How to correct someones stoke.

Runnintable

Runnintable

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hello,

I have a member on my pool team that is in a horrible slump. He is a very knowledgeable player, was a higher skill level at one point( 6 APA in 8-ball format).
He has developed an extreme hitch in his stoke. His pre-shot routine is a few practice stokes and then stutter type release to the final stroke and shot. Very punchy and jerky release. This has manifested itself in this guys game over the last few seasons. Brutal to watch.

I almost feel like telling him to take time off from the game, and focus on his life. I feel like this could be stress related, but to his credit he insists on playing through it. Whether this is wise or not is questionable.

So, any ideas on how I can instruct him....Help him. As I watch his skill level plummet. :frown:
 
I am just wondering if, in some cases, any of you instructors would recommend showing someone like that a video of their stroke, just so they can see what it looks like? Even without any input as to how to correct a stroke, could a person benifit from seeing their own flaws? I am pretty sure that some people just have no idea what their stroke actually looks like, and if they did they might change it themselves or better yet go looking for instruction.
 
Video analysis is the greatest tool we use in pool school. However, unless the person viewing it knows what to look for, it may not be of much help. When we do video analysis, we will sit down with the student and go over it with them, frequently pausing or rewinding while we point out the things we see that are significant.
If you know what to look for, there is no better way to evaluate and identify exactly what is going on when a person is shooting. The video doesn't lie. But you have to know what you are looking at.

Steve
 
Runnintable said:
He is a very knowledgeable player... Very punchy and jerky release.
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I get the impression that he is closed minded and not open to suggestions.

Does he understand what good mechanics are? If so, when he makes a comment about his game, you might try saying something like "When my game was off, I went back to basics and made sure my stroke was smooth and relaxed. It made the difference and got my game back on track. Maybe going back to basics would get you out of your slump." It just might plant the seed for him to think about it and do something.
 
:scratchhead:
BigDaddyInc. said:
Take him bowling. Bowling always gets me back in stroke.
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:scratchhead:

Makes sense to me like to recommend to play soccer to make his pool game better.......
Sorry, but i don t think such an advice won t help here.

Of course just my opinion,
As Steve and Mark said: If he s not ready..........all tips are useless,

Ingo
 
One more thought on the subject. If you are good friends, you may not be the best person to work with him. If you are too close to a student, it can create some issues. I refuse to have my wife as a student in my class, however, I would encourage her to work with another instructor if she wanted to do so.
I have had some good friends in my classes, but it is a group setting with a more formal structured format. We also had multiple instructors, so it wasn't just a one-on-one situation. The dynamics of a personal relationship can sometimes get in the way of the teacher/student relationship.

Steve
 
Inputs

Thank you all for your inputs.

I have been using the approach of Less is More. Like a few posted, You can't help him until he is ready. That is the truth!
Anyway, to his credit he is not quitting.
 
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