Extremely long bridges

[ace man]

Sometimes I see pros using a very very long bridge length.

For example, say that the cueball is 40-50cm from the cushion. There is room to put your bridge hand on the cloth, no interfering balls, but...I swear I saw some of them using a 50cm bridge with their bridge hand resting on the cushion...

My question is why? Shouldn't there be a loss of accuracy using a bridge that long? There must be some advantage because otherwise players wouldn't use it at times.

[Watford]

Sometimes I see pros using a very very long bridge length.

For example, say that the cueball is 40-50cm from the cushion. There is room to put your bridge hand on the cloth, no interfering balls, but...I swear I saw some of them using a 50cm bridge with their bridge hand resting on the cushion...

My question is why? Shouldn't there be a loss of accuracy using a bridge that long? There must be some advantage because otherwise players wouldn't use it at times.

Not 50cm!!!
If it's a choice between being a bit close to the cue ball or resting the cue on the cue cush I think most people will rest on the cush but not for that much I don't think. Maybe 30!

[bongo]

If the shot you are playing is a simple pot then it doesn't really matter if you have a slightly longer distance between your bridge and the cue-ball. But, if the pot (or safety) is a little more difficult OR you have to strike the cue-ball at exactly the right place (in other words, no margin of error for position) then you shouldn't have a longer bridge and you should use the rest. Even if the pot is easy but the positional play has no margin of error then you should use the rest. The reason for this is if you have the bridge quite a far distance from the cue-ball then just move your grip hand up and down very slightly, or side to side very slightly, then the tip at the cue-ball will move around more than if the bridge is close to the cue-ball in its normal position, as closer to the cue-ball the tip will move less with the given movement in the grip hand than a 'longer bridge'. So with a longer distance between cue-ball and bridge makes it is more difficult to strike exactly where you want on the cue-ball and that can affect the positional outcomes or you could even miss the pot. Any slight movement in the grip when you have a long distance between cue-ball and bridge could completely mess up where you want to hit the cue-ball, whereas when closer to the cue-ball that movement of the tip with a given grip movement (up, down, left, or right) is less because the 'pivot' point on the bridge is close to the cue-ball. There, I have explained it the best I can!

[CoachGavin]

In short - yes there will be a loss of accuracy but they have balanced this against comfort. I do the same thing. If the bridge would usually go just as the cushion starts then it feels weird so instead of shortening the bridge and getting their hand in (which for accuracy would be better) they go the other way and place their hand on the cushion and lengthen the bridge becuase it feels more comfortable. Sometimes it also depends on the spin involved on the cueball which they choose.

hope that helps

[bonoman1970]

If the shot you are playing is a simple pot then it doesn't really matter if you have a slightly longer distance between your bridge and the cue-ball. But, if the pot (or safety) is a little more difficult OR you have to strike the cue-ball at exactly the right place (in other words, no margin of error for position) then you shouldn't have a longer bridge and you should use the rest. Even if the pot is easy but the positional play has no margin of error then you should use the rest. The reason for this is if you have the bridge quite a far distance from the cue-ball then just move your grip hand up and down very slightly, or side to side very slightly, then the tip at the cue-ball will move around more than if the bridge is close to the cue-ball in its normal position, as closer to the cue-ball the tip will move less with the given movement in the grip hand than a 'longer bridge'. So with a longer distance between cue-ball and bridge makes it is more difficult to strike exactly where you want on the cue-ball and that can affect the positional outcomes or you could even miss the pot. Any slight movement in the grip when you have a long distance between cue-ball and bridge could completely mess up where you want to hit the cue-ball, whereas when closer to the cue-ball that movement of the tip with a given grip movement (up, down, left, or right) is less because the 'pivot' point on the bridge is close to the cue-ball. There, I have explained it the best I can!

He is not talking about using the rest , but having a longer bridge off the cushion ! Which a lot of top pros do, and yes technically they shouldnt but if the shot is simple then it is human nature, however if you wanted to be the greatest player ever you would never take a gamble on a real long bridge.

[Nic Barrow]

Long Bridge, Short Bridge - and the tarantula

Sometimes I see pros using a very very long bridge length.

For example, say that the cueball is 40-50cm from the cushion. There is room to put your bridge hand on the cloth, no interfering balls, but...I swear I saw some of them using a 50cm bridge with their bridge hand resting on the cushion...

My question is why? Shouldn't there be a loss of accuracy using a bridge that long? There must be some advantage because otherwise players wouldn't use it at times.

Hi Ace Man
I agree that their bridge length sometimes is inconsistent when cueing off the rail compared to when they are in the balls.
Part of the reason for this is that off the cushion they will often have simple shots around the black area that can withstand a certain extra mragin for error in their cueing.
YES - a longer bridge DOES equal LESS control.
This is a fact.
So you have to ask yourself - what benefit does the player get such that they are willing to suffer a slight loss of accuracy in their shot?
1. Comfort - it is better often to have your hand nicely placed on the cushion than in a tarantula pose just in front of the cushion.
2. Better balance may be achieved with this bridge than the tarantula.
3. Rhythm - it is smoother and quicker to get down and keep your rhythm if placing the hand direct to the top of the cushion than concentraing on contorting your hand.
4. Often, if the bridge hand goes in front of the cushion, the bridge hand CAN BE TOO CLOSE to the cue ball. This may restrict sighting, a smooth backswing and the fine delivery that brings.

[ace man]

Thanks guys, now I finally understand it.
Bottom line, they're amazingly accurate with their cueing...so much in fact that they can afford to sacrifice some accuracy for comfort...
Another thing that can go wrong with this very long cushion bridge is that fatter part of the cue will go between index and middle finger...not so advanced players may have trouble with this...