One Handed Shooting

M

matai

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Hey, I had a friend who told me to practice shooting one handed to develop a better stroke or something. Has anybody else heard of that or know the correct technique of doing that if there is one?

Thanks!
 
I've been doing one-handed shots for years so I can bypass the bridge if/when the house or a teammate doesn't have one. I watched a one-armed man play pool at Kendricks in Bellingham, WA and that's what gave me the idea to start practicing. He's probably around a B or C-player's skill and has a massive break.

He holds the cue slightly behind the balance point. Lines up the shot by raising the cue over the point of contact on the object ball from his point of view behind the cue ball, and then gradually lowering the cue tip into position. Then all that's left is visualizing where the cue tip will end up after a good stroke, and make it happen.

It takes nerves at the very least... he also has one seriously muscular arm. Not too bulky but he looks like he could manage ripping someone's head off :p

On simple long shots I don't even bother with the bridge anymore. This stroke can help but I wouldn't suggest it unless you can observe a one-armed player doing his thing.
 
One handed shootint , if done correctly, is a completely different type of grip and stroke. It will not help your regular two handed stroke. There are many great one handed players, i.e Ronnie Allen, Jose Parica, but they adopt a different grip ( thump up) and punch stroke when playing one handed.
 
When my stroke is off, it is almost always that I am standing up in the middle of the shot, or are swinging my right hand laterally. I will stop shooting two handed and start shooting one handed to help get back in stroke. It isn't the grip I am working on, it is the back and forth motion. To stroke a ball one handed and not miscue, you need to concentrate on that back and forth motion. It works for me most of the time. Also keeps me from standing up during the shot, as that will make me miscue as well.

I love practicing one handed. Broke and ran 2 racks of 9ball over the years that way on 8 footers. Felt great afterwards.

Arthritis sucks!!
 
matai said:
Hey, I had a friend who told me to practice shooting one handed to develop a better stroke or something. Has anybody else heard of that or know the correct technique of doing that if there is one?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
There is no value in shooting one handed. And if you do it to avoid using a bridge, you are being lazy. If you want to get a better stroke, take an empty beer bottle, lay it on its side, and stroke in and out the the bottle w/o touching the sides for 15-20mins per day. The hole in the bottle is the same height as the center of the cueball. This will build muscle memory. This can be done on your kitchen table at home. When this gets to easy, close your eyes. Also, don't forget your opposite hand. If you want to get better, might as well train both hands.
If you only have one hand, use a brush. There is a one armed man in town that uses a bristle brush, he puts it on the table on every shot and strokes through the bristles as his bridge. The guy is a solid B player.
 
dave fingers said:
There is no value in shooting one handed. And if you do it to avoid using a bridge, you are being lazy. If you want to get a better stroke, take an empty beer bottle, lay it on its side, and stroke in and out the the bottle w/o touching the sides for 15-20mins per day. The hole in the bottle is the same height as the center of the cueball. This will build muscle memory. This can be done on your kitchen table at home. When this gets to easy, close your eyes. Also, don't forget your opposite hand. If you want to get better, might as well train both hands.
If you only have one hand, use a brush. There is a one armed man in town that uses a bristle brush, he puts it on the table on every shot and strokes through the bristles as his bridge. The guy is a solid B player.
Click to expand...

I used to do the pop bottle thing, but for me it caused me more problems than it solved. To get the stick to move in a straight line in the vertical plane so that it doesn't hit the top of the bottle opening, you have to drop your elbow quite a bit. That was OK until I was hitting power shots at the table and the timing of that drop went out the window. I have better success letting the stick travel in it's natural arc, rather than trying to make it act like a piston.
 
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