is submiting a video of myself shooting and asking for a critique OK?

J

JBailey

Registered
Is it Ok if I submit a video of my shooting and ask for a critique?

If so what are the camera angles that you would like to see? I assume; shooting side, back and possibly a front view. If there are any others please let me know.

Any specific shots I should shoot?

I don't have the option of going to an instructor or paying for one to come to me so any outside perspective I can get on my fundamentals would be very helpful. I can borrow a camera and have a friend tape me then post a link if that would be alright.
 
We need to see a full view from the side with your shooting arm. Try to show your full stroke and the cue ball, so we can see what is happening at contact.
Back view will show your arm, from the elbow to your grip hand.
Front view, let's see you shooting straight toward the camera. We want to see what you and your cue are doing from that direction.

Post it up and you should get plenty of feedback.

Steve
 
I"ll just add to what Poolteacher said.

Can you shoot your shots with an open bridge? Can you shoot a stop shot, a draw shot and a follow shot? Finally Can you shoot 3 follow shots with an open bridge using a "soft" "medium" and "hard" speed? (these with the camera showing your stroking arm, your bridge and where your stick ends up after you hit the cueball.

I will be happy to comment once this is posted.
 
Here are the videos

Sorry for the low quality, I only had a digital camera to work with.

Side view:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlVFFs4QS1M

Front view:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUWz0dfsCF8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnicTre-Taw

Back view:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwo_eXcgtVY

One rack of 9-ball
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIkRjmHW-5g


I hope the video quality is good enough to get some info, if not I can try again. Thanks for taking the time to do this for me. I really appreciate it.
 
Your table pockets are buckets man :-)
No offence, but this is what I first noticed :-)

I'm sure the instructors from AZ will soon give their valuable opinions on your stroke etc.
 
JBailey said:
Sorry for the low quality, I only had a digital camera to work with.

Side view:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlVFFs4QS1M

Front view:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUWz0dfsCF8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnicTre-Taw

Back view:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwo_eXcgtVY

One rack of 9-ball
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIkRjmHW-5g


I hope the video quality is good enough to get some info, if not I can try again. Thanks for taking the time to do this for me. I really appreciate it.
Click to expand...

alright i'm not going to comment on your mechanics. i'm not qualified to and to be honest your mechanics can give mine the 6 ball.

i got 1 piece of advice. pick where your cb is going and when playing barbox 9 ball don't play shape for the sides if you don't HAVE to. imo you shouldn't have drawn that ball with inside. just straight back so you can shoot the 8 and 9 in the top corners

take this advice with a grain of salt. i play pool like the chump i am, but i almost look like i know what i'm doing playing barbox 9 ball
 
mristea said:
Your table pockets are buckets man :-)
No offence, but this is what I first noticed :-)

I'm sure the instructors from AZ will soon give their valuable opinions on your stroke etc.
Click to expand...

The pockets measure four and a half inches, the only place pockets of that size are considered "buckets" is on this forum. No table within 50 miles of me has pockets tighter unless it is someones home table. I can only play on the equipment I have available to me anyway.
 
poolplayer2093 said:
alright i'm not going to comment on your mechanics. i'm not qualified to and to be honest your mechanics can give mine the 6 ball.

i got 1 piece of advice. pick where your cb is going and when playing barbox 9 ball don't play shape for the sides if you don't HAVE to. imo you shouldn't have drawn that ball with inside. just straight back so you can shoot the 8 and 9 in the top corners

take this advice with a grain of salt. i play pool like the chump i am, but i almost look like i know what i'm doing playing barbox 9 ball
Click to expand...

Actually not using side pockets on a barbox is generally good advice. I would have to agree that it would have been simpler to use less draw and play for the corners. It would have been even better to have left myself an angle on the 5, but I'm not perfect.:)
 
Mechanics overall don't look bad, although there were a couple of small problems that jumped out at me. (I have to thank Rufus for remembering to tell you to use an open bridge) On the segment when you were shooting toward the camera, you will notice that a couple of times, the cue jumped up off your bridge. That is usually an indication of either dropping your elbow, or tightening your grip during the stroke. Since it seemed to happen when you were shooting hard, I suspect it might be the grip.
I also noticed the tip came back slightly to your left on a couple of shots. This may be due to the distance you are holding the cue out from your body. Over the years, that may have become what you are comfortable with, but it may also be forcing you to stretch more than necessary to get your head over the cue.
The grip thing you can check for yourself. Just verify your grip pressure before you relax from the stroke.
The other may or may not be causing you problems. If you are going to do a self evaluation, you might want to try bringing your cue closer in and see if it might be more comfortable. It may not feel natural at first, but I would certainly give it a try. If it helps, great. If it doesn't, then go back to your old stance.

Steve
 
Thanks Steve,

I will have to work on the grip, I seem to have developed a habit of gripping the cue at the end of my stroke. The stance is very comfortable for me I have been shooting that way for the last couple of years after I noticed my stroking arm was hitting my body and messing up my follow through. I will try and bring it a bit closer to my body and see how that works.
 
JBailey said:
Is it Ok if I submit a video of my shooting and ask for a critique?

