video of myself

[craigian]

video of myself, opinion and advice well appreciated

[craigian]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eX5kvb2-NQ8

[nrage]

Your basic form looks good and there isn't a lot I would recommend changing, just a few minor things to look at and think about...

I noticed that on delivery, after the back pause (which is good BTW) there is a very slight lifting of the butt for the forward thrust of the delivery. I think this is something that, when you're under pressure, may affect where you strike the ball. If it becomes more exaggerated it can cause a miscue, especially on low screw shots.

** I would work on this.

I think your grip arm might be very slightly ahead of vertical? Can't be sure as the side on view wasn't completely side on. If it is, it will reduce the amount of follow through you get, but in your case it's only going to be by a fraction so it's probably not something to worry about. If anything, take the grip hand back a fraction on the cue, and retain the same bridge length. This will bring the grip forearm back a touch, but it will have an affect on your timing - so practice to get used to it.

** I would not necessarily work on this, unless you find you're not getting the draw/screw distance you want.

I could not tell if your back foot was directly under the grip hand, it looked pretty close and your stance looked nice and stable/balanced so I don't think there is anything to suggest here.

** Nothing to change here

That said, I think, but cannot be sure, that there is a slight body wobble on the shot? The camera was moving very slightly so it makes me unsure. When you next practice try shots of varying power and concentrate on how your body feels throughout, really focus on being solid on the shot.

I find resting my weight on the bridge arm, pushing the elbow into the table, and relaxing the parts of my body which do not need to be tense helps me stay still. It's only a slight movement, but it's something to be aware of as under pressure, and on harder shots it might increase.

The bridge arm is very straight, you may find a slight bend gives you more stability, but, it may also change how you see the ball slightly .. so be careful playing with this.

** I would work on stability, but not necessarily change the bridge arm

The grip looked tighter than I would recommend (judging solely by the tension in the arm/wrist/hand). Does the cue slide easily in the grip hand? i.e. hold the cue across your body with your 'normal' grip and with your other hand attempt to slide the cue in/out of your grip. The 'recommended' grip strength should allow it to slide easily.

Nic Barrow talks about the grip being like cradling a baby bird, or an egg, your hand encloses it - but exerts no pressure. The key is to retain this during the stroke up to and, if possible, past the point where you contact the white. If you increase tension in the hand, and grip the cue tighter before contact with the white you'll pull it off line and add unwanted side.

** If the cue does not slide easily in the grip, I would work on this.

Your elbow is dropping on the line, and after contact with the cue ball - which is excellent. Dropping too early, or off the line is a common problem.

** Nothing to change here

A good test of your action is to get on a snooker table and play long blues i.e. place a red on the blue spot and the white on the baulk line with a strait in shot to a corner. Attempt 10 and see how many you get. If you can get 7+ you're doing ok

Hope I've given you some ideas and things to look at. As I said your basic form looks good so you may not want to change much, or perhaps anything - depending on your current form. What sort of breaks are you making?

If you decide to change something, or experiment with something make sure you're not changing too much at once. I think Terry told me that you can change 1 dynamic thing (tightness of the grip on the shot, not raising of the butt on delivery) and 1-2 static things (position of the back foot, bend in the bridge arm) at a time, but any more is too much at once.

I would personally change just 1 thing, give it a decent trial i.e. 1 or 2 2 hour long sessions and try to evaluate if it's better or worse with some sort of test i.e. potting long blues.

Hopefully Terry, CoachGavin and the other coaches on here will see this and add their opinions too, spot the things I have missed, etc.

[craigian]

wow thanks for such a detailed reply nrage.
your right, my grip arm is forward from the vertical. i have tried playing with a vertical arm but doesnt seem to make a difference.
my bridge arm is also quite straight and again changing it by bending it doesnt seem to change the way i play.
my grip is quite tight and i have experimented alot with other grips including a loose grip. i may have to experiment more on those things you mentioned.
thanks again nrage, i really appreciate it

[craigian]

wow thanks for such a detailed reply nrage.
your right, my grip arm is forward from the vertical. i have tried playing with a vertical arm but doesnt seem to make a difference.
my bridge arm is also quite straight and again changing it by bending it doesnt seem to change the way i play.
my grip is quite tight and i have experimented alot with other grips including a loose grip. i may have to experiment more on those things you mentioned.
thanks again nrage, i really appreciate it

[CoachGavin]

Must admit I quite like it. As said your grip is inside vertical. This is not so much a problem as you drop the elbow considerably which means you get well through the white. There is a slight lift at the back of your backswing. You pull the cue back and then lift the cue with your grip before coming through so that may be worth looking at. Some coaches might say you should not drop the elbow as much as you do but like i said it all looks good to me.

p.s just seen that nrage also pointed out the lift at the end of the backswing. Why do I bother? LOL

[Terry Davidson]

The butt of the cue lifting at the start of the delivery is definitely you tightening the grip (although it's hard to tell as it could be the elbow coming up at the start of the delivery too). As nrage said, the cue should slide easily within the grip and that is the right pressure when feathering, the backswing AND the delivery until the tip strikes the cueball or ideally just after that.

