Hi, I've been playing for about 6 years and my stroke has developed a problem where my shaft dips to the left on the forward stroke. I have looked in the mirror and saw this, and now I notice that I do it every shot, and when I shoot straight in shots and try to use center, I always spin the ball. Even when I try to control my stroke it is extremely hard to do and feels wrong. When I try to control my stroke, instead of my tip going left it goes right. I have tried different stances but nothing seems to put my stroke back in line. When I was playing better I used to stroke straight and it felt very natural and easy. I even bought the stroketrainer, but it's been 2 months and my stroke is still crooked. I saw some good instructors and they were unable to fix my problem. Does anyone have any advice in fundamentals I can try?
Problem with stroke, please help
- Thread starter LowEnglish
- Start date
LowEnglish said:
which instructors have you seen? odds are, that if they were good instructors........they have already given you the right advice.........and you're not following it properly.
thanks
VAP
Check your elbow angle. Maybe you suddenly started shooting with severe inward elbow position without even realizing it. Chances are you somehow screwed up your alignment. You could also be twisting and/or squeezing your wrist which is even worse. Try some strokes in front of the mirror. If your problem is that obvious, any decent player would immediately spot it, competent instructors even more so.
predator said:
I discovered my problem by taking strokes in a mirror. Everything is in line, and I don't twist at all. For some reason, my forearm comes up to the right on the forwardstroke, and my tip dips to the left. My problem is not very obvious to other people, my tip doesnt go sideways severely, but it is enough for me to put unwanted english and to ruin my stroke power.
I find that most stroke problems occur in your stance. That is, if you stand in a particular position it will cause you to get down over a ball in a certain way. If the way you are addressing the ball is causing unwanted English, then you make simply have to adjust your pre-shot rountine that gets you into a shooting stance.
kollegedave
kollegedave
LowEnglish said:
LowEnglish said:
i don't mean this to sound like a smartass remark......but.......if you know what you're doing....then don't do it..LOL
find your aim, address the cue ball, double check the aim, then just forget about all that, and focus in on delivering the most perfect stroke you can. one fluid excellerating motion. you'll be surprised how just focusing on the fundamentels each stroke will improve your game.
thanks
VAP
drivermaker
Banned
Check if your grip pressure is too tight, or if your grip pressure is changing at any point throughout the stroke. You might be clenching it a little tighter either on the transition forward or just prior to impact.
Also experiment with the placement of the butt in your stroking hand. Where is it in relationship to the different joints in your fingers? Do you have it set in deep toward the palm...or more toward the tips of your fingers? How many fingers are grasping the cue, all or a couple? Which ones? Some players have their pinky off the cue....others have their pinky and ring finger off the cue...others have all fingers on the cue. Experiment and try different grips or finger placements, along with the pressure to see what gives you the most relaxed and free flowing stroke through the CB.
Also experiment with the placement of the butt in your stroking hand. Where is it in relationship to the different joints in your fingers? Do you have it set in deep toward the palm...or more toward the tips of your fingers? How many fingers are grasping the cue, all or a couple? Which ones? Some players have their pinky off the cue....others have their pinky and ring finger off the cue...others have all fingers on the cue. Experiment and try different grips or finger placements, along with the pressure to see what gives you the most relaxed and free flowing stroke through the CB.
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Stroke
Could be one or more of the following:
1) Standing too straight with the cue (should be 45 degree angle)
arm would be too close to hip, and you twist or grip the cue with
your butt hand at end of stroke causing it to dip left. See you know
your arm is close to hip, so you subconciously take action to try to
prevent the cue from rubbing against your hip.
2) Your butt arm is not perpendicular to the floor (straight vertical),
and your butt hand is too far forward, which causes one to dip
at the end of a complete stroke. Many players make this mistake.
People that do this will many times look like they are pushing the cue
ball instead of stroking it. They are unsure of aiming, so they think
if they push the cueball, it will offer better accuracy ..... wrong!
3) You are not gripping the cue properly with your butt hand, and your
wrist can not break at the end of the stroke. 2 fingers and a thumb
is the proper grip, so your wrist can maintain a level stroke all the way
to the end of the stroke.
Whenever something goes haywire out of the blue, or your game goes in a slump --- ALWAYS go back to basics, and first with that is form and stroke,
making sure your stance and stroke are proper.
Could be one or more of the following:
1) Standing too straight with the cue (should be 45 degree angle)
arm would be too close to hip, and you twist or grip the cue with
your butt hand at end of stroke causing it to dip left. See you know
your arm is close to hip, so you subconciously take action to try to
prevent the cue from rubbing against your hip.
2) Your butt arm is not perpendicular to the floor (straight vertical),
and your butt hand is too far forward, which causes one to dip
at the end of a complete stroke. Many players make this mistake.
People that do this will many times look like they are pushing the cue
ball instead of stroking it. They are unsure of aiming, so they think
if they push the cueball, it will offer better accuracy ..... wrong!
3) You are not gripping the cue properly with your butt hand, and your
wrist can not break at the end of the stroke. 2 fingers and a thumb
is the proper grip, so your wrist can maintain a level stroke all the way
to the end of the stroke.
Whenever something goes haywire out of the blue, or your game goes in a slump --- ALWAYS go back to basics, and first with that is form and stroke,
making sure your stance and stroke are proper.
Thanks for all the responses. I literally have tried everything. Different grips, stances, etc. But my stroke is just naturally crooked now. When I was playing better it was straight and natural, everything felt effortless. This is driving me nuts..can some people's games just go bad and they never get it back?
