Head height over cue

nibrobus

nibrobus

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hi everyone,

I've been doing a little experimenting with my stance, namely adjusting so my chin is closer to my cue. I know that most of the best shotmakers in the world have the cue either on or very close to their chin and I wanted to see if it would make any difference in my shotmaking consistency. My normal stance has the cue about 2 - 4 inches from my chin (depending on the shot). My problem is, when I try to lower my chin my stroke gets cramped and I can't follow through as much. My shoulder also gets tight and knotted up if I play with the lower stance for a long session. Should I try to maintain the lower stance, or is my body just not built for that style? I'm about 5'6" with a slightly stocky body (from weightlifting). Any advice is greatly appreciated.
 
nibrobus said:
Hi everyone,

I've been doing a little experimenting with my stance, namely adjusting so my chin is closer to my cue. I know that most of the best shotmakers in the world have the cue either on or very close to their chin and I wanted to see if it would make any difference in my shotmaking consistency. My normal stance has the cue about 2 - 4 inches from my chin (depending on the shot). My problem is, when I try to lower my chin my stroke gets cramped and I can't follow through as much. My shoulder also gets tight and knotted up if I play with the lower stance for a long session. Should I try to maintain the lower stance, or is my body just not built for that style? I'm about 5'6" with a slightly stocky body (from weightlifting). Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

So far you've only mentioned negative results of playing with the lower stance. Unless you find some positives to balance those out, I think the lower stance is not for you. Do you feel that sighting your line of aim (I'm not talking about aiming systems and contact points, just sighting where the stick is pointing) is a weak point for you? If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

On the other hand, if you still think you could benefit from a lower viewpoint, find an instructor, because there are many variables to be tweaked in a stance to make it fit you correctly. Some stand with their hips behind and facing the shot (Allison Fisher, for one) and some stand with their hips way off to the side, and facing sideways (Mike Sigel for one). Some play with their feet close together, and some with their feet far apart (Niels Feijen). You'd be amazed how much just turning one of your feet a different direction can change about the way a stance feels.

So I think you either need to stick with what works for you, or if you want to change it, get professional help to sort out all the variables involved.

-Andrew
 
I not sure if this is good advice or not but I do put my chin very close to the stick and I'm aware of what you are talking about when you say it is inhibiting your follow through. It made me think about what it is that I do about it on shots that require more follow through. You could be holding the stick to far forward with your grip hand. I think I might move my grip had back just slightly. Maybe an inch or inch and a half. That should be all the extra follow through you should need.
 
im large like you are and i had to give up trying to get to low on the cue. Not only was it uncomfortable and inhibited my stroke, i feel like it made me more prone to want to jump up after the shot. Now i do what feels natural, before i had to consciously get low, now i just get down into my stance and shoot, never measured it but im prob 4 to 6 inches above the cue.
 
nibrobus said:
Hi everyone,

I've been doing a little experimenting with my stance, namely adjusting so my chin is closer to my cue. I know that most of the best shotmakers in the world have the cue either on or very close to their chin and I wanted to see if it would make any difference in my shotmaking consistency. My normal stance has the cue about 2 - 4 inches from my chin (depending on the shot). My problem is, when I try to lower my chin my stroke gets cramped and I can't follow through as much. My shoulder also gets tight and knotted up if I play with the lower stance for a long session. Should I try to maintain the lower stance, or is my body just not built for that style? I'm about 5'6" with a slightly stocky body (from weightlifting). Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

Most professional players are fairly low over the cue, but not all of them. The reason why your stroke gets cramped and your shoulder gets tight is because instead of just bending over lower, you have to make some minor adjustments in your stance to be able to do so without straining your muscles too much. Imagine someone who has never been able to bend down and touch their toenails while keeping their legs straight trying to do that. If they do manage to touch their toes, it will be quite painful and strenuous. If the person bends his/her knees, touching the toes will be easy. Try bending your legs a little bit more, and try to relax your bridging arm's shoulder when you are down on the shot. This might make it less strenuous when you try to get lower. If nothing works and it causes you great pain, then just stick with your normal stance.
 
Chin ...

I am 5'7", 158 lbs, I lift weights since I was a teenager,
and my chin is just above my stick when I shoot, sometimes
it rubs slightly. I guess I have always shot this way, and
feel my aiming is better this way. Remember though, if
you get lower, do not bend you back, bend from the waist
and keep your back straight.
 
Thanks to everyone for their great advice - I'm going to try adjusting my feet along with bending from the waist a little more to see if that gives me more room to stroke. If it doesn't start to feel natural I think I'll stick with my regular stance. On a side note, I noticed that Corey Deuel does not get very low over the cue and he's also a great shotmaker aside from having a powerful stroke.
 
i think youll find you can make almost any distance work.....i see guys shoot with the cue rubbing their chin, then you watch old coverage of lassiter and hes standing wayyyyy up. I think for guys our size (im 6'3 250), youre just asking too much of your body to get that low, get ur head down that far, then try to have a nice smooth stroke.
 
I've had a similar concern. I used to be chin on the cue. THen one day, I was in a bad mood, playing like crap, and I just started banging balls in frustration, barely getting down for the shot. I couldn't miss. I figure it was partly because of my higher stance, and partly because I was stroking so free and loose. Anyway, I now find I am way more accurate with a higher stance. But I am still much more comfortable sighting the lower I get down low, and I also feel more accurate with where I contact the cue ball the lower I am, ecause it is easier to see the contact point of the cue on the ball the lower you are, so I have a conundrum.

I've noticed that when i am higher up, my arm is perpendicular to floor when I make contact, and that this is not always the case when I am down low. I am experimenting with getting lower while keeping my arm in the same position so it is perp to floor and swings the same way. Bending over more with the same stance is tpp awkward and my head is way too close to the cueball. So i'm experiementing with stance--ending knees, spreading feet further. But in the end, the more upright stance gives the most consistent results on long straight shots, even if I sight better down low. SO I figure there's no point in going chin on the cue to sight better if I can't shoot straight, So, for now at least, my stance is still higher up than optimal for sighting.
 
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