I've tried many jump cues and can't do squat. The first one I bought a few years ago was at the Baltimore trade convention. It was a Jerricho Stinger and was demonstrated to me by its designer, Jerry Powers. Not only was he jumping balls all over the place, but so was I. When I got it home, I couldn't do anything with it. I called Paul Dayton, who joked that the table I used in Baltimore had a trampoline under the cloth. Anyway, I could really use some advice. Thank you.
Need Help with Jumping a Ball - PLEASE !!!
- Thread starter Poz
- Start date
Poz said:
It sounds as if you are not getting over the ball correctly. It is all in the mechanics, and your weight should be forward -
I always suggest to all of my students that you learn how to jump with a full cue FIRST... that way you learn the proper technique, weight distributions, etc, and then when you move the shorter cue your mechanics and your stroke will be stronger.
I have a nearly 20 year old Jericho custom purple heart break/jump and Jerry indeed makes some of the best jumpers out there. That being said, it is not the cue.
I would suggest you find someone who is good at jumping and ask for help. The stick may not be the problem. You are probably doing something incorrectly. At VF Dominic was doing some demos at the Predator table. He said use a striped ball with the stripe being horizontal. You then want to hit the top of the stripe. This is a very simple explanation. There are other parts of the stroke like the angle of the cue and hitting through the ball. Good luck.
jump shot advice and videos
Regards,
Dave
FYI, there is some good jump shot technique advice (with video demos) here:Poz said:
Regards,
Dave
Poz said:
The breakthrough for me years ago was realizing that for people of average height or even for taller players who need to use a VERY steep angle of attack to get the ball up quickly....
1. You need to practice sort of a "sidearm" stroke. Here's what I mean.
On a standard stroke, the forearm should generally be vertical at cb contact.
But on a jump shot...due to the steep angle of attack, you are FAR better off with a stroke that orients the forearm at ROUGHLY a 45 degree angle to the floor.
Just watch the pros jump balls and you will see what I mean.
It takes a while to get that sidearm stroke STRAIGHT but with a little practice, you will get it down.
2. Elevate your "finger tip" open bridge as high as you can. That will also take some practice to figure out how to elevate as much as possible while still maintaining a stable platform.
3. Use as long a stroke as possible. Pull the ferrule up all the way to the "crotch" of the bridge. You will NEED that distance in order to have enough room to sufficiently accelerate the stroke.
4. Use a "popping" kind of stroke. Think of driving the tip only as far as the center of mass of the CB. In fact, you will stroke down more deeply than that but the above is a good mental image. What you DON'T want to do is to have the cb pop back up into the descending tip thereby preventing any jump at all.
5. Once you have aimed and raise your body up to assume your stance, don't just raise UP but also move your body/head FORWARD. Body position will vary by the angle of attack used and the shooter's height but for me, at about 5'9", my head moves forward so that my eyes move forward so that they are directly over my bridge hand.
6. Start with the cb near the head or foot rail so you bridge from on top of the rail. That makes everything easier so you can get the FEEL of getting the cb up.
7. To avoid burn marks on the cloth while you practice, just place a small piece of paper....a torn corner of a napkin or paper towel works fine...under the cb.
I won't get into aiming because that is not your issue at the moment.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Jim
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Southpaw said:
Respectfully, I strongly disagree with the above...although that depends on the shooter's height and the intended launch angle.
But the player of average height will angle the forearm well above vertical and even some taller players who require steep launch angles will do so.
Regards,
Jim
av84fun said:
Im 5'10" and I find that I get alot more downward force on the cueball by keeping my elbow straight...like a normal shot. I have seen people try the "chicken-wing" method and not be able to get enough force to make the cueball jump. I simply tell them to keep their weight on their front foot and keep their elbow straight and it usually corrects the problem.
Southpaw
Southpaw said:
Hi Southpaw,
On long shots over a ball that is fairly far away...say 6-10 inches requiring relatively low launch angles. a vertical forearm is fine.
But for steeper launch angles...when the intervening ball is, say, 2-3 inchs from the ob, I suggest it is physically impossible to launch the ball steeply enough without elevating the forearm.
