Paus at back stroke (VIDEO)

Pause

Your pause on the backstroke just before delivery reminds me of Lester Smulowitz's stroke. His pause is possibly a bit longer though. I've toyed with the idea in the past, but never completely committed to, "OK, this is the way I'm going to stroke the cue from this day forward". What I found when doing it was that my focus and concentration on the shot increased. That 1 second pause, to me, allowed my brain enough time to stop doing anything else and only dedicate itself to processing shot specific data: AIM, striking point on CB, shot speed, etc before I pulled the trigger. Once it becomes a natural stroke I'd say it can offer improvement to all facets of striking the CB; shot-making, safety play, breaking up clusters and kicking. I'm curious to know how you make out and what others feel about the pause.

Ron F
 
Neil said:
Any thought of actually doing it, seems to tighten a muscle or two, and the stroke goes off course just enough to rattle the ball. I think that what may actually be happening, is that the slow backswing and pause add a moment to where my subconscious has a key to take over and shoot the shot. It adds a certain heightened sense of awareness to the shot, and makes it much easier to get in the zone.
Click to expand...

Great point. You can't possible be shooting well if you are thinking about how you are shooting.

Train yourself to do things properly in practice, and then just allow yourself to play. The things you have practiced will show up in your game without thought.

Steve

Rep to you for that one simple thought that is so profound!
 
Gatz said:
So lately I've been screwing around with trying a paus at my back stroke before I deliver the cue. I gotta say it feels really good and solid. The only thing I'm having problems with is getting good action on the cueball. I find with my normal stroke that I can easily get a big stroke with it.

Heres two videos I made, one with a paus and one without. Tell me wich one you think looks better or more SOLID.

With Paus- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdXDebgB6Vo

Without Paus- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcWPqKU77fU

Sorry about the backround music in the pool hall lol
Click to expand...

The one you do not have to think about.
 
ghostball said:
The one you do not have to think about.
Click to expand...

Not sure what you mean by this....

Tonight I played in a weekly tournament and my first match I ran 4 racks in a row, won the set 7-1, so it's working pretty good for me right now. My accuracy on the break has improved by a lot.
 
Last edited:
"CaliRed". said:
not being your spell check here.... but many people have pointed out that PAUSE is spelled PAUSE. You're apparently not seeing that, as you're still spelling it PAUS.

I don't want you to go thru the rest of your life doing that, so I'm pointing it out to you a little more clearly.:)

Think of me as the guy that's not afraid to tell a person they have a booger hanging out of their nose. I assume once the embarassment wears off, they will think to thank me for the being the bearer of needed news.:eek:

If I consistantly spelled a very popular word wrong, I would want the friendly folks here to remind me.:smile:

I too, am experimenting with the pause at the end of the backswing. I tend to like it, but it feels very uncomfortable and hard to judge the softly hit balls.
Click to expand...

Thanks, but I could careless :)
 
"CaliRed". said:
not being your spell check here.... but many people have pointed out that PAUSE is spelled PAUSE. You're apparently not seeing that, as you're still spelling it PAUS.

I don't want you to go thru the rest of your life doing that, so I'm pointing it out to you a little more clearly.:)

Think of me as the guy that's not afraid to tell a person they have a booger hanging out of their nose. I assume once the embarassment wears off, they will think to thank me for the being the bearer of needed news.:eek:

If I consistantly spelled a very popular word wrong, I would want the friendly folks here to remind me.:smile:

I too, am experimenting with the pause at the end of the backswing. I tend to like it, but it feels very uncomfortable and hard to judge the softly hit balls.
Click to expand...


ok here's one: consistently :grin:
 
I find that a nice, slow and smooth backstroke will lead to a natural pause. There is always a pause, a muscle transfer from the tricep to the bicep or else your stroke would be choppy and you would probably be muscling through your stroke. You shoot very well, just try a slower and smoother back stroke and like Neil said, "just let it happen". It may lead to a perfect median :)
 
Like others have said there is a pause...even if it is super brief.

The trick is to find the pause that is the right length........a pause that is too short can lead to premature stroke....meaning the eyes are not caught up or in sync with the stroke....it could also have an effect on the delivery of the impact...if you pull the cue back quick and start quick in a forward motion...it could lead to the cue actually losing speed it impact....the ideal situation is to have the cue build speed as at makes impact.

On the other hand...a pause that is too long can lead to muscle collapse that will lead to a rigid or jerky delivery.....

Neil's comment hits home with what I have been working on....I have been working on a slower more deliberate takeaway motion with a pause at the beginning and at the end of the backstroke...(even on my break shot)...the results are promising.

The ultimate key is rythum.....when you are in rythum the game becomes almost like a dance.....devolpe and internal metronome that you always dance to and your pauses will come natural.
 
teedotaj said:
hey Gatz from which pool hall are these taken from?
place looks so well maintained!
Click to expand...

