The Grip

[pro-player]

I feel the grip is one of the most underrated aspects to how well a person can play. It can make all the difference in how good you hit the ball. A minor undetected change in your grip can cause you to play bad, and can contribute to someone being completly out of stroke.

What type of grip do you all play with? I grip the cue with the thumb and 3 fingers, and relax the last 2 fingers on the backstroke, holding the cue with only the thumb and first finger. This allows me to keep the cue level. The cue stays connected to the "V" which is the skin between the thumb and first finger. I notice some players hold the cue not connected to the "V" and they seem to struggle whenever they have to use a little more than normal force on the CB. I am interested in all the different types of grips players use, and how well they can serve someone who masters it. If you don't mind, please describe your grip. Thanks

 

[Optimus_P]

i'm about 5'8ish so.

i hold my cue 2-3fingers up from the bottom of the wrap w/ my thumb, index, middle finger. the ring and pinky are slighly loose so the cue is not being pulled to one side.

my thumb is on the inside paralell to my legs.

i use a standard stance, left foot forward toes pointed in the same direction as the shaft, right foot a bit back and angled to the right.

outside of just the grip.
the 3 biggest things are stance, grip, bridge. any one of those things can throw your shot off and you will never recognize it.

i think the stroke is one of the easier things to work on. but i would attribute 50+% of my misses to stance, grip, bridge.

the hard part is being consistant in all of them.

 

[bruin70]

i grip with all my fingers but loosely. at the end of my follow through, my index and middle finger have let go.

however, i use a white-knuckle clench when i'm about ready to inflict pain on the poolroom wall when i'm pi$$ed

 

[Rickw]

I don't grip. I cradle with the same finger that I cheerfully use to show someone they are #1 in my book. My thumb is pointing straight down to the floor. This allows the cue to slip through my cradle a little as I let go. I've been playing seriously for 20 years and have tried every grip, stance and bridge that I have heard about. I've been cradling my cue for the last 4 or 5 years now and I am thrilled with the way it's working. It gives me more stroke, less chatter on the ob (the ob drops in the pocket cleaner) and it prevents me from tensing up.

 

[Joseph Cues]

Rickw, you discovered the biggest "secret" in pool imo.
I bet most of the time you just let the cue slide off your craddle.
There is just no way of shooting straighter than just letting the cue glide imo.

 

[Rickw]

Took me about 15 years to figure that out! They didn't have forums like this back then.

 

[Zims Rack]

I too use a "gliding" stroke sort of!! I used to try to force the balls in, now I let the stroke, english and CB do all the work. I'm not saying I have the perfect stroke, yet, but it works well for me.

Zim

 

[Purdman]

Your grip should be consistant throughout your stroke. Not too tight, "white Knuckle" or too loose, but firmly. Use what works for you. This is just what I teach as a BCA certified instructor.
Don P.

 

[King Cueball]

Im not really sure how i hold the cue, What i do know is that it is very loose. If i had to say what type i guess it would look like efren or franciso"s I think that a loose grip helps on the follow thru. I consider myself a pretty good player ive won many tournamets but i think that almost any grip can be made to work if you watch 50 players play you will see many diffrent grips.

 

[Rickw]

King,

I agree with what you're saying. You watch the top pros and they all have something they do differently. I think they found something that works well for them and they perfected it in their own way. I think what really makes them champions is their ferocious mental focus more than anything else. I heard somebody say that all the great boxing champions have one thing in common, they all have a phenominal ability focus mentally.

 

[nbc]

Re: The hold

Dear pro player:
Your first mistake is calling it a grip, I call it a hold, because I do not even hold it, it is lightly laying on my fingers. At any time you can come up behind me and easily jerk the cue right out of my hand. The mistake all the amateurs make is they grip the cue. You grip an ax when you chop wood. You hold a bow of a violin, or a scapel if you are a surgeon.

<SNIP>


Plato...

You shouldnt even call it a hold... maybe you should call it a "lay".

nbc

 

[pro-player]

holding the cue with only the thumb and first finger.

A grip, a hold, its the same thing to me. I didn't make a mistake Plato, what are you getting at? Everyone grips or "holds" the cue in a different way, and the reason I made this thread is because I am interested in how well each of these different grips serves the player.

 

[Optimus_P]

dont listen to plato. if you read his other posts he never has anything to contribute to the conversation other then "you are wrong he is right" mentality.

 

[manlyshot]

Re: Re: Re: The Grip

Yes sir, you did make a mistake, a very big one. Live and learn. Your advice on how to hold the cue or which fingers to use was of course correct. There are more than one way to do this and many world champions have held the cue in different ways than you do.

Plato_17, let us know where you shoot pool at. I would like to see you in action some day. Athens, Georgia, isn't too far away, and I understand there is a nice pool room there.

Some veterans of the armed forces would like to meet you and get the opportunity to see what you know.

ManlyShot

 

[Optimus_P]

Plato that was the best 4 consecutive posts of babble i have heard in a long time.

try this next time.

when posting, think first about what your going to post, so you neednt post multiple times one right after the other.

also try not to respond to your own posts it shows lack of thought as i am sure your 2nd post to me was feed to you from someone else.

if a word changes how you play a sport, i think you lacked the ability to grasp the concept in the first place.

 

[manlyshot]

also try not to respond to your own posts it shows lack of thought

It also shows that it was too much bother for Plato_17 to log out and log in again as Danny D or 8-Ball Ho.

ManlyShot

 

[rackmup]

Grasp this concept if you can, with Plato and now me gone, who you gonna beat up on, what are you going to do man?

Well...allow me to chime in on this one:

First, we'll throw a big "Thank God the Moronic Jackass has left" party.

Then we will petition the Webmaster to delete all of your posts (a huge undertaking in itself.)

Seizure of your computer and the lopping off of your typing fingers might also be an option.

Regards,

Ken

 

[pro-player]

Not to throw gas on a fire, but last conversation I had with Efren a few months ago he also calls it the grip.....it's just a term, not worth making a big deal about, and I don't think it's worth calling me wrong over it....

 

[maximillion]

Can I ask one quik question and you guys can get back to the mudslinging again...

I don't grip. I cradle with the same finger that I cheerfully use to show someone they are #1 in my book. My thumb is pointing straight down to the floor. This allows the cue to slip through my cradle a little as I let go. I've been playing seriously for 20 years and have tried every grip, stance and bridge that I have heard about. I've been cradling my cue for the last 4 or 5 years now and I am thrilled with the way it's working. It gives me more stroke, less chatter on the ob (the ob drops in the pocket cleaner) and it prevents me from tensing up.

Is this the same thing as slipstroke that was talked about in Cornbread reds book?

 

[Billy Jungle]

cue grip hold cradle etc. etc.

When I learned the game one of the poolroom "oldsters" said"hold your cue like a hummingbird ,firm enough that it can't escape your control but gently enough to not "crush" it.Then make sure his beak goes all the way straight through the cueball.To this day this method has lead to success for me.Keep practicing and playing!!!