Video Review?

S

slach

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I'm an SPF alumni (Scott Lee) from about three years ago. After an initial couple month struggle unlearning my old ways my game (14.1) improved markedly. But now I've been stagnant for almost a year - can't seem to improve despite lots of practice. I'm not sure if my stroke has degenerated or I'm just not aiming right or both. Any of you fine instructors have time to comment on my video? What problems stand out? Is it time for a refresher lesson?

Thanks, Steve

link to video==>
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/15007818/Steve%20Shots%2020110218.mpg
 
Steve, You’re doing a lot of things well, but there are some things you should notice and be able to correct yourself from what you learned in your lesson with Scott. Here are a few things to check and adjust.

Check your eye pattern. What are you looking at and when?

Check your alignment. In the shots where you are facing the camera, you can see the cue is misaligned to the shot and it curves during the stroke. In the shots from behind, you are moving your whole body when fine tuning your aim. At times, it looks like your chest may be getting in your way. Check that forearm for vertical and your grip for tightening. This appears to be causing the occasional minor elbow drop and wrist curl.

It looks like you are putting right on the cue ball when shooting the stop shots with the camera from behind. Is that intended? If adjusting your alignment doesn't help you nail those stop shots, check the position of your eyes over our cue.

With a bit of fine tuning, you should be able to eliminate errors and get your progress moving again. Let us know how it goes.
 
Steve...Have you watched your 1st lesson recently? I find lots of students who watch the video right after the lesson, but then not again. You might get a lot of answers by reviewing the video I left you with. If you're interested in a followup, let me know.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

slach said:
I'm an SPF alumni (Scott Lee) from about three years ago. After an initial couple month struggle unlearning my old ways my game (14.1) improved markedly. But now I've been stagnant for almost a year - can't seem to improve despite lots of practice. I'm not sure if my stroke has degenerated or I'm just not aiming right or both. Any of you fine instructors have time to comment on my video? What problems stand out? Is it time for a refresher lesson?

Thanks, Steve

link to video==>
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/15007818/Steve Shots 20110218.mpg
Click to expand...
 
I think Mark has given a pretty complete and accurate assessment of your video. You can see the tip moving to your left on the shots straight toward the camera. A little wrist twisting and grip tightening going on.

None of the issues seem to be huge, but all those little things are the things that will trip you up.

Get a couple of hours with Scott the next time he is in your area. He'll get you back on track quickly.

Steve
 
alignment

From the front camera view you can see your arm is not aligned. It is a little too close to your body and you can see your follow through is not straight toward the target.

It seems to me you're hitting the ball instead of smoothly swinging the cue, you can fix both of these issues after your alignment is correct by doing the following - practice strokes until you are good and confident then simply stroke, at the same speed of the practice strokes, toward the target. Forget about the cueball, trust your fundamentals.
 
Mark Avlon said:
Steve, You’re doing a lot of things well, but there are some things you should notice and be able to correct yourself from what you learned in your lesson with Scott. Here are a few things to check and adjust.

Check your eye pattern. What are you looking at and when?

Check your alignment. In the shots where you are facing the camera, you can see the cue is misaligned to the shot and it curves during the stroke. In the shots from behind, you are moving your whole body when fine tuning your aim. At times, it looks like your chest may be getting in your way. Check that forearm for vertical and your grip for tightening. This appears to be causing the occasional minor elbow drop and wrist curl.

It looks like you are putting right on the cue ball when shooting the stop shots with the camera from behind. Is that intended? If adjusting your alignment doesn't help you nail those stop shots, check the position of your eyes over our cue.

With a bit of fine tuning, you should be able to eliminate errors and get your progress moving again. Let us know how it goes.
Click to expand...

Thanks Mark (and everyone) for the input. To start, my plan is to really focus on stroking straight and getting rid of the curve. Aligning a little to my left to give my stroking arm more room seems to be helping along with emphasizing bringing my back hand 'home' into my chest and keeping my grip/wrist loose. Also I think I've been subconsciously setting the cue tip a little right on the cue ball to compensate for the left curve when I stroke. I frankly never noticed this until it was pointed out, probably because eyes just saw this as straight because the balls were dropping pretty often. I hope a straighter stroke deals with that too. I'll try videoing again in a few weeks to see if there's been improvement. And I have a few 14.1 matches each week that will be the real judge.
Steve

P.S. Scott, I looked at my lesson videos again, boy was I an elbow-dropping klutz! I haven't done the Mother drills (except I do the speed control couple times a week) for about two years, I'll need to get them back into my routine.
 
slach said:
I haven't done the Mother drills (except I do the speed control couple times a week) for about two years, I'll need to get them back into my routine.
Click to expand...

Thanks for mentioning that. Many players think that the Mother Drills are designed to teach you new habits, and once you have trained yourself, you have outgrown them. This couldn't be further from the truth. As we go through different stages, the MDs serve different, but important functions. Even when you feel everything is working fine, working with them is like changing the oil in your car. You do them to make sure things continue to work the way they are supposed to work.

Steve
 
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