Andrew Manning said:
Im 6'3" and my chin somtimes hits the cue while im shooting.
How close is your bridge hand from the cue ball when shooting?
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Im 6'3" and my chin somtimes hits the cue while im shooting.
bruin70 said:
I have actually done a lot of looking into this (the length of bridge thing), and I think the opposite of what most people think could be true (in many cases). You see, what is happening is when a person draws back, they are coming off line (laterally to one side or the other). Think about this, the more off line you come, the longer you may want your bridge so as to be able to correct for it. the shorter your bridge the quicker and more of a jerk to the left or right your correction will be. i really think this is why you see efren go so strait all the time, becasue the length of his bridge.
so, in short, if you are having trouble hitting the cueball where you want you should at least try to lengthen your bridge. if it doesnt work then no big deal.
if you dont agree its at least something to think about.
Well
I have found in the 10 years I have been playing that if you bridge closer when your just starting out your stroke will say more on target because of all the nurves firing in your arm and the atmosphere that you are in short bridge or long you can draw the cue ball back as far as you want to with a good solid stroke it all come down to a good stroke and a pre shot routine.
I have found in the 10 years I have been playing that if you bridge closer when your just starting out your stroke will say more on target because of all the nurves firing in your arm and the atmosphere that you are in short bridge or long you can draw the cue ball back as far as you want to with a good solid stroke it all come down to a good stroke and a pre shot routine.
When I started playing and didn't know the basics, it's about 10 inches, IIRC. obviously, I miscued and fouled alot. so adjusted it to about 5 inches, which was my comfort zone as a beginner. then adjusted to 8" on a regular shot when I already became accustomed. I do this to maintain accuracy with a lil' bit of juice on the CB. easy shots which requires a strong draw or follow on the next position, I go beyond 10".
enzo said:
i'm kinda trying to figure out what you're saying(i'm better off with diagrams), but i think i understand you.
first off, i think your assumption is wrong, that a person goes off line when he draws back. i think you're talking about bad to average players who's stroke is all over the place. a good player draws straight back.
but let's assume we're only talking to the average player who DOES draw back off-line. NOW you are assuming he will get back in line if you give him enough length...that is not a given. if he's crooked on his drawback, he can be equally crooked on his stroke, so there's no guarantee of correcting himself. a player who has a shorter stroke will draw back shorter and therefore will be LESS off line,,,and when he strokes forward there is less to correct.
a bigger motion(in this case, a longer drawback) creates bigger errors since movement is magnified.
i think this is not necessarilly so either. if there is a jerk in the stroke, it is not always from the shortness of it, but rather the tendency to simply poke at the ball or jerk the cue back in the first place. players with average or long strokes jab at the cb as well.
8-Ball Player said:18 inches!?!? Thats crazy long... My brother used to do that untill he ripped the felt. Yeah he would put his bridge on the rail when the cue ball was on the other side.
One of these days, you'll be on a shot and realize your bridge by necessity ended up being 18"+ inches. At that moment, you'll remember me.
Fred
Andrew Manning said:
Actually, I'm 5'11", but I am short legged (big wing spand and I'm very broad). When Scott taped me every time I got down on the shot my bridge was in the same spot (13.5"), and if I finish, it traveled 5.5" after, that is with out any elbow drop or slip stroking.
I have another lesson with scot coming up soon. We are going to go over my fundamentals again. I want to smooth out my stroke even more...
SPF to you...
Pete
manning had it about right earlier. there is no one bridge length for everyone because we are all built differently. but basically what you get is a shorter bridge offers better accuracy and a longer bridge offers a better follow through translating into better spin. but with one or the other, you give up alittle on the other end of the spectrum. the trick is to find the balance based on your own comfort and physique not withstanding certain situations where you cann't adjust the length like off the rail or over other balls or whatever.
though to answer your question, in the typical run of the mill out in the middle of the table strait in shot, i generally use about an 6"-8" bridge.
though to answer your question, in the typical run of the mill out in the middle of the table strait in shot, i generally use about an 6"-8" bridge.
hrm, I think enzo's pointing out something a lot of people don't notice or admit... that even straight shooters have a slight angle in the line of approach.
What he's saying is that people naturally start out with the line of their cue pointing very slightly away from the line they want, then as their stroke comes forward they subconsciously correct it by moving the back hand inward a bit.
With a short bridge, this correction has to happen pretty quickly, before the cue can travel more than 4ish inches. With a long bridge, it can be much more gradual and happen over the course of 11ish inches.
I've definitely noticed this, but I'm not sure if most players have this or just the ones with bad fundamentals. Knowing the answer might help me a lot. I do know that a handful of pros have this and seem to do ok with it.
Here's a video of Francisco Bustamante's stroke that shows what I mean. You can see from the line of his stick is and the twitch at the end that he's got an 'adjustment' in his stroke (it helps to view fullscreen and it's sorta subtle). But maybe Busty is just the exception to the rule and most players truly keep it very straight.
