Falling Into Your Stance/Alignment

C

cuetechasaurus

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I noticed when I am playing good, as I am in the process of leaning forward into my stance, I am able to keep my cue on line and place my bridge hand accurately. When I play bad, I feel my cue going off line as I get down into shooting position, and I can't seem to plant my bridge hand accurately. I'll overshoot my bridge hand to the left or the right and make the adjustment to where I want to place it when I am settled into the shot. This is most likely detrimental to having proper alignment. Basically I cannot keep the initial alignment that I have placed my cue on when I am standing upright.

Sometimes I can feel my stroking arm's elbow falling out of line during this process. Keeping my balance on my feet evenly distributed during this process is trivial. I've noticed some snooker players have a method of keeping their cue on line as they get down into the shot. They have their bridge hand turned upside down, they keep their cue perfectly still, and right before they plant their bridge hand, they make a smooth motion turning their bridge hand over, everything is done perfectly. I can't seem to do this consistently.

Is there a part that I might be missing from this tedious process? All the top players keep their cues very still in the moments before they get down. Efren has a slightly different system which I have tried to copy, but I can't seem to do it. I've been working on fixing this technique for a while, and I think it may be the missing link for myself to become a more consistent player.

Another question I have is, if you are a right handed player, should you turn your shoulders clockwise or counter-clockwise as you get down, or keep them as they were? It's funny I've been playing for nearly a decade and haven't really noticed this flaw in my game until recently. Any advice is well appreciated.
 
i dont know if this will help you or if it even addresses your problem, but ive found when im feel out of line.........to fix it i will glide down into my stance with my bridge hand on the table, but a few inches back from the cue ball (maybe 4 or 5). Then, with my bridge arm slightly bent.....my backhand hanging straight down, and im all lined up with my shot......i just kind of slide the whole thing forward a few inches until my tip is almost touching the cueball. Then from there i will begin my practice strokes and shoot. After i do this for a bit it seems like i will start naturally lining up correctly again and i can stop. I will often use this technique on a long difficult shot, or a very important shot, it seems to really help me focus.
 
I know what you are describing, and I have attempted incorporating this into my setup routine, but I find that it makes me push my weight too far forward onto my front foot and bridge arm.
 
It's hard to be specific so I'll speak in general. Most players including some pros (I'm sure myself) do not address the CB/Shot properly accourding to what's taught as fundamentally sound. Most players are standing very close to the table when lining up and as they get down they kick their back leg back (step in the bucket). This in itself will change your body alignment.

What's taught is stand back from the table and always step into your shot. Line up the shot with your chin. As you step in, your eyes go back and forth between the CB & OB. Once you get this down you should be lining up perfectly. Even your dominant eye will guide you because you're looking back and forth at CB/OB as you get down.

If you're stepping in the bucket learning to do this will take some time. I'm stubborn and slow so it took me a few months before it became natural. After that my game took a jump and I consider it one of the most significant things I've been taught.
 
saved me some typing!

I was fixing to post basically the same thing. I step into my shots. Very slight alignment changes may be required, probably not. If I make a radical change when I am down to shoot, maybe decide I want to take the cue ball around the other way, then it is time to get up and reset. Not a good idea to think in the down position but sometimes the different viewpoint forces me to reconsider things. Time to come up for that reason too.

Stand up, step back, step in and settle again.

Hu

3kushn said:
It's hard to be specific so I'll speak in general. Most players including some pros (I'm sure myself) do not address the CB/Shot properly accourding to what's taught as fundamentally sound. Most players are standing very close to the table when lining up and as they get down they kick their back leg back (step in the bucket). This in itself will change your body alignment.

What's taught is stand back from the table and always step into your shot. Line up the shot with your chin. As you step in, your eyes go back and forth between the CB & OB. Once you get this down you should be lining up perfectly. Even your dominant eye will guide you because you're looking back and forth at CB/OB as you get down.

If you're stepping in the bucket learning to do this will take some time. I'm stubborn and slow so it took me a few months before it became natural. After that my game took a jump and I consider it one of the most significant things I've been taught.
Click to expand...
 
