Learn to shoot opposite handed

M

mnShooter

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Has anyone here tried to get their opposite handed shooting up to par with their regular hand? How long did it take? Any tips to make it quicker.

I've been shooting left handed for the last couple days. Probably about 5 hours of total practice. I can make most easy shots and even some difficult shots but struggle with english and draw. I would like to shoot just as strong left handed as I do right. Just wondering how long it will take to develop the dexterity.

For some reason after shooting left handed for a little bit I feel like I'm in dead stroke when I switch back to right.
 
mnShooter said:
Has anyone here tried to get their opposite handed shooting up to par with their regular hand? How long did it take? Any tips to make it quicker.

I've been shooting left handed for the last couple days. Probably about 5 hours of total practice. I can make most easy shots and even some difficult shots but struggle with english and draw. I would like to shoot just as strong left handed as I do right. Just wondering how long it will take to develop the dexterity.

For some reason after shooting left handed for a little bit I feel like I'm in dead stroke when I switch back to right.
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I have practiced left handed quite a bit. When I was a kid we had a pool table in the basement and my friends wouldn't play with me anymore so I played left handed. Eventually they quit playing pool with me again. I have not played left handed in a while but the action I would get off the cue ball seemed to be better left handed than right handed. Especially draw for some reason. Harder shots were trouble but the easier shots were no problem. I also experienced the dead stroke when going back to right handed. The only real way to become good opposite handed is to put the hours in. by playing left handed when I was a kid - I can't remember the last time I used a bridge.

BVal
 
Lefty

I've been working on it since I got my own table. My wife is a beginner and one of her spots when we play is for me to play off handed. It's been useful for me to understand what she's going through in trying to build a repeating stroke (that doesn't feel like a seizure:rolleyes: ) and better understand how to help her when she misses. I've gotten to the point where I can run 3 or 4 balls consistently playing 8 ball but I've run as many as 7. My break is still pretty weak and I can't get over the feeling that I'm not lined up properly - either to the table or the shot. It doesn't do much for your confidence when you're down on a ball either. And that is one reason I've stopped it except for once a week or so. I've been trying to make myself get up off a shot when I'm not confident in some part of it and when I'm playing lefty, I would never get the shot off. So I'm building a bad habit, taking a shot when I shouldn't.

I agree it will help you get into stroke, or feel as if you are, quickly though!

Brian in VA - can only drink left handed with any confidence
 
Dominant eye

I've tried some because I don't like bridge shots. But my right eye is pretty dominant and I have to skew my head funny to aim.
 
I have been playing left handed on and off for about five years.I play almost as good left handed as I do right handed.I got to the point I would have to play the guys I really didn't want to play,or I had to come up with a way to play some of the weaker players.I am not the guy in the pool hall that won't play the better players.I tended to play weaker players so I would have the money to play the top players.I can say it worked out well for me.I now tend to only play the top players around my area.I can tell you it took about a year before I could run a rack of nine ball.I am not a great player but I am a high b low a player.I think you just have to commit to playing alot off handed if you want to be any good.I found out I was not in line like I should be at first but then I took a few lessons and with some hard work it has payed off.I have reallised that I will never be a top player but I can hold my own left or rith handed with most players I run into.
 
mnShooter said:
Has anyone here tried to get their opposite handed shooting up to par with their regular hand? How long did it take? Any tips to make it quicker.

I've been shooting left handed for the last couple days. Probably about 5 hours of total practice. I can make most easy shots and even some difficult shots but struggle with english and draw. I would like to shoot just as strong left handed as I do right. Just wondering how long it will take to develop the dexterity.

For some reason after shooting left handed for a little bit I feel like I'm in dead stroke when I switch back to right.
Click to expand...


I first learned the value of shooting opposite handed when I started playing 3 cushion and started to attempt opposite hand shots instead of using the bridge but never really practiced until many years later when I was working the 4 to midnight shift at the poolroom. The new kids always wanted to play me when my shift was over and I started to play them opposite handed. It made it interesting and good practice for me and gave them a chance to win a few games. It took a couple of years of 10 to 15 hours a week to reach overall about 80% of normal handed. The draw stroke and the break were and still are the weakest, 60 to 70% of normal. I haven't practiced that way in about 10 years or so. But even now there is no hesitation to switch over when the situation arises that the opposite handed shot is what is called for, which are usually easy shots after switching. I'm near 100% on making the ball and 80% on good position.
I believe all those hours of playing and teaching the new kids was well worth it. For them and for me.