If so what are the camera angles that you would like to see? I assume; shooting side, back and possibly a front view. If there are any others please let me know.

Any specific shots I should shoot?

I don't have the option of going to an instructor or paying for one to come to me so any outside perspective I can get on my fundamentals would be very helpful. I can borrow a camera and have a friend tape me then post a link if that would be alright.
Click to expand...

I provide this service via my website -

Dead Stroke University - Video Evaluation

If you have any questions, please get with me. I can work with you the payment.
 
JBailey said:
Thanks Steve,

after I noticed my stroking arm was hitting my body and messing up my follow through.
Click to expand...

If your grip hand is ending up hitting your body up near the chest, that effectively becomes your natural finish position. Follow through is not a goal. Follow through is simply a result of finishing your stroke. There is no need for an extended follow through.

Steve
 
JBailey said:
... I hope the video quality is good enough to get some info, if not I can try again. Thanks for taking the time to do this for me. I really appreciate it.
Click to expand...
I don't see anything major in your fundamentals. It looks like you might be rolling your knuckles towards your body around the end of the final backstroke, but it's hard to tell.

Taping for fundamentals is usually better if you can shoot from a tripod and frame the shot so the shooter fills the frame. Putting both the cue ball and object ball on donuts for several shots from the same position makes this easier. Unlike match videos, we don't care about the pocket. When shooting from behind, the camera should be exactly on the line of the stick for some of the shots. This means that we will not be able to see the cue ball or the object ball, but we will be able to see whether your stick comes back off-line and whether you have a knuckle roll.

Some suggestions for video positions are on pages 16/17 of http://www.sfbilliards.com/richandout.pdf

I'd guess that you were not really under any pressure on the shots you recorded. Often pressure brings out flaws.
 
JBailey said:
Sorry for the low quality, I only had a digital camera to work with.

Side view:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlVFFs4QS1M

Front view:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUWz0dfsCF8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnicTre-Taw

Back view:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwo_eXcgtVY

One rack of 9-ball
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIkRjmHW-5g


I hope the video quality is good enough to get some info, if not I can try again. Thanks for taking the time to do this for me. I really appreciate it.
Click to expand...

At around the 25 second mark on the side video you shot the 8 ball in the corner softly. I noticed that your hand did not seem to come all the way up to your chest as it does on your faster/harder shots on this video clip. As Poolteacher has pointed out, we finish our stroke when our hand hits our chest.

You seem to do the same thing in the back view video at around the 28 second mark. (i.e. not finishing your stroke on a soft shot).

In the same back view video at 1:36 you can see that you grip tightly and twist your cue slightly towards your body, which causes the tip of your stick to leave your bridge hand and pulls the shot a off line. You also stood almost straight up which could give you problems in accuracy if you make this a habit. This seems to only be noticeable on higher speed shots.

Thanks for posting the videos.
 
JBailey...I'm have some students up in Escanaba that I will be coming to work with pretty soon. If you're interested, Iron Mountain isn't far from there, and I could swing by and work with you as well. PM me if you're interested.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
 
JBailey said:
Actually not using side pockets on a barbox is generally good advice. I would have to agree that it would have been simpler to use less draw and play for the corners. It would have been even better to have left myself an angle on the 5, but I'm not perfect.:)
Click to expand...

you know what? i just watched the video again and the problem was you followed the 2 too far.

are you comfortable shooting with your knees locked out? i've been working on how i stand and the locked out knees thing doesn't work for me.

how long have you been playing? what kind of cue is that? is that a pool hall with just bar boxes or is it a bar with a cool pool table area? you look like you play mostly on the barbox. do you play on 9ftrs also?
 
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poolplayer2093 said:
you know what? i just watched the video again and the problem was you followed the 2 too far.

are you comfortable shooting with your knees locked out? i've been working on how i stand and the locked out knees thing doesn't work for me.

how long have you been playing? what kind of cue is that? is that a pool hall with just bar boxes or is it a bar with a cool pool table area? you look like you play mostly on the barbox. do you play on 9ftrs also?
Click to expand...

I am comfortable shooting with my knees like that although they aren't completely locked out. I have them bent just slightly.

I have been playing for 13 years. I shoot with a very basic McDermott. That is our pool hall. Most of the competition in the area is on barboxes so that is what I play on. I don't mind shooting on a 9 footer at all. It takes me a little bit to get the feel for the bigger table back though. Our pool hall has one 9 footer.
 
JBailey said:
I am comfortable shooting with my knees like that although they aren't completely locked out. I have them bent just slightly.

I have been playing for 13 years. I shoot with a very basic McDermott. That is our pool hall. Most of the competition in the area is on barboxes so that is what I play on. I don't mind shooting on a 9 footer at all. It takes me a little bit to get the feel for the bigger table back though. Our pool hall has one 9 footer.
Click to expand...

you look like you hit 'em well man. i wouldn't want to draw you in a tournament
 
As pooltchr pointed out, the biggest issue that can be seen is your grip. It sometimes tightens, and that sometimes causes your wrist to curl. Focus on a relaxed grip throughout the stroke.

We can't see what your eyes are doing. What you look at and when is also important.

Take Scott up on his offer and you won't have any mechanics issues to worry about.
 
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