Unintensional english

Canadian cue

Canadian cue

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I am trying to correct a flaw in my stroke. I am consistently putting a slight amount of right english on my shots. When I am shooting balls in I dont notice it, even on long straight in shots. Where I notice it is when I am doing a lag or simply running my cue ball up and down the spots as a way of verifying my stroke. It is very consistent though, always to the same side so I know I am hitting the ball in the same place. So I am trying to figure out the best method to correct it. I must correct for it in my shots because my potting is consistent. So to correct it does one just intentionaly aim a little to the left ? Or should I be looking at my stance and alignment?
 
Video tape yourself shooting. Even a cell phone should do it. It could be you're not getting to trite center cb. You also could be curling your wrist or moving your elbow left or right during the stroke.
 
practice is how I fix it

I found I hit about an eighth inch or a little less high left. I hit something I can tell where I hit it for awhile to get rid of the problem. I'm sure it comes back and I have to tune it out of my shooting again.

I did some testing at the pool hall without telling people what I was testing. I found everyone tested from shortstops down didn't hit the cue ball where they thought they did. Interestingly, one banger that only shoots a few times a year hit the cue ball exactly where he intended every time when I tested him at my shop. He looks at the cue ball last.

Most of us are a little one sided, pocketing better cutting left or right. I thought it was probably because of eye dominance but I wonder if it is because we are not hitting the cue ball quite where we think we are so we are cutting a little thicker one way and thinner the other when we think we are hitting the object ball in exactly the same place except on opposite sides when shooting cut shots.

Hu
 
If you can't get to an instructor, get the book Play Great Pool by Mark Wilson.
 
I had a similar problem but mine was random. I practice long strait shots. A shorter backstroke and pause in the backstroke seemed to help me a lot!
 
Get a laser leveler. Put it on a tall chair so it points from one corner to across the table on the farthest corner. Find something that raises it up to about 2" above cloth and splits both center pockets. Then take a camera and place it directly behind it. Then place the cue ball and object ball in the path of the laser. Cue ball 10" from nearest corner pocket and object ball about 2/3rds to furthest pocket. Record one draw shot and try to draw back into nearest pocket. Then, a stop shot. Finally, one follow shot to pocket both balls. Then post the video on the Instructor section of this forum. You should get plenty of informative feedback.
 
Canadian cue said:
I am trying to correct a flaw in my stroke. I am consistently putting a slight amount of right english on my shots. When I am shooting balls in I dont notice it, even on long straight in shots. Where I notice it is when I am doing a lag or simply running my cue ball up and down the spots as a way of verifying my stroke. It is very consistent though, always to the same side so I know I am hitting the ball in the same place. So I am trying to figure out the best method to correct it. I must correct for it in my shots because my potting is consistent. So to correct it does one just intentionaly aim a little to the left ? Or should I be looking at my stance and alignment?
Click to expand...

It could be in your set up. You might be twisting yourself up and throwing the cue off line. My suggestion is to open up your hips a little to free up your stroke. Try by making them more perpendicular, or open, to the aim line. Also, keep both knees bent, like you're siting on the edge of a bar stool. Give your upper body room to operate. You can test this with your lag - open your hips and see if this helps your cueball in coming straight back. The snooker pic below would be an extreme, not suggesting nearly that much, but just shown so you can see what I mean.

The other thing to check is your grip. Keep a light grip throughout the stroke and make a smooth backswing and transition. Clutching the cue will result in tip movement too, especially the kind you're describing. Many players do this on power shots which is why they lose control.
 

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It could be so many things but no one will be able to tell you without video. My guess would be that you are turning your wrist slightly during the stroke and thus changing the angle of the tip but it's just a guess without seeing you in action.
 
I shoot straight up and back lags. I put a die on the middle diamond on the foot rail, with the single dot facing me so I have a very precise target. Then I try to stroke with center-ball and note the return path. My tendency is to put a small amount or right siding on the ball and it comes back 1/2 ball to 1 ball to the right of the head spot where I shoot from. I make concious adjustments on my center-ball tip-target for my stroke such that I get the straight back return path. After a few sessions of maybe 15 to 20 reps I can control the drift for a few weeks.

Dave
 
If you have the patients to practice. ( wish I did ) place the cb between 2 ob at one end of the table and try to shoot up and back through them.

Some players always initially address the cb at its base with the cue tip. There is no left or right where it touches the table. Align and practice stroke from very low on the cb and then raise your bridge hand. Aligning this way, you may instantly feel where you are going wrong.
 
