Some Comments on Keeping The Grip Loose

[Terry Davidson]

As a Master Coach I'm a little embarrased to admit this, but I have a hell of a problem trying to keep my grip relaxed through to striking the cueball. This shows when I have a forcing power shot like a dead-in black and I attempt to screw back off the cushion for a red on the other side of the pack into the same pocket as the black.

It also shows up when I use the 360 training cue when I attempted a deep screw on a long blue and usually miss the pot and watch the cueball travel on for 3 feet instead of coming back 2ft or so.

No matter what I tried except for gripping the cue with my fingertips I just couldn't screw back well with the 360 and I knew it was because I was clenching the grip on the butt before striking the cueball.

So these past few days I've been trying to come up with something that will work for me since I have a ranking tournament tomorrow and another one the week after.

What I came up with is this...I hold the butt of the cue at the very back with my baby finger closed and BEHIND the butt and have the cue just laying in the bed of my SECOND finger. (Both Matthew Stevens and Mark Allen play with something similar).

When I tried this the results were amazing. With the 360 all of a sudden I was accurate and was able to screw back and with my own cue the accuracy was even better. As an example, every day I line up 11 reds across the blue spot with cueball in hand on the baulkline for a straightin pot to one of the top pockets and also trying to hit a 'stop' shot, basically stunning the white to stop it level with the blue spot where the red was.

Prior to the last few days my success rate with the 360 was just awful and it was taking me anywhere up to 35 attempts to pot the 11 reds although with my own cue it was taking around 16 attempts.

However, these past few days using this new grip I've noticed a real improvement. This morning with the 360 it took me just 15 attempts and with my own cue just 12 and with both cues the shots I missed were rattling in the jaws very tight and probably would have gone in with a little less speed. I was also able to pot the red and screw back about 2ft with the 360 and back to the baulk cushion with my own cue.

So for those that are having difficulty getting the hang of keeping the grip relaxed until the time of strike try this grip out. I know it's not textbook however it's working for me and it might work for some of you. Remember, since you are gripping the cue a little further back to straighten out your bridge arm a little to keep your bridge and eyes the same distance from the cueball as you normally have.

Terry

[Sidd]

Nice tip coach. But would that work for people struggling with even keeping the normal grip relax

[Terry Davidson]

Sidd:

I thought the last paragraph explained it all but perhaps not.

This experimental grip is for those players who are having difficulty keeping the grip relaxed all the way to the cueball. This problem is very hard to see normally because of the speed the cue is traveling and also for a slow shot most players will keep the grip relaxed.

The only ways to prove this is happening is either with a high-speed camera which not many of us have access to or else the 360 training cue, which will show it right away. I've found with the 360 most of my students, including myself, on a power shot will clench the cue prematurely and I believe this problem is very common as i've even seen it with some of the pros.

It helps to eliminate it if a player has a longer backswing since he can get the cue accelerating up to the required speed since he will have 8-10 inches or so of delivery length before he reaches the cueball but I do see it even in players who have and use a longer backswing.

Just to make sure everyone understands...this is an EXPERIMENTAL grip on my part which helps eliminate this problem for ME and I'm hoping it might help a few other players who are having similar problems but I'm NOT advocating everyone changes their grip to this configuration. However, both Matthew Stevens and Mark Allen do use a similar grip in match play and also it's a very comfortable grip too

Terry

[hotpot]

Something to try , do you find the cue felling a lot longer and strange feeling with this method Terry .

[Terry Davidson]

hotpot:

Actually I feel pretty comfortable but that's why I recommended straightening the bridge arm a little more just to keep the same distance in eyes to cueball. If you already play with a very straight bridge arm it might feel a little 'off' initially. I'm just under 6ft and use a 57" cue so for those that use a 58" cue or longer with their bridge arm already pretty straight this may not work.

However, my 360 cue is a bit over 58" and even straightening the bridge arm doesn't compensate fully so initially when I used it I felt a bit strange however because this grip helps me to overcome that 'clenching' problem I found I was a lot more accurate right away and was actually hitting the bottom of the cueball on contact.

I may not haved figured this out completely and perhaps there's a better way to stop lifting the butt of the cue before strike but I'm going to keep working on this to see if I can come up with a better grip which is closer to the norm so that every player can benefit from what I find out.

It's definitely (with the 360) showing me that my normal grip encourages me to clench the grip hand before the strike which raises the butt of the cue and because of the spring this causes the tip to go up on the cueball at time of strike and it also makes the butt go just a touch sideways, no matter how loose I try and keep the grip. This is a real problem for me because I've been playing this way for years and it's very tough to break old habits, especially at my age. It may be when I drop the elbow in the backswing then at the time of delivery I'm raising that elbow too much and too fast and it breaks the spring. I'm not really sure and will have to do some video analysis to discover the root cause of this, although I believe it's in the grip.

