Putting pressure on the cue

[bricktip]

It helps stability, as you're pushing up against something more solid, which stops the right hand flailing around on the final backswing pause.

[vmax4steve]

Judd has one of the most wonderful cue actions. It is very long, smooth, piston like, super straight. Watch his next 10000 shots. I don't think you'll see him bend that cue again.

Your wrong ace man, he does this everytime he plays a power shot. I noticed it a long time ago. I would think his grip is quite firm to get his cue to bend like that.

[ace man]

Your wrong ace man, he does this everytime he plays a power shot. I noticed it a long time ago. I would think his grip is quite firm to get his cue to bend like that.

Now that I've taken a closer look at other videos...my word his cue does bend a little on some extreme shots. I stand corrected.

[Terry Davidson]

I've never noticed this at all but I will check the video. The only thing I can think of is he is driving the butt of the cue tight into the web of his grip hand between thumb and forefinger.

I'm going to have a look and then try it and see what benefits (if any) I get from it

Terry

[Terry Davidson]

The only thing I can postulate here is he is keeping the cue very tight against the chest. On that particular blue ball which is an easy shot as far as potting goes he head does move a bit during the delivery but because of the pressure on the cue it remains very firm against his chest.

I have to admit I've never noticed this before with any pro and I can't reason out why they would do it

Terry

[Particle Physics]

The only thing I can postulate here is he is keeping the cue very tight against the chest. On that particular blue ball which is an easy shot as far as potting goes he head does move a bit during the delivery but because of the pressure on the cue it remains very firm against his chest.

I have to admit I've never noticed this before with any pro and I can't reason out why they would do it

Terry

To help the cue stay on line, down to the last mm. I remember that red up the rail and the screw back for the black, with a touch of side. The accuracy to do that is probably at the limit of human capabilities, and I don't think another pro could sink as many wonder pots as Judd. If he's using his chest as a ruler, and not just a contact point, good on him for developing it.

[renniwevarb]

You have to try it out to see and feel for yourself. It is not the chest that is pushing down on the cue, it is the chin.
I've tried forcing myself to stay down on the shot, somewhat like John Higgins who has his cue on the chin even after delivery.
The benefit I get is very good stability on the shot. And knowing that you are definitely delivering your cue straight.

If you have been playing like this all the while then it is a very good anchoring technique I would say. If not you would need lots of training to adapt to this as I have tried, it just feels like a very "manufactured" way of playing a shot if I can use this word to describe it.

Well the cons of it is lots of band-aid on your chin? lol...

[Terry Davidson]

After looking at it again I believe it is the chin on the cue with a lot of pressure. Again, speculating, it looks like he's lifting his elbow as much as he can to get the bend and he MUST be keeping the elbow right up there until he has driven through the cueball.

So it might be a trick he has naturally developed on power shots to prevent him from dropping the elbow prematurely and ensuring he's using JUST his elbow until he actually strikes the cueball.

Now that I've taken a better look I think I will give it a try in practice today although I might put a plaster on my chin before I do (although then again the shaft on my TW playing cue is ultra smooth so might not rip the skin off my chin). I think I might have a problem of dropping the elbow a little prematurely during power shots and this might be a way to prevent that

Terry

[Esmond GreenTea Chiam]

actually i think its like a natural thing to him like rhythm, like a charge up before the delivery

[renniwevarb]

actually i think its like a natural thing to him like rhythm, like a charge up before the delivery

Yo Edmond passion tea Chiam! Finally see you here lol...

[Particle Physics]

After looking at it again I believe it is the chin on the cue with a lot of pressure. Again, speculating, it looks like he's lifting his elbow as much as he can to get the bend and he MUST be keeping the elbow right up there until he has driven through the cueball.

So it might be a trick he has naturally developed on power shots to prevent him from dropping the elbow prematurely and ensuring he's using JUST his elbow until he actually strikes the cueball.

Now that I've taken a better look I think I will give it a try in practice today although I might put a plaster on my chin before I do (although then again the shaft on my TW playing cue is ultra smooth so might not rip the skin off my chin). I think I might have a problem of dropping the elbow a little prematurely during power shots and this might be a way to prevent that

Terry

Would you now be ordering a whippy cue off Parris Terry?!

[Esmond GreenTea Chiam]

hi haha when i first saw your reply i thought of benny! haha indeed its him! haha

[Terry Davidson]

particle:

My playing cue is a Trevor White which is not too stiff. I tried this little trick Judd uses and it does seem to help me keep the cue online during power shots and long pots.

And NO, I won't be ordering a cue from Parris as the only type I would order is an Ultimate but I feel both Mike Wooldridge and Dave Coutts (along with Trevor and a few others) produce cues which are better than an Ultimate but at a lower price so I feel I'm getting more value for my money. (I've ordered cues from both MW and DaveC just recently so it will be nice to get a comparison. I also have an Exquisite here too that I just received recently although I've found it a little stiff for my preference).

Terry
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[MattB147]

This is a very interesting thread.

I have watched Judd play from a very early age and before I comment on the bending cue, I would like to say that he also achieved phenomenal power and cue ball reaction from "bog-standard" tables for those of you who think that the pro tables are the only tables on which this is possible. Trust me, its the player, although the tables help.

Anyway, Judd has been using the "bending cue technique" for a long time now and as far as I am aware, this was not coached into him. As a coach, I can agree with Terry, that it would seem an advantage to keep the elbow from dropping on the back-swing on power shots.

As some one who studied physics and understands the energy concept I can see a whole different advantage. Think of, for example the bow and arrow, the string of the bow is pulled creating potential energy. When released, creates kinetic energy.

In Judd's terms, the cues bends holding potential energy, releases the cue forward creating more kinetic energy that it would without the bend in the cue. It makes sense...........

MattB

[narl]

Bumping this up, noticing more and more players who seem to be exerting downwards pressure on the cue, that "behind the player" kind of angle shows that a lot of the players are doing it to varying degrees. Just about every time that camera angle comes in you can see players doing it, noticing O'Sullivan doing it quite a bit as well.

Some where under the impression it came with cues with whippy shafts, from what oldgit was saying the cues he tried out that were made for O'Sullivan were pretty rigid.


So is this a relatively new thing, or something they've always done and the camera angles are just now starting to show it?