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Learning the opposite hand...
- Thread starter playonepocket
- Start date
Dave ...
Your right, working with the opposite hand will bring attention back to your natural hand and stroke. When playing opposite handed you have to concentrate on a smooth stroke and mechanics. You already know how to make the balls, so you feel the only thing holding you back is your opposite handed stroke.
As you progress, a by-product happens that you think more about your stroke on your natural hand, and can develop a better smoother stroke because of it.
I know there are 2 different camps about playing, either thinking while you are doing, or just having a blank mind while playing, but when you are trying to learn, it is better to actively think about what you are trying to do, and examine the why's, how's, when's, and wherefor's.
A long time ago, I taught myself to play with either hand, either hand one handed, and I can shoot with my left foot as a bridge. The left foot was a great draw and hustle. One of my good friends and I and a couple others were talking Pool one night, and I told him about shooting with my left foot, and he, of course, didn't believe me, and we ended up playing 1 game of 8 ball for $20 with me shooting with my left foot. He broke and didn't make anything, and I ran the table using my left foot. He paid up, laughed awhile, and told me he was convinced NOW..... lol
When I was younger, I wasn't the best player in town, but I was the best one handed player in town (using rails or free handed), and I would take better players to a 1 handed game where I felt I had the advantage.
I haven't practiced with the opposite hand, or 1 handed for some time, and one of my friends and a hell of a player, I feel, is a better one handed player than me currently. I can still play a 5 speed left handed, 6 on a good day.
Doing these things brings you back to the basic stroke mechanics, which has good results for your natural playing too.
Your right, working with the opposite hand will bring attention back to your natural hand and stroke. When playing opposite handed you have to concentrate on a smooth stroke and mechanics. You already know how to make the balls, so you feel the only thing holding you back is your opposite handed stroke.
As you progress, a by-product happens that you think more about your stroke on your natural hand, and can develop a better smoother stroke because of it.
I know there are 2 different camps about playing, either thinking while you are doing, or just having a blank mind while playing, but when you are trying to learn, it is better to actively think about what you are trying to do, and examine the why's, how's, when's, and wherefor's.
A long time ago, I taught myself to play with either hand, either hand one handed, and I can shoot with my left foot as a bridge. The left foot was a great draw and hustle. One of my good friends and I and a couple others were talking Pool one night, and I told him about shooting with my left foot, and he, of course, didn't believe me, and we ended up playing 1 game of 8 ball for $20 with me shooting with my left foot. He broke and didn't make anything, and I ran the table using my left foot. He paid up, laughed awhile, and told me he was convinced NOW..... lol
When I was younger, I wasn't the best player in town, but I was the best one handed player in town (using rails or free handed), and I would take better players to a 1 handed game where I felt I had the advantage.
I haven't practiced with the opposite hand, or 1 handed for some time, and one of my friends and a hell of a player, I feel, is a better one handed player than me currently. I can still play a 5 speed left handed, 6 on a good day.
Doing these things brings you back to the basic stroke mechanics, which has good results for your natural playing too.
Yeah really, Snapshot, well I just use mind control. I think of the shot that I want to make and it just happens. Just kidding, Got a laugh out of your post. I was remembering the days that I would gamble playing one handed with the cue stick between my legs(dont get the wrong Idea) and my right hand behind my back. This was really hard when the cue ball was off the rail a good ways.
When I was younger (14 or 15) we had a pool table in our basement back in MN. It got to the point that my friends would not play me anymore. Not because I was so good but because I was good enough to beat them almost all the time. I started playing left handed so they would keep playing. After a while I got really good at it and to this day have only used a bridge maybe 4 or 5 times. Once a week or so I shoot a few racks left handed. The funniest thing is the action I get on whitey left handed. It seems to be much more pronounced. I think it has something to do with the lack of habits that I have developed right handed. Anyways, it is a really good thing to be proficient both ways. I was playing a guy about two months ago. He came over to our house with some friends and he was shooting left handed. He wasn't good at all but that wasn't what it was about that night. Anyways I asked him if he did everything left handed and he looked surprised and said am I shooting left handed. Turns out he is right handed in EVERYTHING ELSE he does, but picked up the pool cue and shot the way it was most comfortable to him. Not sure what this has to do with anything but thought I would post it up.
To answer your question Dave - I think it is possible to be better lefty than righty if the time is put into it.