In regards to your shoulder movement, you dont want any movement of your shoulders or waist, or any twisting motion of your body for that matter when getting down on the shot.

If you are having this occur, move your feet to eliminate any twisting of your body.

If you are twisting, you are using muscles to hold your body still in that twisted position, which could lead to unwanted, almost involuntary, body movement throughout your stroke. Especially in long draw shots.

When addressing a tough shot I find my line by placing my cue in line with the shot with the butt of my cue resting directly beneath my forearm to ensure I will stay online.

Then I place my body inline with the shot by lining up the shot with the inside of my left leg ( I am Left HAnded BTW). I take a small step back with my back foot into the line of the shot. Then I will step into the shot with my front leg. The place I step will allow my body to lean straight forward, to prevent any twisting of my body and allow for a free flowing stroke.

Hope this helps a little
 
I have found that placing the cue in my bridge while standing up, and then placing my bridge hand on the table and then building my stance around that, has solved the problem you describe. A lot of players do this, notably Earl Strickland and Mika Immonen.
 
Now you have a reason to purchase Capelle's latest book, "Practicing Pool". He covers the "landing" on page 42. And here I thought the first 75 or so pages were not all that important.

Jake
 
Scottster said:
In regards to your shoulder movement, you dont want any movement of your shoulders or waist, or any twisting motion of your body for that matter when getting down on the shot.

If you are having this occur, move your feet to eliminate any twisting of your body.

If you are twisting, you are using muscles to hold your body still in that twisted position, which could lead to unwanted, almost involuntary, body movement throughout your stroke. Especially in long draw shots.

When addressing a tough shot I find my line by placing my cue in line with the shot with the butt of my cue resting directly beneath my forearm to ensure I will stay online.

Then I place my body inline with the shot by lining up the shot with the inside of my left leg ( I am Left HAnded BTW). I take a small step back with my back foot into the line of the shot. Then I will step into the shot with my front leg. The place I step will allow my body to lean straight forward, to prevent any twisting of my body and allow for a free flowing stroke.

Hope this helps a little
Click to expand...
I'm trying to incorporate the cue to the shotline in my alignment routine as you describe. But I'm a fairly short person and if I stand with the part of my leg that puts me in line behind the cue, I'll be too far away from the table.

If I stand beside my cue, I'll end up twisting my body or switching my hip.

I'm studying Corey Deuel's routine, which seems to me to be the most perfect in pool. He also uses his cue extended in the air to line up his entire body, and then simply bends at the waist.
 
Pool

cuetechasaurus said:
I noticed when I am playing good, as I am in the process of leaning forward into my stance, I am able to keep my cue on line and place my bridge hand accurately. When I play bad, I feel my cue going off line as I get down into shooting position, and I can't seem to plant my bridge hand accurately. I'll overshoot my bridge hand to the left or the right and make the adjustment to where I want to place it when I am settled into the shot. This is most likely detrimental to having proper alignment. Basically I cannot keep the initial alignment that I have placed my cue on when I am standing upright.

Sometimes I can feel my stroking arm's elbow falling out of line during this process. Keeping my balance on my feet evenly distributed during this process is trivial. I've noticed some snooker players have a method of keeping their cue on line as they get down into the shot. They have their bridge hand turned upside down, they keep their cue perfectly still, and right before they plant their bridge hand, they make a smooth motion turning their bridge hand over, everything is done perfectly. I can't seem to do this consistently.

Is there a part that I might be missing from this tedious process? All the top players keep their cues very still in the moments before they get down. Efren has a slightly different system which I have tried to copy, but I can't seem to do it. I've been working on fixing this technique for a while, and I think it may be the missing link for myself to become a more consistent player.

Another question I have is, if you are a right handed player, should you turn your shoulders clockwise or counter-clockwise as you get down, or keep them as they were? It's funny I've been playing for nearly a decade and haven't really noticed this flaw in my game until recently. Any advice is well appreciated.
Click to expand...
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