Why bend both legs?

[spike]

I bend both legs because I feel more comfortable with my stance, which I believe is the key point.

If it works for you then good. As long as your comfortable with it that's all that matters..

[dpdubai]

I've noticed Walden & King do this aswell, obviously there is a reason for it but I dont think the height arguement can be used?

Steve Davis isn't exactly a short bloke?
And for my money in his prime it's got to be one of the best cue actions anyone's ever seen.

He never bent his back leg?
As Terry wisely pointed out, text book is textbook for a reason.
Personally I'll stick with that.

[MasterBreak147]

I'm 6.2 and bending both legs hurts after a while and VERY uncomfortable and besides that looks weird lol so i don't believe either its because of hight reasons

[eaoin11]

When you look at guys like Davis, Hendry, Robertson and Higgins, they bend from the hips and are able to keep their backs very flat to the table.

Doing this while also keeping your back leg straight is actually quite difficult but in my opinion it helps to bring everything (bridge, head, shoulder and cueing arm) into line, and helps you to strike the ball with your forearm at the optimal position, so you hit the ball with better timing. I think it takes considerable training for a tall player to develop this stance, but take a look at Neil Robertson's back when he's cueing up, it's amazing.

Bending your legs allows you to do all of the above with less effort, at the cost of stability. If you can train yourself to hold the back leg in the same position each time there's no problem with it.

Steve Davis has obviously looked after himself very well over the years.

[Watford]

Well I think some people will just do it naturally and that might not be hight it's just the way they've played but in my case I think it is due to height because I wouldn't do it on a snooker table but the drop of a few inches to a pool table forces me to do something to bring my cue level. Straight leg I'm hitting down.

[RGCirencester]

waldo is particularly tall for a snooker player at 6"4.
I'm 6"2 and have a straight back leg but i think much taller and it may be preferable to get more level to the table

[DG GIBERT]

A player I knew, who was quite tall ( over 6ft) was having neck problems
and his coach advised him to bend both legs, he found that he was
sighting & cueing the ball better.

[noel]

waldo is particularly tall for a snooker player at 6"4.
I'm 6"2 and have a straight back leg but i think much taller and it may be preferable to get more level to the table

Yes... I think that's the issue Rob.



=o)

Noel

[eaoin11]

In some videos of Steve Davis playing 9 ball you can see that he still has that back leg locked, but swings his backside around a bit to adjust to the lower table. His back leg isn't vertical but he still keeps his back pretty flat.

[bob1]

I have a back problem and it is made worse by a the "proper stance". If I play for an hour or more I will have difficulty getting in the car to get home. I can't stand with
my feet one foot apart with a straight back leg. I am now working on a slight bend in
the back leg with a say 2 feet apart. As Terry say's there has to be some flexibility
in options for people and like he suggests there are not that many Steve Davis's in
the world. I always wondered why a straight leg makes for a more stable position then
two bent legs? I would think that a slightly wider stance say 2 feet and bent back
leg would make for a more stable foundation, and still allow you to drive into the ball
with your weight toward the table, comments appreciated.
Comfort and stability being the concern, at least for me, but it is a work in progress!

[spike]

That's the only time i bend both knees is when i have (back trouble) in my lower back. I find doing this is the only way i can play Snooker whenever i am in this situation, though i find it uncomfortable..

[Terry Davidson]

One of the ways to get a comfortable and straight back leg is to ensure you twist the hips to the left (for a right-hander) and also (very important) that the right or straight leg is slightly AHEAD of the vertical, meaning the right foot is slightly in front of the right hip.

This is accomplished by bending the left leg and keeping the right leg straight and then twisting or rotating your back (spine) a bit to the left. This moves the right hip out of the way of the cue butt on the backswing plus gives you a much more stable stance. It will also bring your back down to a more level position in comparison to the table bed.

However, there are some people who are unable to twist their spines to get that hip rotation and end up with being very uncomfortable in their stance. This is a definite NO-NO.

ABSOLUTELY the most important thing in a snooker stance is COMFORT. It's the first rule I use when teaching a student to set up properly. The way I check it is to have the student stay down in the address position for about 2 minutes and see if anything starts to feel strained. That is a very good check to see if you are really comfortable in your stance or have just developed an odd stance over the years and it's become natural to you.

Terry
__________________
Originally posted at Http://www.thesnookergym.com/forums

[Watford]

In some videos of Steve Davis playing 9 ball you can see that he still has that back leg locked, but swings his backside around a bit to adjust to the lower table. His back leg isn't vertical but he still keeps his back pretty flat.

I'm talking about UK pool the table is lower and smaller so you spend more time near the cush. I find that near to the cush is when I most notice the bent leg because there's no table to lean over.

[eaoin11]

In my experience 9 ball tables are bigger than UK pool tables but much lower than either snooker or UK 8 ball tables, so I mentioned Steve's stance when he's playing 9 ball because of the height issue.

Not sure about the cushion thing.

[Watford]

9 ball tables might not be taller than uk 8 ball tables. Obviously you get some variation they may be the same.

Snooker tables are a good 2"+ taller than UK pool tables.

I am sure about the cushion thing!