball.

I would be happy to demonstrate in person that dropping the elbow is NOT necessary, and that you can have all the required follow-through without dropping the elbow. If you ever get the opportunity to meet me, RandyG, Scott Lee or any of several other SPF instructors, any of us would be more than happy to show how it can be done. The natural finish of a pendilum stroke with give you more than enough "follow through". You can also pick Randy and Scotts DVD where Randy gives an excellent demonstration of how to stroke without any elbow drop.

Steve

 

[crosseyedjoe]

here we go again, everyone is different, some do some dont.

lol, anyone wants to take on the rollercoaster stroke of Bustamante or Mike Davis?

 

[cuetechasaurus]

Your elbow is a hinge type joint that can only open and close. That means if all the movement comes from the elbow, you cue has no choice but to move in a straight line.

You can still have a very crooked stroke like this if your bridge hand is not in line with the path your elbow hinges on. In this case the turning and twisting of the cue will be in the grip and the wrist.

 

[poolplayer2093]

my elbow didn't use to drop but i've noticed it dropping more now. i pick function over form so i don't really care

 

[pooltchr]

You can still have a very crooked stroke like this if your bridge hand is not in line with the path your elbow hinges on. In this case the turning and twisting of the cue will be in the grip and the wrist.

True, but if the cue isn't moving straight forward, it's because of poor alignment of the bridge hand, or unnecessary wrist movement, and not a result of extra arm movement.
My point is simply that if all the motion comes from the elbow down as opposed to the shoulder down, the potential for the cue to move off line is greatly reduced.
Steve