How to curb shivering movements while cueing?

[x3dnd3x]

Thanks for all the recommended tips.

I tried yesterday and realized that I only had 3 main contact points instead of 4. I believe this is why I have a little shivering when I paused at the backswing. The cue is not along my chest and I only had the grip, chin and bridge instead of the grip, chest, chin and bridge. I now have forcing myself to adapt and change the bad habits. Couldn't pot sh!t yesterday but I was happy as I couldn't pot any straight long shots and yesterday I did. I'm still not used to the slide it through method as mentioned by Terry. Forcing myself to adapt to it currently.

[agromann]

Hey x3dnd3x,
3 points of contact is the main thing. What I pointed out with having the cue slide along the chest may not be the easiest for you and it is not for everyone. We all come in different sizes (round, stick, square...) and some people will have to adjust their stance around the cue accordingly. (e.g. to make way for a belly...)
If you are fairly standard build and are not lining your cue up at an odd angle you may find that the slide along your body happens naturally once you are straight.
I’d like you to try something that incorporates some of Terry’s and my comments but you may not have done yet.
1. Line up the shot while standing up, with the cue on the table, its tip close to the white and the back hand (left for you as the lefty) next to your leg. - (For Right handed players all this would be reversed.)
Make sure the cue points at the spot you want to hit at the object ball, so a slight angle shot is good to check if the cue points at the correct spot of simply at the object ball.
2. Make sure your body is aligned at a right angle to the cue, so your legs are next to each other at this stage and your shoulder, hip and heel line are at a right angle to the cue.
3. At this stage I would like you just to stand and imagine the shot from here. Think it all out. Think about spin (stay away from side (“English”) for now), think about where you are aiming, think about where you will leave the white. Fix that in your head. All the thinking is best done standing, all the shooting is best done on the table. (Initially you will think about stance and grip and relaxing and follow through but that goes away once it’s in there.)
4. Stance: (I am not going to overdo stance here because I don’t know how you stand and so on but try this on and adopt as you see fit. I am just using this to align with point 1 & 2 above)
a. Turn your left foot out (left) a little so that the back hand is directly above the centre of your foot where leg and foot join. – 45 degrees should do. Do not turn it too far, just aim for comfort. (For Right handed players all this would be reversed.)
Keep the knee locked on your back-leg at all times.
b. Step out a little forward and a little to the right, maybe 45 degrees from the back heel of your left foot. Make sure that you imagine you just drop it off somewhere comfortable. (A cue to create line from the back heel can help to illustrate the angle from the back heel but it differs depending on players, size, body, comfort and so on and you should just feel comfortable) – This leg is the one you lean forward on and as such will be unlocked and angled.
c. Make your right (front foot) line parallel with the cue and line of shot.
5. Now bend at the hip straight down for your shot.
Put the bridge in place (we won’t talk bridge hand and distances here) and your chin on the cue
a. Check if you are touching in 4 points
b. Turn your head (or film yourself) and check if your left arm is at a right angle, pointing straight up. If your back arm is not at a straight angle, you may grab the cue to far back or too far up front but we can check that out…
c. Check yourself or on film if your front bridge hand (right for you), head/chin and your left/back hand form a straight line
6. Now add in what we spoke about feathering and grip and relaxing here. 
I know that’s a lot but one is stance and body alignment, the other is bridge, feathering, contact points and smooth delivery.
Break it down if you will and practice parts only but you might find that some things just straightened up.
Aim for comfort in the stance.
Aim to do thinking up top and cueing below.
Make sure he cue runs smoothly, at the same spot and with the same pressure, along your chin (and body if it touches) as you feather and as you deliver. (If you knock your chin or it runs off to the side, you grab too tight, feather too far back or turn the wrist).
Make the cue drive through the white and let your chest stop the cue where your back hand hits it at the end of the delivery. Do not let your back hand pull back the cue or stop the cue in the follow through.
Always line up your cue and body for the spot you aim for on the object ball, not the centre mass of object ball. The line between where you strike the white and where you want the white to hit the object ball is the line your cue MUST be aligned with and follow.
(After a while, you will start to see whether you and cue are aligned correctly with that line as soon as you bend down and place your chin. If you are off, get up and adjust..)

