Lowest of the low.........

[DWOT]

p.s. Caz, I'm not sure Del's that impressed with you uploading the vid of yourself onto youtube! ;-)

[DWOT]

p.s. Caz, I'm not sure Del's that impressed with you uploading the vid of yourself onto youtube! ;-)

Thanks for doing so though as I can use this te remind me of what I need to work on...

[damienlch]

Thanks for the video link, nrage... I was kind of expecting a longer post...

So Caz is MrTopbreak...

Ok, what I could gather from the videos are...

A driver:-
1. Pulls back the cue on a slope
2. Accelerates through the cue ball by dropping the elbow
3. The cue coming to a parallel on follow through or should it be at the end of the follow through? (but from 2 to 3, wouldn't that be somewhat of a scooping or see-saw cue action?)
4. Hand finally comes to rest with the chest contact

A pecker:-
1. Holds the cue tight
2. Drops elbow when pulling back the cue so that it is parallel to the table
3. Hits hand into the chest on follow through as opposed to letting the hand come to a rest on chest contact
4. A "down to up" cue action (not sure what it meant)

Please correct me if I'm in any way mistaken... :snooker:

[nrage]

Thanks for the video link, nrage... I was kind of expecting a longer post...

Seems I have a reputation to uphold..

I didn't want to miss-represent/quote Del so I figured a link to the video where he talks about it was more useful.

I watched those videos a few weeks back but my impression is that the main difference between a pecker and a driver is that a pecker starts to decelerate the cue before contact with the white. Usually this is because they (subconsciously) anticipate the chest contact and start to slow before hitting it. A driver on the other hand continues the forward motion (drive) until after the contact, this usually requires elbow drop on the stroke.

As for the 'driver' cue action, I believe Del recommends the cue starts on a slight angle or plane, and that the pull back and stoke follows this angle/plane, with no up/down motion. At a certain point in the action (I suspect _after_ contact with the white) the elbow and grip hand drop, until the cue is flat/level with the table and it continues like this until the hand hits the chest.

So, yes, there is a change in direction, and you might call it a scoop, but it's not as curved or pendulum like as a typical scooping action. Instead, it's more like the cue is sliding down a constant slope, till the bottom of the slope where it curves flat and carries on horizontally.

Now, I think the 'pecker' action is more like a typical pool/pendulum action, where the hand is actually coming up as it hits the chest. This sort of action does not get as far through the cue ball, plus when you start to curve upward your speed in the horizontal direction decreases (converted to speed in the vertical), so you're essentially slowing down.

That's my impression of what he says, but I haven't been to see him personally, so I can only go by what's in those videos.. and I may be miss remembering some of the details..

[pottingpinks]

I think I'm a nudger, just to complicate matters :-)

[DWOT]

I think I'm a nudger, just to complicate matters :-)

What you chose to do in your spare time is none of our business Ricki!

[pottingpinks]

Many others would call me something else probably but its not for a public forum like this!

[damienlch]

...As for the 'driver' cue action, I believe Del recommends the cue starts on a slight angle or plane...

That's how I understand the drive too, i.e. with the cue coming to a rest parallel to the table at the end of the follow through... then I can imagine the incline causing the cue ball to be hit at an angle. Perhaps it is too minimal to have much impact on the cue ball.

I think the drive is perfect for firmer or power strokes but it would be difficult driving soft, delicate drop shots... With the elbow drop, it will be easy to overhit soft shots and subconsciously cause a tendency to decelerate, defeating the whole purpose of the drive. Perhaps a drive or acceleration minus elbow drop will be more appropriate for soft shots.

[Terry Davidson]

I mostly agree with nrage here on what Del is saying. However, although the elbow drops which in turn drops the butt on the delivery (and in some cases the butt hits the rail) the cue cannot end up parallel to the table since the cushion is in the way (normally) but I believe the correct way to look at it is the cues stays on the same plane until well after the cueball is struck in the 'driver' method.

I would also agree with the other statement that it is hard to drive on those slow putt shots around the black and pink however in this case I tend to agree with the Terry Griffiths' method of shortening the backswing on lower power shots, keeping the cue level but not opening the back of the hand but still going through to the chest (but not driving into it) on all shots.

As an example, when playing off the cushion Terry advocates choking up on the cue another few inches so the grip hand is in front of the vertical and still completing the stroke by bringing the grip hand all the way to the chest. I've found this method leads to much more consistency when playing off the cushion or even when the balls are close together.

Terry

[damienlch]

...I would also agree with the other statement that it is hard to drive on those slow putt shots around the black and pink however in this case I tend to agree with the Terry Griffiths' method of shortening the backswing on lower power shots, keeping the cue level but not opening the back of the hand but still going through to the chest (but not driving into it) on all shots...

I suddenly thought of Ding's cue action when reading this... it seems to me that he keeps his acceleration constant on every shot, even using sharp, crisp hits on slow delicate ones... I believe how he does this is to hold the cue higher or lower down the butt to control the amount of pull back and follow through used to manouvre the cue ball... very positive and effective cue action.

[DWOT]

I'm having a couple of days off snooker it's all got a bit much... information overload and the "dummies" seem to be having a negative impact rather than possitive....

1 step forwards 2 steps back and all that...

[Terry Davidson]

Just ONE dummy, not dummies as more than one will screw you up.

Terry

[pottingpinks]

Not sure what he would make of my style as I dont get right down on the shot generally, so theres not really any chest contact at all to my knowledge, think he would have a field day. OK I occasionally get a bit lower for the more difficult shots but thats about it (lessens the strain in the long run I find lol).

Plus looking at the videos he sounds a bit loud, would probably startle me on the shot and would end up ripping the cloth, only kiddin Del, maybe its just the echoing acoustics of the room.

[DWOT]

Not sure what he would make of my style as I dont get right down on the shot generally, so theres not really any chest contact at all to my knowledge, think he would have a field day. OK I occasionally get a bit lower for the more difficult shots but thats about it (lessens the strain in the long run I find lol).

Plus looking at the videos he sounds a bit loud, would probably startle me on the shot and would end up ripping the cloth, only kiddin Del, maybe its just the echoing acoustics of the room.

Nobody else in the World holds a cue and plays like you Ricki, you're a one off in that respect, to this day I'm still amazed you can pot a single ball never mind make good breaks!

Even the one dummy seems to be getting in the way of actually potting the balls at the momment Terry, missed sooooo many simple pots today it was a disgrace to the game, mind you the heat in the club was stiffling to say the least and we both played really bad snooker, first match of the season on Monday (a 6 red competition) so hope to be in a better frame of mind by then.