Elbow drop - video

crappoolguy

crappoolguy

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Since I started playing I had a lot of people telling me that you shouldn't drop the elbow on any shots, even power shots. Lately I was trying to stop it dropping so much that it was causing tension in my body and I was moving all over the place. Anyway, I decided to just let the elbow go through to where it wanted and my play improved drastically pretty much overnight.
If you watch any of the top snooker pros I'd say around 90% of them drop their elbow these days (and imo they have the best technique, near perfection).
People may say that it makes no difference, that the cue ball will be well on the way to striking the object ball by the time your elbow starts dropping, and they're right. But the fact the elbow drops after delivery is not important. It's not actually the elbow dropping that's important, it's that the elbow should drop naturally if you accelerate all the way through the cue ball on every shot, which is what is really important. This allows you to play even soft roll shots with a lot more positivity and conviction.
Anyway here is the video of me practicing some long potting, I missed a few in this vid, mainly because this was the seventh straight hour I'd been playing (got my love for the game back:grin-square:) and was getting a little tired :boring2: But I still felt like I was hitting the ball sweet and earlier on managed to pot 89 out of a 100 long blues, knocking in 33 in a row at one point. Really happy with that seeing as before I started dropping my best was 9 in a row. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71VtMg3cqd8&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
 
here we go again with the elbow drop. thread # 532 and counting..:grin:

but, if its a new person, this is what this forum is for as far as i am concerned.

DCP
 
I think you play really well. I wouldn't change anything, really. The only thing that didn't seem quite right is that you seem a little jacked-up on some shots--- hitting down onto the CB. Level out a little more and you're going to make even more shots.

I think you pocket nice --- good video.
Dave
 
crappoolguy said:
...Anyway, I decided to just let the elbow go through to where it wanted and my play improved drastically pretty much overnight.
If you watch any of the top snooker pros I'd say around 90% of them drop their elbow these days (and imo they have the best technique, near perfection).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71VtMg3cqd8&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
Click to expand...

From your report of the results, you seem to have started to do something better. :thumbup: Whether this is a permanent improvement (I hope so) which you can summon up just by letting your elbow drop is another question, which time will answer.

Out of interest, how would you compare your elbow drop as shown in the clip you posted to that of the snooker pros you referred to?
 
Siz said:
From your report of the results, you seem to have started to do something better. :thumbup: Whether this is a permanent improvement (I hope so) which you can summon up just by letting your elbow drop is another question, which time will answer.

Out of interest, how would you compare your elbow drop as shown in the clip you posted to that of the snooker pros you referred to?
Click to expand...

I hope it's a permanent improvement as well :grin-square:

I think it's pretty different to most pros. The top snooker coach, Del Hill, was the first coach to say that dropping the elbow was the best way, and he says there are two types of snooker players, peckers and drivers.

Peckers tend to hold the cue tighter, and drop the elbow on the backswing. They stop the cue when they hit the chest, not dropping the elbow on the foreswing.

Drivers (what Del teaches) do the opposite. They keep the elbow up on the backswing, then drop it on the foreswing. I do both :grin:

A lot of snooker proffesionals these days are drivers. To name a few, Ronnie O'sullivan, Mark Williams, Mark Selby, Stephen Lee, Ali Carter, etc.
 
Neil said:
The thing is, you are concentrating so much on not dropping it that you cause tension. You aren't doing it naturally yet. If you were to stick with the no-drop, you will get to a place that it is natural. Then, no tension, no problem.

Think about it- you agree that what happens after the hit doesn't matter. But, then you want to say that it does. You can't have it both ways. Either it does, or it doesn't. I'm in the camp that it doesn't. Which means, your problem is BEFORE the hit, not after. That problem is soley in what you are focusing on.

I don't care if you drop AFTER the hit or not, your preference. But, if your stroke is good, it does NOT matter which you do. For you, not dropping after isn't natural yet. You are doing it consciously, instead of unconsciously, hence your problem. It's just a matter of training until it is natural.

The only problem with dropping after the hit is that MOST people will eventually screw up and drop BEFORE the hit. If you learn to not drop at all, that problem is eliminated from your stroke. When you learn to do it naturally, then you can do anything you can do while dropping it. Remember, the ball is already gone, it was hit with no drop.
Click to expand...

I'll try to answer all of your points in order, but can I just say I agreed with the majority of what you said.

Yes, true, but since the first day I picked up a cue (3 and a half years ago) I've been told I shouldn't drop the elbow and have been trying not to all that time. And yet it was still taking a lot of effort and discomfort when the first day I let it go through to where it wanted to it felt comfortable and I was able to play well.

I'd say that it doesn't matter but again, that wasn't my point. Back when I was trying to artificially stop the cue at my chest, I might occasionally decelerate through the cue ball, the results being disastorous. Now that is impossible as I'm pushing and accelerating through as far as feels natural. The result is that I can strike every shot positively and with acceleration through the ball (even soft roll shots) and never decelerate.

Very true again, but it was taking me a very long time to get used to not dropping and still feeling comfortable, whereas I could just let it go and feel fine straight away, no muscle memory required.

When I say dropping, I'm not (at least not trying to) drop the arm down. I'm dropping it THROUGH. That is, pushing the cue forward past vertical until it's impossible for the elbow not to drop. So I don't think I'd start dropping before contact because I suppose it's the exact same same action, just extended through a few more inches. That's what I'm aiming for, I think I have a tendency to drop earlier when I'm jacked up a bit like at the end of the video. I'll be working on that.
 
Last edited:
crappoolguy said:
....The top snooker coach, Del Hill, was the first coach to say that dropping the elbow was the best way, and he says there are two types of snooker players, peckers and drivers.

Peckers tend to hold the cue tighter, and drop the elbow on the backswing. They stop the cue when they hit the chest, not dropping the elbow on the foreswing.

Drivers (what Del teaches) do the opposite. They keep the elbow up on the backswing, then drop it on the foreswing. /QUOTE]

Very interesting - I had not heard this idea before.

I have found that the problem with a 'driving' type technique is that it exaggerates the need for a 'wrist break'. When this happens too early, there are some nasty mistiming effects.

I guess that it might be possible to alleviate this by sheer hard work; but 7 hours a day practice is not an option for me. And even it it were, I would be concerned that the technique might not be robust enough to withstand fluctuations in form or to stand up under adverse conditions (like pressure situations).

Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
 
According to his description I am a driver. And when my stance is right it feels very natural. I didn't practice 7 hours a day, more like 7 hours per week. I also spent some additional practice time in front of the mirror which helped me a lot (definitely try this, no matter what technique you want to use). It took me several months to really get there. Could have been faster if I had an instructor.
I believe the problem is that the typical pool style demands a different stroking motion than the pecker or driver style. If you try the driver style using your standard pool stroke you probably won't get far.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top