Here is an excerpt from "Building the Perfect Game" entitled "Factors of Stance Mechanics". Other articles can be located at :
www.8ball.org/blackjack.htm
Factors of Stance Mechanics
by
Blackjack David Sapolis
Stance Before we can have the perfect stroke, we first need to know how to get into the proper stance. What is the proper stance? It’s different for everybody, but there are some common stance flaws that lead to problems, but a sure way to get you down on the shot while at the same time being fundamentally sound in your stance.
10 Common Stance Flaws
1) Too close to the table
2) Too far away from the table
3) Crouching too low
4) Crouching too high
5) Crouching
6) Feet too wide apart
7) Feet too close together
8) Shoulders not square
9) Stiff or rigid bridge arm
10) Instability
10 Factors of Stance Mechanics
1) The head
2) The ears
3) The neck
4) The shoulders
5) The bridge arm
6) The spine
7) The center of mass ***
8) The hips
9) The legs
10) The feet
These factors tend to add to each other. Crouching is the end result of standing too close to the table. Some players bunch themselves up into a ball mistaking muscular tension for stillness. The only thing that should move is your shooting arm, but tensing up the rest of your body to keep it still just worsens things. Others tend to extend their bodies as if they were dangling from a tree branch. Both extremes are extremely disadvantageous to our balance, or our weight distribution. Our feet being too close, or too wide apart is a direct result of uneven balance, or uneven WEIGHT DISTRIBUTION. Shoulders not being square is also a direct result of uneven balance, as we then shift our weight from our legs to our bridge arm, causing our shoulders to become tense. The shoulders should be parallel. Overall, these flaws cause instability in our stance. A solid stance means that your weight is apportioned evenly throughout your body. When in your stance, I should not be able to knock you off balance. To understand how we are to achieve this, lets look at our Stance Factors. We start at the top of our head and work our way down. Our body, to be balanced, has to follow a a line of balance. The line WILL NOT be straight, (as many other instruction manuals have told us). You will be bent at the waist, causing a curve, and your head will be tilted slightly upward (unless you look at your shoes while you are shooting) so that blows the "straight line theory" out of the water. The line I will discuss is the Line of Balance. The Line of Balance starts at the top of your head and leads to the tips of your toes. From top to bottom we will examine this line that exists for everybody, and if you don’t know where it is, don’t worry, we’ll find it! Our head sits atop our shoulders, supported by our neck, and balanced by the equilibrium which is centered in our ears. To properly balance ourselves in our stance, it is suggested that you place your ears above your shoulders at all times. The head and the neck will then have no choice but to follow. Our bridge arm is supported by the position of our shoulders. Our shoulders should be in line with our ears, and just because the bridge arm is extended, this SHOULD NOT change. Extending from the neck and down through our rear torso is our spine. The best way I know to perfectly align the spine is to put your nose, chin and sternum in a straight line. Then, line your ears above your shoulders and we have the posture that our mothers always dreamed of. This leads us down further to our Center of Mass.