your critiques and suggestions appreciated

Only watched the 9 ball video.

Pros:

- Good stance
- Straight-ish stroke
- Nice table

Cons:

- Inconsistent number of warm-up strokes. Easily fixed by shooting some straight-in shots. Start with 2 warm up strokes, and then shoot some with 3 and 4. Find which one works best for you, but from watching you shoot, I think the correct number is between 3 and 5.

- While you do have a decently straight stroke, it's very far from being smooth. Way too fast on the back and forward swing. Without being an instructor that can see all flaws, I'd say this is your biggest one, and should be your highest priority. On some shots it's like you're trying to see how quickly you can go from set to finish.

- Patterns need a bit of work. Focus on getting the proper angles. Just ask yourself when shooting the 1 ball, "What angle do I need on the 2 that will allow easy travel to the 3?" Slow down, and ask yourself that question on every ball. With time, it will become second nature. I'm assuming you don't fare too well against the 9ball ghost, and that's fine. What I would suggest is playing 5 ahead sets against a lowered numbered ghost for awhile. Start with the 5 ball ghost. When you win a set, go up 1 ball. If you lose, go down 1 ball.


You may have seen this video I posted in the Main Forum, but I think you should watch it a few times. It could really help you out with that jerky stroke.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fGqBvrP8ys&index=2&list=PLj1kypAWfgD3PJeHN7P5QhNjDb1R512sl
 
Larry,

I saw a lot of positives your setup is consistent, and I can see the elements of SPF in your stroke. You are trying to control your elbow on most shots, it does drop a bit on shots hit with some pace but that is nothing that I would be concerned about. Your rhythm is fairly quick and consistent between shots. I like that as it appears you are not over thinking matters much. The one thing I would suggest to you is controlling the speed of your backstroke on those shots where you are hitting the cueball with some pace. Slow down the backstroke and try to implement a short pause at the back to help with this transition.

The other thing I would suggest is break the balls every time you practice instead of throwing them out on the table. Being how important the break shot is in rotation games, any extra practice you can get with this helps.
 
Very impressive, Larry. Very good stance. You have a strong, compact stroke that gets the job done in most situations. I noticed that you aren't as comfortable playing on the edge of the cue ball as you are playing closer to center.

To get to the next level, practice shots where you have to play with more spin and less force. You'll have to practice bringing your cue back more slowly, and will have to lighten up on your grip tension to be successful.

Make sure you complete your follow through on every shot. If I were you, I'd experiment a bit with the elbow drop and see what happens. Set up a shot that you have been having trouble with and shoot it with and without dropping your elbow ---- just as an experiment. See what happens.

You are lucky enough to have your own table. Experiment!
 
Larry...I see some of the same stroke flaws that I saw two years ago. The fast backswing causes a poor transition to the forward stroke, which can easily make you miss where you're aiming by a millimeter or more. I saw this on every shot where you missed, and many others as well. Inconsistent PSR...sometimes warmups, sometimes not...sometimes slight pause on the backswing, mostly not at all (you can get away with a fast backswing, to some degree, if you pause longer at the back, like Allison)...unnecessary elbow drop on shots where you were shooting at a higher rate of speed...different cradle tensions (grip tension should be consistent throughout the range of the stroke)...sometimes a normal backswing, sometimes no backswing at all (ala Allen Hopkins style). The good things I noticed were solid stance on most shots, getting the tip close to the CB at ball address, and a nice "set" on the CB before pulling the trigger. Some shots you did everything perfectly, but imo it was only between 10% & 20% of shots shown. Go back and watch your video. :grin:

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
 
thanks everyone for your time and comments
seems the speed of my backstroke was a common area everyone thought could be improved by slowing it down
ill work on that and the individual suggestions you all made
interstingly i thought i did have a slow backswing....:eek:
i guess my old habits have creeped back
as for the elbow drop ill experiment with it again but on video scott showed me it happens after contact so i dont worry about it
i accept im not going to be the poster boy for pbia stroking....:grin:
lets leave it at that
i will say that from working with various instructors and advice from this forum my game has really improved
im neck and neck with the 6 ball ghost (breaking the balls tony) although saturday i had a break and run out in 9 ball happens every month or so
im able to stroke thru the ball more than i ever did and get the spin to speed shot as you mentioned fran (thank you humter lumbardo who REALLY made my game bounce)
scott thanks for starting me off in the right direction
as i said
thanks to all for giving me more work to do....:thumbup:
please dont stop the comments now
anyone else who cares to take the time to watch the videos and comment
im all ears
im trying to improve...:smile:
 
Quote bbb.......as for the elbow drop ill experiment with it again but on video scott showed me it happens after contact so i dont worry about it.....