Let the cue just lie in the bed of the 4 fingers (or however many you use) and the 'hold' on the cue should be between the upper inside part of the forefinger and the upper inside of the thumb and with the forefinger just curled sort of like a hook around the butt and with the thumb pointing STRAIGHT DOWN to the floor but not exerting any pressure on the butt of the cue, just lightly holding it against the upper part of the forefinger. The back 3 fingers should be just barely in contact with the butt while in the address position.

Now as you backswing the butt of the cue should be allowed to push the back 3 fingers out of the way as the back of the palm lifts too however the back 3 fingers should still be in contact with the butt but more on the side of it and only the forefinger remains curled around the butt again exerting no pressure. When you start the delivery the back 3 fingers will come back around the butt as the back of the palm comes down to the butt however here is where it gets very tricky. If you apply any pressure to those back 3 fingers before striking the cueball they will take the butt slightly off-line taking it off the correct line of aim and also putting unintentional side on the cueball. It might not be a lot and won't throw the shot off much in a short shot but it really matters on the long pots where there is a lot less room for error.

Terry

[nrage]

Must admit I quite like it. As said your grip is inside vertical. This is not so much a problem as you drop the elbow considerably which means you get well through the white. There is a slight lift at the back of your backswing. You pull the cue back and then lift the cue with your grip before coming through so that may be worth looking at. Some coaches might say you should not drop the elbow as much as you do but like i said it all looks good to me.

p.s just seen that nrage also pointed out the lift at the end of the backswing. Why do I bother? LOL

Confirmation of opinion is a good thing It was probably hard to find in my mammoth post

@craigian - I find myself agreeing with CoachGavin about your elbow drop ensuring you get through the white.

[CoachGavin]

Your post was detailed I give you that. LOL

[craigian]

thanks alot CoachGavin. actually i never noticed the lift during the rear pause until you and Nrage mentioned it. i will work to eliminate it. other than that, nice to hear that my technique it looking good. thanks again

[craigian]

thanks alot terry davidson. i have read many of your advice's that you give to others in this website, all very helpful.

[craigian]

I have had 3 Talisman Soft tips purchased from poolqjunkie on here and I haven't had any problems with them at all. They last for months (I play every day for 4 hours minimum) and I haven't had any de-lamination.

I've also just received some O'min hard tips from unclevit on here and that will be the next tip I try once this Talisman wears out. These are layered but do not come apart buth they are HARD!!! But the hit is great with them as I have one on an O'min cue I ordered from unclevit and the tip plays very well.

Terry

----------
on regards to this post reply you made i while back.
if you dont mind, can you please describe to me how to put on the talisman tips? because i have many of them and tried about 10 so far and everyone of them have delaminated on me in about 1-2 weeks time. very annoying because i really like the talisman tips but to change every 1 or 2 weeks is too much.

[Terry Davidson]

craigian:

First of all I've used a large number of Talisman S tips both for myself and my students and I find they only de-laminate after they are VERY well used. My last one lasted about 6 months on my TW cue and then the top layer came off as it was worn down very small plus I play every day, 7 days a week for at least 4 hours but usually by myself so that's like 8 hours as far as the tip is concerned.

Ensure you are getting genuine Talisman S tips as there are fake ones out there. I bought my last batch from ADR147 on here (in Scotland) and they were priced reasonable and are the genuine article.

Now to answer your question...all I do to put on a tip is first of all take a large flat file with some fine sandpaper on top of it and sand the bottom of the tip just a little bit to make sure it's perfectly level. I have a smaller metal file I use on the end of the ferrule to make sure it's perfectly level too.

Then all I do is mix up some epoxy cement (I use a brand called LePage's #12 meant for wood, metal and leather) and take a toothpick and put a very thin coat of epoxy on both the top of the ferrule and the bottom of the tip and then gently squeeze the tip onto the ferrule so the glue squeezes out. Then I just stand the cue up for 20 minutes or so and at that time I take a hammer and gently tap the tip about 20 times or so which ensures it's seated good.

After about 30 minutes to an hour I take my files and shave down the edge of the tip only stoking from top of the cue down and once I have the tip almost shaped I get my hammer again and gently tap the top of the tip. For the final shaping I use one of those metal nail files you can get from the drug store (chemist shop in UK I guess) which has a fine and super-fine side for finishing off fingernails and it works perfect for me plus it's a little flexible so I can get the dome perfect.

Two warnings though on Talisman...I always buy 11mm even though I have a 9.4mm ferrule as I had heard before the 10mm Talisman do de-laminate every once in a while. Also, DO NOT REDUCE THE HEIGHT of the tip, just dome it and leave it as thick as it was originally

Terry

[craigian]

ok cool. thanks for that advice. i still have another 3 talismans left so ill give it another go befor trying a new tip.

[craigian]

hey nrage, just noticed that you are from nz. i am originally from auckland, now living in australia. whats your name?