Shortening Your Bridge

I would say leave your bridge where it feels natural. It has a lot to do with how long your arms are in comparison to how long the trunk of your upper body is and also your vision.
Some of the BEST players in the world have a long bridge.This includes Efren Reyes, Francisco Bustamante, Earl Strickland, Ralf Souquet. Alex Pagulayan. Just to name a few.
I would say just slow down your back swing , keep your head down and stroke smoothly through the ball.. you'll be fine!
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
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If you think in terms of building a more compact stroke, you will be closer to what you want. You can practice by leaving your bridge the same for now, take the cue back slowly a shorter distance - say 4" to 6", then accelerate though the shots.

Just shoot practice shots for awhile until you get the feeling you want, then after a few hours try shortieng your bridge.

Chris
 
Spidey,

FYI, my December '08 BD article covers this topic in detail and includes some good illustrations. The article also includes an explanation of both the advantages and disadvantages of short and long bridges. As with many things in pool, the items on the list apply more to some people than to others.

Check out the article for the details,
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.

Let me know how to get over this hump?

Thanks,
Dave
Click to expand...
 
~jj~ said:
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.
Click to expand...
Can you do contacts? I've heard they're the nuts.
 
SpiderWebComm said:
I've been trying shorten my bridge ... Let me know how to get over this hump? ...
Click to expand...
Practice straight rail until you can run 50. I don't know of anyone who can do that with a long bridge. The game will force you to shorten up, if that's still what you want to do.
 
SpiderWebComm said:
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.
Click to expand...

Yeah, like Steve Mizerack's stroke :o
 
When your standing at the table with normal stance....your normal comfortable bridge distance is in place. When your in need of more cue ball movement you 'kick it out' create a longer bridge. When you using more delicate soft hits on the cue ball you shorten up the bridge distance, all things being realtive. I've told many players you never see a golfer take a huge back swing to only putt the ball 12'', same principle applies to pool shots. The more you need the more shaft stickin' out, and the opposite holds true.
 
xianmacx said:
similar to chinese water tourture.

Its on a billiard table and get a point for hitting both balls. Good players just get all three balls grouped in a corner and run 1000000000000's.
Click to expand...

Ack. Me thinks, I pass.

Maybe I'd prefer to mount razor blades on me shaft to stop long bridge/backswing instead ? In that case worst that could happen is I loose some fingers, better than shooting myself in the face which other type of practice could cause.
 
Good Point Meach

Island Drive said:
When your standing at the table with normal stance....your normal comfortable bridge distance is in place. When your in need of more cue ball movement you 'kick it out' create a longer bridge. When you using more delicate soft hits on the cue ball you shorten up the bridge distance, all things being realtive. I've told many players you never see a golfer take a huge back swing to only putt the ball 12'', same principle applies to pool shots. The more you need the more shaft stickin' out, and the opposite holds true.
Click to expand...


Therein likely lies the answer.
If a player can move the white with just angle and speed, he should. As such, a short bridge will suffice (and likely improve one's cueing).

I agree about the comment on straight-rail, this will shorten you up a ton and in a hurry. Otherwise make it pool-specific, short shot drills until it's second nature to shorten your bridge length.

If you shorten your bridge, you may notice your follow-through gets pretty "committed" and this is a good thing.

-Ivan
 
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HitHrdNDraw said:
So does the change naturally insert itself into your game?? how do you transition from what you practice to what you do in real games?? I can practice one way, but when I start playing I revert back to my old habits?
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If you practice right then you will revert to muscle memory for the setup of certain bridges in certain situations... It will basically become second nature...

-saige-
 
saige45 said:
If you practice right then you will revert to muscle memory for the setup of certain bridges in certain situations... It will basically become second nature...

-saige-
Click to expand...

Muscles don't have memories.

Whenever possible a bridge of approximately 8" is best to use as there is less chance for the cue to become mis-alinged during the stroke. Shorter is straighter.
 
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xianmacx said:
similar to Chinese water torture.

It's on a billiard table and get a point for hitting both balls. Good players just get all three balls grouped in a corner and run 1000000000000's.
Click to expand...
Actually, no. Crotching the balls was banned about 100 years ago. You might want to try to keep up:wink:.

Among other pool players who have found it useful to play simple caroms (either straight rail, in which you just hit both the other balls, or balkline in which you aren't allowed to keep the balls clustered together) are Efren Reyes, Allen Hopkins and Dallas West. Reyes and West are also pretty good 3-C players.

