Earl's Stroke

[cuetechasaurus]

After watching a few dozen tapes of Earl Strickland playing over the last two decades, I have noticed that there is a big difference in his stroke when he is "on" his game and when he is "off". When he is not playing as good as he normally does, he has a big twist in his stroke, and as he takes his practice strokes, his elbow moves to the right, more and more with each stroke. When he executes, his elbow has moved to the right about 6 inches from where it was originally. I compared this to matches I have of him when he is playing well, his elbow does not move sideways and there is no twist in his stroke. I watched some other top players, and it seems that when they are struggling, their alignment seems to be their problem. With Earl it just seems to be his stroke. When he is on his game, I think he plays the best 9-ball in the world, but when he is off, he plays like half his speed. I also have seen Mike Davis play a few times, and he plays incredible. I just wonder how he plays when he is struggling, because his mechanics must cause him some problems at that time.

 

[pooltchr]

You just pointed out the keys to good play. With proper alignment and stroke, the game is much easier. Let either one slip, and we will all be struggling.
Good post!
Steve

 

[JohnnyP]

pooltchr:

Something clicked for me last week. Not only could I see the shot line, but I knew I could deliver the cueball to the aim point. My preshot routine went from several slow practice strokes, to one or two quick ones, then execute. Stopped miscuing, too.

Visually, it was like there were two laser beams, one from the pocket through the object ball, and the other from the cueball to the contact point.

My practice strokes were shorter and quicker, and the final stroke starts out as the third practice stroke, but ends with a follow through. No pauses front or back.

Been in bed for a week with a cold, so I can't wait to get back at it.