scottycoyote said:
well i just got my sledgehammer today, got it off ebay used for 185 and im pretty tickled because its like brand new. Anyway, i lined up some shots where i was jumping straight over a blocking about 5 inches away and playing a hanger in the pocket. Pretty impressed with this, never used a jump cue in my life, my jumping experience has always been some 1/2 ball jumps with my playing cue, etc--i consider myself a pretty good kicker and thats what i usually rely on. So yeah i know its gonna take practice and feel, etc.......but how about some tips from the jumpers.
i using kicking and jumping myself....as there are different situations that require different things. i don't play at a pro level, but i went through learning how to jump not to long ago. i haven't perfected it, but i usually don't have a problem getting over the ball. and i usually get the intended result more so than not.
as far as tips to jumping, i'm not sure how much you know about it so...... just a few quick reminders.
make sure you're not hitting the center of the ball through the top of the ball. this might not make sense in writing. but when you have your cue elavated at the 45 degrees, make sure you're aiming to the center of the ball like you would on a normal stroke. if you hit the cue on top, it will just hit the impeding ball. this is a common mistake.
learn how to jump using the normal hand placement, and learn to how to jump like you are throwing a dart. as the regualar hand placement works well when the impeding ball is quite a bit away from the cue ball, and the dart jump allows you to jump over very close impeding balls.
to stard off with, just place a ball in the center of the table between the 2 side pockets. then put the cue ball behind that ball wherever you want it. practice jumping over that ball and scratching into the side pocket. if you want you can actually try to make the cue ball into the side pocket without touching the table with the cue ball first. this will allow you to learn how hard to hit for certain distances. also this drill will develop a straight jump, as alot of people tend to hit the cue off center, thus alot of times, you may jump over the impeding ball, but then when the cue hits the table it may swerve or "masse" to the left or right before it hits the object ball.
other than that the best tip is the same as always...........
P R A C T I C E
thanks
VAP