The elbow drop can happen either before or after impact. I suggested that you experiment with it for a reason. It seems to me that you've already made up your mind about it so don't bother, Larry. You have to approach it with an open mind. If you don't then you are wasting your time.

Forget the elbow drop suggestion and move on to other things that you are more enthusiastic about.
 
FranCrimi said:
Quote bbb.......as for the elbow drop ill experiment with it again but on video scott showed me it happens after contact so i dont worry about it.....

The elbow drop can happen either before or after impact. I suggested that you experiment with it for a reason. It seems to me that you've already made up your mind about it so don't bother, Larry. You have to approach it with an open mind. If you don't then you are wasting your time.

Forget the elbow drop suggestion and move on to other things that you are more enthusiastic about.
Click to expand...

fran
i respect your opinion
and i have an open mind
you mentioned it for a reason that i assume you wanted to see if i would discover myself
so i do plan to revisit it
ive had other issues to overcome such as finding my visual center since im strongly left eye dominant and from old stance and habits tend to come down left of center with the tip left of center and the cue angled right to left to the shot line (even tho i think im centered)

its taken alot of time to improve that and i still dont have it cemented
but as ive straighten out my alignment and vision issues and improved my stroke i see the rewards of the work ive put in so far

i have no delusions im still a "C" player but im enjoying the journey
and beleive perseverance pays off if done correctly...:smile:
 
Socks and sandals?

Ok, seriously.

I saw about the same as everyone else - mainly the timing of the stroke. Some shots were 1/2 to 1 practice stroke then a quick stroke while others seems better.

More stroke practice of swinging smoothly through the ball. It should look more effortless.

A little more of a consistent setup, step into the shot from the line of the shot every time. Some shots you stepped back when getting down, other times stepping from the side a little.

I like how you stay perfectly still on practically every shot.

Maybe practice speed control. It appeared a lot of shots you either came up really short or over shot position.
 
RWOJO said:
Socks and sandals?

Ok, seriously.

I saw about the same as everyone else - mainly the timing of the stroke. Some shots were 1/2 to 1 practice stroke then a quick stroke while others seems better.

More stroke practice of swinging smoothly through the ball. It should look more effortless.

A little more of a consistent setup, step into the shot from the line of the shot every time. Some shots you stepped back when getting down, other times stepping from the side a little.

I like how you stay perfectly still on practically every shot.

Maybe practice speed control. It appeared a lot of shots you either came up really short or over shot position.
Click to expand...

did you like the tennis outfit better with the sneakers??:D
thanks for the review
will post another video with better timing and more consistent psr soon
 
bbb said:
i should have had a side view but can you see the difference in the rhythm of my stroke??
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V79yHTsX1DM
will get a better vivdeo next time
Click to expand...

Stationary camera, man!! What are you trying to make me dizzy :grin-square:

Timing looks much better. Not perfect, but keep at it, you improved a lot.

One thing I noticed is the shot on the 12 at around the 30 second mark. Looks like you dropped your elbow, which is fine by me. The issue is that you also dropped your hand. It might not matter much on a shot that's easy like that one, but can be disastrous on more difficult shots. If you choose to drop your elbow, just try to keep your hand level.

Good job!
 
You did ask about your cue touching your chest at address. no one had said your stance makes that happen. Your right leg seems to be good with your toes on the shot line, but your left leg is kicked far out and not turned parallel with the shot line. It looks like this is causing you to reach out across the shot line and at times your chest touches because of the reach. This corrected for me once I learned to point my left foot in the direction (parallel to the line) of the shot with the left leg kicked in about a foot off the shot line.

Like Robles here:
http://www.billiardsdigest.com/showinstruction.php?id=31

Cj is an advocate of this too in his videos
 
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