Grady, I noticed that you use a very short and compact bridge length, but you are incredibly smooth. The only other player I can think of that uses such a short bridge is Allen Hopkins (who is a great player like yourself), but Allen has kind of a jab stroke. I have experimented with using a very short bridge length, but I cannot seem to be smooth. I end up violently stabbing at the cueball, and I can't seem to generate enough cue speed to get enough spin. I was wondering if you could shed some light on why your stroke is like this, and how you keep your stroke so smooth and beautiful. Thanks for your time.
Question for Grady Matthews
- Thread starter cuetechasaurus
- Start date
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I've noticed that people that have spent a lot of time on a smaller table have more compact bridges. I'm sure that doesn't apply to Allen Hopkins, I just thought it was an interesting observation. If nothing else this will serve as a bump for you cuetechasaurus.
Thanks for the compliments. Yes, I do have a short bridge but when I'm shooting good pool, my stick goes straight ahead and straight back on most shots. My follow through is the correct length. Then if I stay down and follow through, accuracy and consistency of english occur. That's about it. Good luck.
Nostroke said:
Thanks, for the trivia.
Grady is uniquely equipt with great muscle tension and response. He accelerates the cue extremely fast and straight. On some of his shots its are hard to believe he can get so much spin. I, on the other hand need a good running start to get my cue moving at all.
I've watched Grady play a lot of pool and there are three significant things I observed:
1.) His mechanics, in terms of shoulder, upper arm, wrist and bridge alignment are perfect.
2.) His right hand grip is light and his wrist hangs loose and perfectly straight.
3.) Lastly, and this is the key to the power he gets with such a short stroke, he leads the cue on the forward stroke with his right wrist bone, such that his hand lags. In other words, his wrist bends backward as he accelerates the stroke. You will see this in many great players. This allows him to accelerate the cue without tension, which in turn allows for a full release of the cue. Think of it as a short tossing motion. Do not confuse this with a "wristy" stroke. It is a lag stroke, not a flip stroke. Therefore, it is highly repeatable and very accurate. In one way or another, all the great Filipinos use a lag stroke as well.
1.) His mechanics, in terms of shoulder, upper arm, wrist and bridge alignment are perfect.
2.) His right hand grip is light and his wrist hangs loose and perfectly straight.
3.) Lastly, and this is the key to the power he gets with such a short stroke, he leads the cue on the forward stroke with his right wrist bone, such that his hand lags. In other words, his wrist bends backward as he accelerates the stroke. You will see this in many great players. This allows him to accelerate the cue without tension, which in turn allows for a full release of the cue. Think of it as a short tossing motion. Do not confuse this with a "wristy" stroke. It is a lag stroke, not a flip stroke. Therefore, it is highly repeatable and very accurate. In one way or another, all the great Filipinos use a lag stroke as well.
tedkaufman said:
Good observation. Efren doesn't do that, however.
Grady said:
I've watched Grady play many times and besides being one of the more knowledgeable players around, one other thing I noticed is how he goes thru the ball. Grady always makes a good hit on the cue ball, rarely if ever miscues. In Golf they would say he is a good striker of the ball.
Striking the ball so well gives him excellent cue ball control. Now if he could just fire them all in off the end rail....game over.
cuetechasaurus said:
Efren does, absolutely. Do a frame by frame on your DVD and you will see it clearly. The wrist bone leads the transition from backswing to forward swing.
Grady Compact Stroke
As a long time Grady fan, I must admit that I had never noticed how compact his stroke really is.
I just went back and looked at some video and can see how this shorter stroke might improve acccuracy and reduce the tendency to wobble off line if perfected with a solid a straight follow through.
I really could not see the forward wrist as mentioned here, but perhaps I missed it.
I have traditionally used a short bridge and now have something new to work on.
Grady - a question. When breaking in 9 ball or 8 ball, do you lengthen the bridge or just use a stronger stroking action with the same bridge length?
As a long time Grady fan, I must admit that I had never noticed how compact his stroke really is.
I just went back and looked at some video and can see how this shorter stroke might improve acccuracy and reduce the tendency to wobble off line if perfected with a solid a straight follow through.
I really could not see the forward wrist as mentioned here, but perhaps I missed it.
I have traditionally used a short bridge and now have something new to work on.
Grady - a question. When breaking in 9 ball or 8 ball, do you lengthen the bridge or just use a stronger stroking action with the same bridge length?
LastTwo said:
You have to watch very closely because the movement is subtle. At the change of direction, where once things stop going back, at the moment of transition, the first thing that goes forward is the wrist bone. It's something like a pouring motion. The wrist hinges back slightly, where, for an instant, the wrist goes forward and the hand (and cue) lag slightly. After that, yes, Efren releases the cue.
This move is often easier to see when viewed from behind the player. You won't see the front of the wrist bone, but you'll see the hand change angle as it starts to go forward.
Grady said:
Everybody talks about Grady's one pocket skills, but don't forget that he was a tremendous 9 ball player as well.
You should buy a copy of the 1989 Brunswick 9 Ball open if you have a chance. Grady just demolishes EVERYONE. He makes Jimmy Mataya look like a joke (when Jimmy was playing like God), he beat someone else (forget right off hand) and then gets to the hill with Nick, but Nick squeezed it out - readily admitting he had an angel on his shoulder. This was the year that Nick was winning every tournament in site. Man, just the best 9 ball matches of Grady I've ever seen!
Grady, what kind of cue did you use in that match? It was birdseye maple, had a steel joint, and beautiful floating ivory points. This was the time before break cues, because Grady and Nick BROKE with their playing cues (heaven forbid, right?).
Grady does have a very short stroke. He follows through superbly though. The only thing you must remember is that his TOUCH is on perfectly when shooting like this, because he is using zero backswing really. He is just following through on one take, and executing perfect accuracy and speed. Not an easy feet - although Grady makes it look REALLY easy. Try basically one stroking all of your shots and see if you can hit em' like Grady. Even Allen Hopkins uses short very tight strokes (moreso than Grady) and then kind of an instant follow through (looking as though he is suprising himself..LOL).
When I first started getting serious, I taped every match on ESPN I could (before I knew anything about Accu-Stats or perhaps before Accu-Stats) and studied everything about the various pros I liked (grady, nick, johnny, earl, buddy, etc). Very important when trying to improve your game. Great thread!
