Useful to choke up on cue to limit cue ball travel?

N

newcuer

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Is it at times useful to choke up on the cue to limit cue ball travel for positional reasons?

I find myself at times deaccelerating my stroke (which of course results in a lousy outcome) when trying to limit the cue ball's travel. I was thinking perhaps of shortening my bridge length (choking up) a good deal for these type of shots (to avoid the deacceleration problem). Thoughts?
 
newcuer said:
Is it at times useful to choke up on the cue to limit cue ball travel for positional reasons?

I find myself at times deaccelerating my stroke (which of course results in a lousy outcome) when trying to limit the cue ball's travel. I was thinking perhaps of shortening my bridge length (choking up) a good deal for these type of shots (to avoid the deacceleration problem). Thoughts?
Click to expand...
yes, this is the way to do it. Generally, Longer stroke=more power, less accuracy
Shorter stroke=less power, higher accuracy. Wiktor zielinski did what you are talking about a few times last night at the puerto rico open against mario He. For fine touch safeties, he shortened his bridge way up. I took a lesson with allison fisher over the summer and she taught me this method as well. Just make sure that when you shorten up your bridge, you also do the same with the hand holding the butt of the cue.
 
If handle hand and bridge hand distance are lets say (example only) 36'' apart.
Your bridge distance from the cue ball lets say is 10''.

If you make your bridge distance 5'' shorter, your handle hand should also move forward 5''.
 
Yes. Its like choking down on a golf club or choking up on a baseball bat. You are shortening the lever/tool thus reducing the amount of juice you can generate. Shorter grip/bridge can also be very accurate.
 
Holding at the balance gives your the greatest control over the power in the hit if you wanted the ball to move only say a 1/4 inch
Much easier to do than when the hand is further back on the butt


Carom players will use this type of grip on most shots , not so much 3c but the small games
 
You are spot on that the key to soft touch shots is a very, very short swing with a very, very slow moving cue stick. You don't want your cue stick to move. You want it to drift. But you're right, by shortening the swing you can still shoot with confidence without over-hitting.

One difference though is that I don't shorten my bridge or choke up myself. I generally just take a 2-3 inch backswing. Some people don't realize how far back they are drawing their cue and they need to bridge 3" away to force themselves not to pull back 8" and crush the shot. But if you try it out you'll see that you can use a normal set up and if you watch your backswing to ensure it is only 3" it will be just fine.

I just was doing a live stream on this. In this video I talk about swing length and timing for both power shots and then soft shots 1:08:00 for power and 1:17:00 for soft touch. I think if you practice using a 3" swing and rolling the ball to the jaws without knocking it in, then you can start using the same cue speed and adding a slight nudge through the cue ball and you'll find you can hit shots very softly with the same confidence of a firm snap. In the end though do whatever works for you to get the results you need. Great discovery and have fun!

 
Tin Man said:
You are spot on that the key to soft touch shots is a very, very short swing with a very, very slow moving cue stick. You don't want your cue stick to move. You want it to drift. But you're right, by shortening the swing you can still shoot with confidence without over-hitting.

One difference though is that I don't shorten my bridge or choke up myself. I generally just take a 2-3 inch backswing. Some people don't realize how far back they are drawing their cue and they need to bridge 3" away to force themselves not to pull back 8" and crush the shot. But if you try it out you'll see that you can use a normal set up and if you watch your backswing to ensure it is only 3" it will be just fine.

I just was doing a live stream on this. In this video I talk about swing length and timing for both power shots and then soft shots 1:08:00 for power and 1:17:00 for soft touch. I think if you practice using a 3" swing and rolling the ball to the jaws without knocking it in, then you can start using the same cue speed and adding a slight nudge through the cue ball and you'll find you can hit shots very softly with the same confidence of a firm snap. In the end though do whatever works for you to get the results you need. Great discovery and have fun!

Click to expand...
Interesting, I wonder how hard this is to do. I'll have to give it a shot.
 
garczar said:
Yes. Its like choking down on a golf club or choking up on a baseball bat. You are shortening the lever/tool thus reducing the amount of juice you can generate. Shorter grip/bridge can also be very accurate.
Click to expand...
And here I thought it was because a shorter bridge length limits the length of the backswing thereby limiting the amount of acceleration of the cue available. Silly me. 😁
 
if you shorten up anything your mind cant adjust to what you want to do.

just use the same stroke and let your mind make the speed right.

you never choke up on a golf club to make the ball go slower or a bat to make you swing speed slower.
 
