chefjeff said:
Ted, that is interesting. Could you elaborate on the hows and whys of your changing your physical flaws, as it pertains to goals? Did you write down your flaws and then carefully redesign your stroke or did you just happen to find out what you were doing wrong, or what? You decided not to use an instructor, but do it yourself...was that planned or did you just happen to go that way? etc.
I think this might help me (us) to find the path toward fixing physical abnormalities in my (our) shots.
Jeff Livingston
I knew my mechanics were not right because I could feel myself draw the cue stick off line. Also, when I would do a drill to check the trueness of my stroke (hard stroke using centerball along the centerline of the table, it would consistently return with right english). I could see it in a mirror at a place I used to play at and I knew the cause of the inadvertent right english was my stroke plane was out of line. Stroke plane is the vertical alignment of stroking wrist, elbow, upper arm and shoulder, as well as the same side foot.
My problem was my shoulder was outside the plane and my elbow was inside the plane. My upper arm ran diagonally across the plane.
It would seem a simple thing to change. After all, the only thing I needed to do was put my arm on plane, right? Well, it wasn't so easy.
First, I would make a change, going by feel alone. Yet still my stroke did not go straight. But I was sure I had shifted dramatically... So I videotaped myself with the adjustments and viewed the results. The amazing thing was, I'd feel like I'd made a huge change, yet the actual change would be almost imperceptable.
Then I tried various friends to monitor me. After a great deal of frustration, I gave up that idea. I found almost everyone I asked had no idea how to guide my alignment. I could not find a local pool instructor, so I decided to use a mirror at home, try to absorb the feeling of proper alignment, then test it with stroke trueness drills. I used the aforementioned centerline of the table and long straight stop shots, checking to see if I've applied any spin.
I began to observe players who had excellent mechanics. I noticed that nearly all the players who had a free and true stroke stood to the side of the cue, which put the shoulder line quite close to the cue line. This put their left cheek close to or touching their left shoulder (right handed players). Another thing I noticed is the old advice of aligning the feet at a 45* angle from the target line is wrong for modern players, who tend to bend lower than the players from Mosconi's day (when I feel that axiom was adopted). The feet should be only slightly open from the alignment of the target line, more like 15-20*, not 45*. I have the feeling my chest faces the cue, almost perpendicular to my target line. This clears my body completely out of the way and allows my arm to natually find its proper alignment.
Finally, I continue to check my alignment in the mirror. I often close my eyes and try to feel where my shoulder, upper arm, elbow and wrist fall. I make a few strokes like that, then check the mirror to see if I remained on plane.
Needless to say, it's been a tedious process. It's natural to fall back on what feels comfortable--the old way. So inevitably, under pressure I'd drift back to my previous form, or somewhere in between. Each time I'd play hard, I'd have to pull myself back to proper alignment. I can't tell you how many times I've gone back and forth. Forty years of practice is difficult to overcome.
But I need to do less correcting now. When I do go off, I can feel it right away, and I know the adjustments I need to fix it. The benefits of proper alignment are profound, though. Not only has my shotmaking improved, but I can move the cueball with much more freedom.
I will say, if you can find a good instructor, it will make the process a lot easier. In many ways I had to make my own discoveries and then implement them, which was very trying without a trained eye to watch me. Oddly, I knew exactly what I wanted it too look like, but struggled mightily to gain the feel of it. I hope this helps.
). I play mostly at Pacific Ave. Billiards in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.