Hi. I am only a "D" player, recently dropped from a D+ to a D. I'm also just a "3" in APA. I recently set up my I Phone toward the table when I practiced. No specific rotation, just trying to make balls.
I can use some advice on my stroke, stance, bridge, etc and anything else I'm either doing right or wrong. Here is the video which I uploaded to YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAziSvpipkU
Good evening Jeff, and thank you for posting a video of you playing. It sometimes take courage to post what some might call evidence of our struggles, so I commend you. I have several observations after watching you shoot. Each of these is offered with respect, and I will do my best to frame them as such.
1. In the majority of your shots, you take almost no time to actually "see" the shot. It is not unheard of, but a three a lower level league player who is missing some of the shots you missed is likely not taking enough time to see the shot in it's entirety. That is the line from the object ball to the pocket, line from the cue ball to object ball, and the line the cue must move along in stroke to deliver the cue ball to the target on the back of the object ball. In most of your shots, you get down and shot within 2-4 seconds. You aren't seeing the lines of the shot, you are praying you are in line. That's one reason why some of your longer shots and cuts are so far off the mark, because you are rarely ever in line.
2. You are forcing the cue, not stroking the cue. This goes beyond punch strokes, jab strokes, and the like. You have on many shots almost no backswing, and when you do it is rushed. You are trying to muscle the shot to create power. What you are instead doing is pulling the cue off the aiming line in the backswing, throwing the cue even further off the line as you swing forward, and hitting to the cue ball rather than through the cue ball to deliver a clean solid hit. Instead of being a sniper, your stroke rhythm and form is like a scatter shotgun right now. You might hit it, you might not, but you are going to have a really hard time staying on target. A professional golf coach who also played some pool told me a secret to an accurate and powerful stroke is a smooth full backswing, and then letting the cue come forward on its own, accelerating as you reach the cue ball and finishing through the cue ball. In other words, swing back slow, accelerate as you come down, and aim to hit the side of the cue ball facing away from you, not the back of it.
3. You are trying to help the cue ball rather than allowing the shot to play out as it should. Players also refer to this as attempting to steer the cue ball. Several times, your back arm flares out as you try to spin the ball rather than apply proper english. It can be seen that this has become a habit for you, and you probably aren't even aware you are doing it. Spinning the cue ball can have it's place, but your exaggerated flare motion is a) pulling the cue and therefore cue ball off line so the contact point is altered, b) not imparting true english so the object ball is thrown differently than with a pure stroke, and it prevents you from achieving the desired position on the next ball. Try in your practice sessions to simply line up the shot, line up the english and then simply swing forward and back. I'm betting you can't do it, and that's ok because many players fall into that trap. However, until you get that piece of mechanics fixed, you are going to have a really hard time making balls that are anything but straight in, much less get position for the next shot.
4. Take the power off the stroke. You hit hard. Like nearly every shot. You aren't giving the object ball a chance to roll on the course it is supposed to. this means the object ball can very easily be pushed slightly off course if your stroke is not pure, meaning even if you are perfectly in line, you won't make the shot. There are certain times to punch the cue ball to make it stop, but more often it is better to let the cue ball and object ball roll rather than try to force them on the line you want. Try shooting a more elongated back swing and accelerating more evenly on the forward swing. You'll be very surprised how differently the balls behave when they are rolled rather than forced.
These are the things I saw immediately you need to work on to start improving. Take a bit more time to see the shot and line it up, a more elongated backswing, more control on the front swing, try not to steer the cue ball and object ball, and don't try to muscle the shot. Work on this for a bit and I bet you'll see a huge improvement within a few weeks. Thanks again for sharing your video!