Dr Dave has an exercise where you place the cue ball and object ball aimed at the side pocket, near the opposite pocket, and try move the object ball as little as possible, to try to take the most strokes before the ball falls.
 
Tin Man said:
You are spot on that the key to soft touch shots is a very, very short swing with a very, very slow moving cue stick. You don't want your cue stick to move. You want it to drift. But you're right, by shortening the swing you can still shoot with confidence without over-hitting.

One difference though is that I don't shorten my bridge or choke up myself. I generally just take a 2-3 inch backswing. Some people don't realize how far back they are drawing their cue and they need to bridge 3" away to force themselves not to pull back 8" and crush the shot. But if you try it out you'll see that you can use a normal set up and if you watch your backswing to ensure it is only 3" it will be just fine.

I just was doing a live stream on this. In this video I talk about swing length and timing for both power shots and then soft shots 1:08:00 for power and 1:17:00 for soft touch. I think if you practice using a 3" swing and rolling the ball to the jaws without knocking it in, then you can start using the same cue speed and adding a slight nudge through the cue ball and you'll find you can hit shots very softly with the same confidence of a firm snap. In the end though do whatever works for you to get the results you need. Great discovery and have fun!

Click to expand...
That reminded me of Lassiters term ''nip bridge'' that I saw in 1968 in Johnston City/Janscos in S. IL.
 
maha said:
if you shorten up anything your mind cant adjust to what you want to do.

just use the same stroke and let your mind make the speed right.

you never choke up on a golf club to make the ball go slower or a bat to make you swing speed slower.
Click to expand...
People absolutely do choke up on golf clubs even some pros do.
 
sure they do, doesnt mean it helps the shot for them.

but if you dont put a huge amount of practice on different strokes or holding parts of your equipment, then its less effective than using your normal swing or stroke and letting your natural reflexes and mind control the outcome.

do what you have experienced from your comprehensive trails with different strokes and their outcomes. and pick what works for you.

the worst thing a person can do is trying to emulate what their favorite pro does and make that work for them.
 
maha said:
sure they do, doesnt mean it helps the shot for them.

but if you dont put a huge amount of practice on different strokes or holding parts of your equipment, then its less effective than using your normal swing or stroke and letting your natural reflexes and mind control the outcome.

do what you have experienced from your comprehensive trails with different strokes and their outcomes. and pick what works for you.

the worst thing a person can do is trying to emulate what their favorite pro does and make that work for them.
Click to expand...
Tell us you don't golf without telling us you don't golf 😆
 
maha said:
sure they do, doesnt mean it helps the shot for them.

but if you dont put a huge amount of practice on different strokes or holding parts of your equipment, then its less effective than using your normal swing or stroke and letting your natural reflexes and mind control the outcome.

do what you have experienced from your comprehensive trails with different strokes and their outcomes. and pick what works for you.

the worst thing a person can do is trying to emulate what their favorite pro does and make that work for them.
Click to expand...
It’s no big deal in golf because you have clubs of different lengths anyway. Gripping down an inch on an iron is a lot easier way to take half a club off than subconsciously somehow swinging 2mph or whatever slower
 
A largely overlooked important tip is your hand position on the cue when stroking the cue ball.
I see so many players never changing their grip for different, difficult shots & most players that
do that grip the cue at the bottom of the cue butt. Personally, it seems that with some shots, like
a frozen cue ball on the kitchen rail cutting an OB in the middle of the table to either SP or a very
tough backwards cut shot to a CP, the stroke used is more measured and deliberate. I find that
repositioning my grip for various shots gives me added control over my stroke velocity & finesse.

Most of my cues have Cortland Linen wraps. You can see from the sheen on the wraps that my
hand position is mostly on the bottom half of the wrap. I only choke up on the wrap when it is a
shot that requires very minimal CB movement to attain shot position after pocketing a OB. When
you grip the cue always near the bottom of the butt, I think you limit the versatility of your stroke
for different shots. When you are very tall that often becomes the most comfortable position and
especially so with a long arm length. However, most players aren’t confronted with that challenge.

