Holding The Butt Tighter

[tommy_boi]

Recently when playing 8 ball pool i changed how tight i hold the cue butt, before i used to hold the cue loose to firm and used to struggle to pot consistently, the last couple of nights though i've changed this and hold the cue butt quite tight now and seem to be potting more balls consistently now, is this the right way to hold the butt cue, i've always read to hold it loose to firm, but holding it more tightly has definitely improved my game, i get people telling me how good i'm potting now and have done a lot of clearances of the table in one night since holding it this way, which before i struggled to do within a month, your views on this welcome?.

[grimreaper]

Mate if it works for you keep doing it:snooker:

[damienlch]

i try to keep these 2 things foremost in my mind whenever i'm messing around with my technique... am i still cueing straight? does this method i'm trying allows me to execute my shots with greater ease? ... imo, if the shot feels easier, then you're probably getting it right.

[Slasher]

So long as you are not pulling the cue off line you are fine.

[snookeq]

Hey I have the same dilemma as well.
If my grip is tight, my accuracy increase for basic shots.
If my grip is loose, I have more feel for cue ball control but my accuracy decrease.

How do we solve this problem?
Or do we need to find our own unique style that's working for us?

[nrage]

Hey I have the same dilemma as well.
If my grip is tight, my accuracy increase for basic shots.
If my grip is loose, I have more feel for cue ball control but my accuracy decrease.

How do we solve this problem?
Or do we need to find our own unique style that's working for us?

When you say 'loose' just how loose do you mean? If you're allowing a gap to appear between the cue and the webbing of your thumb/forefinger then you're holding it too loosely. This gap allows the cue to move on delivery, especially when you squeeze/close the grip (it jumps up, tip goes down..).

Nic Barrow mentions holding the cue like it's a small bird. You want to keep your hand closed so the bird does not escape, but not so tight that you crush it. Or, imagine you're holding an egg and swinging your arm around, if you're too loose the egg moves and flies out, if you're too tight you'll crush it. In fact if you think about it what you want is to make your grip/fingers the correct size/shape to hold the cue without any gaps, but without putting any additional pressure on the cue (squeezing).

Then, on backswing your 2nd/3rd/4th fingers will release a little (the cue will push them out of the way) and then on delivery they close again (but not quickly/hard) but make sure you're not tightening the grip more than the initial amount at all, or if you do, it should be when the hand hits the chest at the very end of delivery.

I read an interesting blog post by Steve Davis, which no longer seems to be available, but it talked about using a grip where the cue was held by the 2nd, 3rd and 4th fingers (not tight but in constant contact) and he found accuracy to improve, but that it did perhaps limit length of backswing and therefore power.

[snookeq]

Thank you for the quick reply mate.
You're right on my def of "loose".
For loose grip, I tend to only use 3 fingers and hold it with gaps.

The bird/egg analogy is interesting.
I'll visualise it the next time I hit the club.