set your thumb to the outside and take all of the pressure out of the grip use fingers only.after a few shots your hand will relax then go back to your normal grip.it will help to switch your concentration.it also helps to tune up your stroke when practicing.
bill
Great suggestion there, Bill. I agree 100%. The problem with a fatigued forearm, upper arm, and shoulder, is that it interferes with the conduit of "feel" going through the arm. That is, a tired forearm, upper arm, and shoulder break the path of "feel" in the arm, and the body subconsciously compensates by exerting extra firmness in the grip "to attempt to bring that notion of 'feel' back."
So here you are, tired arms, and you subconsciously implement what I like to call the "grabby-grabbies" in the hand. You accentuate the motions of the hand opening and closing during cue delivery, and this is an absolute no-no.
A couple years ago, I went the other way -- I made a conscious decision to REMOVE my hand/finger muscles from the motions of delivering the cue. So no "hand opening and closing" here at all. Instead, my hand is a relaxed cradle, and the cue pivots upon my hand -- with my hand a static / unchanging entity. The fulcrum that the cue pivots on is the second knuckle of the index finger.
This, for me, has removed the hand as a possible recipient of "redirected energy" when I'm tired (e.g. after a day of splitting a cord of wood). No more "grabby-grabbies"!
-Sean