Pro with worst stroke?

I

I rack balls

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Which pro do you think has a weak, crooked, ugly stroke? I have one or two in mind but I haven't seen a lot of them play so I would think there are more out there than I am aware of. I am baffled how they play as well as they do.

Eric.A.
 
allen hopkins, i wouldnt really call his a stroke more like a poke, and mike davis he drops his whole elbow.
 
juniorchamp_ktm said:
allen hopkins, i wouldnt really call his a stroke more like a poke, and mike davis he drops his whole elbow.
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Hah the two I had in mind. I had never seen Allen play until last May and I was like "Ewww". I saw Mike playing also and was wondering why they let that banger practice on the Pro tables ahah, until he ran out like a champ.

Eric.A.
 
Mike Davis.
I have no fk'n clue how he can make a ball.
At least Hopkins uses his elbow to stroke. Mike uses his shoulder.
 
Mike for sure... John Schmidt... Don't forget about Keith... I don't think his should count though. We all know the story!
 
most of the phillipinos have ugly strokes to me, even though they are some of the best in the game, efrens is loopy, bustas is bad.......i was watching luat at last years open and just couldnt believe he shot so well with his stroke and stance, it looks like a trainwreck. Allens stroke is certainly compact lol, i watched him practicing at the open and he threw 9 balls on the table and ran them like 5 times in a row in like 10 mins.......strong stuff still.
 
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEASY!

This is automatic, I will back this guy in any worst stroke contest and spot the last two.

Greg Fix, Rochester, MN.........(retired in 2000)
 
Present day, hands down, Mike Davis. The great thing about Mike is that he has such a good sense of humor about it. I pick on him all the time and he just laughs right along with me. The scary thing is that he changed his stroke to be like that. :eek: He said that he's tried numerous different strokes over the years and so far, this has been the one that works best for him.

It's gotten the man on TV, ranked in the top 4, and on the Mosconi Cup... It's definitely working for him. :p

It appears that Matt Krah is trying to capitalize on the same stroke.
 
What Keith's sidearm stroke, not pretty. It does seem to get the job done though.
As far as great strokes, I must say always loved Buddy Hall's, smooth as butter.
 
I have real bad mechanics,alot of good players cant understand how i even get around the table or make shots but i do and beat alot of guys with perfect textbook mechanics,my bad mechanics enable me to not have to work too hard to make a game,guys just pounce on me.:D
 
I've always maintained that how you get the cue tip on the Q-ball doesn't matter as long as the last few inches and follow through are straight. I think it's more important to get as low as you can in your stance and don't lift your head until the ball drops...or doen't drop. Johnnyt
 
> I concur on Allen,Luc and haven't seen Mike hit a ball so I have no opinion. Two that I can vouch for on a regional level,where they are some of the best players in Tennessee are Nick Vita and Nick "Melonhead" Hickerson. If you haven't seen Vita,put blue hair and Radar's glasses on him and he'd look like Millhouse off the Simpsons. If you've seen Melon,I rest my case. I am the same as some are with Allen,or Mike,I don't see how they run 4 balls with that overcomplicated and clumsy-looking of a stroke. With players that have strange mechanics,I have to focus on what happens out in front of their bridge hand,how they come thru the ball,and what the balls do as opposed to what their stroke arm does,along with the first 2. Another that fits this mold is Scott Frost. Even as unconventional as the Filipinos are,none of them look outright uncoordinated at the table,even as strong as he is. Others I can mention in the same vein,are Chris McDonald,a strong player from Cali back in the 80's,Paul Brienza,and Paul Potier. Other that aren't on that level are Marty Herman,and Nick Schulman,the young kid from New York that played in the 2000 U.S. Open at 16 and won a World Poker Tour event. His stroke was all over the place,but couldn't help but be a strong player living in the NY area,but apparently found his calling elsewhere. Mike Rinella was pretty weird too.

I have seen Greg Fix a number of times,and his seemed to get worse,the last time I saw him it was unbearable when combined with his pace. The first time I saw him was in the late-ish 80's,about the time the Billiards Digest article came out,and it wasn't bad,just his pace was slow. The article said he had taken a 1 yr leave of absense from IBM,as a programmer,to pursue a MPBA tour card,but I never heard if he went back or not. I'll bet if he did,and he was around when the computer boom happened,he's sitting FAT. Tommy D.
 
Johnnyt said:
I've always maintained that how you get the cue tip on the Q-ball doesn't matter as long as the last few inches and follow through are straight. I think it's more important to get as low as you can in your stance and don't lift your head until the ball drops...or doen't drop. Johnnyt
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I agree. A stroke should be judged by its efficiency, not by its conventionality. I happen to agree with those who feel that the strokes of Mike Davis and Allen Hopkins are the two least conventional strokes out there, but their strokes are efficient and repeatable, and that's what really matters.

Somewhat comparable is that some suggest that Jim Furyk has a bad golf swing, but in truth he had an unconventional, efficient, repeatable swing and that's why he is the Worlds #2 ranked player.

No doubt, in both golf and pool, there is overwhelming evidence that learning a conventional swing or stroke is the most likely path to success, but that's an entirely different matter.
 
I rack balls said:
"Which pro do you think has a weak, crooked, ugly stroke? I am baffled how they play as well as they do."

Eric.A.
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allot of great players have what some would consider bad "text book" technique. this means absolutely nothing about how well you play though. if you can make balls consistently and have a feel for how your stroke moves the cue ball than nothing else matters but knowledge of the game, practice, your health and nerves.
 
Not to get off subject here but I feel the same about the closed bridge being the only way to go. I know of plenty of great players that used an open bridge 90% of the time.

I have short fingers (but big feet and big nose, wink:) ) and have tried many times over the years to master the closed bridge. It always killed my game completely. Johnnyt
 
Poolschool said:
Mike for sure... John Schmidt... Don't forget about Keith... I don't think his should count though. We all know the story!
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i think there's too much focus on stance and stroke. keith's stance may be ugly as heck, but nobody can deny it works for him. i see the same arguments on the bike racing side. every frame manufacturer has a theory on how a frame should be designed so you're in the "right position". what's "correct" depends on the fundamentals AND the person. if i had to play keith, i'd ask him to shoot using "the correct stance"...that would be my handicap.

don
 
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As crooked as some pro strokes seem they are all straight upon contacting the cue ball. If you watch the spotted cue ball when they play a stop shot, it doesn't spin after it stops.

Some pros may snatch at the ball, but the cue follows through as far as it needs to and then they pull it back. They may jump up, but they stay down long enough to pot the balls. The guys with bad mechanics aren't as bad as you think they are. However they are more prone some errors because they may snatch a bit too quickly, or jump up too soon.

However I don't like the stroke of Pei Wei Chang. He is a great player, and with his short stroke, he is a great shotmaker. But I do believe he is limited with it. There are many spin shots that he can not play simply because he can't generate the force required with that short stroke.
 
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