How to play a deep screw/power screw shot

[reactant]

I used to play a power screw shot by aiming at the very bottom of the cue ball and trying to have a smooth cue action and cue as flat to the table as possible. I was recently advised by a friend that much more spin could be generated if the cue is delivered at an angle(ie. Aiming higher on the cue ball and follow through to have the cue almost touching the table or pointing table). Sincerely hope you guys could advise me the proper way to play this shot. Thanks

[hotpot]

You are right , lower the bridge and keep the cue as flat as possible and hit through the ball . Playing it as your friend suggested causes the cue ball to jump and can only be corrected by dropping the elbow on delivery .

[Terry Davidson]

and you're also risking a partial masse if you don't go through the exact centre of the cueball

Terry

[vmax4steve]

Sometimes when I play a very deep screw shot I use the loop bridge favoured by many U.S. pool players. I find it keeps the cue low as I sometimes have a tendency to lift the cue when using extreme power. The only pro snooker player I have ever seen using a loop bridge was the late great Alex Higgins.
Lower the bridge hand and loop the forefinger above and around the shaft of the cue so that the cue runs through the hole created by the looping forefinger, thumb and middle finger. Some players don't like this bridge as it does restrict sighting along the shaft of the cue, but my style of play doesn't involve sighting along the shaft of the cue so it doesn't bother me. Experiment.

[Terry Davidson]

vmax:

A very good suggestion as the loop bridge was recommended by both Joe Davis and Frank Callan. I sometimes use it for deep and long power screw shots. It has the advantage of keeping the cue down so you hit the bottom of the cueball

Terry

[ace man]

Don't you guys find snooker cue inadequate for loop bridge? Shafts are very much cone shaped and you have no option but to keep the loop very loose to allow for a good follow through.

[Terry Davidson]

ace:

If you make the loop bridge properly, with the forefinger cocked against the first joint of the thumb and locked there it becomes just as stable (actually more stable) than the standard open bridge. The loop formed has a 'V' at the bottom, same as the regular open bridge but the cue will actually fill up the loop at the end of the follow-through if you make it correctly.

A lot of players used to have the 'billiards flourish' at the end of the delivery on a power shot, including Joe Davis. He used the loop bridge to prevent that as sometimes the tip of the cue would almost hit the lights because they were tightening their grip too much on a power shot

Terry

[ace man]

I realize that Terry, but with pool cue shaft which is not nearly as much cone shaped as on a snooker cue one can make loop bridge tighter and firmer. Personally I prefer the Filipino style loop bridge where index finger is over the middle finger with thumb joining them. Have used it for years, but really only for hard break off at pool and maybe some other pool shots where it feels comfortable and where I'm not too low down on the shot. I can see why some might like it even for snooker, but I don't. Besides, even top pool players are using far less loop bridge now days and are much lower over the cue compared to say 20 or 30 years ago.

[DandyA]

something I've been trying lately (with good results) when I'm trying a screw shot is a conventional low bridge and flat cue but instead of looking up from the cueball to the object ball, I keep my eyes on the spot on the cueball I want to hit ...

this gives two advantages ... (a) you can see if you hit it as low as you wanted and (b) it helps in avoiding putting accidental sidespin on the cueball ... this second point is very important I think - if you hit plain dead centre, you're hitting a ball which is 52.5mm in diameter so a minor error sideways may not be evident - but if you're hitting the bottom, you're hitting a ball which effectively has a diameter much less than that, say half, say 26mm or less so any minor sideways movement in cue delivery makes much more of a difference ...

it's improved my accuracy hugely on screw shots ... oh and btw, I didn't think of it myself, I read a posting on this forum which suggested it ... I can't remember exactly who but thank you, whoever it was Possibly Terry, Nrage or CoachGavin or others who all regularly contribute great postings but I can't remember ...

[deant1982]

You are right , lower the bridge and keep the cue as flat as possible and hit through the ball . Playing it as your friend suggested causes the cue ball to jump and can only be corrected by dropping the elbow on delivery .

This^^^
Quite possibly the most important part is the cue action and follow through. Some people believe "stabbing" the bottom of the white will generate more backspin, where as I have found this is only true when the cue ball and object ball are close together. If there is some distance between them, lowering your bridge, playing with a straight cue action, and pushing the cue completely through the cue ball will generate far superior results. Only thing to make sure you avoid is a push shot!