I used to play with a very loose stroke arm, with my arm hanging muscle-less from my elbow and me throwing the cue into the cueball. This worked sometimes but was fairly inconsistent. I recently switched to a very controlled stroke where I use more muscles to control the cue, and my cueball action and accuracy has gone up tremendously. I can't seem to figure out if a pro player is using a "muscled" or loose stroke, since many of them look so loose all the time. What kind of stroke do you use?
Loose vs Controlled stroke
- Thread starter henho
- Start date
I really think it varies henho. You can see Efren has a very loose stroke. I used to have a controlled/muscled stroke and switched to the loose stroke about 5 or 6 years ago. I'm just the opposite of you. I find that the controlled stroke is hard to do when under pressure. And, unlike you, I feel that I have much more action in my stroke with the loose stroke. I think the key to maintaining some control with the loose stroke is having a very good bridge and controlling from the bridge hand. Good luck!
henho said:
ramdadingdong
Banned
Rickw said:
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Like fast eddy said in the movie, its all about playing, fast and loose.
Fast Larry Guninger the power source pool school...
Pro's use a very controlled stroke, don't let the looks decieve you. The reason it looks so loose is because they've been doing the same stroke for 5-20 years. The EXACT same stroke. They use the same muscles 99% of the time they hit the table that it's just pulling the trigger when they're ready. The more you use the same exact stroke every time the more and more loose and nautral it will be to do the same thing every time. I've been trying to do the same thing everytime at the table lately. Pre shot routine, warm up strokes, execution, and post stroke pose. At first it seems like a bit of an effort and you have to actually think about it almost the entire way through. I've been doing it for about 3 weeks now and my game has become quite a bit more consistant and my stroke is somewhat becoming i guess you could say "automatic". I still have to keep myself in check but I can see that sometime in the future maybe it will just be something I do and don't have to think about it.
I don't think pros are using muscles at all. Most pros will tell you that a shot needs to be executed without the tensing of any muscles in your arm. Of course you use muscle to pull the cue back, but when you pull the trigger, you are supposed to just let your arm fly. If you are having problems with your accuracy because of this, you may want to stiffen your wrist slightly, check your grip, or your alignment.