I think that for a cue to be truly 100% straight pointing down the line of the shot, a player's body must be rotated sideways (or his neck must be turned) a bit more than most people realize. Maybe more than is comfortable. So they learn to make this inward 'dip' movement without realizing it so that they don't have to turn too drastically.
What he's saying is that people naturally start out with the line of their cue pointing very slightly away from the line they want, then as their stroke comes forward they subconsciously correct it by moving the back hand inward a bit.
With a short bridge, this correction has to happen pretty quickly, before the cue can travel more than 4ish inches. With a long bridge, it can be much more gradual and happen over the course of 11ish inches.
I've definitely noticed this, but I'm not sure if most players have this or just the ones with bad fundamentals. Knowing the answer might help me a lot. I do know that a handful of pros have this and seem to do ok with it.
Here's a video of Francisco Bustamante's stroke that shows what I mean. You can see from the line of his stick is and the twitch at the end that he's got an 'adjustment' in his stroke (it helps to view fullscreen and it's sorta subtle). But maybe Busty is just the exception to the rule and most players truly keep it very straight.
I think that for a cue to be truly 100% straight pointing down the line of the shot, a player's body must be rotated sideways (or his neck must be turned) a bit more than most people realize. Maybe more than is comfortable. So they learn to make this inward 'dip' movement without realizing it so that they don't have to turn too drastically.
Cornerman said:
I hit reply before I read the whole thread so if I'm repeating anything... oh well.
Mine is what ever it needs to be for what ever shot I'm shooting. 3-18" sounds about right.
Truthfully you should use what ever is comfortable for you, every body is different, some people are taller or shorter which makes a difference how much over the ball you are, how far you have to reach. There are too many variables to just say you're bridge length should be 6".
The ladies love my 11" bridge.......
Banger McCue
Banger McCue
supergreenman said:
Yeah, thats my old pool instructor for ya..
I am with Cornerman...It could be anywhere from 3 -18"...I have never really measuered...
It all depends on the shot at hand...
What I did not see pointed out that I think is relative here is that typically when you shorten your bridge, you will also decrease the distance between your bridge hand and grip hand....and thus shorten or lengthen your stroke to match.
Extreme Example...
CB Frozen precision shot = Shorter Bridge / Shorter Grip / Shorter Stroke
Long Draw = Longer Bridge / Longer Grip / Longer Stroke
Other than that...the exact measurement really does not matter.
It all depends on the shot at hand...
What I did not see pointed out that I think is relative here is that typically when you shorten your bridge, you will also decrease the distance between your bridge hand and grip hand....and thus shorten or lengthen your stroke to match.
Extreme Example...
CB Frozen precision shot = Shorter Bridge / Shorter Grip / Shorter Stroke
Long Draw = Longer Bridge / Longer Grip / Longer Stroke
Other than that...the exact measurement really does not matter.
Andrew Manning said:
Yes, the bridge length does depend on all those variables you listed, but unless a person has all those things evaluated by a professional instructor, go with the accepted "standard" since the pro will be just as adept at "coaching" from that bridge anyways.
For learning players, 6 to 8 inches is more than enough distance. Any more than that, and your accuracy suffers as a result. When learning how to play pool at a higher caliber, cue ball control is most important. If you have an innaccurate stroke, how can you learn to dublicate success and learn from failure?
Not that everyone should have the same stroke, just the one that works the best for you. If it isn't working for you, change it up, but stay consistant everytime you change so you can determine if it works. If you change more than one variable at once, you will be confused as to why you were successful or what caused things to get worse.
Be as precise in change as you are with strengths on the pool table and everything will be fine.
Dave
I agree, you can't argue with success. But if someone is not progressing in they're game bridge length could be one of many reasons. The longer the bridge the more accurate your stroke needs to be. I had a lesson with Scott a few weeks ago and he also found some things that could be corrected for perfection purposes, but felt the changes weren’t required. One was dropping my elbow. He determined that the drop came after contact and didn't effect the shot. Really liked his approach. He didn't come in and start changing everything simply because the billiard bible says IT MUST BE SO. There's always exceptions, but if stuck go to the bible.Andrew Manning said:
CreeDo said:
I think everyone strokes crooked to some degree. Efren, Busta, and even Strickland (who looks laser-straight when you stand behind him). When you watch all of the very top players play on video and watch very closely, nearly all of them have a slight adjustment in their stroke. Archer actually twists/cocks his wrist mid-stroke to adjust.
The very best players learn to adjust and "play" it. Many swivel or use BHE on some shots, and Colin's video on that subject clearly shows how bridge length affects the CB's path w/ a cue not parallel to your aim line.
I hate using golf for analogies... but the two sports are so close. Nicklaus, when interviewed about his swing said he never, ever tried to swing the club straight, because the odds of doing so were so slim. That's why he almost always played a fade, so he could intentionally swing crooked and still stick it tight.
If anyone here thinks they can stroke truly straight 5 shots in a row, let's setup an over-head camera and review it slow motion.
