Stroke Tempo (?)

[Tony_in_MD]

I guess there are some that would call her a robot.

Anybody watch Morra vs Alex match last night in Canadian 10 ball finals? On tough shots he had up to 13 practice strokes...medium difficulty was 8 or 9. Then if he was easy on part ball he'd have 3 practice strokes. He's a very deliberate player, so suprising he altered the number of stokes so much.

Allison Fisher had the best warm up strokes..same number of strokes, same tempo no matter the shot really.

 

[O'SulliReyes]

Anybody watch Morra vs Alex match last night in Canadian 10 ball finals? On tough shots he had up to 13 practice strokes...medium difficulty was 8 or 9. Then if he was easy on part ball he'd have 3 practice strokes. He's a very deliberate player, so suprising he altered the number of stokes so much.

Allison Fisher had the best warm up strokes..same number of strokes, same tempo no matter the shot really.

Yeah I watched it too. It seems to me that when it comes to practice strokes, there are two types of players: those who varied it depending on the shot, and those who kept the same number in any shot. I always make it a point to make the same number of strokes--I find that doing additional feathering throws off my timing.

No surprise there with Allison Fisher. Most of the top snooker players I know use the same number of practice strokes regardless of the difficulty of the shot--Mark Selby is one example. This promotes consistency.

 

[cueenvy]

Yeah I watched it too. It seems to me that when it comes to practice strokes, there are two types of players: those who varied it depending on the shot, and those who kept the same number in any shot. I always make it a point to make the same number of strokes--I find that doing additional feathering throws off my timing.

No surprise there with Allison Fisher. Most of the top snooker players I know use the same number of practice strokes regardless of the difficulty of the shot--Mark Selby is one example. This promotes consistency.

13 practice strokes is a ton....

I probably go 1 2 3 shoot mostly....on a tough shot a few more or if I'm off I'll readjust and start over. It's just my tempo...time is money. I'd never be called a slow player.

Allison was the best thing for pool. Great player...classy.

 

[SmoothStroke]

Anybody watch Morra vs Alex match last night in Canadian 10 ball finals? On tough shots he had up to 13 practice strokes...medium difficulty was 8 or 9. Then if he was easy on part ball he'd have 3 practice strokes. He's a very deliberate player, so suprising he altered the number of stokes so much.

Allison Fisher had the best warm up strokes..same number of strokes, same tempo no matter the shot really.

If pool had poster children it would be hard to argue Allison Fisher and John Morra could grace the cover.
Neither of them use the same number of warm up strokes, as you witnessed with John.

For every player that may have the same approach to the cue ball there are 1000 that do not. From the late great Willie Mosconi, Steve Mizerak, Efren and every great player to pick up a cue you can count on 1 finger who has the same count every time.

I learned quite a bit from Steve and others and one of them was, pull the Trigger when it's ready. It's not a military march, we are not using a metronome. It's a waltz, you flow and glide through a pool stroke.

Sincerely: SS

 

[ENGLISH!]

If pool had poster children it would be hard to argue Allison Fisher and John Morra could grace the cover.
Neither of them use the same number of warm up strokes, as you witnessed with John.

For every player that may have the same approach to the cue ball there are 1000 that do not. From the late great Willie Mosconi, Steve Mizerak, Efren and every great player to pick up a cue you can count on 1 finger who has the same count every time.

I learned quite a bit from Steve and others and one of them was, pull the Trigger when it's ready. It's not a military march, we are not using a metronome. It's a waltz, you flow and glide through a pool stroke.

Sincerely: SS

Michael,

My thinking is that if one gets regimented to the same # all of the time, then one might be pulling the trigger before the time is right on quite many shots.

Ya know... 1, 2, 3 pull the trigger even if it was not quite right.

What do you think about that?

Best 2 Ya,
Rick

 

[One Pocket John]

You pull the trigger when you are ready, not before, not after. You know when you released at the wrong time; there is usually a penalty to pay.

Each stroke and shot has its own tempo, timing, rhythm. If you try to keep them all the same you may as well call yourself the Tin Man and carry a can of oil.

Its' extremely difficult to repeat the same cadence, timing. Etc. It's easier to learn the strokes and let the timing happen natural. Stroke technique and repetitive practice of a few strokes will carry you through the endless variations and speed of each one, naturally, never forced.

