Follow Through

[Das928]

I play mostly on the barboxes but recently have been playing more n more on the 9ft tables. The caliber of players I have met seemed to increase drastically. People have told me in the past I have to follow through and quit poking at the ball. What is a good drill to get me in the habit of this? How will I know how much is enough? I have a barbox in my basement so i can do this drill at anytime.

I dont see what the difference is but i figure I cant be the only correct person out there and everybody else be wrong. TY in advance


Dave

 

[Scott Lee]

Dave...Here's an easy way to "finish" your stroke. Take the arm you hold the cue with. Let it work only from the elbow...it opens and closes (when it closes your bicep and forearm meet). When you bend over the table, let the cue swing along this pendulum, until your grip hand finishes at your chest (near your armpit). The tip will finish on or near the cloth. When you set down your bridge hand, hold your cue where your forearm is at 90 degrees to the cuestick...hold it loosely. Swing your cue along this path, and notice how far the tip goes past the CB. It may be a couple of inches, or 7-8" (or anywhere in between). However, it will be the exact same distance every time you swing your cue. This is the correct 'followthrough' for you, the way your arm works with your body. We use mostly the same bridge length on every shot, so every stroke works the same way, every time. Hope this helps.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

 

[nksmfamjp]

+1 for what Scott said. . .He taught me all the stroke I have and I only learned about 30% of what he was teaching!

The key is developing the same patter and doing it over and over. For me, that is best accomplished shooting like 50 easy shots, pehaps 50 cue ball to object ball straight in, 14" shots and stopping it perfectly everytime. Mastering this at medium speed is the start. Then do it at slow speed and a much faster speed. The key to speed changes is drawing the cue back slow and accelerating it in a consistent path regardless of speed.

Good luck and strive for consistency over raw power.

 

[Das928]

I have tried this numerous times. It seems I can only do this when shooting the cue ball hard. The soft shots seem more difficult to do this. I usually get frustrated and give up and just start poking again.

 

[Cameron Smith]

I have tried this numerous times. It seems I can only do this when shooting the cue ball hard. The soft shots seem more difficult to do this. I usually get frustrated and give up and just start poking again.

Can you elaborate on your problem with soft shots? Are you over hitting the ball or just missing them?

 

[Das928]

I seem to do both, miss the shot or hit it to hard

 

[nksmfamjp]

I seem to do both, miss the shot or hit it to hard

What happens when you line up side pocket to side pocket(straight in) and shoot a "stun" shot slow(10% cue speed) and then pretty fast(70% cue speed)? What is the cue ball doing after it hits the object ball?

 

[Das928]

Dave...Here's an easy way to "finish" your stroke. Take the arm you hold the cue with. Let it work only from the elbow...it opens and closes (when it closes your bicep and forearm meet). When you bend over the table, let the cue swing along this pendulum, until your grip hand finishes at your chest (near your armpit). The tip will finish on or near the cloth. When you set down your bridge hand, hold your cue where your forearm is at 90 degrees to the cuestick...hold it loosely. Swing your cue along this path, and notice how far the tip goes past the CB. It may be a couple of inches, or 7-8" (or anywhere in between). However, it will be the exact same distance every time you swing your cue. This is the correct 'followthrough' for you, the way your arm works with your body. We use mostly the same bridge length on every shot, so every works the same way, every time. Hope this helps.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

I have tried this and it helps. Knowing when to stop the follow through is maybe what I needed. I just need to stop concentrating on my stroke instead of the object ball. I couldnt tell you if i stop a couple inches after the CB or 7-8. I only have 1 eye and have no depth perception. It doesnt affect me when im playing pool. Its just like firing a gun. But it does make it difficult for me to use a bridge. I cant tell how close my tip is to the CB when using a bridge

 

[Cameron Smith]

I seem to do both, miss the shot or hit it to hard

Without seeing your stroke it's tough to diagnose the problem. But I suspect you may be off line. The more off line you are the more difficult it is to keep your stroke straight. I would suggest finding an instructor or at least a very knowledgable player to adjust your stance, arm position etc.

As for over stroking the ball, do you take full strokes on every shot? Or do you shorten your stroke for soft shots?


Here are some things to try,

Place the cueball on the foot spot, shoot the ball up table and try to have it return to your tip. Now check to see if your tip gone past the spot, if it has obviously you've followed through the ball.

Again with the cueball on the foot spot, set up some long straight in shots. Since there is no aiming invloved here, it is all about your mechanics. Just focus on making a smooth stroke and keeping your head still.

Do you have access to a snooker table? If so here is a practice regime I use,

Place a ball on the black spot, take cue ball in hand, pot the ball and play position to shoot another ball from the spot. In order to keep the cueball around the spot you need to develop a good touch. If your poking at the ball you wont be able to spin the ball as accurately, and you will lose position quickly. Try for a run of 5, then push it up to 10 and so on.

It's also worth placing a ball on the blue spot, the cueball on the balk line for some long straight in potting. This is a great test of cueing, and can be very difficult especially if your not playing well.

 

[Das928]

I had a friend watch me the other night. He said I follow through on every one of my shots. the sticks goes 2-3 inches past the ferrule. Which seems pretty good.

Now I would like to work on changing my bridge hand. I use and open bridge now. I have been told by numerous very good players that I have the worst bridge they have ever seen. I have tried to use a close finger and it seems Like im tightening my arm way to much. To the point where it is sore after a couple of games.

 

[Cameron Smith]

I had a friend watch me the other night. He said I follow through on every one of my shots. the sticks goes 2-3 inches past the ferrule. Which seems pretty good.

Now I would like to work on changing my bridge hand. I use and open bridge now. I have been told by numerous very good players that I have the worst bridge they have ever seen. I have tried to use a close finger and it seems Like im tightening my arm way to much. To the point where it is sore after a couple of games.

An open bridge isn't bad, it just depends on how you are making your bridge. I would need to see a picture of your bridge to make any assessment, but the most important things are to ensure the palm of your hand is firmly on the table, and your bridge is solid.

With an open bridge try having your index finger pointing at the ball you are shooting at. It's trick I was told to help with bridge placement.

Pushing your index finger into the cloth will help with stability.

 

[Pete]

Dave...Here's an easy way to "finish" your stroke. Take the arm you hold the cue with. Let it work only from the elbow...it opens and closes (when it closes your bicep and forearm meet). When you bend over the table, let the cue swing along this pendulum, until your grip hand finishes at your chest (near your armpit). The tip will finish on or near the cloth. When you set down your bridge hand, hold your cue where your forearm is at 90 degrees to the cuestick...hold it loosely. Swing your cue along this path, and notice how far the tip goes past the CB. It may be a couple of inches, or 7-8" (or anywhere in between). However, it will be the exact same distance every time you swing your cue. This is the correct 'followthrough' for you, the way your arm works with your body. We use mostly the same bridge length on every shot, so every stroke works the same way, every time. Hope this helps.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

Scott is dead on with this JMOP...

Pete