Steve
 
I'm left-handed and shoot lefty as well. I also jump and kick off my left foot, but thats it. I throw, golf, bat, shoot a gun, etc. righty. Shooting pool right-handed really doesn't feel too strange to me except for shooting over a ball.

I think its' good to get comfortable being able to switch, mainly to curb the need for a bridge.
 
with enough practice you could undo a bra left handed and blindfolded. its all about physical awareness of coordination.
 
In the late 1990's, the great Tony Robles joined a pool league consisting chiefly of B, C and D players, and played all his matches opposite-handed.
As we all know, he subsequently went on to win the BCA Open and was a member of a winning Mosconi Cup team, so I guess it didn't do him any harm.

That's one approach to improving your opposite handed play!
 
I shoot with both hands.

I am originally right-handed, and use that hand for for example writing and tennis, and the only time I use my left hand is when playing pool... Do not know why it is like that, but because of this my right-hand is pretty good too, so I can break with my right, do drawshots, english and so on.

Actually I played in to handicapped tourmaments right-handed for fun for a year ago, finished 1st and 2nd. I practised about 3 hours a day for a week, and made 2 B&R in 9-ball in a row and 1 in 8-ball, and I have also made 28 in straightpool. Which was pretty impressing since I at that time had 36 in straightpool as my highest break with my left :D

But I need to practise both to keep it that's way, and if I haven't practised it for a while I miss a lot of easy balls.

But it is as the starter of the thread said: After playing with my right I feel more like dead stroke switching to left. I think it is because I choose easy shots with my right, and when I switch I still am thinking of making it easy.
 
I am a short guy standing at 5'4"... ok ok... 5' 3 3/4" :p So there are a lot of shots that I can not reach with my natural hand. As an option to shooting with the bridge I have trained myself to shoot with my off hand. I feel there are just some shots that a) the bridge does not give me the right action necessary and b) are too simple to require a bridge. Although there is a significant diffenrence in my game with my off hand, I am quite proficient with it. I have strung 3 racks of 9 ball shooting completely with my off hand; while my best is 6 with my natural hand. My highest run in straight pool with my off hand is 28 or 29 (can't remember); while my highest run with my right is 78. I suppose I could practice more with my off hand; but it is sufficient enough to lure people into thinking that I am an average player at best and aside from that I think it is a very powerful weapon to have in anyones arsenal.
 
Thanks for all the posts guys. I'm left eye dominant, I eat and write left handed but do everything else right handed. I have tried shooting with the cue under my right eye and left eye. Finally I settled on under my left eye. It seems to be working great. I am seeing the balls better than ever.

My stroke felt a little better though when I had the cue under my right eye although I couldn't see the shot as well. I could juice up the cueball with ease. If I become proficient enough left handed I might be able to combine the good stroke and the good vision and become an even better player left handed. Who knows. Whatever happens it will still be a lot better than using the crutch. I can see the shots good left handed just can't hit the cueball with any accuracy.

For those of you who have troubles seeing the balls or feel off sometimes I would recommend trying to sight with your dominant eye while standing and put the cue under your dominant eye when shooting. Keeping your dominant eye on the shot line the whole time.
 
Saw Efren run a 3-pack left handed, he looked very natural and the stroke was basically the same. I guess if you have the time and skill I can't see how it would hurt.
 
I changed to left handed about a year ago after 35-40 years shooting right handed. The change was due to a neurological condition that forced me to change hands.
I shot at a A level at my peak right handed. After a year of shooting exclusively left handed, I'm probably up to around a B level currently. I had the same problems that the author of the thread mentioned. I decided to take a lesson to try to get my fundamentals straight after changing to left handed. I attended one of the three day Pool Schools hosted by RandyG. Best thing I ever did. Have seen my game improve significantly in the last few weeks. Planning on going back into competition at Valley Forge.
I think the bottom line is that although I don't shoot as well left handed yet, my stroke is better and more consistent. I believe I'll be back at A level within sixty days. The main thing I need to stay constantly aware of is that I am not capable of the same shots now as I was when I shot right handed. I need to play position much more carefully to stay within my capabilities.
 
I used to screw around left-handed cus I hated using the bridge from under the table. I didn't get good at it until I read "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Pool and Billiards" and picked up a few things on how my form was supposed to look. After that it was 100% easier, because I could think about how the mechanics of my shot was supposed to work instead of trying to make the shot feel right. I "feel" the shot when I shoot righty and "logic" it when I shoot lefty. But there's no way I could break left I don't think... I'd lose that break so fast that I'd probably impale someone.
 
This is definitely something that I've been working on over the last 3years. I can run the occasional rack with my weak hand, and i even practice alternating between shots as if I was playing scotch against the ghost.
 
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