What does pumping the cue over and over up in the air before their shot do for the pros?

[fastone371]

I have to write "bull sh-t" on looking good if your not a pro doing the air "sky swish."

Who cares what people do before they get down on a shot, how in the world does that affect your game???? What if people use body english, does that make you miss or distract you? Some people follow thru on the break to the point of bending their shaft on the table, is that worse than the alleged "air slash" as someone coined the term??? FYI, its not a slash, that would entail side to side movement, I have never seen that, it seems some people need to pay more attention. If this is one of the biggest things going on in the pool world its a slow week in pool. I have to go practice tipping the 8 ball in the rack from on top of the other balls with my thumb when I am racking now. SMH.

 

[Racky BallBoa]

Almost every pro I've watched on TV has done this. SVB does it every time. I'm glad no one I play has this habit.

It's equivalent to playing the "air guitar".

 

[Texas Carom Club]

i make more balls when i do it, especially tough shots,
slows me down and i focus more on the shot
so

 

[APA Operator]

I do it now, not out of habit (yet), but out of necessity. When I was younger, my vision was better and I had the muscle memory required for a straightish stroke, so I could just step into a shot and it was all coordinated. Then I had mini strokes that destroyed my ability to trust that muscle memory. So I had to find another way to coordinate everything. Enter "feeding yourself". At first after the strokes I couldn't even hit my mouth correctly with a fork full of food. But I quickly re-developed that muscle memory. It's very hard, however, to "unforget" muscle memory. It's all subconscious and after you have strokes your brain doesn't know it's no longer valid - your brain needs conscious feedback. So now before I shoot a shot I stand behind it and "feed myself". That shows me what line my stroke is on and I put the rest of my body in line with that stroke so I can trust it. Maybe some day I will have developed enough new muscle memory that I can just trust the stroke, but maybe not, so for now this seems to help.

 

[straightline]

I do it now, not out of habit (yet), but out of necessity. When I was younger, my vision was better and I had the muscle memory required for a straightish stroke, so I could just step into a shot and it was all coordinated. Then I had mini strokes that destroyed my ability to trust that muscle memory. So I had to find another way to coordinate everything. Enter "feeding yourself". At first after the strokes I couldn't even hit my mouth correctly with a fork full of food. But I quickly re-developed that muscle memory. It's very hard, however, to "unforget" muscle memory. It's all subconscious and after you have strokes your brain doesn't know it's no longer valid - your brain needs conscious feedback. So now before I shoot a shot I stand behind it and "feed myself". That shows me what line my stroke is on and I put the rest of my body in line with that stroke so I can trust it. Maybe some day I will have developed enough new muscle memory that I can just trust the stroke, but maybe not, so for now this seems to help.

I developed the habit of air shooting my shots to get the cue line right. It's way more consistent than than just lining up your face.

 

[SmoothStroke]

Feeling the weight of the cue, propelling mass. The swing arm controls the weight pulling it forward.
It doesn't hurt to feel the weight when analyzing a shot, the cue speed, and stroke, it's all one dance.
Shortening or lengthening the grip is common.
I air stroke hip to hip with my arms down, others take out ceiling tiles.

I may be 3 inches from the object ball and want to float forward 3 inches, or I have baby nip shot, a bunt.
I shorten my grip slightly, it's not major movement.
I'm air stroking short smooth movements, feeling the weight of the cue and stroke prior the shot.

If I have to move the cue ball a good distance I will slide back on the grip and take longer and slower
air strokes. Moving the hand to different grip positions is very suttle but you feel the weight shift.
You're not holding it close to the joint or off the butt cap. Most of the time it's not noticeable to anyone but you.

Short Stroke, Mid Stroke, and Long Stroke technique are best achieved with the proper grip for each.
Air stroking and feeling the shot is part of the flow for a smooth rhythm.
Baseball players, golfers are feeling the stroke, the weight of their tools.
The Cue Ball is the name of the game.

I'll add to my original post.
Watch people who don't move their arms while walking, it's the walking dead. They move stiff legged and flat footed,
they look like they need an intervention.
No rhythm, so stiff you can use them as a cutting board, guaranteed not to be an Olympic Athlete.
Nobody's telling you to saw wood, just move it, once, twice, etc. let your hair down Shirley.
Air stroke the damm cue and find your flow. Ape Index and Body Gait are all connected. The sooner you learn
how to use it the better you will dance.
https://dictionary.reverso.net/english-definition/stiff+legged

 

[SmoothStroke]

I've become so good at air strokes I now throw cue balls in the air and stroke stop
shots from across the room. I want to see Florian beat that.

