I had a lot of troubles with my grip hand, until I changed to this, although I do sometimes snap my wrist:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJBHGjlFXSM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJBHGjlFXSM
What is your grip hand technique?
- Thread starter WillyCornbread
- Start date
A good example of this is pro Stan Shuffett. I was amazed that he cups his wrist like he does. As for the op's prob, have you watched Tor Lowrys videos on you tube? He has some really good stuff on most of the basics. And advanced stuff as well.
I think it has a lot to do with indecision while shooting. A player will second-guess the speed of the shot and either consciously or subconsciously hesitate as they pull the trigger, leading to a half-hearted, non-accelerating stroke that usually results in a bad miss. I see it happen a lot on slower-speed or touchy shots like drag shots or shots where you're killing the cue ball.
This is the way it makes sense to me too, but the terms accelerate and decelerate don't say that to me. I think terms like smooth/jerky and confident/hesitant and are more to the point.
pj
chgo
Correct. It's the same as decelerating during a putting stoke, and almost always resulting in a poor hit.
Also, decelerating the club head during a chip can result in a double hit. :smile:
Meh, decelleration is overhyped as a cause of problems. Accelleration at the right time and smoothly does help tremendously with speed control especially in the medium /soft speed range, but some players are more comfortable with a longer stroke, and thus decellerate on soft shots. Having a longer stroke seems to help you avoid jerking the cue, which is the prime cause of pulling it off line. You can try this for yourself by pulling the cue back just a little bit for a huge power draw shot. Most of the time the results will be disappointing, and it sure won't be very smooth...
A long stroke for all shots will also show you more easily if you are lined up correctly during feathering. There is of course nothing wrong with having long practice strokes and a short final stroke. But all in all decellerating slightly won't do half as much harm as (re)gripping the cue or jerking the stroke IMHO.
If you have a bad stance and stroke (not straight) then decelleration seem to amplify the problems, because there is more that can go wrong in a long stroke of this kind. It will thus cause more problems in the worse players than for the better ones. There are some elite players that decellerate on some shots, Efren being the prime example in pool and Maguire in snooker.
This video goes into the timing of the stroke and decelleration a little bit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SkPksYgKtk
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lolI think the same thing that makes the difference subtle makes it difficult to explain. Nearly impossible for me to put it into words.
To exaggerate the effect / explanation all I can think of is a door in your house that is ajar.
A shove to close it would be the decelerating stroke, while a gentle contact and complete push through the action would be the accelerating stroke.
I know ... the explanation sucks ... sorry.
The stroke doesn't really decelerate before contacting the CB it sort of is on it's way of finishing rather than energizing through the ball. Ahh ... I give up LOL, I know what I feel, but I can't say it well.
Maybe at the point of CB contact on a decelerating stroke your grip hand is ever so slightly on the forward side of perpendicular while the accelerating stroke has your hand favoring ever so slightly prior to dead perpendicular. Naa ... that sucked too.
Actually pretty descriptive.
Your deceleration sounds like what I would call coasting, when stroke speed peaks a moment before CB contact and coasts at the same speed to actual contact. This is natural at the bottom of a pendulum stroke and can make speed control easier than a stroke that changes speed up to the moment of contact.
pj
chgo
Lot's of great help in this thread, you guys rock when you aren't arguing about aiming systems 
I'm going to spend some time trying out different techniques to see if one feels right to me to practice on for awhile...
I'm taking a lesson from Scott Lee in September and I'm sure he can help iron out the wrinkles in person.
Thanks again!
I'm going to spend some time trying out different techniques to see if one feels right to me to practice on for awhile...I'm taking a lesson from Scott Lee in September and I'm sure he can help iron out the wrinkles in person.
Thanks again!
I have the cue snug against the webbing between thumb and forefinger, lightly though, ring and middle finger are predominant. There are a lot of free videos, but you might also try Jerry Briesath's 3 DVD set. It's about $60 and very good. Scott Lee is excellent also, I spent a few hours with him recently. The other topic about acceleration and deceleration is interesting. I don't think about it though. I just try to stroke through the ball.
