Working on my stroke - the golf tee edition

[dquarasr]

I don’t really know how hard this is to do but I set up two golf tees on the head spot barely a cue ball’s width apart.

I shot spot-to-spot. I tried it, missed two (barely), corrected and relaxed, then made two.

Then I went to watch TNF and at halftime I tried it again, recording my attempt. No lie, this is first take after having first tried it about 45 minutes prior.

(This shot was dead straight spot-to-spot. The phone camera was centered but the lens of the phone camera was not centered so it looks off but the shot was straight up the table.)

My next goal is to do this many times in a row, then vary speeds. (Forget about side spin for now.) Of course another goal is to have the CB rebound back off the cushion and go back through without touching either tee. Worthy stroke drill?

EDIT: I just tried it again. Made it but CB brushed the left tee on the rebound. Then I super focused and got it through both directions back to my cue tip.

I am using the tees to guarantee the CB is rolling over the head spot because when doing the spot-to-spot-to-cue tip, it’s possible to miss the spot yet have the CB return to the tip anyway because of slight side spin, negating the “miss.”

 

[BilliardsAbout]

You have a good stroke!

However, it's possible to miss the tees coming back due to an inconsistent rail. That's one reason I dislike this drill. A better approach would be to stroke between two tees, with no cue ball needed.

 

[dquarasr]

You have a good stroke!

However, it's possible to miss the tees coming back due to an inconsistent rail. That's one reason I dislike this drill. A better approach would be to stroke between two tees, with no cue ball needed.

Thanks for your response. I have also tried cueing between tees but doing so with a CB as I am doing also helps verify aim and alignment. Truth be told, I would have to imagine that an errant rebound due to bad rails is pretty unlikely unless drilling on an extremely poorly maintained bar table.

Certainly my home equipment is not in that category.

 

[dquarasr]

Tried it again twice this morning. Once off camera, made it through both directions, and again while recording.

Onto the next goal, varying speed.

 

[BC21]

Thanks for your response. I have also tried cueing between tees but doing so with a CB as I am doing also helps verify aim and alignment. Truth be told, I would have to imagine that an errant rebound due to bad rails is pretty unlikely unless drilling on an extremely poorly maintained bar table.

Certainly my home equipment is not in that category.

Using the cb is great idea, not so much for the return off the cushion, but for the initial hit to send it through the tees. This lets you know that you are striking the cb accurately enough to send it to that precise location (between the tees). What it does after that is really not that important.

Try moving those tees closer, about 2 to 3 ft from the cb, and see how well that works. If you can do it consistently from 2 ft, and also from 5 or 6 ft, then you are aligning accurately and hitting the vertical centerline of the cb very well (no unintentional side spin that would cause squirt or swerve, which would likely knock a tee over).

 

[Bob Jewett]

An alternative straight stroke practice that doesn't require any extra equipment other than donuts is to put the cue ball and object ball on the long string (centerline of the table), shoot straight at the object ball and have it come straight back to the cue ball, knocking it straight back towards you. To start, you might want to do it across the table rather than down the length.

 

[dquarasr]

Using the cb is great idea, not so much for the return off the cushion, but for the initial hit to send it through the tees. This lets you know that you are striking the cb accurately enough to send it to that precise location (between the tees). What it does after that is really not that important.

Try moving those tees closer, about 2 to 3 ft from the cb, and see how well that works. If you can do it consistently from 2 ft, and also from 5 or 6 ft, then you are aligning accurately and hitting the vertical centerline of the cb very well (no unintentional side spin that would cause squirt or swerve, which would likely knock a tee over).

I don't understand why a straight return is unimportant. Can you clarify? I thought the spot-to-spot-to-cue-tip drill is one that tells whether there is any side spin. Using the tees guarantees that I am not missing the target while putting just enough side spin to negate the miss. Let's say missing it left, with a hair of right sidespin, just enough to direct the CB back to the tip. Using the tees, I'd hit one of the tees on the outbound trip, effectively missing the target, even if the CB returns to the cue tip. Also, without the tees, it's hard to see whether the CB is running over the head spot (marked by a donut) when staying down on the shot.

I understand that there could be offsetting squirt and swerve that negate each other on the outbound trip, but if there is swerve, then there is side spin, and the return trip off the cushion would not come through the gate, true?

An alternative straight stroke practice that doesn't require any extra equipment other than donuts is to put the cue ball and object ball on the long string (centerline of the table), shoot straight at the object ball and have it come straight back to the cue ball, knocking it straight back towards you. To start, you might want to do it across the table rather than down the length.

I have tried that method, too. But that won't necessarily tell me if I have unintended side spin, will it?



I have been trying this drill with varying speed. I am doing pretty well with the speed in the videos posted above. Unfortunately, as has plagued me for a long, long time, when I put any pace on the shot (like trying to do a stop or draw), I miss left with right spin (even if just a tiny bit). The golf tee version is causing me the same trouble: I am touching the left tee, and the CB is rebounding running over the right tee. Even if I make it through on the outbound trip, it's running over the right side tee. I'm working on trying to figure out why a little pace adds this inaccuracy. Perfect cueing is a marathon.

 

[Patrick Johnson]

An alternative straight stroke practice that doesn't require any extra equipment other than donuts is to put the cue ball and object ball on the long string (centerline of the table), shoot straight at the object ball and have it come straight back to the cue ball, knocking it straight back towards you. To start, you might want to do it across the table rather than down the length.

