Slip Stroke/Shot:

[junksecret]

I've had a slip stroke all my life....it was never a concious effort on my part. I know it's not the most "technically" sound stroke but it's always been there. After 15 years of pool, I played only 3 cushion for a period of about 20 years and had to break myself of the habit because it was detremental for me in that game. Now that I have returned to pool...and am only now starting to find my stroke again, it's slipping (pun intended) back into my stroke.

Joe

 

[Rod]

I've had a slip stroke all my life....it was never a concious effort on my part. I know it's not the most "technically" sound stroke but it's always been there. After 15 years of pool, I played only 3 cushion for a period of about 20 years and had to break myself of the habit because it was detremental for me in that game. Now that I have returned to pool...and am only now starting to find my stroke again, it's slipping (pun intended) back into my stroke.

Joe

Ya, you never even know it happens it just does. I quit using that stroke because I don't play near as much as I once did. I think if you don't use it you loose it per-say. By that I mean your timing etc just isn't as good. I know it still happens though, I'd have to glue my hand to the cue. ha ha

Rod

 

[StevenPWaldon]

Yes it does.

I've watched this vid a bunch of times before and his hand doesn't slip on bit.

 

[Craig Fales]

Cowboy Jimmy Moore had one of the more famous slip strokes. You can see it quite well at 4:47 of this video.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=rBExQ1csXBw

In that vid his whole backstroke was his hand sliding back, however on the forward stroke it didn't. This leads me to wonder if it was intentional or not as I will never see a benefit to doing this, and in this instance would have no effect on the shot.

 

[Craig Fales]

I've watched this vid a bunch of times before and his hand doesn't slip on bit.

In these pics his hand is in the same spot.
The first is before the shot and second after.

 

[henho]

I've seen many, many good players throw the cue forward in their hand on the shot (stroke-slip). Just a few are Mika, Efren, and Santos.

 

[okinawa77]

stroke-slip

I've seen many, many good players throw the cue forward in their hand on the shot (stroke-slip). Just a few are Mika, Efren, and Santos.

I have seen Efren use a stroke-slip once in a while. I should have paid more attention to see what specific shots he used it for. I also wonder why they choose to use it for those specific shots.

I wonder it if is a situation where as they need the cue as level as possible, and their grip hand will collide with the side of the table. So, they use the stroke-slip to prevent rapping their knuckles on the table and screwing up the shot.

 

[Rickw]

In that vid his whole backstroke was his hand sliding back, however on the forward stroke it didn't. This leads me to wonder if it was intentional or not as I will never see a benefit to doing this, and in this instance would have no effect on the shot.

This is a good point. It was explained to me that a "slip stroke", the kind Jimmy Moore used, was actually just what you're describing above. His hand slides back and forth on his cue until he pulls the trigger. The cue doesn't slide through his hand once the trigger is pulled.

Many players, me included, let the cue slide through our grip after the trigger is pulled. Most only let it slide an inch or so but some let it slide considerably more. If you have a loose grip which most players use, the cue will slide a little, especially on shots where a speedy stroke is required.

I have found that it is a little more difficult to control the cue when you let it slide through your grip. You can achieve a very straight stroke this way but control can be very difficult. Also, when the distance between the object ball and the cue ball is short, it is almost impossible to slip the cue.

 

[Patrick Johnson]

Craig Fales:
In that vid his whole backstroke was his hand sliding back, however on the forward stroke it didn't. This leads me to wonder if it was intentional or not as I will never see a benefit to doing this, and in this instance would have no effect on the shot.

RickW:
This is a good point. It was explained to me that a "slip stroke", the kind Jimmy Moore used, was actually just what you're describing above. His hand slides back and forth on his cue until he pulls the trigger. The cue doesn't slide through his hand once the trigger is pulled.

It's an interesting technique (although his hand only slides back on the shot stroke, not on all the strokes). The benefit of doing it might be that your tip is assured to hit the exact contact point it's aiming at because it doesn't move away from the CB for the shot stroke "backswing". The drawback would be that you don't get any stroking distance to build up tip speed.

pj
chgo

 

[metallicarokerx]

I always thought a slip stroke was something diffrent till i saw this thread. i learned a slip stroke as when your stroking through the ball you have a grip so loose that you slip the cue through your hands as you stroke through and its used for something like with extreme top english to make the ball hit the cushion and bounce right back to the cushion.. What would that be called if its not a slip stroke??

 

[Bob Jewett]

Hi all, I'm new here and have a quick question that i hope someone can help me out with. I have read quite a bit about the old school pool players and hear quite a lot about the slip shot/stroke. I have a rough understanding of what it consists of, but could you all make it more clear for me? How is it performed? Does it give any advantages over a regular stroke? Thanks for the help....

Here are some articles about different kinds of strokes and such:

http://www.sfbilliards.com/articles/2004-02.pdf
http://www.sfbilliards.com/articles/2004-03.pdf
http://www.sfbilliards.com/articles/2005-10.pdf
http://www.sfbilliards.com/articles/2005-11.pdf

The only advantage I can think of for the slip stroke is that it may keep the stroke straighter. To me it seems easier to feel that the hand is coming straight back while it is slipping on the cue. Also, the actual physical movement back of the stick is less, so the chance to come off line is less. Of course those are hand-waving justifications; I'm pretty sure that there has not been any kind of study.

Personally, I think trying to use a slip stroke is a good way to become inconsistent for most. It is a large complication of the mechanics of the stroke. I think it is much better for your hand not to slip at all on the grip.