Your delivery will be right on time whether it's a short stroke, long stroke, nip, etc. it will be on time for whatever the cue ball asks.

It's all a dance that flows through your core. You just have to learn the dance and repeat the steps of stroke technique, it's not that difficult, a very simple process, easy to learn, easy to teach.

Shane Van Boening uses so many different feather strokes, preliminary strokes, stroke tempo, rhythm and timing you can lose count in one game if you cared to keep track.

Each person creates their own style, rhythm, tempo for stroke and game play, that’s the beauty of it.

I love when I hear; I stroked it on 5 when I usually count to 6.

You release the stroke when it's ready.

Sincerely: SS

Mike, I agree with your post.

My sub conscious decides when its time to pull the trigger. There is no conscious thought as to when pulling the trigger happens...........it just happens.

Weird, I cant even tell ya how many practice strokes I take or anything the cue just shoots.

Thanks for posting.

John

 

[KissedOut]

I say this strictly as an observation, but I think that 3 cushion players at the top level tend to take more pre-strokes than is typical for pool. I have no idea why that might be, but I think it is a correct observation.

 

[Drop The Rock]

I say this strictly as an observation, but I think that 3 cushion players at the top level tend to take more pre-strokes than is typical for pool. I have no idea why that might be, but I think it is a correct observation.

Because 3 cushion requires A LOT of precision to produce high runs. Controlling 3 balls at once whiled hitting 3 rails is lot more difficult then making a ball in pool.

 

[SmoothStroke]

Michael,

My thinking is that if one gets regimented to the same # all of the time, then one might be pulling the trigger before the time is right on quite many shots.

Ya know... 1, 2, 3 pull the trigger even if it was not quite right.

What do you think about that?

Best 2 Ya,
Rick

Hey Rick

I agree with what you say, I wouldn’t teach a count.
I am sure there are people who can do it, if it works for them, that is fine.

I know guys who are considered one strokers or three strokers, they are not on the box of Wheaties.

I have a technique I use to address the cue ball and find the natural stroking motion of the swing arm, release when ready.
It's very rewarding when a student delivers a nicely timed stroke.

On the other hand I think too many warm ups could lead to the paralysis by analysis theory.

 

[SmoothStroke]

Mike, I agree with your post.

My sub conscious decides when its time to pull the trigger. There is no conscious thought as to when pulling the trigger happens...........it just happens.

Weird, I cant even tell ya how many practice strokes I take or anything the cue just shoots.

Thanks for posting.

John

Hey John
Thank you

I am with you on that, I have no clue how many I take.
It's so easy to get into brain overload while playing pool I could not imagine doing it any other way.
My head hurts if I think too much.

Michael

 

[Wheels33]

This is something I've eluded to in several of my fundamental threads. It's an important aspect in becoming a consistent player.

I believe everyone has their own natural rhythm in cueing. I teach counting techniques to players and Base the count tempo around shots that they hit perfectly. Everyone can do it. Video yourself playing and pay attention to shots you hit perfectly. Then count to a rhythm for that shot. Then count in your head when down in practise and Base it around this new tempo. It's amazing how players start hitting shots more consistently like this.

I am also a big fan of hitting as many shots as possible at the same speed, and adjusting tip placement rather than keeping the same tip placement but adjusting stroke speed. This allows you to keep a similar tempo from start to finish and again, promotes consistency in my opinion. It's now always possible, but when it is I elect for this method.

I like what Pidge is saying. I don't think he's suggesting that people become robots, it looks like the counting in practice is used to teach people how to find your own personal rhythm.

Then eventually you can play regularly at your own natural rhythm without the counting. A consistent number of warm up strokes would be a by product of that natural rhythm, not something that is regimented that has to be done before pulling the trigger.

That's the biggest visual difference I find between pros and amateurs....the pros stay within a much more consistent personal tempo.

It would be like walking....over the same distance, each person takes a consistant number of steps based on their personal tempo 80% of the time, but you don't have to think about how many steps you should take in a given distance, your gate is a by product of your natural tempo.

The other 20% of the time, you'd take more or less steps based on if you're tired or in a hurry etc...

Just like in pool...the pros stay in their own tempo 80% of the time, and then speed up or slow down 20% of the time on hangers ....or really tough shots.