Make adjustment or not?

[blakerandy]

Some background first.

I am 62 years old and have 2 artificial shoulders. The left side was a complete replacement and the right side was just the ball portion. The surgeon could not do the complete replacement because of a worn rotator cuff capsule. I will need another operation soon to either fix the rotator cuff if possible or do a complete reverse shoulder replacement.

Now to the pool problem. Due to the pain I experience when breaking I have developed a small hitch in my stroke. I always seem to hit the cue ball about one tip high and one tip to the left when I am actually aiming for a center ball hit. I have tried for weeks to get back on center ball and the only way I can consistently do it is by compensating with my aim point.

Knowing that an operation is in my near future and I will not be playing pool for about 4 months after, should I go ahead and just compensate my aim point and re-enforce the bad habit or continue to aim at center ball?

Thanks for the help

 

[michael4]

Due to the pain I experience when breaking I have developed a small hitch in my stroke.
Knowing that an operation is in my near future and I will not be playing pool for about 4 months after, should I go ahead and just compensate my aim point and re-enforce the bad habit or continue to aim at center ball?

not an instructor or a doctor, so I wont comment, but I had 2 questions after reading your post, maybe the instructors have the same questions?

1) Are you saying this only happens when you're breaking?
2) how far in the future is your surgery?

 

[Tony_in_MD]

I believe you should give pool a break and get well first, then when the pain goes away, get back into your fundementals to eliminate the hitch in your stroke.

I don't think you are doing yourself good to both play in pain, and constently reinforcing a bad habit caused by it.

Some background first.

I am 62 years old and have 2 artificial shoulders. The left side was a complete replacement and the right side was just the ball portion. The surgeon could not do the complete replacement because of a worn rotator cuff capsule. I will need another operation soon to either fix the rotator cuff if possible or do a complete reverse shoulder replacement.

Now to the pool problem. Due to the pain I experience when breaking I have developed a small hitch in my stroke. I always seem to hit the cue ball about one tip high and one tip to the left when I am actually aiming for a center ball hit. I have tried for weeks to get back on center ball and the only way I can consistently do it is by compensating with my aim point.

Knowing that an operation is in my near future and I will not be playing pool for about 4 months after, should I go ahead and just compensate my aim point and re-enforce the bad habit or continue to aim at center ball?

Thanks for the help

 

[FranCrimi]

Some background first.

I am 62 years old and have 2 artificial shoulders. The left side was a complete replacement and the right side was just the ball portion. The surgeon could not do the complete replacement because of a worn rotator cuff capsule. I will need another operation soon to either fix the rotator cuff if possible or do a complete reverse shoulder replacement.

Now to the pool problem. Due to the pain I experience when breaking I have developed a small hitch in my stroke. I always seem to hit the cue ball about one tip high and one tip to the left when I am actually aiming for a center ball hit. I have tried for weeks to get back on center ball and the only way I can consistently do it is by compensating with my aim point.

Knowing that an operation is in my near future and I will not be playing pool for about 4 months after, should I go ahead and just compensate my aim point and re-enforce the bad habit or continue to aim at center ball?

Thanks for the help

Randy, if breaking causes you pain, I think you should either not break or change the way that you break so you don't feel pain.

Regarding your shooting habit that was caused by breaking: Habits can be broken but it takes time, patience and perseverance. I Think that maybe something in the back of your mind is telling you that it will all change back to normal again after you recover from the surgery. That could be stopping you from putting maximum effort into correcting your habit. Maybe it will change back after the surgery, but maybe it won't.

I think you should keep working on correcting your stroke habit (as long as it's not making your rotator cuff issue worse and your doctor says it's ok to do so). But you'll have to commit 100 percent to fixing the habit or it won't happen.

And don't reinforce the bad habit by breaking with pain.

 

[Scott Lee]

blakerandy...If you're trying to break hard, and it's causing you pain (a problem shared by many players who don't know how to break efficiently, using cue weight and timing, instead of brute force), QUIT doing it that way. One of the biggest myths about the break is that you have to put strength and body movement into it. The other myth is that if you don't make a ball, your break sucks. Both are completely untrue.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

Some background first.

I am 62 years old and have 2 artificial shoulders. The left side was a complete replacement and the right side was just the ball portion. The surgeon could not do the complete replacement because of a worn rotator cuff capsule. I will need another operation soon to either fix the rotator cuff if possible or do a complete reverse shoulder replacement.

Now to the pool problem. Due to the pain I experience when breaking I have developed a small hitch in my stroke. I always seem to hit the cue ball about one tip high and one tip to the left when I am actually aiming for a center ball hit. I have tried for weeks to get back on center ball and the only way I can consistently do it is by compensating with my aim point.

Knowing that an operation is in my near future and I will not be playing pool for about 4 months after, should I go ahead and just compensate my aim point and re-enforce the bad habit or continue to aim at center ball?

Thanks for the help

 

[pooltchr]

I agree with both Fran and Scott. Keep working on doing the right things the right way.

Steve