I have tried that method, too. But that won't necessarily tell me if I have unintended side spin, will it?

You should notice a little transferred spin on the OB, preventing it from rebounding straight back at the CB.

pj
chgo

 

[BC21]

I don't understand why a straight return is unimportant. Can you clarify? I thought the spot-to-spot-to-cue-tip drill is one that tells whether there is any side spin. Using the tees guarantees that I am not missing the target while putting just enough side spin to negate the miss. Let's say missing it left, with a hair of right sidespin, just enough to direct the CB back to the tip. Using the tees, I'd hit one of the tees on the outbound trip, effectively missing the target, even if the CB returns to the cue tip. Also, without the tees, it's hard to see whether the CB is running over the head spot (marked by a donut) when staying down on the shot.

I understand that there could be offsetting squirt and swerve that negate each other on the outbound trip, but if there is swerve, then there is side spin, and the return trip off the cushion would not come through the gate, true?

I have tried that method, too. But that won't necessarily tell me if I have unintended side spin, will it?



I have been trying this drill with varying speed. I am doing pretty well with the speed in the videos posted above. Unfortunately, as has plagued me for a long, long time, when I put any pace on the shot (like trying to do a stop or draw), I miss left with right spin (even if just a tiny bit). The golf tee version is causing me the same trouble: I am touching the left tee, and the CB is rebounding running over the right tee. Even if I make it through on the outbound trip, it's running over the right side tee. I'm working on trying to figure out why a little pace adds this inaccuracy. Perfect cueing is a marathon.

If the table has a slight roll off, or if that particular piece of rubber cushion is inconsistent, the cb will look like it had a little spin on it when it likely had none, or an insignificant amount.

If you accidently or erroneously impart a tiny fraction of spin (because we don't always strike the cb perfectly), then sure it won't come back exactly to the center of your tip. But that's not a big issue unless the return path is extremely off line, like a diamond off on a full table (down and back). The cb would rebound left or right of the entire tee setup, not even coming close to going between the tees.

The only reason I said the exact rebound isn't as important ("revealing" would be a better word) as knowing for a fact that you sent the cb off on a very accurate path toward the intended aim, is because the cb barely hit a tee on its way back through, and that's no big deal.

With the tees far away, you could mistakenly use side spin, intially squirting the cb off-line, only to swerve it right through the tees 5 or 6 feet away. But as soon as the cb rebounds, you will see the spin effect off the cushion. If it barely catches a tee on its way back, that little bit of spin is insignificant, not enough to worry about, at least not enough to waste practice time trying to get it better.

If the cb hits a tee and knocks it toward the other tee, or if it misses the entire tee setup completely, then there is definitely too much unwanted spin being imparted on the ball. In that case, the return path has significant value in recognizing that your striking accuracy needs work.

 

[Bob Jewett]

.... I have tried that method, too. But that won't necessarily tell me if I have unintended side spin, will it?
...

It will, but indirectly. If you want immediate feedback on side spin, use a stripe or a training ball with a stripe. The original Elephant training balls are good, or there is a training ball on Amazon for about $18 that has a stripe about the width of the tip.

 

[dquarasr]

It will, but indirectly. If you want immediate feedback on side spin, use a stripe or a training ball with a stripe. The original Elephant training balls are good, or there is a training ball on Amazon for about $18 that has a stripe about the width of the tip.

Thanks.

I have been shooting this with the Rempe training CB which has the ability to look like a striped ball.

If you accidently or erroneously impart a tiny fraction of spin (because we don't always strike the cb perfectly), then sure it won't come back exactly to the center of your tip. But that's not a big issue unless the return path is extremely off line, like a diamond off on a full table (down and back). The cb would rebound left or right of the entire tee setup, not even coming close to going between the tees.

The only reason I said the exact rebound isn't as important ("revealing" would be a better word) as knowing for a fact that you sent the cb off on a very accurate path toward the intended aim, is because the cb barely hit a tee on its way back through, and that's no big deal.

With the tees far away, you could mistakenly use side spin, intially squirting the cb off-line, only to swerve it right through the tees 5 or 6 feet away. But as soon as the cb rebounds, you will see the spin effect off the cushion. If it barely catches a tee on its way back, that little bit of spin is insignificant, not enough to worry about, at least not enough to waste practice time trying to get it better.

If the cb hits a tee and knocks it toward the other tee, or if it misses the entire tee setup completely, then there is definitely too much unwanted spin being imparted on the ball. In that case, the return path has significant value in recognizing that your striking accuracy needs work.

Thanks.

I suppose I am trying to be too precise. But considering I have struggled with unintended right spin (missing a lot of shots CB left prolly because of some deflection), I am trying to exorcise the right spin.

Likely what I should do is forget about it and *just* *f-ing* *shoot* the damned balls and quit obsessing. Right, @WobblyStroke ?

 

[WobblyStroke]

Im with bc21 here. In order to just barely knock over the tee, u 'missed' exact center by what? 1/16th of a tip? Less? Pretty insignificant.

But the tip-return drill is a good one to do. Idon't really see how the tees improve it in any way tho. If the cb returns to ur tip and hits dead center and stops, u were perfect. The only way to do that is to pass through the tees, so I guess I don't see the benefit of messing around with setting up tees. If the tip gets hit reasonably solid by the cb, u did well, and if it barely hits u r now flirting with the limits of insignificant amounts of spin. If cb misses tip, do better.

You can definitely get more reps in without having to reset the tees after every imperfect strike.