Stroke target

[nataddrho]

Do you have a conscious stroke target?

Give it a little thought before answering. I do not mean the object ball or the pocket. I don’t even mean your tip position. I mean do you have a predetermined place for your hand or cue butt to end up? Some good players told me their hand into their ribcage, some say their lower thumb knuckle into their nipple, some try to squash their bicep and keep their elbow still. I personally snap the butt of the cue into the heel of my hand to prevent a life long problem I’ve had dropping my elbow too early.

What do you do? Is it something to think about if you haven’t already?

Nate

 

[MitchAlsup]

No,

And I keep my eye on neither CB or OB while stroking--I keep my eye on the line I want CB to roll down, then then unmoving head can see stroke errors versus aim errors, versus bad choice of contact point on OB wrt side-spin.

I let my stroking arm do what it pleases, as long as there is no sideways (chicken winging) motion.

 

[Oikawa]

My approach is to focus during the stroke on nothing else moving than my stroke arm. During my PSR I have payed great attention to obtaining a steady and relaxed stance such that it's as effortless as possible to stay still. Staying still is consciously measured by the field of vision not moving sideways while going down on the shot, and not moving at all once down on the shot and settled in. Focus on the OB/CB overlap staying the same is the main indication for not moving sideways.

This sort of backwards focus combined with a clear intuitive image of the shot I plan to execute lets my subconscious do the appropriate stroking motion without me getting in the way. I use my chin to align the cue towards the intended target on the OB so a tactile sensation of the cue touching the chin on a specific spot will ensure the direction of the cue stays correct, without needing to focus on a specific target on the OB once the correct aimline has been dropped in to.

So, I guess a summarized answer to your stroke focus question would be staying still and keeping the cue on the chin in the correct spot. These will ensure a straight stroke assuming everything is set up correctly beforehand.

 

[straightline]

The end of the stroke should be the target. I believe this is the secret of the superstroke set. Everyone gets into position and strokes as perfectly as possible into empty space. When faced with the cue ball, the tendency for some might be to hit the ball. While I do look at the ball, I've had better results with the notion that hitting the ball is foregone and that mentally aiming past it is as accurate as you can hit it - or not hit it as it were...

 

[7stud]

Today, I was thinking about this very topic.... because your little gadget always says my tip goes to the right at impact. I've tried to correct it, but with little success. Today, I was driving on the freeway, and I began ruminating, "If the tip is going to the right at impact, the butt must be going to the left, so I should consciously try to make the butt go to the right--therefore instead of hitting my ribcage with my hand, I should try to hit the front of my shoulder. Unfortunately, while practicing today I forgot to try it.

 

[nataddrho]

Today, I was thinking about this very topic.... because your little gadget always says my tip goes to the right at impact. I've tried to correct it, but with little success. Today, I was driving on the freeway, and I began ruminating, "If the tip is going to the right at impact, the butt must be going to the left, so I should consciously try to make the butt go to the right--therefore instead of hitting my ribcage with my hand, I should try to hit the front of my shoulder. Unfortunately, while practicing today I forgot to try it.

Even after inventing a little gadget, I still couldn't figure out how to fix what it was reporting in my stroke, which was undoubtedly true that I had the same problem as you. I tried what I thought was everything I could think of, no change in results.

The only thing that helped me was a complete change in perspective. I stopped trying to make something in-front of me "happen", and just focused on what was behind me instead. Specifically how the cue moves vertically in my hand. For every shot I think about the EXACT location the butt will touch my hand with a pendulum stroke (which may be slightly different for each shot), and it instantly fixed the steering problem I've always had. So simple.

This whole time I've been trying to push the cue forward, but the solution is to think of it in another way.

 

[sudocrushms]

On impact with the cue ball I like my back elbow to be *slightly* closed, but the follow through is different for every shot. With ideal cueing I have a pretty long follow through though.