What drills are best to get that smooth stroke like Buddy Hall , or Chris Melling?
- Thread starter jimstone
- Start date
boogieman
It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that ping.
It sounds VERY counterintuitive, but a beautiful stroke is usually the result of a slow back swing. I'm not saying anything about pausing or not pausing because I've seen it both ways, but make your backstroke pretty and the rest will follow.
A slow smooth back swing prevents a lot of errors in the front swing/stroke.
I'll leave the question of drills for someone else. I don't like them, but no matter what drill or shot you are doing, keep the back swing smooth and slow and you will already be ahead of the learning curve.
Flakeandrun
Well-known member
my top tip drill would be called 'playing' 
Look up whatever 'Drills 17-year-old Felix Vogel practiced!
He's the Only Pool player in Decades I've seen having a 'Perfect' Stroke!
Compact, Efficient, Straight delivery!
He's the Only Pool player in Decades I've seen having a 'Perfect' Stroke!
Compact, Efficient, Straight delivery!
I find that jerking your stroke is usually a result of a shot that's outside your skill level or if you're really nervous.
The best trick is to find a shot that you struggle with, like a long straight draw, for instance and do a progressive practise. So you start at a comfortable distance and just focus on keeping the stroke perfect, then gradually increase the distance. Do it with any shot you struggle with. The point is to remove the tightness from those shots, gradually increasing speed while not allowing any jerking of the stroke to occur. Shot number one from Bert Kinisters 60 second workout is also great.
The secret to the timing is the transition from backward to forward stroke, so in the beginning, really focus on the slow backswing and the start of the forward movement of the cue.
I had to rebuild my stroke for snooker after having played for 10 years. I shot long, straight diagonal blues. I also shot angled, diagonal shots on the blue, with a lot of cut, a lot of draw and a lot of side. It was a shot I was really scared of, so I shot it until I could shoot it buttery smooth. If you can shoot the toughest shots that way, the others will follow.
Hope this helps.
If you think or know that your stroke needs a lot of improvement, then most would need either a strong coach to watch and correct, or constant personal video taping of their stroke to actually see the areas where the stroke is lacking and then constant review of the tapes to track improvement.
A few people have naturally great stroke mechanics. Most players with great stroke mechanics were coached somewhere along the line with constant feedback from visual observance. Most of the pros out of Europe and some Asian countries are the products of many years of training from a young age.
Trying to fix things by yourself, with regard specifically to stroke mechanics; is nearly impossible in the absence of some form of visual feedback.
A few people have naturally great stroke mechanics. Most players with great stroke mechanics were coached somewhere along the line with constant feedback from visual observance. Most of the pros out of Europe and some Asian countries are the products of many years of training from a young age.
Trying to fix things by yourself, with regard specifically to stroke mechanics; is nearly impossible in the absence of some form of visual feedback.
IMO, you should forget about those guys.
You don't have their limbs and body and see things the way their eyeballs did. Learn to work with what you have. If you look at all the bestest players you will find a multitude of strokes deployed from long and smooth, to a short punch, and all kinds of other strokes that worked for great players.
Besides, you probably don’t have the hours, years, and decades to fire in what worked for those guys.
Lou Figueroa
each man must find
his own path
up the mountain
You don't have their limbs and body and see things the way their eyeballs did. Learn to work with what you have. If you look at all the bestest players you will find a multitude of strokes deployed from long and smooth, to a short punch, and all kinds of other strokes that worked for great players.
Besides, you probably don’t have the hours, years, and decades to fire in what worked for those guys.
Lou Figueroa
each man must find
his own path
up the mountain
Practice moving the tip through the ball instead of trying to hit it.
This is what I would recommend, too. You have to have good timing to get easy, lively draw. As you work on your draw shots, try to remember the feeling of the shots that work well and do more of those. The draw distance tells you how well you hit the ball.
Stroke without a cue ball, key words include oily, soft, buttery, smoooooooooth.
In practice, stroke all the way back and through as if there's no cue ball.
In practice, stroke all the way back and through as if there's no cue ball.
I've spent a lot of time working on my stroke and figuring out the answer to this question. To achieve a smooth stroke you want to start by
- Use a lot more of the room you have available to pull back your cue, regardless of what your bridge length is. That means bringing the ferrule all the way back so that it touches your fingers of your bridge hand.
- Once you are pulled back the maximum physically possible, stroke forward WITHOUT engaging your shoulder. This is un-natural and feels weird. It feels like the cue is just falling forward. When you hit the ball you will be surprised how much energy is still in the forward stroke without needing to use your shoulder for anything.
i bet buddy hall never did drills
Johnny Archer was asked about practicing during the KC open stream, he said, I don't practice, never did, its too boring, I'd rather play someone.
after a certain point, if your regularly in action. you dont need practice, itll just help you get comfortable playing with nothing on the line
SeniorTom
Well-known member
I like your comment, and mine is work in progress. Also, play on 9 ft tables with tight pockets, this forces you to play a good stroke.
Counter example: Dick Lane mostly played by himself.
I agree with playing on big tables, when you are still young. Snooker is the best for developing good mechanics IMO.
