Lifting my elbow on forward stroke

[safe t boy]

Hi all.

I have spotted a flaw in my cue action this evening. Basically whats happening is I am raising my elbow (or maybe shoulder) on the forward stroke causing me to cue across the ball, it like I'm pulling the cue up into my chest. It also causes me to hit lower on the white than intended.

Its an old habbit that goes back many years. If I concentrate on keeping the cue level on the forward stroke I am potting much much more consistently and getting my intended position more often. Trouble is on shots where a bit more power is necessary I still tend to raise the butt on follow through slightly. I have tried losening my grip and keeping the back 3 fingers open but it feels uncomfortable.

Can anyone shed any light on what else could be done to fix this?

Thanks,

Mike

Ps: I could make a video if that would help identify the issue.

[nrage]

I think I used to have a similar fault .. does your chin rest on the cue at address position, and if so, do you sometimes smack the cue into it? I used to, and it was because I was raising my grip on the stroke and forcing the cue into my chin.

The most likely cause of the problem is tightening the shoulder, elbow and grip.. which is why you have trouble on the power shots. This tightening has become a habit and will take some time to break. The first step is to realise how much power you can generate without any effort at all.

1. Get down on a shot, but hold the cue with only the tips of your forefinger and thumb. With this grip you cannot tighten the grip hand, or at least you will/should not. Play a few long blues at different power levels, start soft and build up. Try some screw shots, you'll be surprised how much power you can generate .. all with a neutral/relaxed grip.

2. Same again, but this time a super super super loose/relaxed 'normal' grip. It should be loose enough that you can slide the cue in/out with your other hand. Play long blues again, concentrate on just pushing the cue through, don't force it, don't try to put any power at all in it, build up the speed .. concentrate on speed rather than power.

You should find that you can get 80-90% of the power you were before, all without any real effort, and no tightening/tension in the shoulder/elbow/grip. In pure physics terms P(power) = M(mass) x V(velocity). The mass of the cue is constant, but the velocity is not. To add power you have to add velocity. Now.. if you've even done a martial art, or boxing then you'll probably have found out that to throw a quick jab you want to be as relaxed as possible, you snap the arm out with an initial burst of force, but it remains relaxed until the point of impact where it 'snaps' into a tense state. If you tense early you end up throwing punches a lot slower, this is because a tense muscle wants to be still, not moving/bending, the tension inhibits the movement, and slows it down.

A video would help, a side on view to see the shoulder/elbow/grip rise on the shot, and a front on view potting long blues, to check for sideways movement of the grip hand etc. Download avidemux and kinovea, both free, the former lets you rotate/crop and zoom video, and the latter lets you play back in slow motion and place lines and markers on the video as reference points, pause frames, and all sorts of useful stuff.

[safe t boy]

Thank Narge. I'll try and get something uploaded soon.

[CoachGavin]

This sounds like the classic down to up that creates a snatching action rather than the cue going through the white.. Its usually as a result of a grip that is too tight. As you pull back you may be taking the cue butt underneath the plane of the cue instead of following the plane. This means that when you deliver the cue you compensate by lifting the butt of the cue to get the cue back on line. This will limit your follow through. Try lightening your grip and from a side view make sure that your cue follows its plane (this will be a slight slope due to cushion rail). It can also occur if on screw shots your tip is addressing the middle of the white instead of the bottom. The body then lifts the butt at the last minute to strike the bottom of the white, creating the elbow lift. Hope this helps.