Does anyone else stand with their feet square, shoulder width apart, and the cue ball centered? I know it's unconventional, but it seems to really improve my long, straight shots. It's not exactly a snooker stance, I think. Anyway, it works for me....thoughts?
Stance question
- Thread starter RichSchultz
- Start date
For certain shots I need to stand like that because the arthritis in my neck doesn't allow me use a regular stance. It's not a hindrance because it's become part of my pre-shot routine. It's basically a snooker stance...and those guys seem to shoot pretty accurately.
The only drawback is that my right hip sometimes gets in the way of my stroke. When I feel that happening during warm-up strokes, I just shift my right leg/hip a little.
The only drawback is that my right hip sometimes gets in the way of my stroke. When I feel that happening during warm-up strokes, I just shift my right leg/hip a little.
Are your knees bent?
The perfect stance for any cue sport below.
Learn from this guy and you can't go wrong... :thumb up:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0o7z6_nws_A
Learn from this guy and you can't go wrong... :thumb up:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0o7z6_nws_A
Cue ball centered where? You have to stroke the cue stick to one side of your body, right?
Yep, knees bent, and I get as low to the table as possible. Seems to really work great.
ball centered between where my feet are, so it bisects the angle. I'm right handed, so my elbow is out to the right, not pulling straight back, and I bend low to the table with knees bent. I know it sounds really bizarre, but I replicate it on every shot.
I also added significant knee bend to my stance several years ago. Being tall, this helped me reduce neck, back, and hamstring strain while still allowing me to keep my chin close to the cue. For more info and advice (and a demo of my stance), see:
NV D.7 - Pool Fundamentals - The Stance - from Vol-I of the Billiard University instructional DVD series
Regards,
Dave
thanks...at 44, I've already had back surgery due to degenerative discs. My surgeon told me to quit pool. That is NOT gonna happen.My stance actually puts less pressure on my back, but still, after a long tourney, I am bedridden the next day. Someone needs to invent a pool table that is taller. HA!
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Me too.
For what it's worth, I've had a bit of a chicken wing that I've been unsuccessfully trying to get rid of. It was just too ingrained in my stroke that I couldn't break the habit.
I recently got Mark Wilson's book, and it said that a common cause of that is too open of a stance, like the original poster's. Wilson recommends lining up your right toe with the cue line. I needed to pull my foot back just about 2 inches, so my stance would be more sideways, and it immediately straightened my elbow-to-forearm.
I was taught to stand back initially and address the ball exactly like the OP suggests, but then to step up into the shot like you say Mark recommends, but with the right toe (I'm right-handed) angled slightly to the right and the cue line intersecting the center of the right foot. It's almost the same stance but it seems to clear my right hip better than if the foot was pointed directly down the line.
I can't picture trying to shoot from my initial alignment, with the CB centered between my legs, bent legs or not. I just tried it. Maybe I'm misinterpreting what he is saying, but it sure didn't feel like any snooker stance I've tried. Torqued my knees out twisting out of the way, too.
mr8ball
Active member
I am 55 and have had 2 back surgery's. My Dr told me playing pool was the best thing could do to help keep in some kind of shape. I have used every stance out there and for me the snooker stance works the best when I am in pain. I kinds use the Ronnie O stance now. Being comfortable if the key to being a good player.
Being comfortable is the key to staying at the table. Staying at the table is the key to being a good player.
To me the classis snooker stance is the classiest looking stance. Not that it really matters at all, but most of us pool players look like slobs by comparison.
Thanks everyone...practicing last night, I realized I don't have a chicken-wing, per se. It's just not moving hinge-like in a 90 degree motion. Also, while the ball is centered to my feet, of course the cue is at my right hip. I think it's just one of those things you have to see. I'm a strong APA 5, so it's working ok, I guess, but could definitely improve.
I'm not sure how you could stay at the table longer than a couple of seconds standing like that without falling over. In order for your arm to come through without pulling it underneath your torso, which, later in the thread you wrote that you don't do, your upper body must be totally twisted.
If not, then you're not really standing the way you described. It's not unusual for a player to think they are doing something when they are actually doing something different. Happens all the time.