Leaning into the shot

[poolqjunkie]

I have read about leaning into the shot and putting one's weight forward to help following through in the shot.
But my question is how much do you lean forward, that is how much weight do you put on your bridge arm?
And another question is why can't you sit on your back leg and your front leg, and have a relaxed bridge arm?
I have actually found that when I put too much tension on my left hand side(I am right handed) my bridge tends to move a bit when I am just about to follow through on my final delivery, especially on power shot.
When I put more weight backward and sit on my back leg, my back hand is more level with the table and my bridge does not move. It also allows my bridge arm to be more relaxed.
The problem is after a while my back leg would feel very sore.
In a video by Shaun Murphy he said a player should lean into the shot to get more follow through--what did he mean actually?
Thanks.

[cazmac1]

The only benefit of leaning into the shot is that it gives you a firmer bridge hand as your body weight is forward onto this point and this is supposed to improve balance and reduce body movement.
I don't think it’s that important as long as your well balance and have a good stance. Without going into it too deep taller players will naturally put the their weight forward as their hips will be above the table so when they put their hand on the table there body weight has to be forward ( assuming they have a good stance). If you’re a short person and your hips are level or below the table it will harder to get your body weight forward. The fact is your weight is more forward than you think anyway try lifting your hand off the table I be surprised if you can .

[thinsy]

The only benefit of leaning into the shot is that it gives you a firmer bridge hand as your body weight is forward onto this point and this is supposed to improve balance and reduce body movement.
I don't think it’s that important as long as your well balance and have a good stance. Without going into it too deep taller players will naturally put the their weight forward as their hips will be above the table so when they put their hand on the table there body weight has to be forward ( assuming they have a good stance). If you’re a short person and your hips are level or below the table it will harder to get your body weight forward. The fact is your weight is more forward than you think anyway try lifting your hand off the table I be surprised if you can .

I think you'll find that this is exactly the point being made... As long as you have pressure on your bridge arm that means your leaning into the shot. If you lift your bridge arm and start to fall backwards your not!! You don't need to look like your about to give Usain Bolt a race

[cazmac1]

Point taken.

On the second aspect of your back leg getting sore, I've also experianced this. I think your falling into the trap of over egging single points of your set up and this in turn leads to problems. Try and focus on what it is your try to achive IE: Smooth cuing, pot and position. As long as your basic are fairly sound I wouldn't spend too much time on this aspect of your game.

[Terry Davidson]

pqj:

Don't get overly involved with your technique unless you are going to a very good coach as it will really mess you up, especially if you don't happen to be an expert.

Weight is distributed along the lines of 45% on each foot and 10% on the bridge forearm and bridge hand (numbers are approximate).

Trying to lean forward is a mistake because people get it wrong and don't know to what degree to lean. Try lifting your hand off the table when in the address position and it should be difficult.

Getting the hips right is what you should be thinking about. If you have 3-6 inches clearance between your trouser pocket and the back of your grip hand thumb PLUS your are comfortable then everything should be fine

Terry

[The Doctor]

Apart from the cueing arm, the rest of the body set up is to achieve one thing, that is to allow your body to remain as still as possible when playing the shot.
The weight should be evenly distributed through the set up.
Imagine a camera tripod, the weight is evenly spread through the 3 arms to stop any movement when taking a picture.
Likewise, your weight should be evenly spread through both feet and bridge arm, giving you a better chance of staying still when hitting the shot(taking the picture).

[poona]

Not to raise an old thread from the dead.. well I just have... But I was just doing a search on shoulder pain as I'm getting exactly this. Now I never used to get it before (been playing 16 years on/off) and now I'm having to take ibuprofen before I play. It's bloomin' agony.

[renniwevarb]

Not to raise an old thread from the dead.. well I just have... But I was just doing a search on shoulder pain as I'm getting exactly this. Now I never used to get it before (been playing 16 years on/off) and now I'm having to take ibuprofen before I play. It's bloomin' agony.

Is it due to your stance and bridge hand position? Or is it self-induced tension causing the bridge arm shoulder to stiffen up?
I had this pain problem in my bridge hand shoulder due to stiffing up my bridge arm and inducing unneccesary tension in my upper arm/shoulder.

If so you need to relax your bridge hand as there should not be any pain at all. Else you may be putting too much weight into your bridge?

[Sidd]

GUYS! I am not an expert and have had years and years of playing without a proper technique, but this thing is so creepy that once in to it you can never get out easily, as it opens doors within doors. I have been getting advice from Terry for some time now and have been following it and trying to play better. But then once in to the tiny nitty gritties of technique, I havent been able to come off even though Terry has been asking me time and again. Here is what I can contribute to this thread out of my experience and trust me I am one of those who are learning it the hard way - I have had bridge arm shoulder pain for months with sleepless nights and agonizing playtime and also have had stright leg foot sore and pain to a great extent. i am now happily out of both by trial and error and constant thinking and advice from Terry and Nic etc... Here is what this is all about:

Leaning forward or not? well one must lean forward but not FORWARD its just a natural lean that comes to you because most players would find their hips a bit up the table bed so dont fret over it yes just lift bridge hand while in address and it should be a very difficult thing to do. I kept on and on asking questions seeking advice on and off this forum and could not get an answer until recently when I discovered something exactly as the Doctor mentioned and believe me Poona it will solve your problem too and you will not have to go for months and months of shoulder pain and i even got tendinitis in the end.

Its not always the lean causing the pain but like in my case it was extra tensing of the bridge arm shoulder of forearm or even the brige hand... This tension develops over time and causes the shoulder cap to stiffen up and hence the pain. the tensing of the bridge arm is also caused by putting more weight on the bridge arm thus leaning too much to the right (in my case as I am a lefty) unintentionally and hence causing it. Keep a long mirror in front of the table and notice how you are positioned. You might not be able to pick it up quickly but then you will notice in some time. So the tensing of the bridge shoulder or arm causes this pain in most cases and not the forward natural lean (unless the forweard lean is too much and artificial)... That is how I got rid of my tendinitis easily (i was on ibruphen for long dude and can understand what you are feeling). relax your bridge arm shoulder forearm and hand no tension required... your bridge will be stable automatically so dont worry about its firmness through tensing the arm. If your cue slips on the bridge nice and easy then everything should be ok but if the cue sort of stucks on your hand and has friction then it would feel as if your bridge is moving and you will tend to tense the arm...

As for the leg pain hmmm well I never had the pain in my leg but it was the foot actually the straight leg foot that had the pain. This was caused due to the fact that in order to get rid of the shoulder pain by thinking i was leaning too much forward I came back a little in my stance... now i am 6 feet 1 inch so you can imagine how bad this must have been. In order to artificially create the backward stride I had to lean back on the leg and hence continued play in this form led me to my foot pain... But after realising my mistake I am now back again leaning naturally just a bit forward and my stance is natural enough and wallah! the foot pain is gone in days (tendinitis will take some time so just relax and give it some time though)...

Hope this helps...!!!