What hand to use for bridge??

R

ramw5p

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Ok..sounds like a silly Q i know. I am right handed, and right eye dominant, and have always used my right hand for bridge hand. I have just bought a table for home, so now i get to play more then like twice a year :). So i have noticed that most pros seem to use left hand as bridge. And i realize that if i should be sighting down my dominant eye it is harder to do with right hand bridge. I also seem to have trouble with hitting ball dead center, this is something that i keep practicing but it seems like i always have just a little bit of english on the ball, and it never quite comes directly back to me. SO...is it better to shoot left hand bridge being right handed and right eye dominant? Sorry it is a long winded question.
 
If you are right handed, bridge with your left and vice versa. That seems to be the way most people do it. Im left handed and bridge with my right.
 
Lemme get this straight...you are right handed, but you shoot where your bridge with your right hand...which means you're shooting lefthanded....right??
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Craig Fales said:
Lemme get this straight...you are right handed, but you shoot where your bridge with your right hand...which means you're shooting lefthanded....right??
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Thats seems to be what he posted. Seems strange but maybe he is ambodextrous with things.

Example. I write left handed. I bat right handed. I shoot pool Left handed. I bowl righthanded. I shoot a gun left handed. My strong leg when kicking is my right (tae kwon do). I use a fork and knife left handed.

I know, Im weird.
 
ramw5p said:
Ok..sounds like a silly Q i know. I am right handed, and right eye dominant, and have always used my right hand for bridge hand. I have just bought a table for home, so now i get to play more then like twice a year . So i have noticed that most pros seem to use left hand as bridge. And i realize that if i should be sighting down my dominant eye it is harder to do with right hand bridge. I also seem to have trouble with hitting ball dead center, this is something that i keep practicing but it seems like i always have just a little bit of english on the ball, and it never quite comes directly back to me. SO...is it better to shoot left hand bridge being right handed and right eye dominant? Sorry it is a long winded question.
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If you're right-eye dominant and right-handed, it would probably be easier for you to play right-handed (gripping the cue with your right and bridging with your left). However, there have been notable players who did it the opposite way, including Mike Sigel, who at one point was widely considered the world's best pool player.

So try it both ways. If it's easier to sight and find center ball using the right-handed grip, then learn to play right-handed. If you find it easier to keep playing left-handed, then stick with it. Find what works for you. And once you figure out what works best for you, you may want to find a BCA instrcutor if you're serious about learning good fundamentals, and they can show you how to achieve your best stroke.

-Andrew
 
ramw5p said:
Ok..sounds like a silly Q i know. I am right handed, and right eye dominant, and have always used my right hand for bridge hand. I have just bought a table for home, so now i get to play more then like twice a year :). So i have noticed that most pros seem to use left hand as bridge. And i realize that if i should be sighting down my dominant eye it is harder to do with right hand bridge. I also seem to have trouble with hitting ball dead center, this is something that i keep practicing but it seems like i always have just a little bit of english on the ball, and it never quite comes directly back to me. SO...is it better to shoot left hand bridge being right handed and right eye dominant? Sorry it is a long winded question.
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Another option would be to switch hit. Add right handed playing, and figure out where to keep your eyes. I think it's much easier to cut right handed to the right with left english and left handed to the left with right english. Which eye is easier to keep over the cue depends on everything in your stance, what's better for one might not be so good for another. I pretty much center both eyes, but I'm not fanatical about it anymore, because comfort is important in the long run. Long term stress on the neck and shoulder and back can ruin your game. That's why I think in the future, many more players will switch hands. It's harder to get in stroke that way, but far easier to play for extended periods. It's also a bigger advantage the bigger the table gets. And I think they will get bigger, again, because the players are too good for small tables.

BTW, it's impossible, imo, to hit the exact vertical center line of the cueball. So I just use english as much as possible, lol!

unknownpro
 
We had a guy at college who did the same thing. Was right handed but used that hand for his bridge hand. He got fairly good shooting that way until through playing us he noticed we were right handed and bridged with the left. I can shoot farily good left handed, good enough to beat most drunk bangers on a friday or saturday night. Good practice.
 
unknownpro said:
BTW, it's impossible, imo, to hit the exact vertical center line of the cueball. So I just use english as much as possible, lol!

unknownpro
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I agree with your comment about shooting with both hands. Being ambidextrous is a tremendous advantage. However, I completely disagree with your statement above. :eek: It is difficult to learn, but once you train yourself, by developing an accurate, repeatable stroke, it is quite simple to hit the EXACT vertical center line of the cueball...and can be demonstrated visually very easily. As Andrew pointed out...seek the guidance of a qualified BCA instructor, to help learn how to do this. :D

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
 
ramw5p said:
Ok..sounds like a silly Q i know. I am right handed, and right eye dominant, and have always used my right hand for bridge hand. .
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You're backwards from the norm, but you're in good company. Mike Sigel is a righty that shoots lefty.

Fred
 
I heard that the game of Bridge is a lot like sex; if you have a lousy partner, you better have a good hand;)

Hope this helps.


Eric
 
Eric. said:
I heard that the game of Bridge is a lot like sex; if you have a lousy partner, you better have a good hand;)

Hope this helps.


Eric
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true to a certain extent..
if u've a lousy partner, y the hell would u still want sex?LOL!!!
 
Scott Lee said:
I agree with your comment about shooting with both hands. Being ambidextrous is a tremendous advantage. However, I completely disagree with your statement above. :eek: It is difficult to learn, but once you train yourself, by developing an accurate, repeatable stroke, it is quite simple to hit the EXACT vertical center line of the cueball...and can be demonstrated visually very easily. As Andrew pointed out...seek the guidance of a qualified BCA instructor, to help learn how to do this. :D

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
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I can demonstrate a side-spinning stop shot visually. But I'm told it's impossible by the laws of physics. It's just as impossible, imo, for a human being to hit the exact vertical center line of a round ball with a round tip. You are just not measuring closely enough to see the offset.

Why would I seek an instructor qualified by a trade organization that does almost nothing to support professional pool when I have been a successful professional player for many years?

unknownpro
 
whichever hand you're using to hold the grip, use one of the other two for your bridge. :)
 
unknownpro said:
I can demonstrate a side-spinning stop shot visually. But I'm told it's impossible by the laws of physics. It's just as impossible, imo, for a human being to hit the exact vertical center line of a round ball with a round tip. You are just not measuring closely enough to see the offset.

Why would I seek an instructor qualified by a trade organization that does almost nothing to support professional pool when I have been a successful professional player for many years?

unknownpro
Click to expand...

Well, you are misinformed...but that's okay. You're entitled to your opinion.
The statement about seeking out a qualified instructor was intended for the original poster, who mentioned having trouble hitting dead center on the CB...not you...obviously! :rolleyes:

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
 
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