 

[fan-tum]

Almost every pro I've watched on TV has done this. SVB does it every time. I'm glad no one I play has this habit.

I feel you see it when the shooter is in stroke, feeling good about the current rack, in other words..very positive, whereas if things aren't going great, you won't see it.

 

[boogieman]

Air strokes help me set my bridge hand perfectly and get into stance perfectly. Not some crazy windmill action but it gets the cue set properly for the upcoming shot. It's almost a subconscious thing. When I'm playing dead nuts I do it and my stance is utterly rock solid with the perfect grip to apply the stroke. Hard to describe, but almost like pulling a bow back.

If I'm playing bad it feels less like a dance and more like standing blindfolded in front of a firing squad. Tense and bad.

 

[Flakeandrun]

Pre-shot routine is something that really helped me transition from snooker to playing on smaller tables with different angles. Visualising line of travel while simulating the potential speed of the cue action. It also tells me to turn my brain off and make the shot. I have never made this motion when playing snooker, but the pre-shot routine is different and more about alignment of all the parallel and perpendicular pieces of the technique required for that format. Shot choice, angles and well... everything is different.

When I first started playing 8/9/10 ball a few months ago, I would constantly be over thinking my shot choice, and then playing balls with other options still in my head. So, really focussing on the routine, knowing that difference between thinking time and 'go time' helped me cut a lot of trash out of my game. As I mentioned, running the cue over my bridge hand helps me to gauge speed and visualise the shot. It draws the line between thinking time and 'go time!' - it prevents your mind from wandering to the other options available (which as someone new to these disciplines is very easily done. Forever doubting the patterns I can pick out, or if it's actually a 'safe' shot)

It's also part of calming yourself. I was talking to Dennis Orcollo recently and he was talking to me about having a good 'pulse'. It's like a sniper lining things up and taking a few breaths to steady themself.

It's basically the same as the old saying 'Make your bed and then lay in it' ... Otherwise you're gonna make a miss that'll keep you awake for days...

 

[Craig Fales]

Almost every pro I've watched on TV has done this. SVB does it every time. I'm glad no one I play has this habit.

I do that pretty much every shot. It's a focus/analyzing the shot deal. And maybe a common developed habit.

 

[Flakeandrun]

I do that pretty much every shot. It's a focus/analyzing the shot deal. And maybe a common developed habit.

I think it's a very personal thing. We gain confidence from either copying what the big guns do and are successful with, or we understand our method of play and have a more tailored approach. I know that pace of the shot was an issue for me, transitioning from snooker. So I find running a few pre-strokes over my bridge as I'm thinking has helped Me a lot with visualisation and gauging the speed to play the ball.

 

[straightline]

Air stroking <over the shot> (not the samurai thing), exposes what I consider the major cause of misses and speed errors:
misalignment.
If you just get down and start test stroking, a lot of calibration will be done on the stroke in progress; often the final stroke. If you instead land on the shot pre-aligned, you can focus on speed and stroke the shot without spurious tension.

 

[g-string]

It heats the carbon fiber up on the shaft so they can draw the cue ball five rails!

 

[Flakeandrun]

It heats the carbon fiber up on the shaft so they can draw the cue ball five rails!

It stabs the pool daemons floating around the table who cause miscues.

 

[MattPoland]

It pokes the pool gods in the eye so they can’t punish you for that lucky roll you got last rack.

 

[maha]

anyone that doesnt know the correct answer is obviously just a banger and i dont reply to them.
players that are not good shouldnt be allowed in a pool room.

 

[Flakeandrun]

anyone that doesnt know the correct answer is obviously just a banger and i dont reply to them.
players that are not good shouldnt be allowed in a pool room.

I disagree.
Players that are not good (especially those that think they are), need to be taught a lesson. They should watch themselves getting picked apart, and hopefully ask why. Let them all into the pool hall. Play them for money. Make them regret haha

 

[George the Greek]

I call it the bob and weave and I personally find it annoying. The patterns ( shots/position) are prettywell the same over and over. I can see needing some thought on playing a safe/escaping a snooker or breaking out a trouble ball and if you need to bob and weave do it but hurry up lol.

 

[GoldCrown]

Practicing their JO stroke.