Oikawa
Well-known member
I agree with the "nearby balls" part about your previous post, those are exceptions where I also use a closed bridge if the benefits outweight the weaker aim of a closed bridge for me, close to the rail or not. Good point.
How to Make Your Open Bridge Perfect
- Thread starter dr_dave
- Start date
It doesn't take much of a "V" for the open bridge to be effective. I still prefer a deep "V" with a curled-up thumb. It helps prevent the shaft from leaving the bridge, especially during power sidespin shots.
Sometimes it appears that I don't have a lot of v foundation in my bridge, based on the type of shot I am shooting, but it works for me.
Yes, for power/spin shots I try to shore up the bridge like you use to keep stability, but I still don't like a closed bridge even for them.
The key word is "older." The closed bridge is mostly an "old school" American thing, IMO. Modern instruction and the snooker world has taught us the value of an open bridge.
The closed bridge is still used by nearly every 3-cushion player, but of course they are doing a lot of power spin shots. Carom players of the "small games" like straight rail often use open bridges.
Do you think history, tradition, and learning from others partly explains this, or is power spin shots (with a heavier CB) the only real reason? And are they really doing power spin shots that often in these games?
Also, many of them do not have low stances, so one of the main open bridge advantages does not apply (an unobscured view of the cue).
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Other Euro inventions (leather tips, side spin) were absorbed fairly easily in early American pool. So much so that Americans actually call spin “English.”
So it really doesn’t seem like early American pool had much of a “pride” issue, compared to say, the demand in the 1800’s to “do something” to the English language to make a distinct American variant. (Sometimes I wish I lived in the times where I could have stripped the “u” from the word “colour” and turned it into a get rich quick scheme).
I think for most men this isn’t much of an issue, or more specifically most humans above a certain hand size. But I see a lot of (predominantly female) APA SL-2’s that can’t close a bridge around an 13mm shaft and who would have benefited from being taught an open bridge to begin with.
So I think an open bridge may be a 5% advantage for someone who can close a bridge comfortably, but a 50% advantage for someone who can’t?
Carom players have precision bridges for the "small" games that most Americans have never seen. And the players achieve ball control precision that most Americans find incomprehensible. Some instruction goes as far as to differentiate between spreading the fingers on the closed bridge hand and not spreading the fingers depending on the kind of shot.
I’ve noticed that snooker players use an open bridge exclusively.
And some of them use gloves with their open bridges.
Yep. I point that out in the Intro of the open bridge advantages video. All the reasons why are listed here:
A glove is a good way to ensure perfect sliding consistency under various conditions (temperature, humidity, dirtiness).
I think the medical condition called Hitchhiker’s Thumb (hypermobility of the distal interphalangeal joint of the thumb) is relevant to open bridge configuration. It’s an inherited condition and has an incidence rate of 32%, so around 1/3rd of pool players have it.
It’s defined by the ability to bend your distal thumb joint back by more than 50°. My thumb goes back around 70°, so I definitely have a moderate case of it. Some people can bend it back 90°.
Just playing around with it, if my thumb were straighter I would need to turn my hand inwards significantly further to get a straight V, and I wouldn’t have as tall of a “guardrail” on that side of the cue.
I also think it has relevance when making a closed bridge: with a straighter thumb you may be more likely to anchor the tip of your index finger on top of your middle finger, but with Hitchhiker’s thumb you may prefer anchoring the tip of your index finger on your bent-back thumb and against the side of your middle finger.
It’s defined by the ability to bend your distal thumb joint back by more than 50°. My thumb goes back around 70°, so I definitely have a moderate case of it. Some people can bend it back 90°.
Just playing around with it, if my thumb were straighter I would need to turn my hand inwards significantly further to get a straight V, and I wouldn’t have as tall of a “guardrail” on that side of the cue.
I also think it has relevance when making a closed bridge: with a straighter thumb you may be more likely to anchor the tip of your index finger on top of your middle finger, but with Hitchhiker’s thumb you may prefer anchoring the tip of your index finger on your bent-back thumb and against the side of your middle finger.
Great short Dr. Dave! I always thought I ws wrong by wanting to open bridge that way, now I feel normal lol
Another example of “You don’t know what you don’t know” for me. Thank you for a wonderfully simple and useful tip. I exclusively use an open bridge and this never occurred to me. Thank you yet again.
You’re welcome. I love using the pencil trick with students when there bridge is “less than ideal.”
Going to do the special trick on my pops tonight lol Thanks!