Keeping your back arm straight...
- Thread starter ktrepal85
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Right. That's how I play and teach. It's not uncomfortable at all, even with a cross-dominant eye. The trick is in getting the feet right along with the rest of the body parts. It takes some tweaking.
Yes, I figured you were referring to a snooker stance.
We're pretty low on the cue, Colin, but I think the bent bridge arm is a big factor as well as the touch points that are prevalent in snooker stances and aren't in the stance I'm referring to.
SVB appears to get bridge, shoulder, elbow and wrist pretty close to in line. His elbow is a little inward, but some prefer this position to an outward elbow.
His upper body is quite side on in order to achieve this, which requires good neck flexibility to get the face near square on to the shot imho.
It appears his cue is just inside his right eye, which helps.
FWIW: If god said I can have perfect bridge placement but he'd put my forearm at 30 degrees, I'd take the perfect bridge placement (alignment) any day. By learning to coordinate the adduction and rotation of the humerus (upper arm) in concert with the lower arm, one can achieve a pretty straight stroke. When using a rest, players learn to do it from around 90 degrees.
His upper body is quite side on in order to achieve this, which requires good neck flexibility to get the face near square on to the shot imho.
It appears his cue is just inside his right eye, which helps.
FWIW: If god said I can have perfect bridge placement but he'd put my forearm at 30 degrees, I'd take the perfect bridge placement (alignment) any day. By learning to coordinate the adduction and rotation of the humerus (upper arm) in concert with the lower arm, one can achieve a pretty straight stroke. When using a rest, players learn to do it from around 90 degrees.
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I'm jealous of cross-dominant players....they look so comfortable.
I'm right handed and right eyed ...not as extreme as Neils or Earl....but a bit uncomfortable.
I've had days that my left eye takes over and I had some big runs those days....
....right brain/left brain?
Hi Colin,
I tend to agree with you but will just add one's vision into the mix & whether or not one is truly seeing a straight line as straight or whether one is seeing a non straight line as straight. That can effect bridge placement & back hand placement relative to ones 'vision point'. It sounds so simple but may be more elusive than many think & is most assuredly the most important aspect. I'd recommend Gene Albreight's Perfect Aim DVD to everyone even if only to confirm that the 'straight' line they are seeing is truly straight. I was rather shocked to learn that, for pool, I am, at least now, left eyed. That fact has changed my stance & head position & obviously changed the components of the arm relative to my body.
Yeah, that fixed elbow is not that much good if the shoulder is off of the line. The mechanism & mechanics are not so simple & correct then. But the human Mind & Body are amazing in what they can do if left unfettered.
Cheers,
Rick
I don't think the forearm's natural straight swinging path has to be exactly parallel with the upper arm - a straight stroke might require a slightly cocked elbow.
pj
chgo
^^^^^^^^^
It will need to be unless one is simultaneously pronating or supinating as a compensation & that might depend on how one is connected to the cue & the position of the wrist.
There is a lot going on even in what is supposed to be the more simple 'swinging' method.
Naturally that is in my humble opinion & understanding of biomechanics which I am certainly not an expert. But I have played & coached sports like baseball, tennis, & golf & have analysed such mechanics to manipulate or 'not manipulate' the implement.
It will need to be unless one is simultaneously pronating or supinating as a compensation & that might depend on how one is connected to the cue & the position of the wrist.
There is a lot going on even in what is supposed to be the more simple 'swinging' method.
Naturally that is in my humble opinion & understanding of biomechanics which I am certainly not an expert. But I have played & coached sports like baseball, tennis, & golf & have analysed such mechanics to manipulate or 'not manipulate' the implement.
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True PJ. As Rick points out, the humerus can rotate without us even knowing it to produce a straight or straightish cue movement. The wrist can also help to keep things online... or put things off line for that matter.
My main point is that I don't think it is crucial. I've seen some very straight cueist who are advanced potters with chicken wings sticking out 30 degrees. Keith's inward chicken wing didn't seem to slow him down too much either. :thumbup:
Rick... I've been thinking of getting perfect aim, but not sure there is anything in there that I haven't already gone over. I've been working on some things lately and making improvements, finding a comfortable position down low to the cue is getting on track. We'll see how it goes over time... eyes have a funny way of playing tricks on us from session to session.
Colin
For interests sake, here is a screenshot from a video I just shot, showing my stance position / alignment. My left eye has a tendency to creep a little right of the cue line.
I hit it a little to the right, as the cue line suggests, which I do from time to time.... concentrating on getting square to the camera distracted my focus a little too.
You can see my elbow is right of my cue line.
Colin
I hit it a little to the right, as the cue line suggests, which I do from time to time.... concentrating on getting square to the camera distracted my focus a little too.
You can see my elbow is right of my cue line.
Colin
I think the most important line is the one from the bridge V to the center of the ghost ball via CCB. It is far harder to achieve that than to hit the CB near enough to CCB, which would mean the grip hand to V is on line.
Colin
I think it's kind of hard to tell exactly where your elbow is due to the camera angle,but it's close to the line if not on it. I think with a slight stance adjustment, your elbow would easily be directly on the line of the shot. Also, you would be facing shot more (as opposed to facing your cue), resulting in slightly less neck twisting. But you already know that. I just thought I'd mention it. It's just a different style.
Of course I cannot tell for sure, BUT it looks like a line from the center of the red ball, through center of the cue ball & up through the cue, would come close to being through the eye.
Off center photographs can be be deceiving
Yeah Colin,
I was not mentioning Gene's Perfect Aim so much for you, but maybe for others, if they are having problems. Gene explained to me the way we use our eyes can change depending on age or frequency of play. What I thought was probably some form of physical mechanics problem was due to not seeing the line properly. Seeing the line properly fixed any possible mechanics issues that might have been creeping in as a result.
Cheers.
Appreciate your feedback Fran, will put some thought into that. :smile:
Colin
Yeah, it's just off straight and probably not perfectly vertical, but a reasonable guide. Would be nice to have mirrors and lasers and the like to study variations accurately.
While it might be nice to have cue, eyes, wrist, shoulder, elbow, bridge perfectly aligned, I'm more concerned with discovering a position which best assists me in finding the shot line. I'm confident enough in my cueing that I can stroke well enough from most any position such that any errors are relatively insignificant compared to errors in alignment.
I think he's on the right track Rick. How we see the balls seems to have been left out of too many instruction manuals.