IMO, adjusting your hand position on the cue for different shots is exactly what pro golfers and MLB
players do. You don’t hold the golf club with the same hand position for every shot and try controlling
distance and height of the golf ball with your launch angle and swing speed. Pro golfers often choke
down on the shaft for certain shots. Pro baseball players when faced with a critical hit situation and
fall behind in the count to the pitcher will choke up the bat for a more compact swing to get a big hit.

I believe the pool cue is merely an instrument needed to play the game and there is no hard and fast
guideline where to always hold your pool cue. The pool game will present you with a countless variety
of different shots to play. Different hand positions on the cue will affect how the cue’s balance feels when
you stroke the CB. Master the technique of positioning your hand where it feels the best for various shots.

A flat wrist is the starting point, knuckles facing the floor and back of the palm facing at the wall. Then use
a handshake grip without white knuckles. Don’t squeeze the cue; instead let the curl of your fingers grip it.
Find your cue’s balance point (fulcrum) and grip the cue behind it where it feels the best, the smoothest and
steady and straight. Stroke through the cue ball for most shots and experiment using different hand positions.

Take 15 balls and randomly scatter the balls. Shoot the balls trying to run the table. With each attempt, use
slightly different grip positions and which one produces the best results for you. Don’t let an old habit limit
your performance. Be open to change and learn which ones work the best for you. Everyone isn’t the same.
The only thing that matters are results and consistency. Just like you can grip a hammer differently to drive
nails, you should learn the same technique or approach for a pool cue grip. Experimenting teaches us a lot.
 
maha said:
if you shorten up anything your mind cant adjust to what you want to do.

just use the same stroke and let your mind make the speed right.

you never choke up on a golf club to make the ball go slower or a bat to make you swing speed slower.
Click to expand...
You don’t choke up on a bat to get a slower swing speed. You obviously never played or coached baseball.

You choke up on the bat for added control of the bat barrel making contact with the pitch. And pro golfers
change their hand positions all the time on par three holes based on prevailing wind, condition of the green
and flag position. They adjust their swing speed for distance control but accuracy of the shot is how their
hands perform. Read Harvey Penick’s Red Book and see what Ben Hogan did when a another pro during a
practice round at Augusta asked him what club did he just hit to the green.

Hogan looked at the pro golfer that asked him that question with a smirk. He told his caddy to empty his golf
bag right there where he just played a shot. All 14 clubs were dumped on the ground with with all the golf balls.

He then told his caddy to go tend the flag at the green they were playing. Hogan asked the other golfer…Now
what were you asking? He then proceeded to hit golf balls ball to the green using a different club for every swing.

The only club he didn’t use was his putter. After hitting the green with every golf ball using a different club ranging
from his driver, niblick, 2 iron, 3 iron, 7 iron, etc., Hogan stared at the young pro and said….”Don’t ever ask me
again what club I hit.” There is no ironclad rule for how to play a golf shot or where or how to grip a golf club for
any shot. You adjust for the circumstances. It’s been said the secret to great golf is making the most out of your
worst shots. In pool, it is learning from your mistakes & what to do differently when the same shot happens again.
 
maha said:
sure they do, doesnt mean it helps the shot for them.

but if you dont put a huge amount of practice on different strokes or holding parts of your equipment, then its less effective than using your normal swing or stroke and letting your natural reflexes and mind control the outcome.

do what you have experienced from your comprehensive trails with different strokes and their outcomes. and pick what works for you.

the worst thing a person can do is trying to emulate what their favorite pro does and make that work for them.
Click to expand...
Do you realize how ignorant your opening sentence portrays you?
Obviously, you aren’t but it is a pretty dim witted opening remark.

How many pros have coaches? How many pros adjust their hand
positions? How many of them would change their grip positions if
it didn’t work better for them? Why would coaches teach the value
of hand position on the club based on the lie, the shape of the shot
to play and landing zone on the green? This is taught by golf teachers
because you have to exercise versatility in how you play the shot based
on the conditions of the course when you play. It isn’t taught because it
doesn’t work. Pros use it because it can & does improve their golf scores.

Pros do this because…it doesn’t work? Nope, it’s because it aids in better play.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top