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Yep. I was thinking the same thing. It's one of the biggest issues I see with a lot of amateur golfers. For those that don't know, the best way to describe a decelerated stroke in putting (which holds true for the pool stroke as well) is:
Think about putting a golf ball 10 feet. On a "decelerating" putting stroke, the person pulls the putter back 2 FEET, then starts to move the putter back toward the ball in order to make contact...realizes the backswing was too much and essentially puts the "brakes" on during the stroke to keep from putting the ball 30 feet...so they actually decelerate the stroke.
On an accelerating stroke, the club head is pulled back about 6 INCHES, then the putter is accelerated into the ball.
Same applies to the pool stroke...
Sorry it took me a while to respond to your question; I honestly didn't remember whether or not my fingers touch or not. I had to pull out a cue and try it.
They don't. The cue is held by light pressure between my thumb and index finger. No parts of the fingers touch. I should mention that I use a wrapless cue because my skin can "grip" to it, whereas a linen wrap always feels slippery to me.
I dont know if this applies to anyone else but I had a really big problem with stroking off line because I felt like i was swinging around my body. If I had to think about it, it felt like Iwas leading the stroke with the first knockle of my index finger (where it meets the base of the hand).I think this led to wanting to turn over my wrist as it came around my body.
When I put on a wrist brace, I started to become aware of moving both the first knuckle ofmy thumb and index finger forward adjascently and in parallel.
The best anolagy I can think of is swinging your arms around like a helicopter versus Shooting a pinball with the pull back spring launcher but in reverse.
Im not sure if Im making any sense.
When I put on a wrist brace, I started to become aware of moving both the first knuckle ofmy thumb and index finger forward adjascently and in parallel.
The best anolagy I can think of is swinging your arms around like a helicopter versus Shooting a pinball with the pull back spring launcher but in reverse.
Im not sure if Im making any sense.
It all depends on what I'm I'm trying to hold on to....
But seriously, perhaps there is a little too much analysis happening. Developing good habits is one thing, but switching up something that you probably do naturally is likely to jack you up royally, it's just one more thing to think about that is probably going to make you pretty uncomfortable for at least a while
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ElCorazonFrio
Banned
Just like my dad told my sister when she started dating:
'If the knuckles ain't white, it ain't right.'
Honestly, tho, I don't think pops wanted sis to date much.
'If the knuckles ain't white, it ain't right.'
Honestly, tho, I don't think pops wanted sis to date much.
Not sure how this topic got into acceleration/deceleration, but it's something I look at when using the QMD stroke trainer. The velocity chart it produces will let you know what you're doing, and hopefully it's what you're intending. The first picture shows acceleration through the cue ball (cue stick velocity is increasing at contact), the second shows deceleration (velocity decreasing).
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Thanks for the continued responses, I received a private message from a user with some strange advice that worked pretty well so I thought I'd share it here without the username in case it was private for a reason...
The recommendation was to hold a piece of chalk between my index finger and thumb of my grip hand when shooting. Oddly enough, this is really working for me, not sure if it's just creating more 'awareness' of that hand or if there is something to me unconsciously squeezing these fingers together but doing this is forcing a consistently light grip and very little wrist turn. I'm also connecting with that 'feel' of a loose hit for lack of a better explanation.
A couple more days of this and I'll get rid of the chalk and see how things move forward.
Thanks again to everyone, so much helpful information on this forum - it's much appreciated!
b
The recommendation was to hold a piece of chalk between my index finger and thumb of my grip hand when shooting. Oddly enough, this is really working for me, not sure if it's just creating more 'awareness' of that hand or if there is something to me unconsciously squeezing these fingers together but doing this is forcing a consistently light grip and very little wrist turn. I'm also connecting with that 'feel' of a loose hit for lack of a better explanation.
A couple more days of this and I'll get rid of the chalk and see how things move forward.
Thanks again to everyone, so much helpful information on this forum - it's much appreciated!
b