Played For The First Time In 5 Weeks

[Pidge]

Picked up my trusty old cue today and went for a bash. Not good. I played the worst I've played in years. I tore my shooting shoulder 5 weeks ago grabbing hold of my girlfriend as she almost fell down some stairs... Should've let her fall! Today was the first day I felt up for playing and I was like a kid on Christmas day. Couldn't wait to get to the pool hall.

It started bad. I was all over the place. My arm felt like it belonged to someone else. Absolutely no control over the cue. I managed about an hour before it started hurting, and even if I could've gone on longer I would've ended up breaking my cue it was that frustrating. I think I managed 1 break and run, but my next longest run was like 4 balls in a row before I hit the cue ball horribly and missed. I felt week, so I jabbed and tried to add extra umph to shots. I'm an idiot. I was doing things I strongly advise against purely out of frustration. I pride my self on having squeaky clean fundamentals but I was raising up, tightening up and moving my head like I was avoiding a punch from Mike Tyson.

If anyone has gone through a similar injury I would love to know how long it took to get back into the swing of things. It's early days I know, but I could've never imagined playing so bad. For now more rest and recovery is on the cards. I will try again early next week and report back.

 

[pt109]

Take it easy, Pidge...you won't be making four balls on the break for a while.

I would suggest Walter Lindrum's nursery cannon exercise...
...freeze an object ball on the cushion...place the cue ball dead on...one foot away.
...just keep double-kissing it back to their original places...
...when it wanders a wee bit, use side to line them up again.

Do it fifty times
Sounds innocuous, but it kept Walter in stroke most of his career.

This will bring back your billiard muscles in a gentle fashion.

 

[Tramp Steamer]

Just like my fat first wife. Slow and easy, my friend. Slow and easy. :smile:

 

[Cameron Smith]

Picked up my trusty old cue today and went for a bash. Not good. I played the worst I've played in years. I tore my shooting shoulder 5 weeks ago grabbing hold of my girlfriend as she almost fell down some stairs... Should've let her fall! Today was the first day I felt up for playing and I was like a kid on Christmas day. Couldn't wait to get to the pool hall.

It started bad. I was all over the place. My arm felt like it belonged to someone else. Absolutely no control over the cue. I managed about an hour before it started hurting, and even if I could've gone on longer I would've ended up breaking my cue it was that frustrating. I think I managed 1 break and run, but my next longest run was like 4 balls in a row before I hit the cue ball horribly and missed. I felt week, so I jabbed and tried to add extra umph to shots. I'm an idiot. I was doing things I strongly advise against purely out of frustration. I pride my self on having squeaky clean fundamentals but I was raising up, tightening up and moving my head like I was avoiding a punch from Mike Tyson.

If anyone has gone through a similar injury I would love to know how long it took to get back into the swing of things. It's early days I know, but I could've never imagined playing so bad. For now more rest and recovery is on the cards. I will try again early next week and report back.

Think of this as a good experience to draw upon for coaching. It's easy to keep your head still when you are certain you'll make the shot, but when you tell a beginner to keep their head still and they have so much apprehension about the shot, it's tough for them to do.

I haven't had an injury such as yours, but I did lose much of my stroke last year and I'm only now getting back on track. I went completely back to basics and worked from the ground up as though I was starting again. Now some things are better as I've fixed a few issues I didn't realize I had before.

 

[Straightpool_99]

I've gone through the almost exact same thing, rather recently as well. I was electrocuted and fell onto my shoulder, dislocating it and doing other damage as well. I didn't get it properly checked out, which came back to bite me about a year later. Minor surgery was needed and I couldn't play for 3 months. Initial prognosis was a year or more! I was lucky.

I went through various phases:
phase 1: First week. A little bit of pain. Arm felt like it belonged to someone else. Couldn't "remember" how to hold the cue. Everything felt wrong. I was really gentle, playing only "soft shot line up" for an hour or so each day on the snooker table, as I found it to be the less stressing game and excercise.

phase 2: A couple of weeks: Weakness of stroke, some weering off line. The weering off line went away quickly, but the stroke took a bit longer to get stronger.

pase 3: Currently (a couple of months later): My cues (which I really liked) feel like crap and totally different than before the surgery. Can't get used to them and feel like I need new ones. It's like I changed "taste" in cues, lol. Otherwise my stroke is fine now, although I think it's slightly different than before. I changed the grip and wrist action a little bit, for the better I think.