Loosing accuracy on power shots

I tend to loose accuracy on power shots, how do I correct this ?

You aren't giving us a lot to go on here but here's some thoughts.

You maybe gripping the cue too tightly which is pulling your cue off line (you aren't hitting the cue ball where you want to).

You are dropping your elbow before you make contact with the cueball.

You may be twisting your wrist to one side or the other if you're trying to "snap" your wrist for more power.

It would be easier if you posted a video or better yet, seek out a qualified instructor who does video analysis and lives near you or travels to your area.

Good Luck
 
Sorry got no info myself, all I know is that something is different when I power up vs the slow roll the OB to the pocket...

I reckon my grip/stroke is pulling the cue offline... now I need to identify if its going left or right.. this should help... Thanks


You aren't giving us a lot to go on here but here's some thoughts.

You maybe gripping the cue too tightly which is pulling your cue off line (you aren't hitting the cue ball where you want to).

You are dropping your elbow before you make contact with the cueball.

You may be twisting your wrist to one side or the other if you're trying to "snap" your wrist for more power.

It would be easier if you posted a video or better yet, seek out a qualified instructor who does video analysis and lives near you or travels to your area.

Good Luck
 
It sounds like a problem with your basic fundamentals. In many cases powering through a shot has nothing to do using your strength. In most cases people who are experiencing this problem are trying to use muscle power in place of stroke speed and follow through.

To find out if this is the problem, the next time you play pay close attention to how tight you are gripping the cue, and if you are tightening up the muscles in your stroke arm. If you are putting a death grip on the cue or if you are increasing your muscle tension you need to relax and just increase your stroke speed and follow through. Remember the grip on your cue should only be as tight as is necessary to maintain control of it, if you do not do this you will end up steering the cue ball not stroking through it.

You know what they say stroke don't poke and this is especially true when striking the cue ball hard.

JIMO
 
qguy,

this is usualy the same problem for every player in my opinion (even for top players). The higher the acceleration is, the harder it is to control the shot!
You can just try to stabilize your fundamentals and you ll reach step by step more confidence and furthermore more control even on powershots.

lg
Ingo
 
thanks for all the responses.

Made some practice shots and its very consistent. On straight in shots, the OB is going towards the left. I am left handed. Given that scenario, it means I am pulling the cue butt towards my body right ?
 
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Yes, you're pulling the butt towards your body if the OB is going to the left.

I'm not an instructor so please forgive me, but I can tell you on high-speed shots I tend to move my bridge hand just enough to throw the shot off if I'm not concentrating. When I shift my weight slightly forward and put more weight on my front forearm and bridge hand, it tends to stay put and I make a lot more high-speed shots.
 
I think Manwon might be on the right track. It's not power, it's the speed of the stroke. Work on using the same stroke and just changing speed. Start at your regular stroke speed, and then gradually increase it. The key is to use the same muscles for all of your speeds.
Power requires the use of different muscles, which will change the dynamics of your stroke.

Steve
 
Lol,

i hate my low english :P
so often that i write something and then Steve or Scott describing it that perfectly what i usualy wanted to write, groaarrrr ^^

hope you re feeling good Steve :)

lg
Ingo
 
To add to what Craig and Steve said...the cue weighs appx. 3x what the CB weighs. That's PLENTY to allow the cue to do all the work of the shot, regardless how soft or hard you wish to shoot. The key is, as Steve said, learn to relax your bicep and grip hand muscles, so that you're using only the weight of the cue and timing, to create the speed of the shot. Easier said than done, but it starts with becoming aware of what you're doing. I can't fix what I don't know about...and I can't fix what I can't measure.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

I think Manwon might be on the right track. It's not power, it's the speed of the stroke. Work on using the same stroke and just changing speed. Start at your regular stroke speed, and then gradually increase it. The key is to use the same muscles for all of your speeds.
Power requires the use of different muscles, which will change the dynamics of your stroke.

Steve
 
Boy! I wish you guys lived in my area, I'd get a lot better with video analysis and/or lessons on developing the best fundamentals. When I play well, I'm on fire but when I start to doubt myself, I'm all shattered. Seems like I never have the same stance sometimes....:(


Back on topic, you're probably gripping the butt too tight.
 
whats needed is to SLOW DOWN

To add to what Craig and Steve said...the cue weighs appx. 3x what the CB weighs. That's PLENTY to allow the cue to do all the work of the shot, regardless how soft or hard you wish to shoot. The key is, as Steve said, learn to relax your bicep and grip hand muscles, so that you're using only the weight of the cue and timing, to create the speed of the shot. Easier said than done, but it starts with becoming aware of what you're doing. I can't fix what I don't know about...and I can't fix what I can't measure.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

Scott you bring up some good points that would be good to extrapolate on

What is the biggest problem or one of IMOP is of course inaccurate tip placement on the CB. The problem is usually the Backhands grip or Cradle used to hold the cue, along with an uneven and not smoothly enough forward delivery of the stroke.

