Length of backswing

[Malachi-b]

Well i have been told quite a few times that my backswing is too long a lot of the time i even get a chalk mark right back where my thumb touches my index finger, i was wondering can i still keep my cuearm at the parallel but simply bring the cue back less? or do i have to move my hand up the cue as-well?


i know that moving your hand up the cue limits your follow through but i was wondering do i need to do this if i want to limit my backswing on certain shots?

thanks

malachi

[noel]

i know that moving your hand up the cue limits your follow through but i was wondering do i need to do this if i want to limit my backswing on certain shots?

thanks

malachi

Yes.
Say for shots with cueball tight against cushion or on massé shots.



=o)

Noel

[Terry Davidson]

malachi:

The long backswing, if a player has it, is a much better option AS LONG AS THE PLAYER CAN CONTROL IT!!!!!

Take a look at Mark Selby, John Higgins, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Shaun Murphy and Steven Maguire. They all have the normally long backswing and coincidentally are all in the top 8 players in the world. (There are probably a few other players I haven't mentioned too).

The secret is if your set-up is good and you can control a long backswing and keep it absolutely straight and SLOW (by the way) then you are doing and using what most of the top players in the world do.

Always have your BS filter on when other players in the club give you advice on your technique and remember there are a lot of players who think they know a lot about technique but I'm afraid the vast majority of them are simply deluding themselves.

Go with what feels natural to you and remember the 4 basic points I've published on here in many strings

Terry

[Freddie Ng]

Remember the 4 -1/2 steps to a good cue action and consistent improvement:

1. ABSOLUTELY no upper-body movement.
2. LOOSE GRIP
3. Slow feathers and backswing.
4. Grip hand to chest on delivery and stay still at the end of the delivery.
(3a). If you have one, remember the rear pause

Is it this four step Terry ?? (very very useful to me - thanks Terry).

Cheers..

[Terry Davidson]

Freddie:

That is my 4-1/2-step solution to better snooker. It's sort of like the 12-step solution for alcoholics or druggies.

And like someone who has stopped smoking, every day you have to get up (to the table) and mentally repeat those 4 steps before you begin play. I think even most pros would benefit from saying that mantra right at the start of a match.

When I do a quick warm-up by shooting the spots or something I use the following for the 4 steps (saying them in my head or people will think you're nuts):

1. 'CHIN ON CUE' (stops upper body movement)
2. I first of all grip the cue VERY hard and then let my hand and grip relax.
3. For slow backswing I concentrate on keeping it very slow (over compensating) and also having a very pronounced rear pause (again over compensating).
4. Force myself to stay down and watch the cueball until (when shooting the spots) it comes back to my cuetip or else the object ball drops in the pocket and then I say to myself how much in millimeters I missed the point on the pocket I was aiming at.

For shooting the spots I place a piece of chalk edge-on towards me and observe how much in millimeters I miss or hit the edge of the chalk.

I find this little exercise gets me into the right technique and mental mode for my matches.

Terry

[Giggity1984]

It's sort of like the 12-step solution for alcoholics or druggies.

lol, Hi, my name is Giggity1984, and I am a Snookerholic!

Just as an addition, I found Steve Davis's advice on following the cue back with your eyes then locking them on the object ball before delivery helps promote a natural and sufficiently long pause before delivery.

[Freddie Ng]

Terry,

A good way to prepare ourself for game. I always keep the four things in mind and always try my best to do it, there are also times I forgot of slow backswing. After few weeks of hard practice I finally manage to remind my self of slow backswing almost everytime when taking a shot. Now I'm trying to have a slow back swing and forsce myself to stay down after a shot.But I have this bad habit where I'm very rush for simple shot.. sometimes I miss it because I over confident..

Freddie.

[Terry Davidson]

The reason for a slow backswing is so the player can pull the cue back straighter. Remember, the only reason for the backswing is to get the cue to the delivery position.

This is why the rear pause is so important too as it 'disconnects' the backswing from the delivery and if the backswing is not perfectly straight then a good rear pause helps to overcome any tendency the player might have to correct things on the delivery, which ALWAYS leads to disaster by the player overcompensating because the delivery is more dynamic (faster) and the correction then becomes larger due to the faster movement.

This is also a reason why a longer backswing can also help out since applying power in the delivery is a lot easier and takes less effort. BUT a player must be able to control that longer backsing and keep it slow and STRAIGHT.

