Learning to shoot with the other hand

A

Aten

m8
Silver Member
I'd prefer to limit my use of the mechanical bridge to shots that are entirely out of physical reach.

This question is probably a bit stupid since it's effectively the same as starting entirely from scratch and asking how to stroke. I notice that whenever I shoot a left-handed shot (I'm a righty) I just can't seem to hit the CB the way I want to (mainly because my stroke is blatantly crooked).

Does anybody have any tips for what I can do with my practice routine to improve my ambidexterity? How much time should I dedicate to even working on this?
 
This is no stupid question- you can get just stupid answeres ^^

It s totally normal, if you feel completly uncomfortable while trying to shoot with your opposite hand.
But i highly recommend it- practice just 5-10 minutes each day. You ll improve soon.
And later it will be a great help in some situations :-)

lg
ingo
 
I used to practice this by alternating hands with every shot. Even practiced breaking left handed. You might be amazed how quickly you can become proficient with your opposite hand with just a little practice.

If the knowledge is already there it wont take long to develop the muscle memory.
 
I do the same when I play some practice games with my buddies I rotate hands or play all left handed it works great it helped me feel really comfortable in real game spots where its better then using a bridge.
 
Keep in mind how bad many beginners look like when they stroke with their actual natural hand. In effect you are a noob opposite handed and you need to shoot a ton of pool with the opposite hand to start to get the feel of it and begin to be able to stroke the ball. A friend and I used to play matches against each other opposite handed for hours, we both eventually got fairly decent at it such that we could switch and shoot a normal difficulty shot opposite handed.

You are going to need to practice it for many, many hours. Shoot balls, throw up 15 balls and run them all opposite handed, then do it again, then do it again, ect...
 
I think part of the problem is that I'm lining up and standing as if for a right-handed shot, which completely makes my aim go haywire as well ...
 
I have another problem when shooting with the opposite hand. Not only does it feel completely weird and my stroke is horrible...I hit the object ball in the wrong place to pocket it. Let me explain. When I line up (I'm right handed and right eye dominant). If I shoot left handed, all look good. I believe I am lined up correctly...I hit the cue ball to hit the spot on the object ball I think I need to hit to make the object ball...the cue ball just doesn't hit that spot on the object ball.

I'm not sure if this is a stroke thing or an eye dominance thing. I tend to think eye dominance because it doesn't matter if I am very close to the object ball, close to the pocket, far away...whatever, I hit it wrong. Very frustrating. consequently, I rarely shoot opposite handed in a match. I've been trying to practice it at home, and although my stroke is getting a little better (still terrible), I miss the majority of the shots.

John
 
jwalko1 said:
I have another problem when shooting with the opposite hand. Not only does it feel completely weird and my stroke is horrible...I hit the object ball in the wrong place to pocket it. Let me explain. When I line up (I'm right handed and right eye dominant). If I shoot left handed, all look good. I believe I am lined up correctly...I hit the cue ball to hit the spot on the object ball I think I need to hit to make the object ball...the cue ball just doesn't hit that spot on the object ball.

I'm not sure if this is a stroke thing or an eye dominance thing. I tend to think eye dominance because it doesn't matter if I am very close to the object ball, close to the pocket, far away...whatever, I hit it wrong. Very frustrating. consequently, I rarely shoot opposite handed in a match. I've been trying to practice it at home, and although my stroke is getting a little better (still terrible), I miss the majority of the shots.

John
Click to expand...

This is almost word for word my situation too, except I'm left eye dominant so I'm probably just standing funny.
 
Like a lot of guys will tell you about playing better with your preferred hand, slow down your back stroke. Start off practicing with slow smooth strokes and build up to full speed. You can even use a shorter back swing for more control until you start to feel more comfortable.

The main point has already been said though. Practice practice and more practice until it feels right with the desired results. Once you're good with one hand transferring that skill to your other hand is just a matter of time and effort. Should be a lot easier then learning to stroke for the first time even though it feels just as awkward at first.

I used to alternate my shooting arm in tournament matches. I knew I was doing well with it when my opponents stopped noticing me intentionally switching hands. They thought my practice of switching hands was me handicapping to their skill level and I got dirty looks at first but it started to look and feel natural after a few months of steady work on it.

Keep up the work and soon the bridge will be a thing of the past...at least for most shots.
 
The best advice that I ever got regarding opposite handed shots was to not bother building a complete game for your weak hand. Just practice the shots that come up that you can't reach.

There are really only a few types of shots that need to be shot opposite handed, so don't waste practice time by practicing shots where you will always use your strong hand in a game situation.
 
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