playing off the cusion

[Clarkey3262]

As the title says, any advice in it would be great, lost a game last week on the black because I f'uped the shot from the cusion, basically I totally miscued, white went closer to the middle pocket than the back which was near the blue spot.

Thanks in advance

Chris

[samad]

basically, you can try to two things

1) Hold the cue a bit higher up, try around the 3/4 join unless you feel its too much then you can hold it a bit lower..

2) Avoid going for screw or stun from near the cushion and also avoid power shots from that angle, just normal speed would be perfect .


I too have this problem and this helped a bit, if not much. would like to know how you get on , try practising cushion shots with varying diffulcities.. that ought to help

good luck
Abdul Samad

[Terry Davidson]

Short answer as I have a ranking tournament today. The correct way is to choke up on the cue, don't try anything ambitious and the MOST important is completing the stoke by bringing the grip hand to the chest at the end of the stroke.

Place black on spot and cueball on either side cushion and dead in on the black. Practice shooting the shot and bringing the grip hand all the way to the chest so the outside of your thumb hits your chest just to the right of your right nippie (if you're right-handed).

Just enough power to pot the black and nothing more, but not a pocket-weight shot, slightly more power than that

Terry

[Clarkey3262]

Ok I will give them a try thanks. Just to clarify though - the white is right up against the cusion, basically I only have a small area at the top of the white to hit.

[sneaky_russian]

I'd like to advise one thing :
PRACTICE,PRACTICE,PRACTICE!
I used to play "RUSSIAN PYRAMID" and now trying to play snoooker.So what I did is I was just placing 10 red balls alond the long cushion ( the first one about 4-5 inches from the short cushion,the next one 2-3 inches apart from the first ball and so on ).Start potting in the opposite corner pocket( start from the last ball and make your way down along the long cushion).
This exercise helped me a LOT!

[RocketRoy1983]

When you cue from a cushion hold the cue 10-15 inches higher up and reduce your backswing on the follow through. Hope this helps.

[gettingbetter]

Also, this isn't about how to do it, but what rather not to do.

Don't cue with your tongue out (if you do) on this type of shot, the amount of times I have miscued...

[poolqjunkie]

When the ball is totally frozen on the cushion, should you try to hit the cushion first?

[noel]

When the ball is totally frozen on the cushion, should you try to hit the cushion first?

.... PJ try a hair dryer first!


=o)

Noel

[Terry Davidson]

PQJ:

The 'ideal' method dictates the tip should be 'lightly brushing' the top of the cushion which is why you will note the pros leave a bit of chalk on the top of the cushion.

The secret is, you should choke up on the cue to where in the address position your right forearm is still vertical. Loose grip. Elevate the butt of the cue slightly (Nic Barrow disagrees with this, Steve Davis advocates it) but not so much that the tip will dig into the cushion and bounce.

In this case, take a short slow backswing (has to be short anyway), rear pause and then hit the shot at no more than medium pace and ensure your grip hand comes all the way through to your chest.

An exercise for this from Nic Barrow is to place the cueball on the side cushion tight and near a middle pocket. Now, ONE-HANDED play the cueball into the opposite middle pocket. In order to do this you must hold the cue lightly and keep the cue as level as possible. This should get you past the fear of mis-cueing and also teach you how to stroke the cueball when on the cushion

Terry

[noel]

hit the shot at no more than medium pace Terry

All good.
One thing Cliff had me try that really helped was to stroke the cueball at 1/2 the normal acceleration...
for added care against pigstabbing it.
Works for me.



=o)

Noel

[poolqjunkie]

PQJ:

The 'ideal' method dictates the tip should be 'lightly brushing' the top of the cushion which is why you will note the pros leave a bit of chalk on the top of the cushion.

The secret is, you should choke up on the cue to where in the address position your right forearm is still vertical. Loose grip. Elevate the butt of the cue slightly (Nic Barrow disagrees with this, Steve Davis advocates it) but not so much that the tip will dig into the cushion and bounce.

In this case, take a short slow backswing (has to be short anyway), rear pause and then hit the shot at no more than medium pace and ensure your grip hand comes all the way through to your chest.

An exercise for this from Nic Barrow is to place the cueball on the side cushion tight and near a middle pocket. Now, ONE-HANDED play the cueball into the opposite middle pocket. In order to do this you must hold the cue lightly and keep the cue as level as possible. This should get you past the fear of mis-cueing and also teach you how to stroke the cueball when on the cushion

Terry

Thank you so much Terry.
I have noticed that a lot of pros seem to be hitting the cushion first (just a fraction) when the ball is very tight (Noel, not giving you another chance to make fun of me...LOL) on the cushion. So, I always wonder if they are indeed aiming to hit the cushion first, hence leaving a line with the chalk there.
Thanks for explaining this to me in such details. I will try this exercise you mentioned.
Much appreciated.

[S Davis Fan]

I put the blue on it spot, then put a line of seven reds or cue balls if you can get then behind it so you have, a straight shot, which is your easier one because you can only put it up to the pocket edge then three on each side tight on the cushion, then try potting the blue from each position.

Paul