taojones
Registered
the best advice i have gotten from master players is that there is a difference between hitting the ball with a cue and "cueing the ball"Folks:
After some offline prompting from some folks, I went back and reviewed some of the early descriptions of CJ's original [trainwrecked] thread on "wrists." I also reviewed some material in PJ's "What's Good about a Good Stroke?" thread as well.
Like others, I was very confused by CJ's analogy of using a hammer as the wrist action he employs during his cue delivery. To me (and others), this Just Didn't Make Sense(TM). I mean, when you use a hammer with a wristy motion, you are flicking your wrist forward, towards the pinkie finger ("ulnar deviation"):
However, most know a pool stroke, when used with its version of a wristy motion, the "flick" is towards the thumb ("radial deviation").
So I decided to try an "ulnar deviation" for delivering a cue. I think I figured out what CJ's referring to when he says "cock" and "uncock" the wrist for the delivery. (At least I think I do.)
Here's how to do it:
0. Make sure your hands are clean and dry, or if you have a hyperhidrosis problem, that you've applied powder (or a pool glove or FingerSlides) to your bridge hand.
1. Hold the cue like you hold a very light finishing hammer (or even a tack hammer). Don't hold the cue like you're holding a very substantial framing hammer or even a sledge/mallet -- remember, a light-duty hammer like that you'd use to hammer very small finishing nails or tacks. The grip is between the pad of the thumb, and the inside of the index finger next to its main knuckle (the first "fist punch" knuckle, if you will). You can elect to wrap the remainder of the fingers underneath the cue, if you like (or not, your choice -- whatever you use when you're using a light-duty hammer).
2. Get into shooting position, with your forearm perpendicular to the cue and your wrist cocked forward ("radial deviation").
3. This is where things are COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from what you're used to. To deliver the cue forward -- stay with me on this -- you are going to use ONLY YOUR FOREARM MUSCLE. No biceps. That's right, no biceps.
4. The forearm muscle you're going to use, is the same one you'd use when you have the hammer cocked backwards ("radial deviation"), and you're about to forcibly flick your wrist forward to deliver the hammer to the nail ("ulnar deviation").
5. What you're doing, is essentially using your forearm to press the cue "downwards" into your bridge hand. That's right -- you aggressively contract that forearm muscle, pushing your wrist downwards, pushing the cue down into your bridge hand -- and you'll find the cue delivers forward with no involvement of the biceps.
Yes, it's a strange way to deliver a cue, but in a weird way, it works. I played with this for a few moments, and was able to make shots like I normally would, but I found that I lost a bit of my cue ball control.
It obviously takes some practice and getting used to, and, being a one pocket and 14.1 player (precise cue ball control), I wouldn't use this unless I had a LOT (and I mean a TON) of practice. Rotation players -- who usually play to an area -- may be able to adopt this pretty quickly.
Just thought I'd share these findings with all, while the descriptions of how to do it were fresh in my head.
Thoughts?
-Sean
the ball weighs about 6 ounces and your cue about 20 , bob byrne pointed out that a freight train hitting a cue ball at 5 miles an hour sends the cue ball down the track at 5 miles per hour.
the cue already has a 3x weight advantage over the ball . it is more important to me to apply tai chi principles of skeletal mechanics than using muscle to guide the cue on the stroke.
i agree the middle finger is the ideal pivot point for the cue but i feel except for the break a wrist flick would cause more errors than any advantage to the stroke . statistics show that pro players hit about 1/2 as hard as amateur players. improvements in my game have all been made from involving less muscles to effect a stroke loosening up my back hand and allowing the swing of my forearm to be eliminated by the pivot on my middle finger.
action on the ball is more improved by a longer follow through than more force.
i suggest anyone wanting to try more wrist do the beer bottle drill (with a house cue at first)
lie the empty bottle on its side and stroke through the neck to the back of the bottle with out the cue touching the mouth of the bottle
if you can do this adding wrist your better than me for sure a level stroke with proper follow through is the way to go . that said our brain can compensate for poor form mosconi had a pronounced side arm stroke from learning young and not being tall enough to reach the table. i love to see a player with a bent wrist or extra flourish on a ball because i know he will probably miss and give me an extra inning because of his poor stance or misguided technique