Learning to jump

Johnnyt

Johnnyt

Burn all jump cues
Silver Member
Would you say that learning to jump over balls and make the OB is one of the hardest shots in pool to learn? I ask this because afer 50 years I finally got a jump cue. Even before I had a jump cue I never tried to jump with my player. In fact if it was a close match-up I'd not play if he was going to use a jump cue. Anyway I had a very hard time learning it. Maybe because I'm old. You know, "can't teach an old dog new tricks". Johnnyt
 
Its tough

I have had a tough time too.I avoided even trying to learn until recently.

For one I don't have the type of stroke to jump close balls.I used to rationalize that at the the level I compete at,no1 wins with jump shots,so its better to be a good kicker.

I decided to bear down and learn to jump.Since then I have won 1 match with a jump shot but it is still very difficult for me.
 
Easy to master...

I saw Robin Bell Dodson teaching players and their wives how to jump over a full ball in less than 5 minutes.

Just make sure you are lined up on the shot (using your best aiming system and of course, prior to elevating the cue) and remember to hold the jump cue with a gentle grip. Soft hands let the jump cue hit the cue ball and bounce back into your grip hand.

Old Dawgs can learn new tricks, but a lot of old dawgs learned how to kick and masse when they were younger.
 
That's interesting about the loose grip - I've always held it tight and never really had any success.. I'll try the loose grip, thanks for the tip.
 
I havn't learned to jump. I don't want the marks on my cloth.
 
I've got marks on my cloth from breaking.. My theory is that I bought a pool table to play pool on, not to have some pretty cloth to look at ;)
 
md5key said:
That's interesting about the loose grip - I've always held it tight and never really had any success.. I'll try the loose grip, thanks for the tip.
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Put a piece of pool cloth uder the QB before you jump. Johnnyt
 
The best way to jump balls in is with your playing cue, imo. I jump with my Lambros which has a triangle tip. I've played with a Moori medium for a long time and couldn't jump. The moment I went back to a triangle, it was a joke.

Assuming I'm not mega close to the impeding ball, I'm jumping to make the ball - not hit the ball. I think those little jump cues are great for hopping little distances and high up over balls, but I find them harder to jump accurately because of the bounce factor. Good jump technique with a playing cue allows you to rocket the CB at barely over 2.5" with little bounce. You can also jump with follow/draw a lot easier with the playing cue.

People are so used to jumping with little phenolic cues, they lose the technique. Don't get me wrong, they're great for vertical jumping out of safes - but if you have room to do something, I like my playing cue.
 
It's like any other skill. Everyone who can draw their ball well has the stroke to jump using a jump cue.

Jumping with a full cue is harder only because the equipment is limiting and the physical position the shooter is in is awkward. Once you learn how to do it then it becomes fairly easy to jump full balls with a "full cue" provided that the cue is suited for it and you are physically able to get into the correct position.

Jumping with a jump cue is easier because the cue is engineered for that activity. However with extra ability comes the need to learn to control the shots.

Anyone can learn to make one ball jump over another one in five minutes or less with a quailified instructor and a decent jump cue. Making actual shots using draw, follow, and sidespin, and knowing how to judge angle, speed and distance is what takes a lot of practice.

You can jump with a loose grip, a tight grip, only wrist action, full stroke, the cue does not bounce back into your hand, except on ONE TRICK SHOT ONLY. Otherwise it's a normal shot like any other with the added difficulty that you are approaching the cueball from an elevated position.

Forbidding the use of a jump cue in a one foul ball in hand game is like forbidding the player to use chalk because it's "too easy" to apply sidespin with chalk on the tip.

The cue lays there and does nothing.

The player picks it up and uses it to make a bad shot or a good shot or something in between.

Jumping is just another aspect of the modern game and is another skill that a player must master to succeed along with kicking and banking.
 
SpiderWebComm said:
The best way to jump balls in is with your playing cue, imo. I jump with my Lambros which has a triangle tip. I've played with a Moori medium for a long time and couldn't jump. The moment I went back to a triangle, it was a joke.

Assuming I'm not mega close to the impeding ball, I'm jumping to make the ball - not hit the ball. I think those little jump cues are great for hopping little distances and high up over balls, but I find them harder to jump accurately because of the bounce factor. Good jump technique with a playing cue allows you to rocket the CB at barely over 2.5" with little bounce. You can also jump with follow/draw a lot easier with the playing cue.

People are so used to jumping with little phenolic cues, they lose the technique. Don't get me wrong, they're great for vertical jumping out of safes - but if you have room to do something, I like my playing cue.
Click to expand...


It's not that they lose the technique it's that they don't bother to learn it. They use jump cues as a crutch instead of learning what they can and can't do with their regular cue. I learned both and am quite proficient with the jump cue and with my regular cues. Using the jump cue you can also rocket the cueball over the object balls at low angles and play for shape. But people rarely practice these things and think that all they need to do is perform the act of jumping and forget about cueball control.

