Shortening Your Bridge

SpiderWebComm

SpiderWebComm

HelpImBeingOppressed
Silver Member
I've been trying shorten my bridge lately because it's pretty long and I think i can be more consistent with a position closer to the CB.

The problem is every time I slide my bridge closer to the CB, it feels awkward as hell. I have a pretty long stroke and when I get close, it feels like I'm poking the CB instead of coming through it smoothly.

Long story short.... I play a few racks with a shorter bridge but then I revert back to my old style when I get frustrated that I'm not playing as well as I should be.

For me, this is a HARD adjustment / transition to make!! Do any of you have advice on being successful with a shorter bridge? My bridge is almost Bustamante-long and it's prob unnecessary.

Let me know how to get over this hump?

Thanks,
Dave
 
SpiderWebComm said:
I've been trying shorten my bridge lately because it's pretty long and I think i can be more consistent with a position closer to the CB.

The problem is every time I slide my bridge closer to the CB, it feels awkward as hell. I have a pretty long stroke and when I get close, it feels like I'm poking the CB instead of coming through it smoothly.

Long story short.... I play a few racks with a shorter bridge but then I revert back to my old style when I get frustrated that I'm not playing as well as I should be.

For me, this is a HARD adjustment / transition to make!! Do any of you have advice on being successful with a shorter bridge? My bridge is almost Bustamante-long and it's prob unnecessary.

Thanks,
Dave
Click to expand...

Bizarre that you posted this Dave. That's my exact situation too, Verbatum.

Dave (2)
 
i have this exact issue as well and got professional help.

i wear glasses and shortening the bridge slightly changes my head position to where i no longer look through the center of the lens. I can't aim to save my life.

The solution here is to shoot with whatever bridge length you are comfortable with but make sure to have a solid follow through. The longer the bridge is, the harder it is to follow through, but if you can get a good convicting follow through down, then your stroking well and bridge length shouldn't be a factor.

That is what was told to me and it seems to be working. plus it will build one hell of a stroke.

best of luck.

btw, my bridge isn't ridiculously long either, probably in the 12-14" range.
 
SpiderWebComm said:
I revert back to my old style when I get frustrated that I'm not playing as well as I should be.
Click to expand...

So, basically, you give up before you have the chance of learning how the new bridge works.

I use at least 13 different bridges over the course of a night. They all have different purposes. In particular, the short bridge is for delicacy and presicion, while the long bridge is for power. Don't confuse which bridge is for what purposes.
 
SpiderWebComm said:
...
The problem is every time I slide my bridge closer to the CB, it feels awkward as hell. I have a pretty long stroke and when I get close, it feels like I'm poking the CB instead of coming through it smoothly.

...
Thanks,
Dave
Click to expand...

Hi Dave,

Question... in your "long" bridge (that you've been used to), do you normally slide the bridge into place? Or do you just get down on the shot and your bridge is where it needs to be?

Maybe the awkwardness is from having to slide the bridge in place and putting your body slightly out of your normal comfortable position? Just a thought...

Btw, How much closer from your normal bridge are you trying to get to the CB? 1-2 inches? Or more?

I personally don't like bridging too close. Over the years, I've noticed that as my stroke has gotten better and more repeatable, the less I'm worried about how far my bridge hand is from the CB.


Regards,
Abe - i4pool
 
i4pool said:
Hi Dave,

Question... in your "long" bridge (that you've been used to), do you normally slide the bridge into place? Or do you just get down on the shot and your bridge is where it needs to be?

Maybe the awkwardness is from having to slide the bridge in place and putting your body slightly out of your normal comfortable position? Just a thought...

Btw, How much closer from your normal bridge are you trying to get to the CB? 1-2 inches? Or more?

I personally don't like bridging too close. Over the years, I've noticed that as my stroke has gotten better and more repeatable, the less I'm worried about how far my bridge hand is from the CB.


Regards,
Abe - i4pool
Click to expand...

I play 14.1 exclusively and have been told by a lot of great players that I'm too far away from my shots and I'm not playing short-position. Bridging far, as they call it, is great for 9-ball - but crap for 14.1.

For me, I slide into CB for every shot - I don't drop on it. That's something I'm not going to change. For me, sliding into position is the most accurate way to address the CB - and it works for me. When I drop down, it feels too random.

