Question about Stance

[wayync]

This is for anyone who has any idea I guess....

My question is when you get down for the shot, there is one leg that is straight and one bent, so do you just get down comfortably and play the shot OR do you have to really apply pressure and stretch out the back leg, stick your ass out and at the same time stretch out the lower back?

The reason I ask is because when you apply pressure, it sort of lowers your whole body, and also because I always stretch out my hamstring, I have this chronic pain near my hip even when i'm not playing...I don't know if my explanation makes sense but I'm sure some of you may know what I'm taking about...

[ivanko]

Same question with u exactly , I m a right hand player, and my stance, that is straight(Right leg) and the other one bent. I always feel painful of my right leg after playing couple of hours. Actually it is still painful right now. I have had follow the 123DVD step by step few days ago, but still cannot solve the problems. I think I need more practice on my stance.

[renniwevarb]

Yup, I've spent some time thinking about and practicing the stance... from my experience, if you tell yourself to apply pressure to straighten your leg and lower your back, what you have done is to tense yourself up, and this takes away the concentration needed to deliver your cue straight.

What has helped me is a few things:

1) Rather than telling yourself to straighten your right leg and lower your back, I suggest you start from the pre-shot routine. When you walk into your shot and get down, try to experiment with different distances everytime you take your 2 steps into your stance. Try getting very near and then getting further until you experience the 2 extremes, then you will find a comfortable distance where you actually get down and everything would fall in place (that is, right leg would be straight and back would be lowered). When you have found the right distance for yourself you would have eliminated the need to 'tell youself to do it'. Another way this helps is if you get down with the 'wrong' distance' your body would give you a NO signal and you probably should stand back up and do your pre-shot routine again.

2) I've benefitted with some readings from Nic Barrow. I realised that we sometimes 'sway' into the stance instead of 'getting down' to it, as it is our natural body instinct to be balanced. So try to notice if you do that when you take your 2 steps and go down onto the line of aim. What you can try to do is to slow it down by first getting your right leg onto the line of aim, then spread your left leg to get your stance, and finally let your head and chin fall into the line of aim onto the cue (all this while your head and chin has to be on the line of shot and not sway left to right which will make you lose aim). Sounds easy but I realised it is not that straightforward when I practice and start to be aware of what my body is doing. It takes practice to get this right. When you can fluidly get down to your shot, it will be a great improvement. Just observe how the pros do it so effortlessly.

Hope this can help you to improve your game in some way

[ivanko]

2) I've benefitted with some readings from Nic Barrow. I realised that we sometimes 'sway' into the stance instead of 'getting down' to it, as it is our natural body instinct to be balanced. So try to notice if you do that when you take your 2 steps and go down onto the line of aim. What you can try to do is to slow it down by first getting your right leg onto the line of aim, then spread your left leg to get your stance, and finally let your head and chin fall into the line of aim onto the cue (all this while your head and chin has to be on the line of shot and not sway left to right which will make you lose aim). Sounds easy but I realised it is not that straightforward when I practice and start to be aware of what my body is doing. It takes practice to get this right. When you can fluidly get down to your shot, it will be a great improvement. Just observe how the pros do it so effortlessly.

Hope this can help you to improve your game in some way

renniwevarb, point 2 really a good point, thank you very much. will try after then.

[Terry Davidson]

wayyn:

The advice here is good and you would probably benefit from following the advice in Nic's DVDs. In case you haven't seen them then here it is in a little verbal format.

The first thing you have to remember is you must be COMFORTABLE. That is the primary law to follow.

Secondly, the easiest way to find the stance which is best for your particular physique (everyone is different so the 'one way fits all' method in books is not exactly correct and is just a guide to follow. In other owrds, DON'T exactly copy Joe Davis as he had his own particular physique.

Without a ball just get down in a comfortable hand-on-the-table shot and CLOSE YOUR EYES. Now shuffle each part of your body in turn starting with the feet (one at a time though). Move them out and in, forward and back until you find where you're most comfortable. It could be different from what I teach as the 'ideal' stance but it's RIGHT for you.

Now do the same with your bridge arm and your grip arm but remember to move just one thing at a time and to stand up between each drill to relax your muscles.

Also remember this thing which at my age I hate to mention but it's a fact. What we could do and what was comfortable when we were 20 years old is no longer true when we are over 40 years old. I've had to change my stance and move the left foot further forward just bacause my spine won't twist than much anymore and I find i'm not comfortable with the totally square stance.

However, you should try and get the back as level as possible and the right hip out of the way of your backswing, but remember COMFORT is the first rule.

Terry