IF I had a video of the successful jump shots I have made in the last six months in game situations it would blow away just about every misconception out there about whether jumping with a jump cue is a skill or not.

Well 2009 is the year of the video so it's time to live up to the resolution and myth bust visually :-)
 
I learned to jump quickly. The trick for me was every time I would hook myself on the only ball possible I would get mad and the jumps came easy:angry: . That is with a full length cue,take the rage out of the equation and I cant do it.:o That changed when I build a jump cue, its much easier.


Jim can jump over his light when he is angry.
 
I love learning new thing's about billiards;games,shots, anything billiards,weither or not if I use or play it. The first time I saw someone jump a ball,I had to learn it. This guy was nice enough to teach me the fundamentals of jumping. Tom In Cincy descriped it to the tee,tall and steady bridge,soft grip on the back hand and head foward to give you back arm movement. learned to jump after 8-10 tries. I carry a piece of felt 1' by 1' in my bag to practice at the hall's like Johnnyt stated,no marks on table. Hope this helps.

This helped me off of youtube and there's more,Tom Simpson,Forcefollow...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhRdDcKlyZo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPBQqmPEM4g&feature=related
 
jumpin

jump cues is very useful in pool. some players prefer to jump with their full cue. thats fine. jumpin is an excellent technique to master. if you can do it weel, very good. there will be situations in pool where you have to pot the ball only through jumping? americans have pretty good ball jumpers, svb and strickland can jump very well:)
 
Johnnyt said:
Put a piece of pool cloth uder the QB before you jump. Johnnyt
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I guess I really don't care about jumping. I don't plan on playing much outside of the house. I thought about using a jump cloth but I guess it's just not that important to me. I llike kicking.
 
sk8ordie said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhRdDcKlyZo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPBQqmPEM4g&feature=related
Click to expand...


I really liked these videos linked of Tom Simpson. I have been a player for 15 years now, and could NEVER jump, no matter which jump cue I tried. After watching these 2 videos several times a few months ago, I went to the pool room with a break cloth and practiced jumping for an hour. I got it within a few tries with my new knowledge. I actually couldn't believe how easy it was.

On the plus side, I'm an excellent kicker because I wasn't able to jump all those years:)
 
loose grip is only part of it...

md5key said:
That's interesting about the loose grip - I've always held it tight and never really had any success.. I'll try the loose grip, thanks for the tip.
Click to expand...


'A loose grip is only part of it. A couple of things to remember when wanting to jump, especially a full cue jump.

If you're using a full cue, choke up on the cue. only elevate as much as you need to. You can imagine a V going through the cueball with the angle of your cue making the first half of the v and the path of the CB making the other half to know how much angle.

You want to hold the cue lightly to let the cue do the work and pop down and through the CB don't be afraid to go past the initial point of contact, just try to avoid going soo far through the ball that you perforate the cloth.

and don't aim straight through center CB, aim just above where center would be on the CB in relation to the table, not the "V"

Jaden
 
A jump shot is not the easiest shot to learn and does require the proper stroke mechanics.

Ask a strong player who is good at jumping to show you how to do it. It definitely helps to have someone watch you to ensure that you're doing it correctly.

Good luck! It's not that difficult to learn.
 
One of the key points to jumping that I learned from a friend is this... imagine that at the very center of the cue ball there is a very, very small inner ball, and let's say it's only 1/64" in diameter. We'll call it the "core" of the cue ball. It's the exact center of the sphere.

When learning to jump, your cue alignment with the cue ball must be such that your cue tip points exactly to the core of the cue ball... or slightly below it.

If the alignment is such that your cue is pointing just above the core, you'll trap the cue ball and you will foul because it'll never go airborne that way.

Focus on the alignment of your cue to the core and you'll be jumping balls in no time with a jump stick.

Also, start out by jumping a coin... then a couple of coins... then a piece of chalk... then the edge of a ball... a 1/4 ball... a 1/2 ball... 3/4 ball... and then a full ball. Doing so help to build confidence in your jumping technique and ability. :thumbup2:
 
cigardave said:
One of the key points to jumping that I learned from a friend is this... imagine that at the very center of the cue ball there is a very, very small inner ball, and let's say it's only 1/64" in diameter. We'll call it the "core" of the cue ball. It's the exact center of the sphere.

When learning to jump, your cue alignment with the cue ball must be such that your cue tip points exactly to the core of the cue ball... or slightly below it.

If the alignment is such that your cue is pointing just above the core, you'll trap the cue ball and you will foul because it'll never go airborne that way.

Focus on the alignment of your cue to the core and you'll be jumping balls in no time with a jump stick.

Also, start out by jumping a coin... then a couple of coins... then a piece of chalk... then the edge of a ball... a 1/4 ball... a 1/2 ball... 3/4 ball... and then a full ball. Doing so help to build confidence in your jumping technique and ability. :thumbup2:
Click to expand...

Very good advice here. Johnnyt
 
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