The control you learn from straight rail is also useful at one pocket, and is likely why Efren took to that game so quickly.
 
if it works, why change it.........just perfect it.

you will go further faster then training to relearn
 
The bridge-length is a very personal things- it depends on the length of the foremarm of the player.
I try to teach/explain it like this: The size from the point where the hand contacts the cue first is your ANATOMICAL LENGTH of your stroke. So while stroking using this naturally given distance you re not forced to move your upperarm/ellbow (pls don t start again something about ellbow blabla!).

anatomicallength.jpg

Usualy everyone is trying to do a straight stroke and to keep his cue as parallel as possible during executing the stroke. To be able to do this i say, that it is necessary to *stay with your bridge inside the area which is naturally given by the anatomical length of your arm*

Here in this picture the first stripe (to the left) should show, where my cue is contacting my bridge (where is touches my hand!)
al1.jpg

Here i m close to execute a stroke- the size from bridge (point of contact between cue to my hand) to the cueball is here about 21 cm (my anatomical length is 31.5 cm) - this distance is shown with the two red lines in this picture. The yellow arrow shows my complete anatomical length of my stroke in including finish/freeze at the end of my stroke.
alstart.jpg

And finally after i *finished* this stroke i end at the anatomical end of my stroke- and was able to go perfectly through the ball (still without droppin ellbow). The white line shows the point of contact with the cueball!
finish2.jpg


I hope i was able to explain it with my low english- it makes me crazy if i am writing and the vocabulary isn t available in english like i want :-)


At least you need to see the bridge <-----> cueball distance as a very important part of the *complete stroke procedure*. Of course there are other important things which should be named, but the topic was just about the *bridge-problem*.

lg from overseas,
always a smooth stroke for all^^

Ingo
 
Ratta said:
The bridge-length is a very personal things- it depends on the length of the foremarm of the player.
I try to teach/explain it like this: The size from the point where the hand contacts the cue first is your ANATOMICAL LENGTH of your stroke. So while stroking using this naturally given distance you re not forced to move your upperarm/ellbow (pls don t start again something about ellbow blabla!).

View attachment 133349

Usualy everyone is trying to do a straight stroke and to keep his cue as parallel as possible during executing the stroke. To be able to do this i say, that it is necessary to *stay with your bridge inside the area which is naturally given by the anatomical length of your arm*

Here in this picture the first stripe (to the left) should show, where my cue is contacting my bridge (where is touches my hand!)
View attachment 133352

Here i m close to execute a stroke- the size from bridge (point of contact between cue to my hand) to the cueball is here about 21 cm (my anatomical length is 31.5 cm) - this distance is shown with the two red lines in this picture. The yellow arrow shows my complete anatomical length of my stroke in including finish/freeze at the end of my stroke.
View attachment 133360

And finally after i *finished* this stroke i end at the anatomical end of my stroke- and was able to go perfectly through the ball (still without droppin ellbow). The white line shows the point of contact with the cueball!
View attachment 133361


I hope i was able to explain it with my low english- it makes me crazy if i am writing and the vocabulary isn t available in english like i want :-)


At least you need to see the bridge <-----> cueball distance as a very important part of the *complete stroke procedure*. Of course there are other important things which should be named, but the topic was just about the *bridge-problem*.

lg from overseas,
always a smooth stroke for all^^

Ingo
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So are you saying to do what's natural based on the anatomical length of your stroke versus conforming to a shorter bridge length with an unnatural stroke length?

Thanks for the nice post-
Dave
 
I just say: If you re taking care for the distance from bridge <---->to CB, you ll have no problem executing the stroke without dropping the ellbow. So you can use naturally given things to execute a straight stroke and go through the cueball comfortable.
So if your *anatomical length* would be 30 cm all in all, your bridge should be placed so that the cue contacts the bridge/hand at a distance about 20-22 centimetres (contactpoint cue<--->hand <----------------> tip-contacts-cueball)- so you can follow through comfortable. LIke i said, it depends on how long is your forearm.
In my opinion best way to explain, especially if you re trying to play with pendulum-stroke which i personally recommend always (please no discussion about pendulum vs. piston again ^^),

thx
Ingo
 
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...

This is a problem that can be fixed quickly with a visit to an instructor who teaches the pendulum stroke and uses video so that you can see what it is that you're doing. Because this is an old habit of yours, you should work on changing it during your practice time by focusing on it and with repetition. The more frequently you practice it the quicker change will happen, but it may take quite a while depending on how hard you cling to your old habit.

Everyone is physically different and may have their own physical limitations, so their bridge length and the length of their follow through is unique to them.

As Ratta described, when a player with a pendulum stroke is in their set position with the tip at the cue ball and their forearm perpendicular to the cue, their follow through is limited by how much their elbow will close. Likewise, the backswing is also limited by how much their elbow will open, and the length of the bridge. Obviously, if your backswing is longer than your bridge, the cue will pull out of your bridge.

Having a bridge length longer than your maximum backswing is useless and decreases accuracy unnecessarily. There are times that you will want to shorten your bridge to increase accuracy and control. You also need to reposition your grip hand accordingly to maintain perpendicular, although there are times when it advantageous to move the grip forward of perpendicular, in which case the follow through will be shortened.

Dr Dave's December '08 Billiard Digest article is a must read to understand issues surrounding bridge length.
 
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