It might FEEL like it is vertical but if you look back...say on a 50-60 degree cue angle, I think you will see that your forearm is no longer vertical.
When working with people who are learning the shot, I find it better to get them to be able to launch the ball steeply so they get the feel of the shot before working on lower trajectories. That requires a steeper cue angle and therefore, a somewhat side arm approach.
The above is just what works for me.
Regards,
Jim
I get frustrated too, b/c in APA we are restricted to a 45deg elevated angle max. Makes it tricky.
I had a lot of problems jumping. For me, and I know that most people will say this is a decending blow, but what I try to do is hit the cue ball and then bring the cue back toward myself.. sort of like the old draw stroke that you jerk back. I definitely don't recommend it for a draw stroke, but for me, this is my key to getting the cue ball airborn 
I will say one other thing, I think a lot of people develop their own technique, you just have to find what works for you. This of course can take days, weeks, or months
Good luck
I will say one other thing, I think a lot of people develop their own technique, you just have to find what works for you. This of course can take days, weeks, or months
Good luck
av84fun said:
He's probably confused as h*** now
keep it simple.
1. line up on the cue ball just as if you were about to shoot any shot.
2. if you want put a piece of caulk about 6 inches in front ofthe cue ball.
3. Now jack up to about 35 degrees aim center ball (from the angle you are jacked at)
4. Hit it firm as though you are shooting at a ball down table.
5. I bet you just jumped over that caulk (this is why you don't jack up on the break. The ball will leave the table)
That's it !
Now all you have to do is practice.
The higher and quicker you need to jump the cue the more you have to jack up and the harder you have to hit it.
I use a normal shooting stroke but some like the "dart" type stroke. I like the normal pool shooting stroke because I think it's more accurate and easier.
Start small and work your way up. You aren't going to be jumping like that salesman ...at least not for a few weeks. ;-)
Pii said:He's probably confused as h*** now
keep it simple.
1. line up on the cue ball just as if you were about to shoot any shot.
2. if you want put a piece of caulk about 6 inches in front ofthe cue ball.
3. Now jack up to about 35 degrees aim center ball (from the angle you are jacked at)
4. Hit it firm as though you are shooting at a ball down table.
5. I bet you just jumped over that caulk (this is why you don't jack up on the break. The ball will leave the table)
That's it !
Now all you have to do is practice.
The higher and quicker you need to jump the cue the more you have to jack up and the harder you have to hit it.
I use a normal shooting stroke but some like the "dart" type stroke. I like the normal pool shooting stroke because I think it's more accurate and easier.
Start small and work your way up. You aren't going to be jumping like that salesman ...at least not for a few weeks. ;-)
Well, I guess the people with varying IQ's get confused as H*** over different things.
But speaking of confusion, what the H***does jumping over a piece of chalk have to do with a jump shot in pool?
If you use a "normal pool stroke" you are not a very good jump shot player.
But just out of curiosity, which of the points in my post that you quoted did you have difficulty understanding?
Jim
I use (and teach) a "normal stroke" for jumping. I believe it is more accurate, and enables you to do more with the cue ball - including aiming the shot, and applying jump draw, top and english. The "normal" jump stroke is more natural, and looks just like a normal jacked-up shot, only the cue ball gets airborn. In fact, jumping ~1/2 a ball about a diamond away, you can draw the ball a full table when jumping with your playing cue and using a "normal stroke" - which you can't do with the dart. Sidearm is an alternative, but IMO, is much harder to learn.av84fun said:
In the end, whether you use normal, sidearm or dart, is a function of what you need to accomplish and what your body can accomodate. Tall people can get away with the "normal" in more situations than short people...
As for jumping chalk, it is the same as a 1/2 ball jump. I often use a piece of chalk when instructing beginning jumpers so that balls don't go flying off the table everywhere. So 2 chalks is a full ball jump. The downside is when chalk bits go everywhere...
-td
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The biggest problem I had was griping with both hands too tight. Let the stick do the work. Allow the stick to go thru the ball. Don't force it!.