Enough babble…way too much info… Give the stance thing a go if you are comfortable enough with the feathering and grip…

[agromann]

Hey x3dnd3x,
3 points of contact is the main thing. What I pointed out with having the cue slide along the chest may not be the easiest for you and it is not for everyone. We all come in different sizes (round, stick, square...) and some people will have to adjust their stance around the cue accordingly. (e.g. to make way for a belly...)
If you are fairly standard build and are not lining your cue up at an odd angle you may find that the slide along your body happens naturally once you are straight.
I’d like you to try something that incorporates some of Terry’s and my comments but you may not have done yet.
1. Line up the shot while standing up, with the cue on the table, its tip close to the white and the back hand (left for you as the lefty) next to your leg. - (For Right handed players all this would be reversed.)
Make sure the cue points at the spot you want to hit at the object ball, so a slight angle shot is good to check if the cue points at the correct spot of simply at the object ball.
2. Make sure your body is aligned at a right angle to the cue, so your legs are next to each other at this stage and your shoulder, hip and heel line are at a right angle to the cue.
3. At this stage I would like you just to stand and imagine the shot from here. Think it all out. Think about spin (stay away from side (“English”) for now), think about where you are aiming, think about where you will leave the white. Fix that in your head. All the thinking is best done standing, all the shooting is best done on the table. (Initially you will think about stance and grip and relaxing and follow through but that goes away once it’s in there.)
4. Stance: (I am not going to overdo stance here because I don’t know how you stand and so on but try this on and adopt as you see fit. I am just using this to align with point 1 & 2 above)
a. Turn your left foot out (left) a little so that the back hand is directly above the centre of your foot where leg and foot join. – 45 degrees should do. Do not turn it too far, just aim for comfort. (For Right handed players all this would be reversed.)
Keep the knee locked on your back-leg at all times.
b. Step out a little forward and a little to the right, maybe 45 degrees from the back heel of your left foot. Make sure that you imagine you just drop it off somewhere comfortable. (A cue to create line from the back heel can help to illustrate the angle from the back heel but it differs depending on players, size, body, comfort and so on and you should just feel comfortable) – This leg is the one you lean forward on and as such will be unlocked and angled.
c. Make your right (front foot) line parallel with the cue and line of shot.
5. Now bend at the hip straight down for your shot.
Put the bridge in place (we won’t talk bridge hand and distances here) and your chin on the cue
a. Check if you are touching in 4 points
b. Turn your head (or film yourself) and check if your left arm is at a right angle, pointing straight up. If your back arm is not at a straight angle, you may grab the cue to far back or too far up front but we can check that out…
c. Check yourself or on film if your front bridge hand (right for you), head/chin and your left/back hand form a straight line
6. Now add in what we spoke about feathering and grip and relaxing here. 
I know that’s a lot but one is stance and body alignment, the other is bridge, feathering, contact points and smooth delivery.
Break it down if you will and practice parts only but you might find that some things just straightened up.
Aim for comfort in the stance.
Aim to do thinking up top and cueing below.
Make sure he cue runs smoothly, at the same spot and with the same pressure, along your chin (and body if it touches) as you feather and as you deliver. (If you knock your chin or it runs off to the side, you grab too tight, feather too far back or turn the wrist).
Make the cue drive through the white and let your chest stop the cue where your back hand hits it at the end of the delivery. Do not let your back hand pull back the cue or stop the cue in the follow through.
Always line up your cue and body for the spot you aim for on the object ball, not the centre mass of object ball. The line between where you strike the white and where you want the white to hit the object ball is the line your cue MUST be aligned with and follow.
(After a while, you will start to see whether you and cue are aligned correctly with that line as soon as you bend down and place your chin. If you are off, get up and adjust..)

Enough babble…way too much info… Give the stance thing a go if you are comfortable enough with the feathering and grip…

[x3dnd3x]

So basically I've been doing it all wrong? All along my left foot would always be in the line of shot. After reading through what you've mentioned, my right foot should be the one in my line of shot? Or is this a sort of personal preference?

I wanted to film myself last week but because there were too many people and filming myself would look weird. I need to pick a time when I have early breaks from school so that there won't be so many people around and also I need my friend to be free as well since I can't hold my phone and film while I'm cueing.

[Terry Davidson]

x3d:

For a left-hander, the LEFT foot should be pointed outwards at any angle that is comfortable. This configuration does 2 things, first it takes any strain off the knee and ankle joints and secondly provides more lateral (sideways) stability.

For your bent RIGHT leg in my own coaching I advocate having the RIGHT foot pointed outwards a little bit for the same reasons as above but especially the strain on the knee and ankle joints. If you point it along the line of the shot and stay down in that position for at least one minute (it will seem longer) and you don't feel any strain on the right side at all then you are OK (if you want) to point the foot down the line of the shot but parallel to it.

In addition, it is VERY important to have your LEFT foot on the line of aim and I recommend the arch of the foot (or you could say laces of the shoe) and also the grip hand in the address position should be directly over the laces of the left foot and the left forearm should be hanging STRAIGHT DOWN in the address position.

