Left Handed, Right Eye dominant

[Izzyfcuk]

Wonder if anyone can give me advice on the following

As mentioned, im left handed but right eye dominant, Seen a coach today he had the following observation:

1. Cue ball on baulk line up an down drill (Always had right side when it comes back)

2. Normal short distance pots around the pink spot (Always had right side when off the cushion)

3. Cue delivery, at the end of the shot, after thumb his chest (Noticed that my tip is always pointed right side)

He also notice that everytime im down on the shot. in my own view the cut is right and my tip is at dead centre, however to him my entire cue is off to the right. My line of shot is right, my walk in is right but this starts to happen when im down on the shot

So he put me thru some corrections, feet over line of shot, heel over line of shot etc, adjusting my stance, walk in, bridge hand but could not solve this.

Does anyone have any explanation? cos im really fustrated as it's been a long time problem and affecting my game. I cant' help but wonder if it's the dominant eye that's causing this?

[Terry Davidson]

Izzy:

The problem is there are so many reasons why this can happen. Without being able to see you in action all I can do is offer some of the most common reasons and their corrections.

It would be very wise to get a digital video camera and a good light and put it on the butt of the cue and then take some normal shots (like shooting the spots or long blues) with different amounts of power. Play the video back in slow motion and watch why the butt is moving sideways, most likely the grip is the reason.

OK...so the most common reason is turning the wrist during the delivery. This can easily be solved by correcting the grip on the cue and moving the cue slightly towards the fingertips of the grip hand a bit more and cocking the wrist outwards from the body so you have 2-4 wrinkles in the outside of the wrist joint. This should be done so the butt of the cue is either directly below the long bone of the forearm or even slightly outside of it.

The aim is to keep the wrist still and not wrapping the grip around the cue more during the delivery.

The second most common is slight head/shoulder movement on the delivery. This often originates during the backswing in the opposite direction (tip going left in your case) and then over-correcting during the delivery as the brain will recognize the cue didn't come back straight. Slow down your backswing until it is super slow (in practice) and try shooting the spots to see if there are any improvements.

Next...gripping the cue too tight and too early in the delivery. Loosen the grip up until you are only gripping with the tips of the forefinger and thumb with a big air gap with the web between forefinger and thumb (in practice only) and try shooting the spots and see if there's improvement. If there is then you must work on loosening the grip and ensuring you only tighten the grip well after you've hit the cueball.

Next...alignment. Instead of having the cue over to the right on your chin, centre the cue on your chin and turn your head slightly to the left to get the right eye more over the cue, but only a slight turn so the right eye is a little closer to the cue line of aim. Ensure the laces of the left foot are directly under the grip hand in the address position. Try shooting the spots and look for improvements.

Please try these solutions ONE AT A TIME and see which one corrects the problem. See if you can get your left elbow directly over the cue with the cue over the laces of the left foot.

Terry

[Izzyfcuk]

Terry

Thank you for the advice.

1. Wrist turing - addressed and confirmed that minimal to no turning

2. Head/shoulder - addressed as well.

3. Grip - same

4. I have my chest to the cue and not cue to chest ( i reckon that is not an issue)?

6. Cue on chin tilting head - will try that out.

7. Movement using video cam - will try that out as well.

I just want to confirm that it's not and left handed, opposite eye issue and that my situation is not particular uncommon based on your coaching experience?

[Terry Davidson]

Izzy:

It is a very common problem. A lot of players will have the cue finish off-line for one reason or another.

When you deliver the cue check and see that the chevrons are still at the top of the cue at the end of the delivery when your grip hand is against your chest.

If you do a video, have the camera almost directly behind the cue and with good lighting. If you can put some kind of white mark on the butt of the cue to make it easier to see (I use the glued paper rings used to strengthen 3-ring binder paper). Take about 10 long blue shots and see if there is any sideways movement in the butt.

Watch in either slow motion or stop motion. There are many video programs available to do that. I use Dartfish (very expensive) or else Cyberlink Power DVD which will give you excellent stop-motion that you can key through frame-by-frame and see exactly what's happening and what's the cause of the problem.

There will be one basic reason (I call it 'root cause analysis') why the tip of your cue is going to the right and it will be bacause the butt of the cue is going left on delivery. Check first the backswing to ensure you are pulling the cue back EXACTLY straight, and then the delivery. With the white patch on the butt and good lighting it is very easy to see. Watch what you fingers are doing as you go through the address position on delivery.

Terry

[Terry Davidson]

Izzy:

It could also be that you are a bit hung up on getting the cue RIGHT UNDER your right eye and this will give you an imbalance on your set-up.

Much better to keep the cue centered on the chin and turning your head SLIGHTLY to the left, but don't turn it too much to get the cue right under the right eye, just a bit to move it towards the right eye

Terry

[BoBnoGG!n]

i use to hav this problem but these days, i tilt my head to the side a bit. im left eye dominant but right handed, and i i hav my head tilted to the right a bit. about 30 degrees to the right off the centre line. finding im cueing much straighter especially for long pots or slightly off centre pots that i need to top through. i also turned my wrist out a bit as i hav read terry mention this to me in the past. that helped me turning the cue as i cue through. i find i still play best really relaxed, after a drink or two. when im not thinkin too much.

[Izzyfcuk]

Great idea, perhaps i should down a heineken or two as warm up! lol