BVal
To answer your question Dave - I think it is possible to be better lefty than righty if the time is put into it.
BVal
One good way to learn this is to play yourself. Start out by breaking with your dominant hand and shoot normally as if you are playing another player and then when you miss you switch hands and become the other player. You can spot your off hand some balls to make it an even race...get creative with it. Soon you will be playing almost even.
Hope this doesn't seem too negative but I don't think you should consciously practice opposite handed.
There's only so much time and mental energy that you can put into practice. Time spent with the weak hand is time you are stealing from your good hand. At the end of the practice, your good hand is actually a little worse because it's missed out on good practice time. Also when you have to work harder just to form a more natural bridge or swing, you can't invest all your mental energies on important stuff like perfecting your stance and speed control.
I do recommend shooting opposite handed as an alternative to the bridge, but any in that situation you're almost always something like 1-3 feet from the OB. You don't need to pour hours of practice into making 7 foot shots with your offhand unless your goal is hit people with proposition bets, or you prefer being average with two hands instead of strong with one.
There's only so much time and mental energy that you can put into practice. Time spent with the weak hand is time you are stealing from your good hand. At the end of the practice, your good hand is actually a little worse because it's missed out on good practice time. Also when you have to work harder just to form a more natural bridge or swing, you can't invest all your mental energies on important stuff like perfecting your stance and speed control.
I do recommend shooting opposite handed as an alternative to the bridge, but any in that situation you're almost always something like 1-3 feet from the OB. You don't need to pour hours of practice into making 7 foot shots with your offhand unless your goal is hit people with proposition bets, or you prefer being average with two hands instead of strong with one.
CreeDo said:
I disagree in some respects with what CreeDo said. Yes, you should be practicing with your dominant hand quite a bit, but there are many times I shoot a left-handed shot(especially on 9 foot tables) that is more than 1-3 feet away. I've had shots being stretched half way across the table left handed because right handed wouldn't allow me to accomodate the angle the shot required and balls in the way for a bridge. Could have been a 3-5 foot shot.
IMHO, I wouldn't be too involved in mastering the english side of shooting left handed though. This will take a lot of time to get reliable enough to use. I'd stick to simple draw and follow since in almost all shots, that will at least allow you to get the cueball out into the open. Left handed shots in matches/tourneys are simply a means to solving a situational problem. Don't use it more than you have to.
By the way, I can play equally well left or right handed. All sports actually. I've only used a bridge when shooting for fun. Any serious action I'll adjust which hand I shoot with according to the shot. Again, just my opinion. Good luck.
hrm, seems strange to me if you're shooting 4-5 feet with the off hand. I'll see if I can find a cueball position where I have to do that. Maybe I'm estimating the distances wrong. Then again maybe I'm just lucky, I'm a hair over 6 feet tall and I can use my natural hand for almost anything except situations where the cueball is near the wrong side of the table and under 3 feet from the end rail.
Re varner: that's kind of neat. A lot of lefties play with a righty guitar (I'm one) because it's a pain in the ass otherwise, but I wonder what would make a player feel more natural holding the cue in the wrong hand. Maybe cuz when you first start, it feels awkward in either hand so it's not that important either way.
Re varner: that's kind of neat. A lot of lefties play with a righty guitar (I'm one) because it's a pain in the ass otherwise, but I wonder what would make a player feel more natural holding the cue in the wrong hand. Maybe cuz when you first start, it feels awkward in either hand so it's not that important either way.
i agree with creedo and i think playing with your opposite hand is a waste of time. to get even average results takes hours and hours of practice and it's not even needed.
why not just use the rest? it's pretty easy and you only need to do it for one shot every now and again. why overcomplicate matters?
no offence to people who like to play with their opposite hand but i just don't see the point in it.
why not just use the rest? it's pretty easy and you only need to do it for one shot every now and again. why overcomplicate matters?
no offence to people who like to play with their opposite hand but i just don't see the point in it.
"Hope this doesn't seem too negative but I don't think you should consciously practice opposite handed."
Yes, much better to do this when you are unconscious or maybe in an altered consciousness, but never when you are really conscious. I learned to play one-handed a long time ago and rarely use the bridge. I do table length banks one-handed. I was shooting with the grandkids last night and they shoot left handed. While trying to show them how to bridge correctly, I switched hands and for some reason it felt pretty good. Nothing like I remember it feeling 30 years ago when I decided to shoot one-handed. I'm thinking I'll give it a try and see what happens. Can't hurt to have an extra method available (except for all the time I'll take away from practicing with my right hand, one-handed, using the bridge, and behind the back, lol).
