Poll: Do you hold the chalk in your bridge hand or your back hand?

When chalking your cue do you hold the chalk in your bridge hand or your back hand?

  • I hold it in my bridge hand.

    Votes: 28 35.0%

  • I hold it in my back hand.

    Votes: 52 65.0%
  • Total voters
    80
JimS

JimS

Grandpa & his grand boys.
Silver Member
I've seen guys change hands.. hold the cue in their bridge hand, so that they can hold the chalk with their back hand. The idea being to reduce the amount of chalk that gets on their bridge hand, and consequently, on their cue. I like the idea.

I'm just curious how many do that.

I'm trying to remember to change hands, hold the cue in my back hand, and hold it horizontially, so the chalk dust falls to the floor and not onto the shaft or my bridge hand. It'll take a while to become habit.
 
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JimS said:
I've seen guys change hands so they can use the chalk with their back hand and reduce the amount of chalk that gets on their bridge hand, and conseuently, on their cue. I like the idea. I'm just curious how many do that.
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i hold chalk with my back hand, which happens to be my dominant hand (right hand). however, since i have a linen wrap, the chalk that gets on my hand will end up on the wrap, and since i bend so low to shoot, i end up getting chalk on my boob area...especially when i shoot for a long time (at least 2 hours)
 
I hold the chalk in my bridge hand. Yes, I hate the mess. But can't seem to break the bad habit. I strat out just putting it on the table , but before I know it , it's back in my hand. I go to the restroom and wash my hands alot.---Smitty
 
I hold it in my bridge hand...chalk once and shoot. I see people chalk 5 times in one shot and laugh about it...
 
There should be a third option,I sometimes hold it in back hand and sometime bridge hand:D
 
From my unscientific observation, it seems like most pros chalk with their bridge hand. I use my grip hand though.

Besides the chalk on the hand factor, it makes it easier to see the tip while doing it since I don't just grind away with the chalk.
 
Monto P2 said:
There should be a third option,I sometimes hold it in back hand and sometime bridge hand:D
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Me too. If I'm going to use english, I set the butt of the cue on the floor and brush the chalk on while rotating the cue (with a flat piece of chalk that I keep handy for just this purpose) chalking with my right (back) hand. For center ball hits, I chalk with my bridge hand without setting the cue down and use whatever chalk is on the table, as long as it's Master chalk and the hole isn't wallowed-out too deep. Otherwise, I'll have my own standard cube of chalk too, carrying both cubes around the table with me as I shoot.

Maniac
 
PKM said:
From my unscientific observation, it seems like most pros chalk with their bridge hand. I use my grip hand though.

Besides the chalk on the hand factor, it makes it easier to see the tip while doing it since I don't just grind away with the chalk.
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Back hand here too. I stroke the chalk onto the tip, rather than spin the cube, boring a hole into the chalk. I look at the tip while chalking to make sure every bit of it has coverage. It also lets me see when the tip is starting to glaze sooner, so I can skuff it when needed. The big drawback of how I chalk comes when the whole surface of the cube gets worn down into the paper. There's still like 4/5 of the cube, but I'll leave it on the table when I am done playing and start with a fresh piece. I seem to go through a lot of chalk this way. Fortunately it's not expensive

:grin-square:
 
I hold chalk with my back hand but only because it is my dominant hand with which I'm more dextrous.
 
Am I the only one who places the chalk on the floor and holds it with my feet and then spins the cue upside down into it?:sorry:
 
Cuebuddy said:
Am I the only one who places the chalk on the floor and holds it with my feet and then spins the cue upside down into it?:sorry:
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Those aren't pieces of chalk, those are cue cubes!:D

<------bridge hand when already shooting, back hand when getting up from my chair
 
kingwang said:
Those aren't pieces of chalk, those are cue cubes!:D

<------bridge hand when already shooting, back hand when getting up from my chair
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That might explain my needing to replace my tips 2 or 3 times during a match.;)
 
I voted for the bridge hand but the correct choice for me is both...
 
I'm right handed and i've always held the chalk in my bridge hand. It just seems natural to me.....


James
 
I do it Karen Corr style. Put the butt on the ground and dust the chalk on with the back hand.

I've tried it the other way, but it just doesn't seem natural to me.

The most important thing is to never chalk up over the table. I hate chalk dust on the rails.
 
It varies. I've never thought about why I change hands from time to time. I've never worried about getting chalk any where. It's just whatever feels right at the moment. And, this has been discussed, before.
 
Want to speed pool up bigtime? Have a rule, chalk 1 time only before each shot. Then there is nothing else to do than shoot the ball. Johnnyt
 
Johnnyt said:
Want to speed pool up bigtime? Have a rule, chalk 1 time only before each shot. Then there is nothing else to do than shoot the ball. Johnnyt
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Eh I don't think this would speed it up big time. Chalking is a great pre-shot routine. I try to follow Souquet's method of not putting the chalk down until I have made my decision of how I want to play the shot. I might chalk twice at most with this method.

By the way I chalk with my bridge hand. I'm ambidextrous though so I'm not sure how much that affects my choice :) I remember reading however that an advantage to using the back hand to chalk was the sensation of feeling the weight of the cue before every shot? Not sure if I explained that the right way but hopefully you get what I mean :)
 
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