My wrist sucks

H

henho

I Beat Fidelshnitzer
Silver Member
I'm not usually one to post on my progress in the game, but I felt like sharing my sentiments this time around. Like many amateurs, my game has alot of swings, from some fairly good highs to some pretty crappy lows. However, it seems like the swings in my game are pretty drastic, from being able to run several racks and feeling a nice powerful stroke, to not being able to draw the ball with any control and dogging easy shots. I've reviewed and changed my fundamentals a million times when things go bad. Generally, I know that I am in stroke when it comes to a certain feel I get from cue, a solid hit and the knowledge that I am controlling everything it is doing.

After a long bad streak I've found my stroke again, and I am beginning to realize that the problem is a weak wrist. I have a neurological condition that throws off my coordination and makes my peripheral muscles weak, and it seems that when my wrist is weak or uncoordinated I can't play worth shit. This is rather depressing to me because it feels like something beyond my control; its not a matter of enforcing any fundamentals or good habits, but simply waiting for my hand to "feel" right. I feel like my game has a definite (and fairly low) cieling due to factors beyond my control.

Just thought I'd get it off my chest, thanks for listening to the whine and cheese.
 
henho said:
I'm not usually one to post on my progress in the game, but I felt like sharing my sentiments this time around. Like many amateurs, my game has alot of swings, from some fairly good highs to some pretty crappy lows. However, it seems like the swings in my game are pretty drastic, from being able to run several racks and feeling a nice powerful stroke, to not being able to draw the ball with any control and dogging easy shots. I've reviewed and changed my fundamentals a million times when things go bad. Generally, I know that I am in stroke when it comes to a certain feel I get from cue, a solid hit and the knowledge that I am controlling everything it is doing.

After a long bad streak I've found my stroke again, and I am beginning to realize that the problem is a weak wrist. I have a neurological condition that throws off my coordination and makes my peripheral muscles weak, and it seems that when my wrist is weak or uncoordinated I can't play worth shit. This is rather depressing to me because it feels like something beyond my control; its not a matter of enforcing any fundamentals or good habits, but simply waiting for my hand to "feel" right. I feel like my game has a definite (and fairly low) cieling due to factors beyond my control.

Just thought I'd get it off my chest, thanks for listening to the whine and cheese.
Click to expand...

Is your wrist so weak to the point that you can't keep it steady? If your wrist is too loose it can cause some huge problems in your timing, which is essential to a powerful and accurate stroke.
 
I don't know if this will help or not, but with me, if I'm thinking about what is behind me - arm, wrist, etc., I shoot lousy.

If however I think about what is in front of me, balls, hit, stay down after hit, etc., then my mind automatically learns how to hit.

May want to forget about the wrist! Anyway I would think that a weak wrist would just mean you could have a wonderful "slip stroke".

Don't "think" about what you are doing. Anyway doesn't the wrist just hold the butt of the cue? And the arm goes straight forwards and backwards? i.e. no left/right movement from wrist, the wrist is "just going along for the ride" and has nothing to do with aiming - just grips the butt tightly or loosely is all? (And some players try to perfect an exceptionally loose grip [slip stroke]...)
 
I actually started with an extremely loose stroke that got alot of compliments. The problem was it gave me no action on the cb; it like I need to feel the strength in my wrist to control the cue.

I guess my main problem is that the same set of fundamentals will work wonderfully one day and not work at all the next depending on how my wrist feels; maybe I'll keep toying with them until I find something that works.
 
Hey Henho

November before last they removed the scaphoid (sp) from my grip wrist. They fused four other bones together with a spider plate. Dam thing ain't been right since. Hurts worse now than it ever did. I have had to make several adjustments as a result. My game now is better than ever. Mechanics is all you have to work on. Stance, grip, bridge, stroke, is the cue level,is my stroke smothe, does it follow thru, am I hitting the OB where I want to, am I making the shot. Ask these questions when you practice after every shot. Realizing what you did wrong on a shot is the begining of avoiding doing it again.
Purdman :cool:
 
henho said:
After a long bad streak I've found my stroke again, and I am beginning to realize that the problem is a weak wrist. I have a neurological condition that throws off my coordination and makes my peripheral muscles weak, and it seems that when my wrist is weak or uncoordinated I can't play worth shit. This is rather depressing to me because it feels like something beyond my control; its not a matter of enforcing any fundamentals or good habits, but simply waiting for my hand to "feel" right.
Click to expand...


Have you tried experimenting with different types of wrist braces to see if that adds anything to your strength, stability, and coordination while playing?
 
Try not using your wrist. If your wrist is bothering you, try to focus on just using your elbow. I agree with Don too. Make sure all your fundamentals are sound and forget the wrist. I use my wrist on some shots but prefer using my elbow exclusively on very difficult shots. I believe I could still play a pretty good game without the use of my wrist. My wrist only comes into play in about 10% of my shots and I could get by without that.
 
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