I wish I would have had a good coach or mentor when I was young who could have set me straight many years ago although there just weren't any really good players in my little home town and I was too young to travel to Toronto to play with the 'big boys' at that time (George Chenier who played level with Joe Davis and also Paul Thornley and a few others who were really good players)

Terry

[Dannyboy]

Hi Terry and anyone else who can help,
I am also having trouble finding the right grip and seem to grip the cue tight on long shots,my natural grip is to rest the cue in my right hand and just grip the cue with the two middle fingers this is ok in amongst the balls but useless on long shots and when i use a tight grip when i pull the cue back a friend of mine noticed that my grip turns into my body on the backswing can anyone offer any advice please?

[Dannyboy]

Another quicky,

Does a bit of side on the white help on long pot's?

[hotpot]

Another quicky,

Does a bit of side on the white help on long pot's?

It does,nt as it throws the white off path , tou have to compensate and it takes some mastering even for the best players .

[Dannyboy]

I found if i play to pot the blue off it's spot from the green spot i will pot it regularly at a slow speed but cant pot it at a firm pace so i aim at the left jaw of the bottom pocket with screw but the white often also goes in off in the middle pocket.

[Terry Davidson]

The only long shot that most players should play using side is the BREAK OFF shot. It takes a lot of practice and experience to learn how to use side and then that will change if you change your cue or have a light cueball or a heavier cloth.

I've even seen pros trying a long tick-off safety with side to swing the cueball around the blue to the other side of the table in baulk and watched them screw it up. Hell, I've even seen a pro playing in a club tournament who wins the toss, gets down to break off the end red using side of course and miss the pack completely! (It was a very slow cloth)

Terry

[Dannyboy]

Hi Terry,

have you ever tried playing a shot on a snooker table using front and back english (side) ?

Danny

[Dannyboy]

Hi Terry,

I find i can pot better with my chin off the cue and the cue not touching my chest why is this?

Danny

[Dannyboy]

Hi Terry

Can you suggest any snooker routine's for youngster's just learning how to play the game, that they will learn from but also a bit of fun.

Thank's

Danny

[Terry Davidson]

dannyboy:

I do not understand the term 'front and back side' as it's normally called 'left or right side' and 'top or bottom spin' and I use all of them in every frame I've ever played (for instance right-hand side when I break off) and I use screw or stun on almost every shot along with a lot of top spin and stun-follow.

The chin should be on the cue as a third point of contact, but what you're experiencing is there's no impedement to the cue going through so you're probably driving through the cueball better. On the downside there is also no point of contact between grip and bridge so no channel to keep the cue driving through straight.

I would think setting yourself and challenge and then making it would be satisfying and enjoyable. So if you do the line-up then start with 3 reds in line with the black and once you do a clearance increase it to 6 reds and then 9 reds, 12 reds and then the full 15 reds. Use a 2-6-7 configuration (2 reds between black and cushion, 6 reds pint-to-black and 7 reds pink-to-blue).

Or set your self a target with long blues in 10 attempts, initiallly with the cueball 2ft behind the blue and when you get 8 out of 10 then move the cueball back another 6" and do the same until you reach the baulkline. If from the baulkline you can pot 7 or 8 out of 10 stopping the cueball then move to potting the blue and screwing back 1ft, then screw back 2ft and then screw back to the baulkline (not easy) while still potting 7-8 out of 10.

Set the pink on spot and the cueball at various points from 7/8th to 1/4 ball and try and pot the pink and go in-off to the middle pocket.

Set the blue on spot and with a 1/2-ball pot from both sides of the table and both sides of the blue try and pot the blue and using slow screw getting the cueball to within 1" of the pink or brown spots

Terry

[Dannyboy]

Hi Terry,

The correct term i meant to say was front and back hand english, i spent 6 month's in Florida staying at my sister's and joined a pool
team in the APA League and a player taught me how to play shot's with front and back hand english i thought you might of known the term but maybe it's just used in playing Pool. You can see some shot's on you tube played with this. The snooker routine's are not for me as i do volunteer work at the local youth centre and they have a full size snooker table i have taught them a few thing's like follow stun screw etc and i have a vast knowledge of snooker routine's last week i put the colours over the six pocket's and made them pot them in order ie yellow through to black to give them a bit of potting and position practice also it learn's them what colour's to pot in order. I thought you might have had some quick fun routine's i could teach them, i am not trying to coach them just want to make there play on the table a bit more interesting for them.

Danny