Same goes for great putters. Best strokes are the 'coasters' thru impact. All the accel. takes place pretty early.
Stroke with no acceleration versus stroke with acceleration
- Thread starter justnum
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Is there a strong orbital gravitational field on a golf course?
I know for me water hazards are a magnetic influence on my golf balls.
SeniorTom
Well-known member
The same theory goes for side pockets on a pool table, they seem to be a magnet for the cue ball.
I have seen some scratches in a side pocket that you would be hard pressed to replicate with an object ball, and ball in hand.
Ah, gonna need to talk to Elon.
I wouldn't dwell on the necessity of a pause.
It does not work for me and for many others. While it may sound impossible, you might be many others.
What a player needs is a predictable and consistent stroke.
When you watch great position play in pool, many times you will see the cue ball almost " float" into the last few inches of perfect or near perfect position. You see this very consistently with great players in terms of their CB position. To me, that suggests that the cue is not "flying' through the CB at impact; rather the cue tip speed at impact is actually at the near perfect speed desired by the shooter to move that CB to the next desired position SPOT not position AREA.
Whether or not a cue needs to accelerate or not at cue ball impact should be determined by how much speed one's stroke creates from the onset of the forward motion of the cue. This, to me, is a very individual choice; some strokes hit the required cue acceleration at CB impact by speeding up, some by slowing down, and some strokes are evenly accelerated all the way through the CB from final stroke onset.
I do not think that one way is "right" or "better" than another. I believe that the key is to stroke straight through the CB to the target point on the OB, achieving the cue speed at CB impact that is the pre- determined correct speed for the given shot, with the cue continuing to a natural stop beyond the strike point on the CB.
The perfect stoke as far a speed is concerned is the stroke that achieves this goal most consistently - it may look different at times on different shooters since we are not robots.
Whether or not a cue needs to accelerate or not at cue ball impact should be determined by how much speed one's stroke creates from the onset of the forward motion of the cue. This, to me, is a very individual choice; some strokes hit the required cue acceleration at CB impact by speeding up, some by slowing down, and some strokes are evenly accelerated all the way through the CB from final stroke onset.
I do not think that one way is "right" or "better" than another. I believe that the key is to stroke straight through the CB to the target point on the OB, achieving the cue speed at CB impact that is the pre- determined correct speed for the given shot, with the cue continuing to a natural stop beyond the strike point on the CB.
The perfect stoke as far a speed is concerned is the stroke that achieves this goal most consistently - it may look different at times on different shooters since we are not robots.
There are 24 muscles in your arm and 34 muscles in each of your hands, and any one of those muscles can mess up a shot in pool, which requires you to jab a long stick at a ball within a millimeter or two of accuracy and within a fraction of a km/hr of tip speed.
Your brain develops short circuits to control a bunch of muscles at once with great effect. A single step forward takes 200 muscles - and in the millions of steps you’ve taken your brain has never messed up any made you put your left foot forward twice in a row. You’ve never taken a step forward with your right foot and had your left arm flail radically outward because some signal got crossed in your brain.
To me the concept of “smooth acceleration” is just a way to train your brain to provide a signal to your arms and hands in a way that the brain instinctively can handle, and leave the “thinking part” of your brain to worry about the next shot.
It’s the same concept as a loose grip. If you have a loose grip then it’s primarily it’s only control of the shooting arm and bridge hand that matter. If you have a tight grip, the muscles of your shooting arm/bridge hand/shooting hand are all involved. And, based on leverage, your shooting pinky (which contains the hardest muscles to actually control) ends up having and outsized effect.
I think launching my cue stick like a rocket from launch horizontally has improved some of my stroke mechanics. My sensitivity to specific phases has gone up and my 14.1 breakshots are looking better than ever.
Refining my stroke using traditional techniques, made my bad habits worse. When it comes to trick shots and artistic pool, the stroke has to be perfect. Most pool players think of perfection as a wider range because the numerous ways to run a rack.
Artistic, Trick or Carom is the most mathematically precise, with possibly Pyramid being the top of the precision hierarchy in pool or billiards.
Refining my stroke using traditional techniques, made my bad habits worse. When it comes to trick shots and artistic pool, the stroke has to be perfect. Most pool players think of perfection as a wider range because the numerous ways to run a rack.
