long straight ins

[tom haney]

I'm feeling better.
I'm making nice cuts.
Banking great.
Running some balls.

My confidence is high for everything but long straight ins.
I miss as many as I make.

Anybody have any thoughts?

I don't think my mechanics are bad.
I'm almost 61. Is it an age thing?

 

[nathandumoulin]

My confidence is high for everything but long straight ins. I miss as many as I make. Anybody have any thoughts?

Are you making sure to keep your grip loose? Being too tight will often exaggerate any flaw in your stroke ...which becomes far more apparent on these long straight shots.

 

[TX Poolnut]

hondo, I have a drill that I do eveytime I come to the table that involves straight it shots. It really helps straighten out my stroke and it works wonders.

It's very simple. Put a ball on the center spot. Take ball in hand from behind the first diamond on either side of the table and shoot a straight in shot across the table. Repeat back and forth until you either sink 5 in a row or you shoot all 15 balls in. This introduces a challenge into the drill that keeps it from getting boring.

Set it up like below and go back and forth across the table. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy these long straight in shots became after doing this drill for a long while.

CueTable Help

EDIT: Where'd the cue ball go? It's suppose to be at the beginning of the shot.

 

[Tom In Cincy]

I'll be 62 this year....Long Straight Ins usually require a GREAT Follow through. See the tip of your cue at least 6 inches in front of the cue ball when you follow through

I'm feeling better.
I'm making nice cuts.
Banking great.
Running some balls.

My confidence is high for everything but long straight ins.
I miss as many as I make.

Anybody have any thoughts?

I don't think my mechanics are bad.
I'm almost 61. Is it an age thing?

 

[jlrowe]

I constantly practice the long straight in shots. I have become highly effective at them. First thing you need to do is practice hitting dead center cueball. I put an object ball on the foot spot and then line up cueball at diffent distances until i reach head spot. Shoot the object ball to come back and hit cueball. Concentrate hard on hitting cueball dead center. 2nd What i found out after many many hours of practice that if i was hitting the cueball to hard that i was missing more. So I adjusted my speed to allow the cueball to take a natural roll just before it contacts the object ball. This keeps you from gripping to hard and eliminates much of the transfer of spin in case you do not hit cueball exactly center. 3rd Also concentrate on hitting the point where the base of the object ball contacts table. It gives you more pinpoint aim.
Hope this helps!

 

[tom haney]

Are you making sure to keep your grip loose? Being too tight will often exaggerate any flaw in your stroke ...which becomes far more apparent on these long straight shots.

Yep, grip seems loose.

 

[tom haney]

hondo, I have a drill that I do eveytime I come to the table that involves straight it shots. It really helps straighten out my stroke and it works wonders.

It's very simple. Put a ball on the center spot. Take ball in hand from behind the first diamond on either side of the table and shoot a straight in shot across the table. Repeat back and forth until you either sink 5 in a row or you shoot all 15 balls in. This introduces a challenge into the drill that keeps it from getting boring.

Set it up like below and go back and forth across the table. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy these long straight in shots became after doing this drill for a long while.

CueTable Help

EDIT: Where'd the cue ball go? It's suppose to be at the beginning of the shot.

Thanks. Will try.

 

[tom haney]

I'll be 62 this year....Long Straight Ins usually require a GREAT Follow through. See the tip of your cue at least 6 inches in front of the cue ball when you follow through

Thanks, Tom.

 

[tom haney]

I constantly practice the long straight in shots. I have become highly effective at them. First thing you need to do is practice hitting dead center cueball. I put an object ball on the foot spot and then line up cueball at diffent distances until i reach head spot. Shoot the object ball to come back and hit cueball. Concentrate hard on hitting cueball dead center. 2nd What i found out after many many hours of practice that if i was hitting the cueball to hard that i was missing more. So I adjusted my speed to allow the cueball to take a natural roll just before it contacts the object ball. This keeps you from gripping to hard and eliminates much of the transfer of spin in case you do not hit cueball exactly center. 3rd Also concentrate on hitting the point where the base of the object ball contacts table. It gives you more pinpoint aim.
Hope this helps!

Thanks, JL.

 

[Cuaba]

I think the hardest part is hitting the center of the cueball. If you are hitting off center, these long straight in shots are the ones that suffer.

 

[tom haney]

I think the hardest part is hitting the center of the cueball. If you are hitting off center, these long straight in shots are the ones that suffer.

Thanks, Cuaba.

 

[dr9ball]

On a straight in shot, try grounding your cueball by pointing the tip down at the point where the cue ball touches the cloth in line with where the object ball touches the cloth. Raise the tip of your cue to the center of the cue ball. When you shift your eyes to the object ball focus on the point where it touches the cloth. Pull your cue back slowly, pause to ensure a smooth transition and toss the cue through the cue ball. Lastly finish your stroke. Just a thought, let me know if it works for you.

