Pool Made Simple – STANCE and STROKE – Finding What is Best for You

[dr_dave]

FYI, I just posted a new video that discusses and demonstrates how to find your personal best stance, allowing you to deliver a straight and consistent stroke. Check it out:

Contents:
0:00 - Intro
0:25 - Cue Pointing Trick
2:00 - Stance Fundamentals
2:47 - Testing Your Stance and Stroke
4:24 - Natural Stroking Plane
5:10 - Personal Best Stance
6:32 - Large Belly or Chest
7:34 - Shoulder Position
8:44 - Vertical Forearm
10:02 - More Info

As always, I look forward to your feedback, comments, questions, complaints, and requests.

Enjoy!

 

[Jedco]

This video should be flagged as pornographic content.

 

[dr_dave]

This video should be flagged as pornographic content.

I hope my "cleavage scene" gave you a chuckle.

 

[bbb]

dave in this segment of finding your natural stroke plane
your head is way right of the stroke line
how can that be good?

 

[Poolmanis]

View attachment 800532

dave in this segment of finding your natural stroke plane
your head is way right of the stroke line
how can that be good?

actually his thumb is below his right eye. It is okay

 

[dr_dave]

dave in this segment of finding your natural stroke plane
your head is way right of the stroke line
how can that be good?

Good point. I should have been more careful to get my vision center in the stroking plane. Regardless, the point was to find the natural swinging direction of my forearm relative to my shoulder in the crouched position. I should have made this more clear.

 

[dr_dave]

actually his thumb is below his right eye. It is okay

It is difficult to tell from a single image since we don’t know the exact orientation of my head and body relative to the camera viewing direction, but I still think this is not so important based on what I was trying to show.

 

[axejunkie]

Well done as usual sir, and the humor was a good touch.

Good that you mentioned the possibility of shoulder and neck strain...I experimented with keeping my whole arm and shoulder in line with the shot and ended up with severe shoulder bursitis. PT visits fixed the pain, and now I'm happy to have my shoulder in a similar position as yours.

 

[dr_dave]

Well done as usual sir, and the humor was a good touch.

Thank you. I'm glad you liked it.

Good that you mentioned the possibility of shoulder and neck strain...I experimented with keeping my whole arm and shoulder in line with the shot and ended up with severe shoulder bursitis. PT visits fixed the pain, and now I'm happy to have my shoulder in a similar position as yours.

FYI, I did a 3-part video series with an excellent local sports physical therapist dealing with the 10 most common physical ailments pool players face. I have experienced 8 of these 10 ailments over the years. I guess I'm lucky that way. That's one disadvantage of being tall (and old-ish). The videos can be found here:

pool physical therapy stretches and exercises​

I hope you and others find some of the stretches and exercises useful in the future (or now). Some of them helped me a great deal.

 

[Ztrac]

The lock and load was great for me. Has helped a lot so far

 

[dr_dave]

The lock and load was great for me. Has helped a lot so far

I’m glad to hear it. “Lock and Load” has also helped many of my students over the years.

 

[Bob Jewett]

Some players will hear "do what's best for you" and end up with something that feels right to them but it does not really meet the goals of the stance. They need to pay attention to those goals and make sure they have been met.

As for interfering body parts, some players use the torso as a guide during the stroke, but that will require a piston stroke like snooker players.

 

[dr_dave]

Some players will hear "do what's best for you" and end up with something that feels right to them but it does not really meet the goals of the stance. They need to pay attention to those goals and make sure they have been met.

Good point. I probably should have focused more on the stance requirements in the video, maybe by including excerpts from my previous stance videos that offer lots of advice in this regard. Thanks for the Input.

 

[Bob Jewett]

One "old school" teaching I never understood was the "see where your cue points naturally" concept. As you point out, that forces the body to be turned to a particular "open/closed" rotation that won't work for many people. I wonder where it originated.

 

[dr_dave]

One "old school" teaching I never understood was the "see where your cue points naturally" concept. As you point out, that forces the body to be turned to a particular "open/closed" rotation that won't work for many people. I wonder where it originated.

I don’t want to name names, but I have seen or heard it mentioned by quite a few instructors and players over the years.

 

[bbb]

I’m glad to hear it. “Lock and Load” has also helped many of my students over the years.

link to "lock and load " please?

 

[Island Drive]

Good point. I probably should have focused more on the stance requirements in the video, maybe by including excerpts from my previous stance videos that offer lots of advice in this regard. Thanks for the Input.

Footwork positions before your down on the shot is Key.
Walking up to the shot, I make sure my right/heel is on the shot line before I get down on the shot.
Right handed player....
I'm touching both shoe heels together, then I kick my left foot....forward&outward....and place my bridge hand on table.

 

[dr_dave]

… I'm touching both shoe heels together, then I kick my left foot …

Do you also say: “There’s no place like home.”?

 

[BlueRaider]

One "old school" teaching I never understood was the "see where your cue points naturally" concept. As you point out, that forces the body to be turned to a particular "open/closed" rotation that won't work for many people. I wonder where it originated.

Thorsten recommends something similar to that here:

Someone in the comments says he likely learned it from Ralph Eckert.

I think it's a good starting point because many amateurs don't stand correctly, and their stance is biased in favor of their eyes while their bodies/elbows aren't on the shot line. So they can't stroke straight naturally because they lack clearance and usually end up with some degree of a chicken wing.

I've always thought that Jerry Briesath's "chin lock" advice was the best for getting into a good stance because if you do it correctly, a good stance happens naturally. By forcing your head to not move, you have no choice but to get your body in place as you get down on the shot, which creates clearance automatically.

 

[Island Drive]

Do you also say: “There’s no place like home.”?

Yessir, baseline of initial body movement.

''there's no place like home base''

Cept a boat.... on Horse tooth Reservoir with friends.