Shooting with either hand

JE54

JE54

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I don't shoot very well opposite handed.
I want to be able to shoot with either hand when needed.
I know someone is going to say just start practicing that way. And I have been on a limited basis. I know practicing is the only way to do it, but with all the people on az, I'm sure there are tricks that will help.
I'd like to know what people who can shoot with either hand have done to get better at it? Any tips or thoughts would be appreciated.
 
Well really, you already know what it is, you are just going to have to start doing it with the left hand. Also, start doing most of the things you do everyday with your right hand, switch it over tot he left hand. See if that helps. Maybe working out with your left hand can also help as well.

Just a thought. Try doing and learning like you were a beginner and just start using your left hand.

Chino
 
Use your offside hand as often as possible for other things that you normally use the other hand for. Try dexterity drills like rolling coins on the fingers of that hand. When you're just sitting around get a ball and toss it and catch it with that hand. As you become more comfortable with using that hand and arm shooting pool with it will become easier.
 
Alignment is very important. So is balance.

Some players have trouble getting the proper stroke motion and wrist action, but with practice - serious practice - you can master that too.

I regularly practice 1,2,&3 rail position drills opposite handed. I don't shoot as well, but I am proficient at it if I need to shoot a shot that way in a match. That's what I wanted from learning how to shoot that way, and its more than what some people have, so I'm happy.
 
Even if you can play one rack a day, or when you get a chance to practice, opposite handed, it will help. It is actually harder than it seems. Your muscles on the opposite side are not trained at all to do what your strong side does. You might actually get a little sore when you first try switching. One thing that I did was practice my bridges when I was sitting at my desk or watching TV. It sounds funny, but it is really pretty hard to make a closed bridge especially. Also, try to have some confidence. It will be hard because you will feel like a beginner, but stick with it. There are certain shots that come up over and over again that you can shoot opposite handed, maybe figure those out and shoot those over and over again.

Sarah
 
chin0 said:
Just a thought. Try doing and learning like you were a beginner and just start using your left hand.

Chino
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That's basically it. You have to change everything around. Your left leg becomes your back leg, and right leg steps forward. You have to aligne all shots to the left hand side of your body instead of the right. It's essentially the same as a boxer changing to a southpaw stance. Right hand jabs and a left hand cross.
 
Sorry, I thought this thread was about shooting guns - lol - I'm old, I'll try to read ( and comprehend ) better next time.

I'm kinda surprised you guy's didn't have a little fun with me, I deserved it !!
 
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Be careful of your eye alignment, you need to have the same sight picture either hand. You will still be aiming with your dominant eye, that's nature. So in order to get your eye position, the same your body may be positioned a little differently.
 
Dedicate Time

I use to take a half hour of my practice time and do everything left handed, included breaking. I actually had a break and run one time. Once you get use to lining up and stroking it gets much easier. You just have to stick with it and concentrate a lot on every shot. Good luck!
 
This is what helped me get much better left handed. I had one of my pool playing buddies to play entire games only left handed. I was better then him right handed and he was better then me left handed. After a few weeks of this I caught up and started to beat him southpaw. We wouldn't play more then 3 or 4 games in a night but after awhile when playing right handed it became very normal to switch hands on shots that you would need a bridge for.:cool:
 
JE54 said:
I don't shoot very well opposite handed.
I want to be able to shoot with either hand when needed.
I know someone is going to say just start practicing that way. And I have been on a limited basis. I know practicing is the only way to do it, but with all the people on az, I'm sure there are tricks that will help.
I'd like to know what people who can shoot with either hand have done to get better at it? Any tips or thoughts would be appreciated.
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i have the best advice you'll ever get, and it's free, lucky you.

first, i seriously have NO idea why they recommend so many times on accustat tapes to learn to shoot opposite handed. i think opposite handed is sorta strong, but only if you show a natural inclination toward it from the beginning, many people don't, and thus i would say dont waste your time in that case. all these champions tell you to work on opposite hand shooting, but thats because it came easy to them, people must understand that.

second, the perfectly acceptable solution is to get really good with the bridge. every shot you take with the bridge you'll get better, and get this, you can reach ANY shot with it (not true with oppo hand) and there are literally just no drawbacks whatsoever with respect to opposite handed with the bridge, excpet maybe if a place doesnt have a bridge, but then just get your own and that is not a drawback now either.

third, get a cue extension. this will help keep your normal stroke on some shots you may have wanted to use your opposite hand or the bridge.

fourth, you will never get better advice than this, and the point of this post really is that for each 30 minutes you spend practicing with your opposite hand vs 30 minutes you spend practicing with the bridge, i think the average player will gain FAR more dividends with the bridge practice, there is just no doubt in my mind. the reason people dont do it, is cus they see champions shoot opposite handed and they want to emulate them. we should be trying to get better, not trying to copy somebody.
 
