After watching the WPBA matches on tv this afternoon, I thought I might offer a short treatise on the value having a 'finish point' for your stroke. This refers to a pendulum swing, and having your stroke end at the same place, every time (in a normal SOP shot situation). By having a place to take your grip hand to (usually either the bicep closing on the forearm, or the grip hand hitting the chest near the armpit)...which we SPF instructors call the "home position"...there are several benefits. First, your cuetip will finish the same distance past the CB every time, which is a visual aid to reinforce your stroke (once you understand and have measured your shooting template). Second, by having a home position for your grip hand, it is easily discerned whether or not you exerted too much grip pressure (seen by the flatness, turned under, rolled out wrist, or upwards slanted orientation of the knuckles). This can allow someone to self correct twisting the cue, at the last second (an unecessary and often fatal flaw in the accuracy of your stroke). Allison demonstrated this concept extremely well in her "tip of the day" today.
However, those benefits pale, imo, with the value of being able to master speed control on any table. When the brain has trained the arm to move in a range of motion that is the same every time (with the exception of tip position and swing speed), and that range of motion is based on how each player's arm works with their own body, the brain has a "static" movement to draw from, as a baseline. By training the bicep to repeat this baseline movement, the brain can then train the bicep to do this movement at virtually any speed...from a lag to a break (the two extremes in our normal stroke speed repertoire). Better yet, the brain can also, after training, decipher and subconsciously "call up" any of these speeds (we number them 1-10, because the human brain is already hardwired to use numerical scales and systems), at will, under pressure, in ONE try.
In watching the WPBA matches today, I noticed several positional errors that were, imo, due to not having a finish point for the player's stroke. I'm not saying you cannot develop this "feel" without the kind of swing process I'm describing...but I am saying that if you struggle with over or underrunning position, this kind of process could well help you learn to better control it...especially under pressure. Speed control is continually mentioned as something very difficult to learn...and I would agree that if you move your cue different ways, it would be much more difficult to train yourself. As Allison accurately stated, the stroke is all about letting the cue do the work!
So...this isn't directed at the expert players, who have, through whatever method, developed a consistent "feel" for speed control...but rather at the players who may struggle with inconsistent stroke speed, or who have a hard time when they put their stroke under pressure. Just a little 'food for thought'...:grin:
Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
However, those benefits pale, imo, with the value of being able to master speed control on any table. When the brain has trained the arm to move in a range of motion that is the same every time (with the exception of tip position and swing speed), and that range of motion is based on how each player's arm works with their own body, the brain has a "static" movement to draw from, as a baseline. By training the bicep to repeat this baseline movement, the brain can then train the bicep to do this movement at virtually any speed...from a lag to a break (the two extremes in our normal stroke speed repertoire). Better yet, the brain can also, after training, decipher and subconsciously "call up" any of these speeds (we number them 1-10, because the human brain is already hardwired to use numerical scales and systems), at will, under pressure, in ONE try.
In watching the WPBA matches today, I noticed several positional errors that were, imo, due to not having a finish point for the player's stroke. I'm not saying you cannot develop this "feel" without the kind of swing process I'm describing...but I am saying that if you struggle with over or underrunning position, this kind of process could well help you learn to better control it...especially under pressure. Speed control is continually mentioned as something very difficult to learn...and I would agree that if you move your cue different ways, it would be much more difficult to train yourself. As Allison accurately stated, the stroke is all about letting the cue do the work!
So...this isn't directed at the expert players, who have, through whatever method, developed a consistent "feel" for speed control...but rather at the players who may struggle with inconsistent stroke speed, or who have a hard time when they put their stroke under pressure. Just a little 'food for thought'...:grin:
Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