 

[Neil]

...................

 

[poolplayer2093]

I'm feeling better.
I'm making nice cuts.
Banking great.
Running some balls.

My confidence is high for everything but long straight ins.
I miss as many as I make.

Anybody have any thoughts?

I don't think my mechanics are bad.
I'm almost 61. Is it an age thing?

If you're sure it's not your mechanics (usually is when i miss 'em) than it might be your confidence. just like some people're so afraid to lose they miss easy shots on the money balls you might just have it in your head that you're not going to make it

 

[Cameron Smith]

Mechanical flaws are the reason why you miss straight in shots as there isn't any aiming involved. If you are hitting centre ball consistently then I suspect alignement is the issue. The above drill posted is probably the best way to improve your long potting, especially if you have a snooker table at your disposal.

A lot of people tend to hit shots they are uncomfortable with differently than easy ones. The latter shots people almost always deliver a smooth stroke, where as the former usually involves a major twitch. Make sure you are hitting every shot with the same smooth stroke you may use while shooting a hanger.

Make sure you aren't tightening your grip during your follow through,

A technique taught in snooker is to relax your grip during your backswing. The grip will close naturally during your follow through, so there isn't any need to do so conciously.

 

[Jason Robichaud]

On a straight in shot, try grounding your cueball by pointing the tip down at the point where the cue ball touches the cloth in line with where the object ball touches the cloth. Raise the tip of your cue to the center of the cue ball. When you shift your eyes to the object ball focus on the point where it touches the cloth. Pull your cue back slowly, pause to ensure a smooth transition and toss the cue through the cue ball. Lastly finish your stroke. Just a thought, let me know if it works for you.

Great advice here that will give you center balls on straight in shots.

Before we help lets find out why you miss! Do you miss this shot to the same side everytime? If so, a couple things can be going on here. You may be lining up across the line of the shot and stroking straight or lining up on shot straight and stroking across line.

Try this, place balls for a slow long straight shot at a diamond or piece of chalk. Do a small back and longer follow really slow stroke. Hold the stroke out and look to see where the tip is pointing before and after finish.

 

[1on1pooltournys]

hondo, I have a drill that I do eveytime I come to the table that involves straight it shots. It really helps straighten out my stroke and it works wonders.

It's very simple. Put a ball on the center spot. Take ball in hand from behind the first diamond on either side of the table and shoot a straight in shot across the table. Repeat back and forth until you either sink 5 in a row or you shoot all 15 balls in. This introduces a challenge into the drill that keeps it from getting boring.

Set it up like below and go back and forth across the table. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy these long straight in shots became after doing this drill for a long while.

CueTable Help

EDIT: Where'd the cue ball go? It's suppose to be at the beginning of the shot.

I learned a drill similar to this from a top professional player (world champion actually). I usually do it if I haven't played in a few days, or If I feel as though I am not delivering my cue straight. I align the OB and CB in a straight line from corner to corner, just as this shot is laid out. I move my CB back, just to where I can make a comfortable bridge on the slate, slightly above the Jaws of the corner I'm shooting out of. I shoot stop shots tell I make about 10 to 15 in a row. Then, I try to draw the ball back into the corner I'm shooting out of, and lastly I make the OB and try to intentionally follow the CB into the corner pocket. When I successfully pocket just a few in a row (doesn't take much) on the follow stroke, I have all the confidence in the world because it is the absolute straightest you can cue a ball if you can put that much distance between them and follow the CB in right behind the OB.


Another good one is to set up long straight in Combinations, and try to pocket them.

 

[sjm]

Do you use a normal size tip? I used to play with a 12 mm tip, which was great for getting action on the cueball but made unintended english a slightly greater danger. Getting slightly unintended english is one of the major causes of missing long straight in shots. When I switched to 12 1/2 mm, I got better results on my long straight in shots without making any other changes.

Just a thought.

 

[Mr441]

Set aside a few hours and just shoot long straight in shots - 500 or so. Sounds simplistic but that method has never failed me. Anytime I've had trouble with any shot I just shoot it 500-1000 times and it fixes itself without any thought on my part about my stroke mechanics or anything else. But you really have to do it! I've given this advice to a couple of people and they both shot it maybe 30 times with mixed success and quit saying "this is boring".

 

[Tommy-D]

> I've found over the years that shots like this,especially if you have to do something with the cue ball,are missed (at least by me) more often with your FEET than they are by something stroke related.

What I mean by this is,that sometimes you have to adjust your stance a little,sometimes radically,to get the same straight stroke as normal. The closer the cue ball is to the rail,the more apparent it is,especially if you're trying to jack up a little and stick it.

For me,what I look for in my stance is making sure the top of my left foot is directly under my left armpit. When I take this stance,my cue alignment falls into place. Tommy D.