Here's the easiest way to correct yourself without any gadgets. Go to a table and stand at the end of the table, if your right handed, stand at the right corner pocket, if your left handed stand at the left corner pocket. Put a object ball three diamonds out about a 1/2 inch off the rail. Put the cue ball two diamonds out, same distance off the rail. Approach the shot to shoot the object ball straight down the rail in the far corner pocket straight ahead. Do your shot routine as usual and then slowly move the tip of your cue up to the cue ball and freeze. Don't move a muscle, you should then be able to just move your eyes and look how far your tip is off the rail and then drop your eyes back closer to you and check the same distance of how far your shaft is off the rail. You will easily see if the cue stays the same distance or not. I have shown this simple little test to hundreds of people over the years and to this day, I open my routine with shooting a handful of rail shots as of course, you have to hit center and this way you can correct what's out of balance until all feels smooth from your feet, hip, stroke arm, shoulder or bridge hand. Just remember, stand up and approach your pre shot routine again and again as you don't want to try and adjust the position while down at the table after you figure out which way your holding the cue, but, I am positive your going to see that the tip of your cue is closer to the rail than farther back towards you. Good Luck.
Chuck any questions, please email me at sales@cdand.com
To show someone else while they are here looking for a cue, I do show them with a clean Jim Rempe training ball to give them a dead center target to align with.
Goold Luck
 
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Canadian cue said:
I am trying to correct a flaw in my stroke. I am consistently putting a slight amount of right english on my shots. When I am shooting balls in I dont notice it, even on long straight in shots. Where I notice it is when I am doing a lag or simply running my cue ball up and down the spots as a way of verifying my stroke. It is very consistent though, always to the same side so I know I am hitting the ball in the same place. So I am trying to figure out the best method to correct it. I must correct for it in my shots because my potting is consistent. So to correct it does one just intentionaly aim a little to the left ? Or should I be looking at my stance and alignment?
Click to expand...

The best method is to slow your back swing, and do not pause too long before back swing, if that fails put left english on every shot that you need no english or need left english, such that it is small enough to offset your Unintensional english, say you need right english, then you shoot your old normal way..
 
Thanks everyone for the ideas. Part of my practice routine (that is when I get the time) is doing long straight in shots and have become fairly consistent at them. But I suspect that I must be cheating the pocket some if I am not hitting exactly centre axis. I wonder what percent of players do actualy hit centre consistently. I guess this kinda makes a good case for always applying intentional english, that way you know at least what side of the ball you are on making your leave more predictable. The reason I mention this is because I set up two idendtical cut shots, one being mirror image of the other and when I practiced them I tried using only centre ball or a little top. I was not getting the same cueball path off the rail. I had better results if I practiced with intentional english on one side or the other.
 
I just went down to the US Open and met Mike Massey and saw his new product the Sure Stroke. His video and "device" is very simple. It is a plastic rounded piece that goes over the tip and feral on your cue. You simply place it on the end of your cue. It is designed to be slippery and if you don't hit dead on center ball, you will miss cue.

I have used it for a couple of hours off and on and I must admit, although at first I kinda scoffed, it has helped my game. It helped me to find center ball on regular shots, but also on jacked up shots. I found that unintentional english was a problem on my long shots that was causing me to miss.

So, I recommend this product for everyone that I will never shoot against!
 
By the way, the cost of the Sure Stoke was only $15. I am not sure if that was US Open pricing or not. Well worth the $!
 
seems silly to me

Canadian cue said:
Thanks everyone for the ideas. Part of my practice routine (that is when I get the time) is doing long straight in shots and have become fairly consistent at them. But I suspect that I must be cheating the pocket some if I am not hitting exactly centre axis. I wonder what percent of players do actualy hit centre consistently. I guess this kinda makes a good case for always applying intentional english, that way you know at least what side of the ball you are on making your leave more predictable. The reason I mention this is because I set up two idendtical cut shots, one being mirror image of the other and when I practiced them I tried using only centre ball or a little top. I was not getting the same cueball path off the rail. I had better results if I practiced with intentional english on one side or the other.
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Not saying you seem silly, the general idea of getting good at doing something wrong instead of getting good at doing it right seems silly. The whole idea that it isn't just as easy to hit center ball as just a touch of inside or touch of outside is wrong.

The margin of error with the least effect is hitting the ball dead center where the arc of the cue ball and tip is the least at the contact point. As you move to either side the arcs of the cue ball and cue tip compound errors. Why move off of the sweet spot of the tip and cue ball to make your errors have greater effect and make them easier to commit?

Being able to hit the cue ball where you intend to is one of the fundamentals. It is amazing how many people can't do it consistently. Until a player can hit the cue ball center ball using a soft, medium, and hard stroke they are missing balls because of a very basic flaw. No reason to move on to more advanced things until the player can hit the cue ball where they intend to.

Hu
 
Canadian cue said:
I am trying to correct a flaw in my stroke. I am consistently putting a slight amount of right english on my shots. When I am shooting balls in I dont notice it, even on long straight in shots. Where I notice it is when I am doing a lag or simply running my cue ball up and down the spots as a way of verifying my stroke. It is very consistent though, always to the same side so I know I am hitting the ball in the same place. So I am trying to figure out the best method to correct it. I must correct for it in my shots because my potting is consistent. So to correct it does one just intentionaly aim a little to the left ? Or should I be looking at my stance and alignment?
Click to expand...


The adjustment that works best would be different for everybody. I think youre on the right track though, your approach sounds good. Start with a hair to the left, then explore other possibilities if necessary.
 
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