I think I'm close to 12". If I could get down to 8" and still play well, I'd love it.

Someone else made the comment that I'm not giving myself enough time. I KNOW they're right. I was just curious to hear others' thoughts on the subject to see if there's something I could incorporate into my game that could help with the "uncomfy phase."
 
I'm trying to work through something similar...

Better players are always telling me my bridge is too long. When I shorten it, I notice my accuracy improve (especially with shots the length of the table), but I lose a lot of my stroke and have a tough time moving the cue like I want to.
 
Dave,

Is it possible that you have a bent elbow when using the shorter bridge?

When you shorten the bridge if you have a bent elbow, you will be "crowding" the cue ball with your head too close to the cue ball which can make the shot look "wrong".

Where do you measure your bridge length from?

thanks,
JoeyA
 
As you move your bridge hand forward make sure your back hand moves forward also. This might be what is causing you to feel uncomfortable
 
When you adjust your bridge, are you also adjusting your grip hand? You can't adjust your bridge hand without adjusting your grip hand also, or it will feel very odd. When you adjust your bridge hand to be shorter, try moving your grip and further up the butt of the cue (preferably so your back elbow is still at a 90 degree position at address) and see if that helps.
 
Richm said:
As you move your bridge hand forward make sure your back hand moves forward also. This might be what is causing you to feel uncomfortable
Click to expand...

Little Joe just contacted me saying the exact same thing. Truthfully, I'm pretty sure I haven't been paying too much attention to my back hand.

I'm going to play with this for a while and report back.
 
I play with a long bridge also because I cant feel the shot as well on a short stroke,but if I am a little nervous or off a little bit I will shorten my bridge and compact my stroke,If im shooting long straight shots or cinching a ball I will use a short bridge.What I am saying is if you merge it into your game then it will feel more natural rather than imposing it all at once Good Luck Spidey
 
Short Bridge like Short Skirts makes happy player.

Hey Spider, I played about 2 or three hours with little Joe at the DCC (Great guy and looking forward to seeing him this summer) and he told me that my bridge was too long so I shorten it and he was correct sir. IMO bad things can happen when you bring your arm to far back (which is what a long bridge will do), you can lose your target and your accuracy suffers big time. It felt a little uncomfortable in the beginning but when you start making more of your shots to hell with comfort and feel. Little Joe fixed me in just 3 hours! When you get down to it a short bridge with a longer follow thru is much better than a long back swing... Stay with Spider and don't look back, after all you just came from there.
 
Dave -- do I remember correctly that you sometimes use back-hand english? If so, be careful not to shorten your bridge beyond the pivot point of your shaft. If you do, then you'll over-cut shots on which you use outside english and under-cut shots on which you use inside english.
 
Change the rhythm of your stroke. Watch Buddy Hall and emulate his timing.

SpiderWebComm said:
I've been trying shorten my bridge lately because it's pretty long and I think i can be more consistent with a position closer to the CB.

The problem is every time I slide my bridge closer to the CB, it feels awkward as hell. I have a pretty long stroke and when I get close, it feels like I'm poking the CB instead of coming through it smoothly.

Long story short.... I play a few racks with a shorter bridge but then I revert back to my old style when I get frustrated that I'm not playing as well as I should be.

For me, this is a HARD adjustment / transition to make!! Do any of you have advice on being successful with a shorter bridge? My bridge is almost Bustamante-long and it's prob unnecessary.

Let me know how to get over this hump?

Thanks,
Dave
Click to expand...
 
I've been trying to do this also, but I am shortening it a little at a time. When I worked with Steve my bridge was 12"....maybe a little more. He tried to get me down to 8", but it felt like I was all scrunched, uncomfortable and it was like I was right on top of the CB (almost like I was playing a rail shot).

I've got it shortened down to 10" now and I'm not sure that I can go any shorter without being very uncomfortable.
 
The distance between the grip hand on the butt of the cue and the bridge hand holding the shaft should stay the same, unless your intentionally choking up for a certain shot. As you move the bridge hand forward and have less shaft sticking out the grip hand follows suit also moving forward the same amount. Its one of the reasons why when your stretched out over a table shooting a shot your chances of making and getting shape diminish because your holding the cue at its wrong points.
 
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