Lately I have been having trouble over gripping my cue, especially with medium to hard stroke shots. It is causing my tip to drop, pulling my cue towards my body, and reaking havoc on my draw stroke. I was wondering if anyone has any good drills or advice to help eliminate this problem. Thanks!
Grip pressure drills?
- Thread starter mantis99
- Start date
I start out cradling it, but it turns into a grip once stroking hard.
Try taking your index finger off the cue and let it rest on your middle and ring finger.. I think you'll find it keeps you from squeezing the cue as tightly once you remove the index finger.
Start the cue back slower and finish your back-swing before you start forward. Your less likely to rush the forward stroke which leads to smoother progression. When you force the cue forward all timing is lost and your grip gets to tight. You loose control of just swinging the weight. When that happens you steer the cue and all accuracy is lost.
Go back to short draw shots. See and feel how easy it is to draw comfortably from a short distance. It takes almost no effort to draw table length from a foot away. All it takes is low tip contact and little cue speed. Work on your fundamentals and timing until it is comfortable. Then add distance, say a foot at a time. In the end don't forget accuracy, where you want the c/b to stop. Just drawing to draw is kind of pointless once you have a decent draw stroke. JMO of course
Rod
Go back to short draw shots. See and feel how easy it is to draw comfortably from a short distance. It takes almost no effort to draw table length from a foot away. All it takes is low tip contact and little cue speed. Work on your fundamentals and timing until it is comfortable. Then add distance, say a foot at a time. In the end don't forget accuracy, where you want the c/b to stop. Just drawing to draw is kind of pointless once you have a decent draw stroke. JMO of course
Rod
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The speed of the stroke determines how far a CB slides before spin from the impact of the cue stick is put in the CB.
Two clips:
This one shows a stop shot http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKbtwAkM4-0
This one shows a draw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ken_27cQxps
The only difference is the speed of the stroke and follow through and not any in grip. The difference in speed isn't enough for a tighter grip. It takes time to get the feel on how much grip is needed for what shot.
In the stop shot clip, the two red dots on the CB would be in the same postion before and after the shot if I did it right. What this means is that the CB was sliding and I did put a little backspin on it which is why it rolled back some. The speed of the stroke is what determined how far it slid before backspin was put on the ball.
The draw shots shows that a slow stroke does not slide the CB as much therefore more back spin from the cue stick is put on the CB sooner and longer than a harder hit.
Video is a great training aid.
I was having a similar problem with my grip on speed shots and draw shots. Someone recommended that I point my index finger at the floor (which loosens the grip). To help make this feel natural I walked around the house cradling a small piece of PVC pipe for a few days whenever it was convenient. It has improved my grip and stroke. (Still not perfect...lol)
Rear-fingered grip (not using the index finger or thumb)
Nell:
This is a great idea you came up with, to, over time, subconsciously embed the "feel" of a grip where the index finger is pointing towards the floor. Nice one!
FYI, the idea of breaking the dependency on using the index finger for the grip is an old one. Golf players have known about this for a while. The principle behind this is that the index finger and thumb are opposing digits (think of "pincers" like you'd see on a centipede or large beetle), while the rest of the fingers on the hand are the cradle. In golf, they teach this -- to grip the club with the cradle, not with the pincers. (Or, relegate the pincer fingers -- the index finger and the thumb -- to merely position and stabilize the club, while the cradle actually holds the club.)
And, snooker players have known about the "don't use the pincers, rather the cradle part of the hand" idea for a long time as well.
Witness Ronnie O'Sullivan's grip in his World Pool Masters match from a few years ago:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=W2Ye61WiLMk#t=485
Ronnie's using a "rear-fingered grip" here, plain as day.
Hope this is helpful,
-Sean
Nell:
This is a great idea you came up with, to, over time, subconsciously embed the "feel" of a grip where the index finger is pointing towards the floor. Nice one!
FYI, the idea of breaking the dependency on using the index finger for the grip is an old one. Golf players have known about this for a while. The principle behind this is that the index finger and thumb are opposing digits (think of "pincers" like you'd see on a centipede or large beetle), while the rest of the fingers on the hand are the cradle. In golf, they teach this -- to grip the club with the cradle, not with the pincers. (Or, relegate the pincer fingers -- the index finger and the thumb -- to merely position and stabilize the club, while the cradle actually holds the club.)
And, snooker players have known about the "don't use the pincers, rather the cradle part of the hand" idea for a long time as well.
Witness Ronnie O'Sullivan's grip in his World Pool Masters match from a few years ago:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=W2Ye61WiLMk#t=485
Ronnie's using a "rear-fingered grip" here, plain as day.
Hope this is helpful,
-Sean
