Stroke drills

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xrbbaker

Registered
Hello -

I've been playing about 5 years. I'm an APA 4/5. I think much of what is holding me back is my stroke. I'm still not comfortable with it. I've tried everything I can think of as far as different grips, shorter vs longer bridge, snooker vs traditional stance etc.

One thing that comes close to offering me results is to hyper, Hyper, HYPER concentrate on exactly where I want to hit. This seems to pull the rest of my body to where it needs to be, etc. But not always. The other thing is a shorter bridge hand. I find the longer my back stroke the more wiggle waggle finds its way into the stroke. I like to play the 6's and 7's and I need to be able to count on hitting the shots that I have a right to expect to hit. Without that predictability I'm sunk - handicap or no. I think what happens is that I tense up a bit and or some part of my body/arm/shoulder gets into it just enough to miss when I shouldn't. I tend to be good for a 4 ball run and then miss the next shot - that I should hit. Question: are there any drills you could recommend to build and reinforce a pure stroke? I know and use the diagonal long straight shot. I'm usually pretty good for a well balanced, hand square on the table shot. I don't miss them. It's hand on the rail, or stretched, or jacked over, etc. where my stroke fails. (I know. Don't get into those spots and I won't have to worry about it!)

Thank you
 
xrbbaker...Join the club! LOL EVERYONE has trouble with shooting jacked up or over a ball, and being stretched out too far over the table. You have to have a BETTER stroke for those kinds of shots, than you do for 'normal' shots! A rail bridge should pose no problems, unless it's one of those situations where you're shooting mostly parallel to the rail, and have to figure out some kind of bridge to hold the the cue steady. If you're really struggling, a lesson with a qualified instructor (one who uses video analysis) will help you immensely. If you let us know where you live, we can steer you to someone who can help likely you. :D

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

xrbbaker said:
It's hand on the rail, or stretched, or jacked over, etc. where my stroke fails. (I know. Don't get into those spots and I won't have to worry about it!)

Thank you
Click to expand...
 
xrbbaker said:
Hello -

I've been playing about 5 years. I'm an APA 4/5. I think much of what is holding me back is my stroke. I'm still not comfortable with it. I've tried everything I can think of as far as different grips, shorter vs longer bridge, snooker vs traditional stance etc.

One thing that comes close to offering me results is to hyper, Hyper, HYPER concentrate on exactly where I want to hit. This seems to pull the rest of my body to where it needs to be, etc. But not always. The other thing is a shorter bridge hand. I find the longer my back stroke the more wiggle waggle finds its way into the stroke. I like to play the 6's and 7's and I need to be able to count on hitting the shots that I have a right to expect to hit. Without that predictability I'm sunk - handicap or no. I think what happens is that I tense up a bit and or some part of my body/arm/shoulder gets into it just enough to miss when I shouldn't. I tend to be good for a 4 ball run and then miss the next shot - that I should hit. Question: are there any drills you could recommend to build and reinforce a pure stroke? I know and use the diagonal long straight shot. I'm usually pretty good for a well balanced, hand square on the table shot. I don't miss them. It's hand on the rail, or stretched, or jacked over, etc. where my stroke fails. (I know. Don't get into those spots and I won't have to worry about it!)

Thank you
Click to expand...

Drills aren't going to help much in that area if you don't know exactly what you ARE doing, and what you SHOULD be doing, and why. Hard to fix something if you don't know what to fix.

It would help you a lot to get some lessons. If you can't do that, then get the book Play Great Pool by Mark Wilson and Donald Wardell. That book will show you what you should be doing, and how to fix various problems with your stroke.
 
Tell me how do you judge how well you execute the diagonal long straight shot?



xrbbaker said:
Hello -

I've been playing about 5 years. I'm an APA 4/5. I think much of what is holding me back is my stroke. I'm still not comfortable with it. I've tried everything I can think of as far as different grips, shorter vs longer bridge, snooker vs traditional stance etc.