Artistic, Trick or Carom is the most mathematically precise, with possibly Pyramid being the top of the precision hierarchy in pool or billiards.
How can you respond to this post with mentioning the push pull theory as it relates to spyrogenetics?
Any "possible" event is inevitable, with enough repetitions. Someone out there, somewhere, at some point, has gotten a Royal Flush 5 times in a row. And of course their opponents accused them or the dealer of cheating. That too is an inevitability.
The problem with volume training is the mixed results and exhaustion.
I was trying to write a learn how to slow the stroke down and learn your own body as oppose to some old slogans or sayings article.
The way to start the pool discussion is its a hobby that people can have at home. Staying home was a big deal during Covid.
Having a good pool stroke is great for
making professional connections.
Yeah. For instance those infinite apes already finished all the Shakespeare. Truly miraculous world...
Is it possible to get a internet-induced contact high??? This thread is like electronic windowpane.
Humans aren't machines. What is true from a mechanical standpoint may not be true from a biomechanical standpoint. We can easily constrain a robot to one stroke path, impossible to constrain a human to one stroke path without adding mechanical components. This is why some things are great in theory, not so great in practice.
For soft shots I tried to come to speed in the first half of my forward stroke then maintain a constant speed, zero acceleration. Multiple problems, not something my body was designed to do. My best speed and directional control was achieved when trying to slightly accelerate through the cue ball. Not something normally possible but in this case the attempt is what matters.
Afraid you lost me with the thought that coasting is the most efficient way to transfer energy. In layman's terms a moving object can be accelerating, maintaining a steady speed, or coasting. Anything coasting is slowing down from a greater speed so the energy used to achieve that greater speed is lost before hitting the cue ball. This would seem less efficient than maintaining a constant speed or accelerating until the moment of impact.
Maintaining a constant speed before impact is wasteful also. Reaching the desired speed at the
moment of impact is the most efficient use of energy. There are other considerations also. Compressed or compressing muscles provide more support and guidance than relaxed muscles. Another issue is that our arm muscles develop unevenly possibly negatively impacting the path of the cue when the arm muscles are in transition. Better for guidance to have all muscles in the arm contracting than some contracting and some relaxing.
My understanding of things anyway.
Hu
For soft shots I tried to come to speed in the first half of my forward stroke then maintain a constant speed, zero acceleration. Multiple problems, not something my body was designed to do. My best speed and directional control was achieved when trying to slightly accelerate through the cue ball. Not something normally possible but in this case the attempt is what matters.
Afraid you lost me with the thought that coasting is the most efficient way to transfer energy. In layman's terms a moving object can be accelerating, maintaining a steady speed, or coasting. Anything coasting is slowing down from a greater speed so the energy used to achieve that greater speed is lost before hitting the cue ball. This would seem less efficient than maintaining a constant speed or accelerating until the moment of impact.
Maintaining a constant speed before impact is wasteful also. Reaching the desired speed at the
moment of impact is the most efficient use of energy. There are other considerations also. Compressed or compressing muscles provide more support and guidance than relaxed muscles. Another issue is that our arm muscles develop unevenly possibly negatively impacting the path of the cue when the arm muscles are in transition. Better for guidance to have all muscles in the arm contracting than some contracting and some relaxing.
My understanding of things anyway.
Hu
Sounds weird but in almost 'stroke/swing' games its true. Old-school golf teaching said that peak swing speed was either right at or just past contact. Well, that's not true. With modern video/measuring its now clear that peak arm/hand speed happens well before the ball is hit and with longer hitters they make their arm speed much earlier than short knockers. There is a burst of speed but it happens earlier than thought. In pool the main motivator of the forward stroke is the bicep and it most likely is done well before contact leading to some form of coasting at impact. Acceleration is happening for sure but early on in the swing. Top PGA putters have been tested and all reach peak velocity well before impact. None are accelerating thru the ball.
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boogieman
It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that ping.
I think you may start to find that stroking at slow speeds is one of the things that separates the pros from the rest of us. I think it was Mark Wilson that referred to it as "pro grade topspin" and "pro grade draw." The pros are able to stroke nearer the miscue limit with much purer form than most players. Watch their balls float around. They can really put the needed spin on a ball at slow speeds. We would be smart to emulate them. It's one of the reasons they can get around the table so well. By using the vertical axis and delivering a pro grade stroke you can really get some stuff done on the table.