Yes, much better to do this when you are unconscious or maybe in an altered consciousness, but never when you are really conscious. I learned to play one-handed a long time ago and rarely use the bridge. I do table length banks one-handed. I was shooting with the grandkids last night and they shoot left handed. While trying to show them how to bridge correctly, I switched hands and for some reason it felt pretty good. Nothing like I remember it feeling 30 years ago when I decided to shoot one-handed. I'm thinking I'll give it a try and see what happens. Can't hurt to have an extra method available (except for all the time I'll take away from practicing with my right hand, one-handed, using the bridge, and behind the back, lol).
CreeDo said:
That is, if you like to use the bridge or shoot behind your back on shots you could easily reach opposite-handed.
In my opinion you are more likely to need to shoot a ball opposite-handed than you are to need a jump cue; do you practice with your jump cue?
Off-handed shots come up regularly. The better you hit them the more they come up, and the fewer shots you'll need a bridge. I use a bridge maybe as many times in a year as I'd use the other hand in one match. It's well worth a little practice since most shots you have to shoot that way are short.Pool Loft Dave said:
To the naysayers I would point out that shooting left handed is the same as shooting right handed, while shooting inside english is different than shooting outside english even when using the same arm. So left english left handed is exactly the same as shooting right handed using right english, while shooting right english left handed is actually a completely different animal because your arm will be torqued in the opposite direction on impact and will try to have a different reaction entirely.
I point this out to emphasize the actual simplicity of switching hands. If you actually know where your tip must point to make the shot for a certain speed of hit it's easy to hit that point with either hand. The difficulty is usually the knowledge of that exact speed and direction, not hitting that point with your tip.
unknownpro
I normally play on regulation size tables, but there was a time when I would go to the bars and hang out with the bangers. To make the game more of a challenge I would shoot opposite handed. After awhile my left hand became just as strong as my right hand on the barbox. It made me wonder if I've been standing on the wrong side of the cue all these years.
I don't play too much lefty anymore but I still have some confidence with it when I need to shoot with it. Still, my right hand can give the 7 to my left, but it doesn't have to win every time out.
I don't play too much lefty anymore but I still have some confidence with it when I need to shoot with it. Still, my right hand can give the 7 to my left, but it doesn't have to win every time out.
Btw, it gets real embarassing when my right hand starts woofing at my left hand to play some. With the right backer, I'm sure a game will develop.
Playing with your opposite hand can give you a real insight as to how difficult it is to learn to play pool. This is especially true for those of us who can play well normal handed.
When I owned my pool room many folks wanted lessons and wanted to be able to play well and move the cue ball well. I take my hat off to instructors because it is a frustrating thing to have to teach.
Here we are, good players who otherwise know the mechanics and physics of the game. Even with this enormous head start, switch hands and it seems like an impossible thing to do to run even a rack of balls.
Add to this a newcomer without any knowledge of the game and no muscle memory, and its no wonder there are so many people bowling.
When I owned my pool room many folks wanted lessons and wanted to be able to play well and move the cue ball well. I take my hat off to instructors because it is a frustrating thing to have to teach.
Here we are, good players who otherwise know the mechanics and physics of the game. Even with this enormous head start, switch hands and it seems like an impossible thing to do to run even a rack of balls.
Add to this a newcomer without any knowledge of the game and no muscle memory, and its no wonder there are so many people bowling.
That is so correct...
That is so correct... A while back I spent some time trying to see how difficult it
would be to play left (opposite) handed. It is not only much more difficult than I
expected, but something "weird" seems to occur in my brain, almost bordering
on a dizziness feeling.
I decided it was not in my best to continue. I have heard a lot of stories in the past,
about using it as a hustling technique. Maybe it works for some, but not for me.
That is so correct... A while back I spent some time trying to see how difficult it
would be to play left (opposite) handed. It is not only much more difficult than I
expected, but something "weird" seems to occur in my brain, almost bordering
on a dizziness feeling.
I decided it was not in my best to continue. I have heard a lot of stories in the past,
about using it as a hustling technique. Maybe it works for some, but not for me.