Question on bridge distance for different shots

[kennethkoo]

Hi everyone,

I have been spending quite a number of hours every week practicing and trying to improve all aspects of my game. There is a problem that has always kept me from playing consistently, which is my bridge distance.

I have read a few articles from PJ Nolan that talks about various aspects of the game and apparently the recommended bridge distance is between 7 inches to 12 inches. Here is my problem, apart from playing for shots that is very near the cushion (where I shorten my bridge), I play most of my shots using the same bridge distance, which is around 9-10 inches.

I would not be seeking for help if I am playing consistently with this method, but sadly I am not. So for the past few days I have been consciously adjusting my bridge distance according to different shots that I play. For instance, touch shots and precise stun shots around the pack I would shorten my bridge distance gripping the cue probably 3-4 inches from the end of the cue. While for the rest of the shots I play with my usual bridge distance.

Shortening the grip has greatly improved my shots around the pack and the most significant improvement would be 1/2 ball and 1/4 cuts into the middle pocket. Shortening the grip has greatly improved my positional play plainly because I am in much more control in playing firm to hard stun shots which I had a hard time playing using a longer bridge distance.

At the moment I still have to consciously adjust my grip according to the shots i play or else I will go back to playing with my usual bridge distance.

So before I go on making this my new habit, adjusting my bridge distance according to the shots I play, i would like to seek opinions if this is what I should be doing? I am rather confused as I have a few good players in my club who plays with a awfully long bridge distance of more than 12"(a rough guess) for all the shots they play and they can consistently hit breaks in the range of 60-80s.

Is this just me or am I missing something that is stopping me from playing good snooker?

The last question I have would be when playing deep screw shots, either a long pot screw shot (8 feet or more) or a 4 feet pot that requires the cue ball to travel more than half the length of the table for position, is it easier to play the screw shots with a longer bridge distance that enables a longer back swing or is it the other way around?

The reason I am asking is because I have received a number of tips from players in my club and a particular club player mentioned that instead of lengthening this bridge distance he shortens it by a fraction that enables him to play a much firmer and solid screw shot since a lot of power would be used for the shot.

For my case, the longer the bridge distance, the less confidence I have in potting balls with power as the pots i play aren't as firm as compared to a shot with a shorter bridge distance. I guess I am getting rather confused with what is the best method to go about this problem.

I sincerely hope anyone here can shed some light on the matter and hopefully help this poor guy here play better snooker. Thanks guys

[Terry Davidson]

kenneth:

The answer is you should try to keep everything consistent when you can and that means using tghe same bridge length for most shots except off the cushion or when the balls are close together (under 8in or so).

The best bridge length (as measured from the 'V' of the bridge) is traditionally 9" to 12" to the back of the cueball. This depends on a player's height and also his arm length, although I've noticed most of the pros are around the 12" mark rather than the 9" (which I'll admit seems too short for me as I use about 12").

Terry

[kennethkoo]

So keeping a consistent bridge length would be best? Does this mean that the bridge length stays the same if one were to play a deep screw shot? I think I read it from PJ Nolan that one should increase the bridge length slightly in order to achieve a longer back swing. Any comments of that Terry?

Also, is there a particular reason I have trouble playing cutbacks (1/2 ball to 1/4) to the middle pocket using a longer bridge length? I have a feeling that the shot is not as compact or firm as I would like it to be. Would gripping the cue a little too far back or too near cause such a problem?

[Terry Davidson]

I think long power potting is the reason most pros are at 12" to 13" now from 'V' to back of cueball.

However, for delicate shots I have noticed quite a few pros will shorten the distance down to 8" to 9". There is a trade-off with cue length over the bridge. A shorter distance gives you less cue to aim with but provides more accuracy so perhaps the best solution is to go with however you feel on a particular type of shot.

I still believe though that keeping everything consistent as much as possible is the correct way to go (in saying that I've noticed on short shots requiring absolute accuracy, like a cut into a middle pocket where there's no room for error I do tend to shorten my cue length as long as I don't require a lot of power)

Just go with whatever you feel more comfortable with as there is no ONE perfect way for set-up and technique and everything depends on how a player feels on any particular type of shot. You will notice that even the pros have different techniques, like for instance compare Dott to Selby, Dott with the short fast backswing and Selby with that longer and slower backswing. Keeping the backswing slow is probably more important than anything else in this technique category

Terry

[kennethkoo]

Alright, thanks Terry. Will keep that in mind. I guess what is left is practice practice practice. Thank you very much for your help

[stewart31]

hi terry, i play with about 12 -13 inch bridge which i find comfy, and i can play that way but i have been thinking about shortening it, as im trying to shorten up my backswing,have been watching a lot of players recently who take the cue right back to the v, are those players really pulling it back 12 inch, seems a lot

[cazmac1]

Alright, thanks Terry. Will keep that in mind. I guess what is left is practice practice practice. Thank you very much for your help

Hi kennethkoo, I'm working on this at the moment and suffer badly from missing simple balls, I have gone back to the coaching that del hill gave me and am shortening the cue when ever I can and only using a longer bridge on softer shots ( when stretching). I have found instant results with all aspects of my potting. I've also found with regards to shortening the cue on screw backs shots with distance that I have more accuracy and can get a lot more screw on the white which goes against every thing that I learned when I was younger.
It is a well known fact that the shorter the bridge the more accuracy you have but as terry has pointed out the trade off is you have less cue for aiming.
At the end of the day if you can see an improvement stick with it and see how you get on.

[Terry Davidson]

stewart:

If you take a look at Mark Selby, or Higgins or Ronnie or Shaun Muphy they all pull the cue back until the ferrule almost touches the 'V' of their bridge so they are doing around a 10" to 11" backswing. The most consistent with this is either Selby or Murphy. Higgins has a cue which is a little shorter so his backswing is around 9" from the looks of it.

Ronnie uses a 58" cue and it looks like about 12" beyond his 'V' and on a normal hand-on-the-table shot where he requires a bit of power he looks to be about 10" or so on the backswing but I've noticed on shorter shots where he requires less power the backswing is shorter but not too much so, say around 8" or so (which I wish I could do consistently)

Terry

[Sir Ivanhoe]

I've known Mark Selby for many years through playing tournament snooker at his original base formerly Willie Thorne Snooker Centre Leicester. He was coached from an early age by the club coach. Every shot he played was with long backswing whether top of table or distance shots. Totally wrong. Now as quoted he shortens for short game top of table with less power. Joe Jogia, another Leicester natural player has an extravagant long back swing and seems more than 12" beyond his "V". He ajust with not much feathering on shorter more control shots.