elbow drop/ del hill

[Slasher]

And on the Higgins thing, old men in my club do that to, but they are neither double world champions nor do they have the natural talent that Higgins had. No top player nowadays does this.

I could also say that I know of thousands of top level players that do not do this and they are not two times world champs either

[Slasher]

I'm surrprised at the reaction to this, some people are so set in there ways they refuse to listen or try any thing new. If you have learned the game one way and can play the game at a high standard there is no reason for you to change and no one is asking you to, but to slagg this style of is just pure nonsense. Ronnie has without doute one of the best cue actions ever.
All I can say is having tryed it I know it works, and when I get my timing right and grove the action I'm sure I'll be a better player for it.

I wouldn't be surprised, everyone has their opinions and some have stronger views on how things should be, do what ever works for you to improve.

Consider this though, I am by all accounts an old dog now (51) but I am always practicing and changing to try and do better. Because I started out with rubbish fundamentals I have tried to fix thing along the way. If I had been shown simple sound techniques from day one I would have been a better player sooner.
Whatever you do keep it simple, comfortable and refine that process, let your natural ability show and be more focused on results.
Best of luck

[cazmac1]

Thanks and good luck to you to.

[snookergr]

Terry was very right saying that the confusion is on the backswing.
For me the question is whether during a long backswing you drop the elbow to keep the cue parallel at all times since the breaking of the wrist is not enough sometimes.
In Del's video, Del said "it is BULL***" to try and keep the cue parallel and you should travel the cue on a slope from up to down" and drop the elbow (with perfect timing) before impact to bring the cuel level, then travel through the ball.
Personally I a agree with dropping the elbow on delivery as it makes sense to "complete" the driving action as you see in tennis where the players long after they've hit the ball they are accelerating and finishing on the other side of their body, in boxing too etc.
HOWEVER I have to ask re the backswing i.e. should the cue be parallel all the time (even if you have to drop the elbow at some point) I think yes.
Now if you drop the elbow during backswing the elbow has to come up again during delivery (at some point wher the cue tip is near the adress posittion I would think) and then drop again on impact right ?
Just this clarification will do for me in order to have a clear picture of both manners and choose what is best for me.
Thanks a lot :-)

[Acrowot]

snookergr. It looks good to me. Very nice cueing.
:snooker:

[Acrowot]

Only wish the tables that I am playing on, ran as well as the one your video is on.
:snooker:

[snookergr]

true :-)
the cloth is very good and the table is quite straight with decent cushions
makes all the difference does'nt it ...

[CoachGavin]

snookergr, I think what del is saying is that the cue naturally slopes up because of the cushion rail. Now if you are playing a screw shot you must follow the slope. If you pull the cue back parallel you are actually lowering the butt of the cue under its natural plane. In turn the tip will rise from its aim at the bottom of the ball. The result is that as the player comes through with the shot the brain realises it is not striking low enough and so the player lifts the butt to strike the bottom of the white. The grip then ends up striking the chest early and with no follow through. Hence Del says that this is the down to up motion he hates. The grip goes under the line of slope on the backswing and above it on the follow through. His theory is up to down. Follow the slope up and deliver down the slope.

Thats about the best way i can explain it. Hope it helps.

[cally]

true :-)
the cloth is very good and the table is quite straight with decent cushions
makes all the difference does'nt it ...

Sweet break on that YT vid fella fairplay....:snooker:


Nice of your mate to pick the balls out the pockets for you eh...

[snookergr]

CoachGavin: thanks for your reply, your explanation is perfectly clear :-)
As I see it the cue should move on its natural plane all the time and this is what one should be looking for and if keeping the cue on the same plane during a long backswing means that you have to lower your elbow a touch it can't be bad.

cally: cheers! picking the balls out myself, the ref was out of order LOL

[jrc750]

.... picking the balls out myself, the ref was out of order LOL

He almost got up for the long blue into the yellow pocket tho
Yeah excellent film work there, love the way you speeded things up between shots, and the surprise sound effect at the end

[snookergr]

He almost got up for the long blue into the yellow pocket tho
Yeah excellent film work there, love the way you speeded things up between shots, and the surprise sound effect at the end

so true... he almost did but he looked at my face and thought....hmm I better sit down again

cheers! I like to edit the videos it adds to the fun and it is less boring to watch

[Acrowot]

Hello again snookergr. We have had new cloths on two of the table just a few weeks ago, but it is the cushions that let them down. Is extremely difficult to play good positional play on them.

I have only just recently started to play again and have never seen players hitting the balls so hard as they are doing at the club. It is because of the deadish cushions and maybe the quality of the people that service the tables.

Many years ago, these tables were very good playing tables and had a different company to service them ...... Maybe it is because of the pricing. But cannot go into that, as some of the committee do not like being asked questions.
:snooker:

[cazmac1]

snookergr. It looks good to me. Very nice cueing.
:snooker:

I second that, a very good example and a good break.
with regards to your question about dropping the elbow on the back swing, Del told me to imagine that there was someone behind me sitting in the front row and that when I draw the cue back to imagine that I was trying to hit him in the head with the butt.

[Nugget]

The elbow drop is done to keep the cue as level as possible at the completion of tghe delivery where you must drive your grip hand all the way through to your chest.

As for gripping the cue, the grip should remain loose all the way through the shot and not tighten on the cue until the hand hits the chest. It's the back of the thumb hitting the chest which tightens the grip on the cue and never tighten it before that as you will be decelereating the cue as you go through the cueball.

On softer shots the follow through is limited a bit and the elbow drop is not necessary but the grip hand should still hit the chest if at all possible (if the 2 balls are not too close together).

Terry

This is news to me. My grip has always tightened around the point of contact with the white, particularly on power shots. You're saying the grip should never be tightened or "squeezed" on any shot?

I'll have to take this to the table. This may be just another reason I play so badly.