cueing off the chest

[vucko117]

When I first started to play I was cueing with my cue not rubbing my chest. Then I read somewhere that cue should be in the contact with the chest while cueing so I started doing so. But, I have now realized that cueing with cue on the chest is causing me a world of problems (moving on the delivery,short follow through etc..) But, I just can't find the proper body position that will allow me to have cue off the chest. Any advices on how to alter the stance or any other advice would be much appreciated.

[nrage]

Before you make any changes, make sure that when you get down on the shot you're lowering your chest down to the cue, and not bringing the cue to the chest. The latter will cause all sorts of problems.

I found that altering the angle of my back foot changed my body position and altered the cue contact point. With my back foot pointing down the line of the shot my chest contact point was closer to the side of my body. With my back foot at a 20-30 degree angle outside the line (no change in where the foot was, just turned out a bit) the contact point changed and was more central. It also reduced the tension in my grip arm shoulder joint and change the location of my grip arm elbow. It was surprising that such a small change made all that difference.

Another thing I have noticed is that if I move my front foot forward, a similar thing happens and the chest contact point is more central. In both cases the upper body is twisting into a more side on position, which is the reason for the chest contact point change.

Having a chest contact point will always (I believe) mean you shorten the distance you can drive the cue through the ball, compared to having it off the chest and being able to drop the elbow and drive almost to your chin. I think this is perhaps one reason why Del recommends the cue travel on a downward sloping plane until cue ball contact, and then it flattens out as the elbow drops allowing it to travel further than it would if it remained on the initial plane.

Other things which you may be doing which reduce the distance you can travel though the ball are.
1. more than 1/2-1 inch distance between the cue tip and white at the "address position".
2. grip forearm forward of vertical at the "address position".

You can increase the amount you get through the ball by having the grip forearm just slightly back of vertical, which you can achieve by shifting your grip hand back on the cue by a finger width, or two. Be aware that this will change your 'timing' and will take a bit of practice to get used to.

[vucko117]

Thanks nrage, I change the angle of my back foot and I managed to get wanted result. Thanks for your help

[Dannyboy]

I had a big problem with cue in contact with my chest, as when i started to bring the cue back after 4/5 inches my cue would arc out to the right of my body. I tried changing everything to stop it bringing chest to cue changing stance etc, but nothing worked. After month's of trying different method's i have found a way of cueing straight with no chest contact i now cue more upright and my chin not on the cue either this allow's me to cue more freely,keep the cue straight on delivery and follow through and aslo make's sighting the shot easier from the elevated position and now can get a hell of a lot more action on the cue ball because my cue can get the full follow through needed and my game is improving every week. So if you were playing better with the cue off the chest i would go back to it if i were you. You get a hell of a lot of good advice on here but most will try and tell you the text book way of standing cueing etc, but at the end of the day there are no two snooker players the same. Just stick with what is comfortable to you and we all spend hour's and hour's trying different thing's it can drive you mad, so if your comfortable on the shot and can pot better with the cue off your chest then stick with that as that will be your natural way of playing as i said we all play the game in our own style we are comfortable with and with what work's for us.

Dannyboy.