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Someone posted this recently in another thread, and I happen to agree completely.

NEVER shoot side pocket shots, break shots, etc. with your opposite hand. Practice only shots where you would actually use the off hand in a game situation. i.e. when the cue ball is near the long cushion, and the OB is roughly parallel to that position. For righties, it will be the right long cushion, as seen from the breaking end of the table. For lefties, it will be the left long cushion.

NEVER stretch with your opposite hand, and never bridge over a ball with it. That's what the bridge is for.

The zone that you can't reach with your strong hand is actually pretty small, so only work on shots that can't be reached with your strong hand, as those are the only ones you'll ever use.

Also, I agree that learning to shoot with the bridge is a great idea; there are many shots that can't be reached with either hand.
 
When I was developing my left handed game many years ago, I tried something I don't hear many people do.

Since my main practice and competition was mostly on the 9 foot tables, I would always shoot right handed. But whenever I would play in bars, I would shoot lefty. This worked out good because in the bars I went to, they didn't have real tough players. My opposite handed play would even things up. It didn't last though. After a while, I got enough confidence in my left handed game that I felt just as strong with either hand. This was only on the bar tables - my big table game was almost exclusively right handed.

As someone mentioned earlier, playing the opposite hand is just for novelty sake. I took it up only because at the time I wanted to learn all the "gimmick" games - opposite hand, one hand, one hand jacked up, behind the back, you name it. Back in the old days, some interesting matchups were developed from such games. I remember Keith McCready was one of the best at this.
 
Personally, I believe that shooting with either hand is an asset/advantage to some extent but not necessary and neither does it possess any superiority over one-handed; one of the reasons we have rests (bridges) and many are quite good at (especially snooker players).
 
As a young man, when I was learning, the man that taught me (we'll leave that out of this post) had me run 2 racks left handed, 2 with the crutch, 2 without touching the table..etc..All the while sitting back and having a drink or two with me as the entertainment.

Now that I'm back and trying to put it all back together, I'm going to have to agree whole heartedly with 'the420trooper' when he said

"The zone that you can't reach with your strong hand is actually pretty small, so only work on shots that can't be reached with your strong hand, as those are the only ones you'll ever use."

I'm older and wiser and don't put myself in situations that I have to shoot a whole game opposite. As a result, I've been practicing the long right rail shots left handed. Don't get me wrong, all the other comments are truly valid. This is just what I've found with MY game.

Just my 2 cents.

Good Luck and Good Racks!

Mattie
 
mattiefingaz said:
I'm older and wiser and don't put myself in situations that I have to shoot a whole game opposite. As a result, I've been practicing the long right rail shots left handed. Don't get me wrong, all the other comments are truly valid. This is just what I've found with MY game.
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As stated earlier, that both handed is a great ASSET but not necessary. Players with excellent bridging seem to be far better then opposite handed, IMHO, as noticed. Also, I've yet to find a snooker player both handed, yet there are several pool players; obviously there's a valid reason. I, for one, am an excellent bridge (rest) player than most both handed and a right handed at best (from snooker upbringing); one of the many reasons why I can play the bridge better than using opposite hands.
 
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JE54 said:
I don't shoot very well opposite handed.
I want to be able to shoot with either hand when needed.
I know someone is going to say just start practicing that way. And I have been on a limited basis. I know practicing is the only way to do it, but with all the people on az, I'm sure there are tricks that will help.
I'd like to know what people who can shoot with either hand have done to get better at it? Any tips or thoughts would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

I played exclusively with my opposite hand for about 5 hours. After 5 hours I could make simple opposite hand pots.

Still have trouble putting a lot of screw on the white.
JoeyA
 
I appreciate all the input.

Any thoughts on using the bridge or one handed ?
 
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