I have a question about my stroke, is it possible to come back to far on the back stroke. I am not happy with my finishes in tournaments mainly due to the lack of being consistent. I am working on my pre-shot routine and I have noticed that on my back swing is not the same every time.
Stroke
- Thread starter brhawk
- Start date
Smooth transition at the end of the backswing!
This is one of those things that it would really be best to actually see your stroke before giving specific advice or comments. However, assuming that you're not gripping the cue too far back or forward, I would say in general that on your final backstroke you should bring the ferrule all the way back to your bridge. Now certainly, if you are bringing it back so far that the tip is inside your bridge you are coming back too far.
As far as the length of your backswing, that should be dictated by the length of your bridge. Although you, like all players, have a certain length of bridge that is your standard, it is necessary to alter the length of your bridge based on the requirements of your shot. You will shorten your bridge for more delicate short shots and lengthen your bridge to utilize a power stroke. Therefore, what I would strive for, rather than having the same length backswing, is to ensure that the final backswing is slow, smooth (and straight!), and that you have a smooth transition to your forward stroke. You may even want to incorporate a slight pause at the end of your backswing, like Buddy Hall and Allison Fisher.
Good luck!
brhawk said:
This is one of those things that it would really be best to actually see your stroke before giving specific advice or comments. However, assuming that you're not gripping the cue too far back or forward, I would say in general that on your final backstroke you should bring the ferrule all the way back to your bridge. Now certainly, if you are bringing it back so far that the tip is inside your bridge you are coming back too far.
As far as the length of your backswing, that should be dictated by the length of your bridge. Although you, like all players, have a certain length of bridge that is your standard, it is necessary to alter the length of your bridge based on the requirements of your shot. You will shorten your bridge for more delicate short shots and lengthen your bridge to utilize a power stroke. Therefore, what I would strive for, rather than having the same length backswing, is to ensure that the final backswing is slow, smooth (and straight!), and that you have a smooth transition to your forward stroke. You may even want to incorporate a slight pause at the end of your backswing, like Buddy Hall and Allison Fisher.
Good luck!
brhawk said:
One thing I have been taught by some great snooker players is to use a short back stroke on the majority of your shots. The longer the backstroke the more room for error, thus I only use long back stroke when I need to use a lot of power.
If you are unsure about your stroke, start watching the cue ball on your final stroke. This will help train you to hit the cue ball how and where you want.
I looked at the cue ball last for a long time before I switched to looking at the object ball. I switched because I found I was too jumpy when I wasn't looking at the object ball. However these days I can pot balls while looking at object ball, cue ball, my hand gripping the cue, the girl at the bar, while reading a book etc, etc, etc. As long as I focus on something during the entire stroke.
Cameron Smith said:
Not necessarily so...That technique is for playing snooker, not pool (although some poolplayers, like Allen Hopkins, for example, are very successful using that "punch-type" stroke). I would not want to teach that to someone, as an SOP stroke. For a Standard Operating Procedure stroke, we utilize a long backswing, to take advantage of the weight and length of the cue, to use cue speed and timing, to produce the stroke speed of the shot. A short backswing is only used, when you want the CB to travel a short distance, after contact with the OB.
Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com