Joe Swail's action....

[DWOT]

I've been getting in a bit of practice with a guy locally who's made a fair few 147's in practice and have been dragging him down to my poor level, anyhow what he noted about my action is that it's very similar to Joe Swails!

How can I rectify this? When I took my arm in as it should be it feels mightily odd and in some cases actually feels a bit painful to be honest....

[ferret]

Joe's cue action is derived form when he started to play Snooker at a very early age, imaging playing Snooker if the table is at chest height, you have to move your wrist round on the cue anti-clockwise as you are holding it and lift your forearm to get a the cue to go straight when cueing.

See the attached images.

Joe has never rectified this and why should he if it works, my advice if it works for you keep with it, there are very few players that have a text book cue action so don't worry about how it should be done and concentrate more on what is right for you.

[gazza147]

If you are Cueing Straight and Playing Well I wouldn't Change a Thing!....You cannot put it down to your Arm/Action as maybe you need to Practise More or you have come to your Full Potential.

Look at Mark Selby, Joe Swail + Many Other Top Professionals which there Technique Shouldn't Work but it does for them.

So Don't Worry as long as your Cueing Straight and Playing ok, Its Like when you go to a Chiropodist they say your Walking this or that way which Everybody walks Differently and they say you can Try Insoles etc.

Its Like having your Shoes Tested by Forensics Everybody's Soles is Different!...Similar to Snooker Most people are Different in Certain Ways but as long as you are ok with it thats the main thing.

Hope this Helps.

Gaz.

[nostawmail]

i move my head like mark selby when im down on my shot, people have told me im moving all over but my head doesnt move on the shot and i wouldnt change as it works for me

as long as your comfortable with your cue action and it works there no need to change anything

[DWOT]

If you are Cueing Straight and Playing Well I wouldn't Change a Thing!....You cannot put it down to your Arm/Action as maybe you need to Practise More or you have come to your Full Potential.

Look at Mark Selby, Joe Swail + Many Other Top Professionals which there Technique Shouldn't Work but it does for them.

So Don't Worry as long as your Cueing Straight and Playing ok, Its Like when you go to a Chiropodist they say your Walking this or that way which Everybody walks Differently and they say you can Try Insoles etc.

Its Like having your Shoes Tested by Forensics Everybody's Soles is Different!...Similar to Snooker Most people are Different in Certain Ways but as long as you are ok with it thats the main thing.

Hope this Helps.

Gaz.

Helps to remind me to ge tsome insoles for my trainers next time I go for 4 hours of snooker, my feet were killing me!

[Rane]

Not to forget Alex Higgins. Most famous of all with a strange cueing.

[Terry Davidson]

Joe Swail is yet another example of a player with a type of cue action which requires perfect coordination at the time he strikes the cueball. For everyone, as we get older the hand-eye coordination gets a little worse and we are not able to duplicate that perfect timing so well.

You could try going to a good coach, like Nic Barrow in Milton Keynes. Of course this will cost you a bit of money but Nic would be able to get you into a technique which is comfortable for your and also does not require you to maintain that perfect coordination every time you hit the cueball.

This is, of course, if you're interested in maintaining your present standard or improving a bit.

In saying that, there a lot of unorthodox techniques out there and especially amongst the younger players and they are all able to play to a high standard (Mark Selby, Mark Allen) however those players with an unorthodox style do slip away down the rankings as they get older unless they correct their technique and get it to the simplist form with a minimum of moving parts, ideally the elbow and eyes with a little shoulder movement on long backswings when the elbow drops and long follow throughs on power shots.

Your grip will be your primary point of correction for you. Joe uses a very loose grip which he opens and closes and he has the cue butt way into his fingers, in my opinion a bit too far. Try holding the butt of the cue just as you would a hammer but only grip the cue with the upper inside of the forefinger and thumb with the back 3 fingers on the cue but relaxed.

In snooker, keep the number of moving parts to a minimum and it will be easier to duplicate on every shot and thus become more consistent.

But the final word is, if you try some changes and introduce discomfort for yourself, then forget about it as COMFORT is the most important item in cueing technique

Terry

[DWOT]

Cheers for that, I think the discomfort comes from having my shoulder smashed up by some manic with the blunt side of an axe many years ago and me being young and stupid and never getting it sorted out, now some actions produce pain!

I'm definately interested in improving my game as it needs improving! As other have said already Terry, it's a shame you're so far away...