This is one of the things I've been tasked by Nic to work on but I'm finding it very difficult to keep the cue straight during a long backswing and I suspect I have to slow it down even further and perhaps even watch the ferrule as Steve Davis has suggested to me on his blog.

Now that I've managed to qualify for sure for the Canadian Championships this year I can afford to try out some different things as I've always wanted a rear pause, which I've never had, and also a longer backswing.

The other thing I've noticed, which may help some players control a longer backswing is for some reason (maybe because I'm a smoker or something) I tend to breathe in on a slow backswing, sort of like I'm 'winding up' for the final delivery. Breathing in does raise the upper body slightly and does move the tip of the cue off the centre-line of the cueball and is REALLY not a good thing.

Oh well, something else to think about and control while I strive to improve enough so I can have a good showing in the Canadians

Terry

[Brijacq]

Just as an additional bit of questioning regarding the backswing, do players have any tension in the arm while pulling the cue back. To give a better description of this - do you pull the cue back as if there is a spring connected to the tip of the cue and then release after the pause, or is it purely loose with no tension?

If it is the no tension method - do you accelerate slowy forward (as nic barrow suggests you should? (i find this very difficult).

Another question i am interested in what other players do - on your forward swing are you actually aiming at a point on the cuball or do you aim at a point past the cueball and the cueball just happens to get in the way.

[Terry Davidson]

Brij:

To answer your question. I believe there should be NO tension in the grip arm at all and it should be firm but without tension and without causing discomfort.

However, that said, Joe Davis did recommend that the right shoulder be 'braced', meaning getting it up as high as you can and locking it in place. I believe this is a good thing but you shouldn't overdo it and cause discomfort in the shoulder.

Also I agree with your statement about following Nic's advice about starting the cue slowly and building up the acceleration as I find this difficult too and couldn't really tell if I was doing it correctly.

Then I watched my grip hand frame-by-frame on a video clip and realized I could tell the speed of the delivery from how blurry the fingers were getting on the clip and sure enough they started out clearly defined and then as I got further into the delivery they started to blur from the higher speed.

As long as you have a decent length backswing I believe you can't help but to accelerate slowly on the delivery. Now if your backswing is only about 3" for a power shot then you will have problems not only with the acceleration but also with jerking on the shot.

A longer and SUPER SLOW backswing will get you there

Terry

[Watford]

I've actually really shortened my back swing lately and it as really helped my accuracy striking the cue ball.
I've never been short of cue power but I think I was often putting on unintentional side.

I do have to throw in that I've been playing more pool than snooker.

[Freddie Ng]

Thanks Terry for the great explanation. Never really tried very long back swing before.
Might try it out in my prctise section..

[The Doctor]

I would have to say that although i agree with the observation on J. Higgins and Stephen M backswing being long, I would not say the same for the others mentioned.
Even though i was Johns coach for a few years(while he was no.1), i would not recommend a long backswing for every shot.
John has slightly shortened the length of his backswing(a few years ago) although it is not very obvious, it is shorter than it was.
The backswing should compliment the type of shot being played.
Therefor, a power shot would require a long backswing and a more gentle shot requiring a shorter backswing.
The reason i say this!
The more movement in the cue action, the more chance there is of error.
If a shot can be played comfortably with a 3" backswing, why would you use 9" backswing, that would equate to a far greater chance of error with no advantage.
Think about how a golfer putts.
If he has a 1 foot putt he would bring the putter head back accordingly and accelerate through the ball.
If he has a 10 foot putt, he will bring the putter head back a lot further and accelerate with the same force allowing the putter head to achieve greater speed by the time it reaches the ball.
If one can achieve a constant cue speed, then it will offer the player a far greater control of the the cue ball. he will then be able to judge the speed of the cue ball far easier and far more consistently than he would do with a long backswing.
With a long backswing what you are in theory asking yourself to do is try to control the speed in which you push your cue through at, and believe me that is a lot harder to do that the method i recommend.
I know this is not everyone's method but i have found in my many years coaching that it is the best method and most consistent method.

[Terry Davidson]

The graduated length of backswing, proportional to the power required )or the 'pace' as they say, is also part of the Terry Griffiths Matchroom coaching technique.

I also use it myself, as does Nic Barrow by the way.

I agree with the Doctor in that the more movement on the backswing the greater chance of it going off line and I've found I do lose control with a long backswing, especially on a low power shot.

However, Mark Selby probably has the most consistently long backswing and uses it even on low power tick-off safety shots where on the same shot I would probably use about 3" only on my backswing

Terry