Arm bent? Arm straight

[Terry Davidson]

It's not about how bent the arm is, whatever you feel comfortable with.

It IS however about getting the left shoulder over to the left cheek and thus the right shoulder up and still in space as you move the cue arm

Makes for a much more compact cue action

Terry

[cazmac1]

Hi Terry,
Just like to clear one point up in my original post I said that when I straighten my bridge arm it felt uncomfortable. This was the wrong term to use, what I should have said it felt strange. Having only practices with the arm straighten out (but not completely straight) twice I am surprised how quickly I adapted; I think this proves that what I'm doing is right.

Noel, with regards to your post, I like to point out that I learned to play from the Joe Davies book when I was 14 years old. My dad was not really interested in snooker and no way would have paid for a coach, any how I don't think coaches were as easy to come by back then. I did the best I could at the time given my circumstances.

ARD, your right when you say, all that matters is delivering the cue straight, But it’s how you achieve this that counts and if straightening my bridge arm works for me then that’s what I'll do.

[lennon11]

i have been straightening my bridge arm for the last 4 weeks,probably to about 10 degrees,on long pots specifically,and have noticed a HUGE improvement in my potting success gone from probably 1/2 out of 10(always been my weak point) to 6/7 out of 10,its unbelievable the difference its made....

[tornado taylor]

as already mentioned what ever you feel comfortable with. for me i play better with my arm bent as it tends to lean me more into the shot which helps me be more stable. look at all the top players-they all have their own style and cue actions that for me says it all. as long as you got a good basic stance and idea how to play its all down to putting the hours practise in and then you will find your own level. good luck with it anyway mate.

[Terry Davidson]

The whole idea with the straighter bridge arm is not necessarily the arm itself but what the effect is on the shoulders.

Ideally if a player can get the bridge arm as straight as possible without causing discomfort and have some weight on the bridge forearm (try pushing the elbow into the cloth) this will lower the left armpit (right-handed player) and that has the effect of raising the right shoulder socket and locking it into place. This was what the Joe Davis recommended 'thrust' of the bridge arm accomplished.

Getting the right shoulder socket locked into place and staying still because it's forced to by this set-up means the cue will be delivered straighter (especially as the elbow will more often than not also come into alignment naturally) and much more consistently.

The most common problem is players will straighten the arm too much by thrusting it out and this will raise the left elbow off the cloth and destabilize the whole thing. It's very important to put some weight on the left forearm and the base of the bridge palm.

Terry

[nrage]

Getting the right shoulder socket locked into place and staying still because it's forced to by this set-up means the cue will be delivered straighter (especially as the elbow will more often than not also come into alignment naturally) and much more consistently.

The biggest problem I am having currently is getting that darn elbow in line. No matter what I do it seems to end up slightly behind my back.

It gets worse if I have to raise the butt of the cue, though I think that may be partially due to inflexibility in my shoulder joint. (can anyone recommend good arm/shoulder stretches for this?).

I have tried pushing the bridge arm straight, and if I really push it out things get worse, not better, but mostly straight feels both comfortable and works some of the time..

I found some improvement by making my forearm/wrist/hand straight - removing the kink/bend there and having a dead straight line down the outside of the arm.. this puts the cue slightly inside the arm/elbow, but does tend to bring my elbow in line, almost all of the time..

I figured all this out with the help of my phone camera.

Something I noticed immediately was that if I got down, looked back and noticed the elbow and tried to adjust it while on the shot (I know a terrible idea, but I wanted to see what happened..) then it would bring the elbow out, but this in turn forced the hand in and the cue offline.

I am not sure what else to try, other than trying to drill the correct position into my body/mind by repetition...

[Terry Davidson]

nrage:

Sometimes being a perfectionist is counter productive and I believe this is what's happening in your case. Having the elbow directly over the cue is good but if you check a lot of the pros you will find a lot of them have their elbows hanging in slightly (Higgins, Hendry and a few others) while some of them have the elbow out (Williams especially).

Not only that, but I notice it sometimes changes on particular shots, like off the cushion.

If you are within 2 inches of directly vertical I think this is OK as long as you can deliver the cue straight. It's all a matter of a player's individual physique.

When I was younger and playing very well my elbow hung in about one inch but these days no matter what I try with my grip my elbow remains hanging out about one inch and sometimes two inches but I still seem to be able to pot the balls.

The position of the elbow is controlled by the grip and whether you have it more into your palm like Williams or more into the fingertips with a wrist cock like Higgins. Also, what feels more comfortable.

Get into the address position and shut your eyes and move the elbow back and forth to the extremes where you feel either uncomfortable or else unnatural and then adjust it back to most comfortable with your eyes still closed and see where it ends up and that should be perfect for you.

Terry

[nrage]

Thanks Terry, I'll give that a go. More than likely you're right, and the improvement I have seen has less to do with where the elbow is, and more to do with comfort and straight cueing

[peterpackage]

i straightened my arm out 2 years ago and it helped my potting immeasurebly

very slight bend only

[Stick]

Seems to be a personal thing. Like the original poster I too learned that one must play with a straight arm.

Left the club recently in a foul mood after missing a few easy pots (and the game) and decided to re-examine my technique as I knew that I was doing something wrong in those last few centimeters of my cue action that allowed the cue to go off course.

Decided to bend my elbow (quite a bit) and get more comfortable behind the ball, as well as to shorthen my grip on the cue and reduce my stroke length. Logic being that keeping maters as short and compact as possible will reduce the dreaded cue wobble.

It worked and the balls are going in again so I am happy (for now)

[vendetta_revived]

This seems mighty good advice for a player like me. I just recently realised that there is something wrong with my stance which is resulting in me not cuing straight.

The problem is this - when I'm down on the shot and just feathering, the cue moves towards left when I take my arm backwards and right as I move it forward. I just can't figure out what I'm doing wrong but I'll definitely try this one tomorrow.

Thanks everyone !

[Freddie Ng]

This seems mighty good advice for a player like me. I just recently realised that there is something wrong with my stance which is resulting in me not cuing straight.

The problem is this - when I'm down on the shot and just feathering, the cue moves towards left when I take my arm backwards and right as I move it forward. I just can't figure out what I'm doing wrong but I'll definitely try this one tomorrow.

Thanks everyone !

Maybe you can signup to be a bronze member in www.thesnookergym.com
You can get alot of coaching tips there :snooker:

[Terry Davidson]

Or else try the Frank Adamson drill and don't feather at all.

Excessive feathering allows the body to have a chance to move and more often than not it does. You should only be feathering a MAXIMUM of 2-3 times but concentrating on remaining absolutely still during the feathering.

If you want to see a bad example, watch Ronnie when he breaks off using his left hand and watch the shoulder and head.

Terry

[vendetta_revived]

@Freddie : Thanks for another good advice mate. Looking for advice there as well.

@Terry : I do feather only 2 or 3 times but thats how my cue goes when doing it and consequently, at the time of delivery too.

[saddler79]

I've straightened my arm to the point there is just a slight bend. This piece of advice has helped me cue straighter and helped my game more than anything else ive tried. I would recommend that as long as it feels comfortable that people should give it a go.