One thing that comes close to offering me results is to hyper, Hyper, HYPER concentrate on exactly where I want to hit. This seems to pull the rest of my body to where it needs to be, etc. But not always. The other thing is a shorter bridge hand. I find the longer my back stroke the more wiggle waggle finds its way into the stroke. I like to play the 6's and 7's and I need to be able to count on hitting the shots that I have a right to expect to hit. Without that predictability I'm sunk - handicap or no. I think what happens is that I tense up a bit and or some part of my body/arm/shoulder gets into it just enough to miss when I shouldn't. I tend to be good for a 4 ball run and then miss the next shot - that I should hit. Question: are there any drills you could recommend to build and reinforce a pure stroke? I know and use the diagonal long straight shot. I'm usually pretty good for a well balanced, hand square on the table shot. I don't miss them. It's hand on the rail, or stretched, or jacked over, etc. where my stroke fails. (I know. Don't get into those spots and I won't have to worry about it!)

Thank you
Click to expand...
 
Couple of things...

1) To answer the diagonal long straight shot I judge it sound when I stop the cue dead on impact with no spin.
2) I THINK I picked up something last night. I have to work more on it but my wife and her lady friend have coopted the pool table as a display for pocket books in preparation for a school bingo night. Geeze... I THINK what happens is that when I contract my shooting arm I tend to pull my elbow in closer to my side than it was when I do the preshot. Keeping the bridge in place this then causes the cue tip to strike the cue slightly to the right. Again I slide back and forth nicely along a plane but then when I shoot muscles somewhere (chest/shoulder/bicep?) want to pull my arm in closer to my body. On a nicely planted shot this doesn't matter much because when I get down to shoot my arm is close to my body already. If I have to lean out and over then my arm is no longer hanging by my side. As I lean to my right to reach, the space between my shooting arm and my body grows. I let it hang nicely as gravity dictates until I shoot. Then my brain wants my arm closer to my body! Does this make sense? I have to play around with this some more, but if I can confirm this is happening I'd love some suggestions. I'd also love to know if this is typical and I'm just now noticing it. thx!!
 
Good, I was hoping this would be your answer. If you like that drill start varying the distances between the OB and CB. Another thing you can do is to draw the CB straight back, or follow it straight forward. Also varying the speed of the shots will help you see if your stroke begins to break down.

As far as you describing how you pull your arm in tighter to your body when you play some shots is something I cannot comment on without seeing.

Truthfully the only way to master those types of shots where you are stretched out over he table or in some other uncomfortable position is to take the time to set them up, practice them, and observe the results as you modify your setup.

xrbbaker said:
Couple of things...

1) To answer the diagonal long straight shot I judge it sound when I stop the cue dead on impact with no spin.
2) I THINK I picked up something last night. I have to work more on it but my wife and her lady friend have coopted the pool table as a display for pocket books in preparation for a school bingo night. Geeze... I THINK what happens is that when I contract my shooting arm I tend to pull my elbow in closer to my side than it was when I do the preshot. Keeping the bridge in place this then causes the cue tip to strike the cue slightly to the right. Again I slide back and forth nicely along a plane but then when I shoot muscles somewhere (chest/shoulder/bicep?) want to pull my arm in closer to my body. On a nicely planted shot this doesn't matter much because when I get down to shoot my arm is close to my body already. If I have to lean out and over then my arm is no longer hanging by my side. As I lean to my right to reach, the space between my shooting arm and my body grows. I let it hang nicely as gravity dictates until I shoot. Then my brain wants my arm closer to my body! Does this make sense? I have to play around with this some more, but if I can confirm this is happening I'd love some suggestions. I'd also love to know if this is typical and I'm just now noticing it. thx!!
Click to expand...
 
Thanks. I took about an hour of video today, condensing down to 18 minutes or so. One thing I noticed is that I tend to keep my wrist locked and cocked forward. When I swing back and forth in the preshot, the wrist is already cocked forward. That can't be good. I also tend to stand with the majority of the weight on my back leg. I believe that is because while I tend to shoot in a normal upright position what really feels good and natural to me is more of a snooker stance. It just feels rock solid to me to spread both legs out and lock the knees. Plus I love to get my head really down on the the cue AND back away from the cue - like sighting down a rifle. The snooker stance lets me do that. I'm going to keep fooling around with stance. I think a) I need to loosen up the wrist when upright and b) if the snooker feels good then I should use it. It's just that the snooker doesn't work for every shot so I need to be conscious of where to use it and not. and c) generally I need to loosen up my arm/shoulder when I'm upright. Down in the snooker stance I'm tight and it's usually not a soft shot. I have to learn to not bring the tightness of the snooker stance into play when I'm upright. thanks!
 
