Thanks for the attempted help. But I don't connect to the cue in this way at all. I am just trying to undertand how any straight 'level' cue tip travel is possible for two(2) or more inches with a true pendulum stroke as randyG asserted in another thread.
Neil suggested the pinky to ring finger transfer of the cue weight support point as the means.
Personally I don't see his way working as well as the way Chris/Renfro suggested.
Either way, I'm not changing the way I connect to the cue. This was just an attempt to perhaps get a better understanding of the pendulum stroke even to the point of perhaps changing my opinion of it.
I understand what you are suggesting. I use a straight back & straight into piston & my connection is between two(2) points, one(1) on each side of the cue so that the cue can rotate or pivot as though a rod or axle runs between the two(2) connection points.
Thanks again,
Rick, several things... First, there are no magic bullets. Nothing you learn will make you a great player overnight. Not going to happen. Second, you can't spend 5-10 minutes, not even a couple of hours, and say this works or doesn't work for me.
Anything new that you try will feel awkward at first. It takes training, and a lot of training (notice I said training and not just using) to add something new to your game and have it work properly.
I'll go on record as saying that I feel that 90%+ of people that don't like the pendulum stroke never really trained with it properly. I'm also pretty sure that 90%+ of those that try it concentrate too much on not dropping there elbow in game time and thereby start missing because they aren't concentrating on the proper things at hand, then they say they play worse with the pendulum stroke.
Each persons actual "feel" in the hand can be different. That will depend on how you grip the cue, how loose or tight you grip it, where on the cue you actually do grip it, what angle you actually hold the cue at, ect. You have to find for YOU what it feels like when you stroke the cue properly, and then train to duplicate that without any conscious thought.
Many also do not use the pendulum stroke properly, although they think they are. At address, the tip needs to be right at the cb, not several inches away. The forearm has to be hanging straight down, not forward or backward of 90 degrees. The shoulder has to be positioned properly for each individual so it does not come into play. For me, it's a simple matter of raising my shoulder slightly which "locks" it in place.
With training, which as with anything can take time, the pendulum is the most repeatable stroke there is. And, that is what we are after- repeatability. That it also happens to be the easiest to teach is just a bonus.
No one is saying that you or anyone else has to use the pendulum stroke to play well. You don't. But, if you aren't playing at the speed you want to now, then you have to change something to get better. Spending a few minutes on change isn't going to do anything for the better, usually only make things worse for you. Change requires actual training, which very few are willing to do. It's rare to find someone, especially that doesn't have a home table, that will actually train on something without just wanting to get their monies worth and start pocketing balls instead.
If one wants to learn a new stroke, whether that be pendulum or elbow drop, they need to work on just that. First, look at the goal, a straight , repeatable, stroke. Now, pay attention to details, what works for you, and what isn't right now, IOW, what needs to be tweeked a little for ME. Once you get that, add a cue ball, work with actually hitting the cb. Make what does work become habit for you so that you don't even have to think about it. Make it "natural" for you. THEN, and only then, add it into actual play.
But, to say something can't work without even trying it, and that goes for not trying it at all to not trying it by giving it a serious try and putting thought into it, is disingenuous. It only makes one look like a knocker and not a serious poster. Many times this is nothing more than someone unwilling to admit that there are better ways of doing something that they have been doing for many years. To admit to a better way means that the way you have been doing something was not as good as it could have been, and that you were wrong about something that cost you a lot of time. Easier to say something new doesn't work, is snake oil, a ripoff, ect., and say your way is the only correct way than start over with the new material. Who wants to admit that their way is less efficient than it needed to be?? Easier to say that it takes natural talent and have an excuse for not being at the level you want to be than to actually spend a lot of time training.
