cue arm&shoulder

[hsn]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]16670[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]16671[/ATTACH] I've read this thread and thought i'd try it out myself, just wondered if these two pictures were showing if i'm doing it correct or not? feedback would be very much appreciated, I understand these things won't make me a 147 maker over night but I've been playing quite poorly whilst adopting this technique, is this just transitional and will it pass, and eventually make me better or shall I revert back to my previous technique, thanks.

Your shoulder and the upper arm isn't still aligned with the elbow and the cue. You can only benefit from this technique only if you can align properly that's why you've lost your game.

Read my previous posts for photos and videos of Steve Davis as he was the only pro that made the perfect alignment consistently.

You'll have to unlearn your present technique though so it needs lots of courage.

If you think there is something for you in it only then go for it.

[j6uk]

Your shoulder and the upper arm isn't still aligned with the elbow and the cue. You can only benefit from this technique only if you can align properly that's why you've lost your game.

he may have lost some confidence now he's starting to look at what he's doing, but i don't think josh has got a game to loose

[Terry Davidson]

I almost broke my neck trying to look at the sideways pictures!

Looks OK to me Josh. The only thing I'd advise you to change is your bridge which looks pretty weak. Cock the thumb up a bit more and spread the fingers and here is another very small tip. The web between thumb and forefinger forms what's called a 'thumb cushion' and your cue is sitting on that and as the cue gets thicker when you deliver the thumb pillow will push the cue very slightly to the right. Correct this by turning yuour hand to the right a little bit so you have more of your forefinger visible on the right side of the cue and then the cue should be off the thumb pillow.

Terry

[Terry Davidson]

Your shoulder and the upper arm isn't still aligned with the elbow and the cue. You can only benefit from this technique only if you can align properly that's why you've lost your game.

Read my previous posts for photos and videos of Steve Davis as he was the only pro that made the perfect alignment consistently.

You'll have to unlearn your present technique though so it needs lots of courage.

If you think there is something for you in it only then go for it.

hsn:

I'm still not certain of what you're trying to say. I don't believe I've ever seen a player who is able to align the upper arm directly over and in line with the cue as I think the only way it can be done is if the player has the cue to the right of his chest and under the outside of the armpit and no one plays that way (except maybe John Virgo in the 80's).

I believe in what you're saying as far as alignment goes in that the better aligned means less moving parts and less coordination required, but I've never seen any picture of a player where his elbow is over the cue along with his upper arm being directly over the cue.

Would you please put up a photo of yourself (or any player you choose, like Steve Davis) that shows the upper arm aligned and directly over the cue.

Or am I misunderstanding what you are saying and you are actually advocating the upper arm should be outside but parallel to the cue? (which is waht my own alignment is like)

I couldn't view your photos by the way as they didn't come up when I clicked on them

Terry

[itsnoteasy]

Here is a pic of my set up , it's not far off line, but it's not perfect, my cue runs just to the left of my nip. I hung the ipad on the wall and took a picture in the mirror, it's not quite square on.image.jpg

[tedisbill]

itsnoteasy:

Looks very good to me mate! You say it's not perfect, but I'd say it is. That's as good as any top pro.

[itsnoteasy]

Why don't the balls go in then Ted lol.

[tedisbill]

Why don't the balls go in then Ted lol.

They will do! You haven't been playing seriously very long have you?

[itsnoteasy]

I have been playing two years, around one of them seriously.

[tedisbill]

Well you're doing everything right and you've got a good understanding of the game, so you're definitely going to improve a lot, lot more yet in the next couple of years.

[itsnoteasy]

Time will tell, it's a massive roller coaster just now, some days great next day can't pot four balls in a row, stupid game lol.

[hsn]

hsn:

I'm still not certain of what you're trying to say. I don't believe I've ever seen a player who is able to align the upper arm directly over and in line with the cue as I think the only way it can be done is if the player has the cue to the right of his chest and under the outside of the armpit and no one plays that way (except maybe John Virgo in the 80's).

I believe in what you're saying as far as alignment goes in that the better aligned means less moving parts and less coordination required, but I've never seen any picture of a player where his elbow is over the cue along with his upper arm being directly over the cue.

Would you please put up a photo of yourself (or any player you choose, like Steve Davis) that shows the upper arm aligned and directly over the cue.

Or am I misunderstanding what you are saying and you are actually advocating the upper arm should be outside but parallel to the cue? (which is waht my own alignment is like)

I couldn't view your photos by the way as they didn't come up when I clicked on them

Terry

I can confirm that you've got me absolutely correct this time Terry. Yes I do mean to say that the upper arm should be aligned with the cue line and directly over the cue.

I had also tried to copy Steve and found out that the perfect alignment does actually "astonishingly" keeps the cue online to such a great extent that a mediocre player starts to pull very difficult long pots just by learning to align perfectly in a couple of weeks.

So many pros exhibit this alignment every now and then more or less.

Here are a few examples of contemporary pros in a perfect alignment. Although you may notice that Judd's alignment is only near perfect in this photo that I can come up with right now, but I've seen him exhibit a perfect alignment many times. I'll try to post the photos later as I'll have to extract them from his matchplay videos.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/...55_634x463.jpg
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/...91_634x485.jpg
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/multim...mp_242150c.jpg

I would like to draw your attention to the fact that Steve Davis at his prime was the only player who played most of his shots with a perfect alignment. (Unfortunately Steve has lost his true alignment now.)

Here is a match play video for your close examination. You'll have to look for the frames yourself where Steve is shot right in front of his cue line though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvGGFMTHgi4

Here are the links to photos http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img849/7149/py8yn.jpg
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img822/4029/ymdxq.jpg

The links are working at the time of the post if not please send me your e-mail address to deliver the photos there.

I hope this resolves the issue.

[hsn]

Nice to see this itsnoteasy. All you had to do in this photo was to lift your right shoulder further up a couple of inches until the upper arm aligned with the cue and then moved the tip of your elbow out until it also aligned with the upper arm, since the elbow would move further to your back when you lifted your shoulder up.

Very nice by far indeed.

It may feel contorting at first but you gradually learn ways to do it easily in a couple of weeks.

Here is a pic of my set up , it's not far off line, but it's not perfect, my cue runs just to the left of my nip. I hung the ipad on the wall and took a picture in the mirror, it's not quite square on.[ATTACH=CONFIG]16672[/ATTACH]

[hsn]

I am very pleased to learn that it's working for someone at last. But please do keep in mind that the best part will start when you'll get it perfect. And perfect means perfect not only in the address position but also after the delivery. Do read my later posts for the links to some very helpful videos.

OK understood and thanks for your tips on this thread. I had some table time last night and tried tweaking various aspects of my stance, and, for me anyway (I'm a right hqnded player), the most important thing seems to be to ensure that the arch of my right foot is on the LOA and angled about 45 degrees to the right of the LOA. My left leg is then placed forward and parallel to the LOA, my backside swings out more noticeably and low and behold its easier to get my shoulder behind my head and on the LOA. I still dont have perfect alignment everytime I get down on the shot, but progress is definitly being made and I did notice an improvement in my long potting in particular last night.

[alabadi]

I took i pic of myself taking straight blues into the middle, when looking at it my elbow is not inline with the cue


i went down to the club today for an hour and tried to see if i can get it straighter, not sure i was successful. it seems slightly left, not sure how to get it straight maybe moving my right foot further to the right could help.

shoulder_alignment.jpg

it didn't effect my shots i was able to pot blues with follow and the white follows into the pocket, so i'm not sure should i change it