Swaying during stroke

A friend suggested that keeping your back knee locked helped stop the unnecessary movement. I tried it and found that it worked for me. Next I reviewed several videos of pros playing and found that several players tend lock the back leg when possible.

Someone else suggested paying attention to the idea that your shoulder should be still during the stroke: This helps your stroke. This too helps especially when an elevated cue. Is required.
 
walrus_3d...We must be talking about apples and oranges. You talk about "power" (which implies lots of muscle, strength and body movement)...I'm talking about cuestick velocity along a predetermined range of motion, that uses only the cue weight and timing to create whatever speed necessary (even the break). A true pendulum stroke does not require any strength, since the cue weighs 3x as much as the CB. An enormous amount of energy can be generated with just the cue. I'm not saying you cannot force the cuestick through the cb (which is what your description of power is). I'm just saying it's a lot easier and more accurate for the majority of players to let the cue do the work, instead of trying to force the shot. No offense, but your example of shifting weight to obtain more draw on the CB doesn't hold water. The CB is still gone 1/1000th of a second after contact...regardless of how you get it there. You can force the shot, or stroke the shot. Both ways work...one is, imo, much more accurate and repeatable. I'm not trying to prove you wrong, as much as trying to show you that there is an easier way, if you want to learn it. I stand by my original statement.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

walrus_3d said:
I'm going to agree with you that moving fewer parts makes you more accurate, but I'm going to disagree with you about whether having more momentum behind the cue generates more power in the shot, and thus "more action". If you stroke with draw, for instance, at 50% speed, and then shoot the same shot, same arm speed, while shifting your weight back then forward, there is a noticeable increase in the amount of backspin you impart on the cue ball without doing any more work with your arm. If increasing your arm speed up to the 90-100% range makes you lose your accuracy, then you may find that shooting at 50% with a body weight shift actually gets you the same end result with.. more accuracy. I'm not saying it's a good idea, I'm just saying it's a palatable workaround for someone who lacks the arm strength for a particular shot. That's probably why so many peope shift their body weight on the break. They want more power on a shot that still needs to be accurate.

Shifting my body weight is the way I used to power draw. Now I've learned to do it with just my stroke, but only because I've improved the accuracy and speed of my stroke once I found out what the hit was supposed to feel like. There are lots of things I'll try at the practice table that will lead to things that are useful during a match.

But thanks for telling me I'm wrong without actually disproving what I said. :)
Click to expand...
 
There was a guy named Norm (Wines?) from Ohio, maybe. He was the best player I've ever seen that would jump straight up after every shot. I saw him win a pro tournament in Greenville, SC while jumping all over the place. I played him once in Asheville and he did the same thing and never missed a ball.
 
Mitchxout...You can always find exceptions. What we teach (natural pool) is a good way to learn how to play better, for those who are struggling, or have hit a plateau. Pro players all have eccentricities in their delivery that they have overcome with longevity and persistance (sometimes many years). We're trying to help people avoid the 'years long' process of trial and error.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

Mitchxout said:
There was a guy named Norm (Wines?) from Ohio, maybe. He was the best player I've ever seen that would jump straight up after every shot. I saw him win a pro tournament in Greenville, SC while jumping all over the place. I played him once in Asheville and he did the same thing and never missed a ball.
Click to expand...
 
Scott Lee said:
Mitchxout...You can always find exceptions. What we teach (natural pool) is a good way to learn how to play better, for those who are struggling, or have hit a plateau. Pro players all have eccentricities in their delivery that they have overcome with longevity and persistance (sometimes many years). We're trying to help people avoid the 'years long' process of trial and error.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
Click to expand...

I wish I could've had the benefit of a good teacher when I was coming up. For that matter, just the internet alone would've been nice to have.

Back to the original topic-the less moving parts the better. I like the idea of video also, especially since it's so easy to do these days.
 
Locking my back leg helps.

The week and a half since I discovered this I've enjoyed the game so much more.

When I played APA, I'd go from a 3 to a 5 handicap and back, all depending on how "calibrated" my "jumping up" was.

Now I feel I can finally be consistent.
 
Mitchxout said:
There was a guy named Norm (Wines?) from Ohio, maybe. He was the best player I've ever seen that would jump straight up after every shot. I saw him win a pro tournament in Greenville, SC while jumping all over the place. I played him once in Asheville and he did the same thing and never missed a ball.
Click to expand...

Norm was a VERY GOOD player but never was a GREAT player, imo. Better than me but who isn't?
 
i sway after long plane rides, I tried to play at the M Cup this past year in the practice room, I was guessing when to pull the trigger it was so bad. I think my body was ok but I was dizzy for the whole time. that awalys happens to me after I fly a long trip.


There is a top snooker player in the UK, who sways terrrible. How he ever makes a ball is beyond me, and he is in the top 10 in the world.
 
For Dr Dave and Scott Lee

walrus_3d said:
Are you swaying side to side or front to back? If you sway back and then forward with your stroke, think of it more as a shift in body weight than swaying your upper body, yes you get more action on the shot. If you want more action on the shot. And if throwing off the line of your shot still gives you the action you wanted. I shift my weight when I break, usually, but for power draws and good follow I just count on my stroke.
Click to expand...

I'm gonna go ahead and refer back to the salient points in my original post. I'm completely not recommending shifting your weight for draw, I'm just saying it works if you don't know how to do it the right way. He'd also said he started swaying because somebody told him to do it, so I'm trying to find a reason why somebody would've told him to do it.

I learned how to power draw as a "power" shot, and shifting my body weight. Later, (like two weeks), I learned how to "power draw" as a stroke shot. That doesn't change the fact that you can sometimes get the right result the "wrong" way. I have no problem with telling people your idea of the "best" method. I have issue with telling people your method is the "right" method. Some shots need improper stroke.
 
Scaramouche said:
One of the top snooker players, Mark Selby, can't keep his head still.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc0FmA4uQII
At the beginning of this 2006 clip you will see the problem clearly.

He has been working on it, but still hasn't been cured completely.
Click to expand...

I saw a match with Mark Selby on Sky Sports when I was living in the UK; one of the commentators said at the time that (according to Selby) the sway was his way of settling into the shot, gave him a 3D look at how his stroke and shot was lined up...if you watch closely, it's a very uniform movement shot to shot, not just swaying erratically, but kind of a routine. He stops swaying when he pulls the trigger. But if you've seen him admit he's working on it, then maybe it's not so designed...?
 
Swaying side to side is bad. Moving forward into shots has been done successfully even at high level, I do not think it is a good idea though comparable to the slip stroke not worth adding to your process for the potential problems it brings.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top