Hey Teedot, the pool hall is in Newmarket Ontario, called Big Wigs billiards. It's mostly a pool hall more than a bar, which I like. I see that your from Toronto, what room do you play out of?
 
Gatz said:
So lately I've been screwing around with trying a paus at my back stroke before I deliver the cue. I gotta say it feels really good and solid. The only thing I'm having problems with is getting good action on the cueball. I find with my normal stroke that I can easily get a big stroke with it.
Click to expand...

Until you get used to using a pause at the end of your backswing you may find that you have to focus more on keeping your back arm loose. You don't normally need to worry too much about this when you play without a discernable pause at the end of the backswing, since it happens pretty automatically.

When using a stroke with a final pause, I echo what Neil and others have said about the benefit of a slow backswing. In fact I think that Alison F - one of pool's great pausers - said that having a slow backswing is one of her two most important tips.
 
Major elbow drop.

You play well and I noticed that you also have a major elbow drop on practically every shot.
 
I don't think that 'the look' of the stroke should be driving this discussion/your evaluation of the benifit of the pause.

Does pausing on the backstroke improve your game? Do you pot more balls? Do YOU feel better about your stroke?

Just my Humble Opinion.
 
I watched both videos. Your "pause" stroke has a pretty short pause, much shorter than Allison's or Buddy's.

I don't think it really matters whether you pause or not. But here is a difference between your stroke and Allison's or Buddy's or Mizerak's or SVB's.. They all have a slower final backstroke.

IMO you should concentrate on a slow relaxed backstroke followed by a slow, smooth transition to forward motion--whether it includes a pause or not.

Gatz said:
So lately I've been screwing around with trying a paus at my back stroke before I deliver the cue. I gotta say it feels really good and solid. The only thing I'm having problems with is getting good action on the cueball. I find with my normal stroke that I can easily get a big stroke with it.

Heres two videos I made, one with a paus and one without. Tell me wich one you think looks better or more SOLID.

With Paus- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdXDebgB6Vo

Without Paus- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcWPqKU77fU

Sorry about the backround music in the pool hall lol
Click to expand...
 
Ken...You better tell Buddy Hall! His pause at the end of the backswing is longer than anybody's (about 3-4 seconds). Seems to work well for him, and his delivery is as, or more, accurate than almost anyone out there. :D

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

BRKNRUN said:
On the other hand...a pause that is too long can lead to muscle collapse that will lead to a rigid or jerky delivery...
Click to expand...
 
My opinion is that you obviously shoot well and have very sound mechanics. At this point, whatever gives you more confidence is what you should use. I think you play well enough that from this point forward, confidence will be a bigger factor than adjustments to your delivery. just pick a style and commit to it so you don't have to think about it. That distraction will hurt your game more than pausing or not pausing will help it.
 
mikepage said:
I watched both videos. Your "pause" stroke has a pretty short pause, much shorter than Allison's or Buddy's.

I don't think it really matters whether you pause or not. But here is a difference between your stroke and Allison's or Buddy's or Mizerak's or SVB's.. They all have a slower final backstroke.

IMO you should concentrate on a slow relaxed backstroke followed by a slow, smooth transition to forward motion--whether it includes a pause or not.
Click to expand...

HEY MAN! Do you give FREE analysis on any youtube posted videos? If so, JoeyA is going to be posting some videos real soon. :thumbup:
 
mikepage said:
I watched both videos. Your "pause" stroke has a pretty short pause, much shorter than Allison's or Buddy's.

I don't think it really matters whether you pause or not. But here is a difference between your stroke and Allison's or Buddy's or Mizerak's or SVB's.. They all have a slower final backstroke.

IMO you should concentrate on a slow relaxed backstroke followed by a slow, smooth transition to forward motion--whether it includes a pause or not.
Click to expand...

I have no idea why you bring SVB into this convo when he barely has a pause if any at his back stroke, just a slow pull back. I see many top players such as Mika, Efren that don't pull back that slowly. Infact they pull back at the same speed as their warm up strokes.

I think my pull back on my final stroke is just fine. Find me some more top players that pull back just as slow as those few that you mentioned, because most top players I see pull back the same speed as there warm up strokes wich I do.


Heres some video of Mika shooting http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Abbxfp0Suz4

Heres some video of Efren shooting http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeJbyrUC0zI

I don't see any slower pull back then their normal warmup stroke. I could find a lot more video's of other players shooting that do the same.
I'm not trying to really fix anything per say in my game. I'm simply just trying something new out and just wanted to compare the 2 strokes and see what people think of either one and wich one looks better.
 
Last edited:
9BallMarksman said:
You mean you could "care less" right?

I'm sorry, but if you consistently misspell a five letter word as an adult, then you deserve to be corrected. It's that simple.
Click to expand...


Sheesh....who gives a shit? It's the internet. To many grammar nazi's around here with to much time on there hands. Hate to see how you guys jump on Fatboy....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top