elbow drop

[warrenb]

Hi there,
Just wondering if anyone has any advice on how to prevent the elbow dropping on cue delivery. My problem is twofold: too quick a delivery speed and significant elbow drop. There appears to be conflicting professional coaching advice with regards to 'elbow drop' (e.g. Del Hill v Terry Griffiths doctrines) but having just observed many of the top professionals in a PTC event, most appear to keep the elbow "pointing up to the sky" (Ronnie being a notable exception).
Any help gratefully received,
Warren

[hotpot]

I believe the reason for the elbow dropping is that the stance is too crouched and upright . You look at Ronnie in his early days when his back was virtually flat which meant his cue was more parallel so he did,nt need to drop his elbow .

Put your back leg a bit further back and try a wider stance . This will mean that your cue should level itself somewhat and there will be less elbow drop .

[nrage]

I think there are 2 other things you can do to reduce elbow drop, or rather (the important thing) to delay it until after you hit the white. If you can delay when the drop occurs, you can ensure you hit the white where you're aiming and only drop after the white has left the cue tip, where it will have no adverse affect on the path and screw on the white.

Firstly you can move your grip hand 1/4 - 1/2 inch further back on the cue, and keep the same bridge distance. Or, shorten the bridge distance by 1/4 - 1/2 inch and keep the same grip hand location. This effectively brings the grip forearm backward of vertical by a fraction, which is enough in most cases to delay the elbow drop until after the cue hits the white.

This is the short term solution, and only works where you can control the grip/bridge distance. Sometimes you're forced into shots where you need a certain bridge distance or you run out of cue to move the grip back, in which case you're back to square one and your elbow drop will be early.

So, the long term solution.. this is both harder to achieve and better in the long run. That is, to get down and in slow motion play a shot, note how/when your elbow drop occurs, next, do it again but this time concentrate on keeping the elbow in position for as long as possible. This will entail bending your elbow more before it drops, this bending has a sort of squeeze feeling to it, for me at least. However, be careful not to squeeze too much, as you will do the opposite and actually raise the grip hand. The mechanic is hard to get exactly right, you need just enough squeeze to stop it dropping before contact with the white, but once past that point you can allow it to drop. If you get the timing exactly right (as Ronnie does) the drop will keep the cue level until the very end of the action.

[Terry Davidson]

I would say on any shots over medium pace most pros drop their elbow but some only by 1-2" or so whereas Ronnie of course drops about 4" or so with Higgins probably about the same along with Murphy, Maguire and a host of the others. The elbow drop is essential for power shots since if you don't do it you will be trying to stop the cue early.

However, as has been said here the elbow drop MUST occur will after the cueball has been struck and MUST be at the very END of the delivery and that is hard for some players to coodinate. The secret to 'get it' is to practice with an extemely loose grip for awhile and also trying to keep the cue on the chest (just lightly touching) until after the strike since when you drop the elbow the butt of the cue will drop a bit.

Your target will be to keep the cue as level as possible and on the same plane all the time so with a longer backswing for more power the elbow should drop in order to keep the cue level and then at the end of the delivery you will have the same thing happening.

Only those players with really long arms, like Steve Davis, don't need the elbow drop although Steve was never known as a real 'power hitter' like Alex Higgins or Jimmy White

Terry

[GravityCue]

I think you've received some really good advice from the guys here Warrenb. And I believe non more so than what Hotpot was getting at. If you get yourself into a good low position at address and have built yourself around the cue reasonably well, cue drop will be moderate and imo more proportionate to what is required were the physical act of delivering the cue is concerned. In other words, if you do the prep work well, nothing needs to be over elaborate from there on.

There is also a difference between the amount you drop the cue and the amount you drop the elbow. I would try to pay more attention to how much the cue drops than anything else.

Hope this helps.
Neil.

[warrenb]

Many thanks to all of you offering great advice on how to cure elbow drop. Appreciate the time and trouble taken to post replies. Will endeavour to try all of the suggestions and will let you know how I get on. Many thanks.
Warrenb

[CoachGavin]

I think Neil makes a good point. Forget about what it looks like and concentrate on what the cue is doing. If you strike the white where you want and can accelerate through the white then everything should be fine. Try cueing up to an imaginiary white on the brown spot and feathering up and then cueing through. See where your grip finishes normally when you drop too early and where it should finish if the tip finishes on the required path. You can then practice repeating that action. You may find your elbow drops or it may not drop much at all. There are pros who have tremendous cue power like robertson and trump who do not drop their elbow while others like murphy do. It all depends on each individual.