LowEnglish said:
You haven't tried everything because it's not fixed. I think you said your shaft dips and goes to the left. If you have a true pendlum stroke (forearm movement only from elbow down) it will dip. That's what is being taught by many. I'm supprised all the non-elbow droppers didn't pick up on this. We'll assume that's what you do, whick is ok.
Now about the left, I'll asume your right handed. For the shaft to go left the butt end has to go away from your body, no other choice. Your arm either goes away from your body (doesn't swing straight forward) or your wrist gets inverted (opposite of bowed which turns the handle closer to your body and makes the shaft go right) or a combination of both.
The fault is very common, I see it all the time. The cure is find a good instructor (since you can't see it or find it) to help you sort it out. It's up to you from here, a trained eye finds this stuff easy.
Rod
How serious are You?
Just how serious are you about this? If you are real serious, then have a friend take a digital video of you from both sides stroking a shot, and then making the shot and email it to me at Scott_theShot@cox.net, and I will review it and try to help you. Like I have mentioned before, I have played for 43 years, and can usually spot what's wrong pretty quickly.
LowEnglish said:
Just how serious are you about this? If you are real serious, then have a friend take a digital video of you from both sides stroking a shot, and then making the shot and email it to me at Scott_theShot@cox.net, and I will review it and try to help you. Like I have mentioned before, I have played for 43 years, and can usually spot what's wrong pretty quickly.
Launching the cueball
Snapshot9: I've got a similar problem, except I sometimes launch the cueball off the table when trying to draw the ball.
I was doing ok for a while last night, shooting the long diagonal, and drawing the cueball back into the corner pocket. Went on to practice tough cuts, when my friend came over to show me this awesome draw shot he made in league play.
Well, I had to try it, and I started scooping the cueball off the table. EVERY SHOT. My friend kept fetching the cueball, and I'd keep launching it, leaving chalk marks all over the cloth.
Chalk marks on a striped ball on a "centerball" hit show I'm hitting almost a half inch below the aim point.
What changed?
Snapshot9: I've got a similar problem, except I sometimes launch the cueball off the table when trying to draw the ball.
I was doing ok for a while last night, shooting the long diagonal, and drawing the cueball back into the corner pocket. Went on to practice tough cuts, when my friend came over to show me this awesome draw shot he made in league play.
Well, I had to try it, and I started scooping the cueball off the table. EVERY SHOT. My friend kept fetching the cueball, and I'd keep launching it, leaving chalk marks all over the cloth.
Chalk marks on a striped ball on a "centerball" hit show I'm hitting almost a half inch below the aim point.
What changed?
Changed ...
Sometimes what we feel unconsciously controls what we do and we do not become aware of it until someone consciously brings it to our attention.
A long difficult draw shot, well, somehow most people think that they must strike it real hard with a downward angle to get the cueball to have more backward spin after hitting the object ball .... Is this true? No, it is not.
You are trying to 'power' the draw shot instead of using the proper techniques that will yield the best result. Similiar to people thinking a real power break is better than a pretty nornal break with good technique to it.
By trying to power the shot, you are varying from where you aimed to where you actually hit the cueball. Similiar to a batting coach telling a batter to not try to hit a homerun every swing, but to just have a nice level swing and connect with the ball.
2 shots I do not really focus on making so much as I do my stance and stroke, a nice even stroke with follow through, are a long table length draw shot and a long straight in shot with the cueball in the jaws or on the rail.
I am focused on my stroke technique being smooth and straight because I know that any variation will cause me to not get the result that I want.
I used to power break 8 and 9 ball for years, and real hard, but I did not have the consistency in my break that I was happy with, so I worked on my breaks for about 2 years off and on. I have about 6-8 breaks I can use, but I am finding myself side breaking in 8 ball to the 2nd ball from the front at 3/4 speed
with a ball made more often and table layouts not bad, and in 9 ball I am also breaking from just inside the middle diamond with straight low english on a straight line from the cueball into the 1 ball, with very good results for making balls and having a good 1 ball shot. My consistency percentage for breaking has gone up, and I can get out, so it has made me a better and more dangerous player than I use to be. You must have enough power, but more power does not necessarily make it better, technique is important too, and being able to actually do what you intended to do is very important.
Sometimes what we feel unconsciously controls what we do and we do not become aware of it until someone consciously brings it to our attention.
A long difficult draw shot, well, somehow most people think that they must strike it real hard with a downward angle to get the cueball to have more backward spin after hitting the object ball .... Is this true? No, it is not.
You are trying to 'power' the draw shot instead of using the proper techniques that will yield the best result. Similiar to people thinking a real power break is better than a pretty nornal break with good technique to it.
By trying to power the shot, you are varying from where you aimed to where you actually hit the cueball. Similiar to a batting coach telling a batter to not try to hit a homerun every swing, but to just have a nice level swing and connect with the ball.
2 shots I do not really focus on making so much as I do my stance and stroke, a nice even stroke with follow through, are a long table length draw shot and a long straight in shot with the cueball in the jaws or on the rail.
I am focused on my stroke technique being smooth and straight because I know that any variation will cause me to not get the result that I want.
I used to power break 8 and 9 ball for years, and real hard, but I did not have the consistency in my break that I was happy with, so I worked on my breaks for about 2 years off and on. I have about 6-8 breaks I can use, but I am finding myself side breaking in 8 ball to the 2nd ball from the front at 3/4 speed
with a ball made more often and table layouts not bad, and in 9 ball I am also breaking from just inside the middle diamond with straight low english on a straight line from the cueball into the 1 ball, with very good results for making balls and having a good 1 ball shot. My consistency percentage for breaking has gone up, and I can get out, so it has made me a better and more dangerous player than I use to be. You must have enough power, but more power does not necessarily make it better, technique is important too, and being able to actually do what you intended to do is very important.