xrbbaker said:
Thanks. I took about an hour of video today, condensing down to 18 minutes or so. One thing I noticed is that I tend to keep my wrist locked and cocked forward. When I swing back and forth in the preshot, the wrist is already cocked forward. That can't be good. I also tend to stand with the majority of the weight on my back leg. I believe that is because while I tend to shoot in a normal upright position what really feels good and natural to me is more of a snooker stance. It just feels rock solid to me to spread both legs out and lock the knees. Plus I love to get my head really down on the the cue AND back away from the cue - like sighting down a rifle. The snooker stance lets me do that. I'm going to keep fooling around with stance. I think a) I need to loosen up the wrist when upright and b) if the snooker feels good then I should use it. It's just that the snooker doesn't work for every shot so I need to be conscious of where to use it and not. and c) generally I need to loosen up my arm/shoulder when I'm upright. Down in the snooker stance I'm tight and it's usually not a soft shot. I have to learn to not bring the tightness of the snooker stance into play when I'm upright. thanks!
Click to expand...

Cocked wrist is not necessarily bad...can be a real help, actually. John Schmidt cocks his wrist forward to eliminate unwanted wrist action; CJ Wiley cocks his wrist back, and releases it forward as his cue comes forward. Both these can keep your stroke laser straight, if done right. Stance is huge. A lot of unwanted side movement can be caused by crowding your cue line. Try rotating your hip line in or out to see how that affects the straightness of your stroke (you'll notice the difference right off). Then adjust your feet to keep the optimal line. It's different for everybody, depends on your build and other physical factors. It will become your "natural point of aim" stance, so that once you're lined up on the shot, you can just fall down/step into the shot and be perfectly lined up.

One trick I tried was to hold my cue at its balance point loose in my hand, allowing it to point like a compass--totally relaxed hanging arm. Then I shift my feet until the cue is along the desired cue line for the shot. I lock my right hand/cue into my hip, then step forward into the shot. This drill shows you your optimal, relaxed stance with the least resisitance from your musculature. You can tweak if from there.
 
xrbbaker said:
Thanks. I took about an hour of video today, condensing down to 18 minutes or so. One thing I noticed is that I tend to keep my wrist locked and cocked forward. When I swing back and forth in the preshot, the wrist is already cocked forward. That can't be good. I also tend to stand with the majority of the weight on my back leg. I believe that is because while I tend to shoot in a normal upright position what really feels good and natural to me is more of a snooker stance. It just feels rock solid to me to spread both legs out and lock the knees. Plus I love to get my head really down on the the cue AND back away from the cue - like sighting down a rifle. The snooker stance lets me do that. I'm going to keep fooling around with stance. I think a) I need to loosen up the wrist when upright and b) if the snooker feels good then I should use it. It's just that the snooker doesn't work for every shot so I need to be conscious of where to use it and not. and c) generally I need to loosen up my arm/shoulder when I'm upright. Down in the snooker stance I'm tight and it's usually not a soft shot. I have to learn to not bring the tightness of the snooker stance into play when I'm upright. thanks!
Click to expand...

If you can - find a local instructor to try to get some of the fundamental issues worked out.

Stance: try to spread your weight evenly between your legs and even a little on your bridge hand. Form a solid tri-pod so that if someone came at you from the side and gave you a push you wouldn't fall over easily.

Grip: Position of your wrist in the grip (cocked forward) may be restricting your stroke if its too tight or locked. Hard to tell without watching you play.

Stroke: Try to do practice strokes over the rail (right down the line where the felt of the rail meets the wood of the rail. Do full strokes and try to see if your tip goes left or right at any point of the stroke.

Stroke: Try to make it as effortless as possible. Don't muscle the shot but rather let the weight of the cue do the work. Something to try - Humm a note during your routine and see if the pitch/tone changes when your doing the final stroke. If it does you are tensing up and hitting the ball. Stay very relaxed and work on swinging the cue through the cue ball toward the object ball (and not hitting the cue ball).
 
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