Now if a player has the correct lightness of grip (and can make accurate tip placement on pretty much any S.O.P. shot and still has this problem then IMOP i would say the frequency of the warmup/aim/delivery strokes is too fast and broken for a lightly gripped cue to stay accurately in the "CENTER" of the grip, what it does is IT DANCES AROUND IN THE GRIP........

many players try the light grip and give up on it as they can't seem to control the cuestick b/c as I stated IT DANCES IN THE GRIP. Its bouncing and getting jarred as you stroke, so the cue never sits stable at the center its bobbling 1,2,3,4 etc millimeters left/right/up/down.........

Because the grip is light one must remember that the Cue is not "ATTACHED" to the hand like it would be if you gripped it tight/firm.

This is why the pause is so important especially if the Cuestick is very lightly gripped. From the pause the hand and cue are stable and in the right position, with STEADILY INCREASING,SMOOTH, CONSISTENT delivery the cue stick will be centered and stable at the start of the delivery and the properly accelerated from a gentle start stroke will have all the momentum necessary and provide an accurate hit.

You can't have a fast jerkey stroke using a super light grip.

The proper way is DEFINITIVE AND RYTHMIC.........its not unlike what you see a fly fisherman do. If they don't rock the wrist in the correct tempo the rod movement and the movement of the fly on the end of the string will CLASH and nothing but chaos will ensue.

If you jerk back and forth, or just plain try to start the stroke off at the very start of the delivery at a high rate the hand will move forward and the cue will be moving backwards at too equal a rate so no momentum in the cue......same thing happens if the cue is wobbling or bouncing as it will slip the opposite direction the hand is going (hand forward/cue back, cue forward/hand back)

All the non smooth movement is doing is creating something like a forward and backward non intended slip stroke at the start of the forward delivery and the start of the backswing.

Light GRIP (CRADLE), forward delivery and backstroke are STARTED at 0 velocity and then 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 etc it increases in speed upon the delivery in a constant and consistent fashion.

When done correctly the cue will basically be attached to the hand at the beginning and towards the end of the stroke but will be for a lack of better wording "free/airborne" during the middle and contact, thus giving the cuestick ALL the momentum and letting it do ALL the work.

You want to start at A and end at Z and we should control these.......parts B-Y the cuestick should be the one in charge. We deliver it, and then we stop it, we don't steer and force it.

hope that is helpful,
-Grey Ghost-
 
Great post Keebie! That's one of the main reasons why we stop our cue, with the tip VERY close to the CB, just prior to the final backswing. Accurate tip placement on the CB is critical to understanding the why's and where's of how to play position.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

Scott you bring up some good points that would be good to extrapolate on

What is the biggest problem or one of IMOP is of course inaccurate tip placement on the CB. The problem is usually the Backhands grip or Cradle used to hold the cue, along with an uneven and not smoothly enough forward delivery of the stroke.

Now if a player has the correct lightness of grip (and can make accurate tip placement on pretty much any S.O.P. shot and still has this problem then IMOP i would say the frequency of the warmup/aim/delivery strokes is too fast and broken for a lightly gripped cue to stay accurately in the "CENTER" of the grip, what it does is IT DANCES AROUND IN THE GRIP........

many players try the light grip and give up on it as they can't seem to control the cuestick b/c as I stated IT DANCES IN THE GRIP. Its bouncing and getting jarred as you stroke, so the cue never sits stable at the center its bobbling 1,2,3,4 etc millimeters left/right/up/down.........

Because the grip is light one must remember that the Cue is not "ATTACHED" to the hand like it would be if you gripped it tight/firm.

This is why the pause is so important especially if the Cuestick is very lightly gripped. From the pause the hand and cue are stable and in the right position, with STEADILY INCREASING,SMOOTH, CONSISTENT delivery the cue stick will be centered and stable at the start of the delivery and the properly accelerated from a gentle start stroke will have all the momentum necessary and provide an accurate hit.

You can't have a fast jerkey stroke using a super light grip.

The proper way is DEFINITIVE AND RYTHMIC.........its not unlike what you see a fly fisherman do. If they don't rock the wrist in the correct tempo the rod movement and the movement of the fly on the end of the string will CLASH and nothing but chaos will ensue.

If you jerk back and forth, or just plain try to start the stroke off at the very start of the delivery at a high rate the hand will move forward and the cue will be moving backwards at too equal a rate so no momentum in the cue......same thing happens if the cue is wobbling or bouncing as it will slip the opposite direction the hand is going (hand forward/cue back, cue forward/hand back)

All the non smooth movement is doing is creating something like a forward and backward non intended slip stroke at the start of the forward delivery and the start of the backswing.

Light GRIP (CRADLE), forward delivery and backstroke are STARTED at 0 velocity and then 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 etc it increases in speed upon the delivery in a constant and consistent fashion.

When done correctly the cue will basically be attached to the hand at the beginning and towards the end of the stroke but will be for a lack of better wording "free/airborne" during the middle and contact, thus giving the cuestick ALL the momentum and letting it do ALL the work.

You want to start at A and end at Z and we should control these.......parts B-Y the cuestick should be the one in charge. We deliver it, and then we stop it, we don't steer and force it.

hope that is helpful,
-Grey Ghost-
 
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