Take a look at the Side View animation near the bottom of the QMDs web site (
www.cue-md.com). This is an example of a slight elbow drop, notice the butt of the cue starts to drop slightly at the end of the backstroke and keeps dropping on the forward stroke. A QMD recording of a proper pendulum stroke would show the butt rising during the back stoke then leveling off during the forward stroke. QMD is a good tool for diagnosing various flaws you may have in your stroke. It shows you what's happening, though how to fix any problems is up to you and/or your instructor.