Smooth Cue Action - Imagination

[Neverstop]

When people do not appreciate why share. Enjoy

[Cue crafty]

The best one that works well for me is "stop overthinking it and just f@#kin hit it"

Not intended as rude or a joke, it's actually what works best for me in proper play. In solo practice when not cueing as smooth as I would like, one of my thoughts is to pull back the string of a bow then effortlessly as possible let the arrow go. It helps me with timing the stroke.

Different thoughts help different players, hopefully you will get some good input from others to try out.

[Starsky]

The best one that works well for me is "stop overthinking it and just f@#kin hit it"

Not intended as rude or a joke, it's actually what works best for me in proper play. In solo practice when not cueing as smooth as I would like, one of my thoughts is to pull back the string of a bow then effortlessly as possible let the arrow go. It helps me with timing the stroke.

Different thoughts help different players, hopefully you will get some good input from others to try out.

I’ve heard that mantra somewhere else … it must be an Essex thing

[Cue crafty]

I’ve heard that mantra somewhere else … it must be an Essex thing

Lolz you reminded me of it and there is definitely something to it mate, you should start charging.

[Starsky]

UPDATE

Gone through couple hours session today and I completely slowed down the back swing! Here we are talking slow motion YouTube stilt 0.25 lol

So doing the pre shot routine, 3 feathers, big, smaller, dinky one then stop at the cue ball. Super slow motion pull back but as far as it goes in one motion, small pause, then follow through one motion! On the straight long pot drill Bulk - Blue Spot long diagonal I managed 15/15 twice and cued it perfectly! Didn’t managed to get 30/30 which is my target. As there is substantial slow back, at times elbow drop occurred and noticed that I tend to pull the cue inward (towards hip) during back swing! (Super slow back swing is showing me on each shot what I am doing wrong - at least as far straight cueing concerned)

Will continue to do some more practice on that and try any other imaginations posted here and provide and update accordingly! One thing is certain, I will keep f*#^# trying until I perfect it!

Hi NS,
I’ve seen so many people get obsessed on the long straight blues.
If your hitting 15/15 that’s great , my suggestion is to move onto a more match specific drill than trying to hit 30/30.
Your practice should cover different aspects of the game and not just one area that comes up not very often .

[Starsky]

Hi Starsky,
Not obsessed with the blue drill other that ensuring a straight stop shot to make sure follow through is applied thoroughly! Of course other drills take place and the % success is about the same but not great to move me to the next level! Safety drills also part of my drills but trying to push myself further using small A1 squares for target and trying to get the white there (a lot work is needed there as my percentage is less than 20)

No worries, I thought I’d mention it as I’ve seen lots of players who seem to get fixated at that particular drill for some reason .
Great that your doing other drills especially the safety stuff as that’s an area that many players especially at a lower level seem to ignore ( not sure what your level is ) .
I spent an hour on safety myself yesterday 😉

[Danger Steve]

Hi mate,

What is your final delivery like? Is it backswing > pause > then take the shot all at on even speed and finish at the chest? Have you tried a more controlled gradual accelerating delivery? For me I’m not sure the backswing is that important if you have a pause at the end of it because the moment you built up is now gone because you stopped? When you watch ROS he doesn’t really have a pause on the backswing he just kinda lifts his cue in a circular motion and transitions from backswing to final delivery and accelerates through the cue ball, with a lot of follow through, elbow drop etc….

Try concentrating on visualising the path the object ball needs to go towards the pocket and your brain will find the correct point of contact on the cue ball, then try and concentrate on a nice smooth delivery with a more gradual build up of speed and hitting the cue ball exactly where you want for any spin, but as mentioned above, try and keep it natural and don’t over think things too much.

[Danger Steve]

Right Ok, if you have no feel for the cue ball how do you get on around the black with those little delicate shots and cannons?

[Danger Steve]

What I meant is you don’t feel hitting the white, everything is so smooth and effortless! You should never be hitting the white anyway. As per textbook the white is a still object and the cue motion takes it along the path of the imaginary line.

I can’t believe how effortless it feels and it has been many years to feel so good! Will keep working on this cue action to create a muscle memory before star doing any game play as soon it is so easy to forget! I will keep notes and try to share as much details and hopefully be useful to someone

Get some videos up mate so we can watch you in action!

[Danger Steve]

I’m no expert and everyone is different…. In my opinion that looks very rushed! It doesn’t look smooth and controlled? I’d say you might be better holding the butt of the cue back about another inch and a half, slowing your feathers slightly, a fraction longer with the pause on the back and a more progressive gradual delivery of the cue with a definite stop after your follow through.

Can’t see what your doing with the bridge or what kind of shot you were attempting there?

[Danger Steve]

Here’s a link to my own cue action.. not saying it’s perfect by any means! I have actually tweaked a few things since this was taken in 2020, but you can see the pause on the backswing and the slow smooth acceleration through the cue ball and a stop at the chest.

https://youtu.be/OkPUWUOzVQ0

[guernseygooner]

Hold cue further back, you have a jabby follow through. Slow it down and pause slightly at the front

[guernseygooner]

Look at screenshot at address. Your arm is inside and you have nowhere to follow through. You could move your hand back 2 inches at least.

I found an old video from here, can't believe it was 8 years ago! Cue action is different now, closer to the white. But arm is behind vertical and slight pause at front

[Danger Steve]

Your cue action looks very good and stable. Yes definitely slower than my current one. What’s your highest break and average breaks?

Well I’ve only been back about 18 months playing so it’s a work in progress, recently I’ve changed a few things but looking back at that video my backswing now is much shorter when I’m around the black. Bridge is shorter to these days.

98 high break and regular 40’s 50’s when I’m playing Ok, 30’s 40’s is the norm probably with occasional 60 70 breaks. Still working on trying to be consistent no matter what the level of my opponent… I find keeping the concentration required difficult at times.

[tomwalker147]

UPDATE

Well well well…. A mix of emotions after tonights games…

I managed to achieve a TON first time ever in a competitive match! I cannot believe it , I cued so beautifully and continue the lovely pendulum rhythm throughout the first frame!

Yes, I got lucky, all reds were in the open and with few delicate shots around the black I got there! I got over excited and a bit emotional but couldn’t help it!

Afterwards my mate start asking few questions about my new cue action and tried explaining and showing few bits.

Then we kicked off the second frame and I lost my rhythm! Not sure what happened but was struggling to get more than 20/30 breaks on very few spells (prob 4 in 10 frames)

I am gutted that somehow I’ve lost the touch. The most important part for me is the consistency and not the one of purple patch!

Have any of you folks had anything similar happening to you?
I won’t be giving up that’s for sure, practice will continue and maybe revisit my cue action!

Struggling to believe this to be honest. How can you make a ton and then say you might re-visit your cue action? If you're making 100's in competitive games that's brilliant, well done.
As for consistency, the top top pros who play 8 hours a day will occasionally make a number of ton's in a best of 9 but the vast majority/lower half of the tour manage the odd 50 in a best of 7/9 match.
If i'm on it, in a good session i'll play 10 frames and make lots of half a dozen 40/50 breaks with the odd 80+ and i've held my own against professional players.