Terry

[x3dnd3x]

x3d:

For a left-hander, the LEFT foot should be pointed outwards at any angle that is comfortable. This configuration does 2 things, first it takes any strain off the knee and ankle joints and secondly provides more lateral (sideways) stability.

For your bent RIGHT leg in my own coaching I advocate having the RIGHT foot pointed outwards a little bit for the same reasons as above but especially the strain on the knee and ankle joints. If you point it along the line of the shot and stay down in that position for at least one minute (it will seem longer) and you don't feel any strain on the right side at all then you are OK (if you want) to point the foot down the line of the shot but parallel to it.

In addition, it is VERY important to have your LEFT foot on the line of aim and I recommend the arch of the foot (or you could say laces of the shoe) and also the grip hand in the address position should be directly over the laces of the left foot and the left forearm should be hanging STRAIGHT DOWN in the address position.

Terry

Hi Terry,

I really appreciate the tips you're giving me. So what you recommend is my left foot on the line of aim instead of pointing towards the line of aim for maximum stability.

I don't really get the grip hand over the laces of the left foot advice. Do correct me if I'm wrong, my grip hand while cueing should be straight(does this mean parallel)with the laces of my left foot? Since you recommended my left foot to point outwards, how is this gonna be possible? I could understand if my left foot is pointing towards the line of aim.

[AKashyap]

Take a deep breath and relax .. practice basic shots for sometime .. and slowly try switching to advanced shots .. Maybe you are thinking too much, or just too tense ... ?? If you are right handed try to keep your right foot straight, your left bent .. and your feet; a little wide a part, and for most shots, balanced with the shot view... Also, try keeping your hand a little more firmly on the table .. Another good thing to ask yourself .. Are your fingers strong enough ?

[agromann]

Hi,
Referring to Terry's comments...Maybe the way I described it wasn't perfectly clear but that is pretty much what I was aiming for.
Left hand and left foot: The line of aim rund over the top of the foot (arch) where foot and leg join or over the laces...same thing.
The right leg is the one that is slightly bent and depending on comfort and body, the foot can/should point in the direction of the shot (paralell to your cue). This does not have to be exact but it should not be inverted or pointing off to never-never. Go for comfort.
Terry: I don't disagree here, placing the front foot at a slight angle. If you are a slimmer player, the paralell setting won't get uncomfortable and if you are a bit bigger, I find it adjusts itself.
x3dnd3x: aim for comfort with the right.
NOTE: You didn't do everything wrong, I'm sure. I just introduced this to straighten you up and you can use this in small quantities as you go along. Sorry if it was a bit much.

[x3dnd3x]

Hi,
Referring to Terry's comments...Maybe the way I described it wasn't perfectly clear but that is pretty much what I was aiming for.
Left hand and left foot: The line of aim rund over the top of the foot (arch) where foot and leg join or over the laces...same thing.
The right leg is the one that is slightly bent and depending on comfort and body, the foot can/should point in the direction of the shot (paralell to your cue). This does not have to be exact but it should not be inverted or pointing off to never-never. Go for comfort.
Terry: I don't disagree here, placing the front foot at a slight angle. If you are a slimmer player, the paralell setting won't get uncomfortable and if you are a bit bigger, I find it adjusts itself.
x3dnd3x: aim for comfort with the right.
NOTE: You didn't do everything wrong, I'm sure. I just introduced this to straighten you up and you can use this in small quantities as you go along. Sorry if it was a bit much.

I'm a little confused here. So my straight left foot is on the line of aim or my bend right foot should be on the line of aim? Or is this more of personal preference as long 1 of them is on the line of aim?

My friend's coach teaches him to have the left foot straighten and ON the line of aim.

[nrage]

The right leg is the one that is slightly bent and depending on comfort and body, the foot can/should point in the direction of the shot (paralell to your cue). This does not have to be exact but it should not be inverted or pointing off to never-never. Go for comfort.

I find the angle of the foot depends on how square the stance is. A square stance player can usually comfortably point the toes parallel but someone with a more side-on/boxer stance (like me) is more comfortable with a slight outward pointing toe. Ultimately, as long as the foot isn't dictating where the rest of the body/stance goes, anywhere that is comfortable (as you say) is going to be correct.

[agromann]

So my straight left foot is on the line of aim or my bend right foot should be on the line of aim? Or is this more of personal preference as long 1 of them is on the line of aim?

My friend's coach teaches him to have the left foot straighten and ON the line of aim.

Left foot: Under the cue as you feather. Angle of foot is slightly turned out so that the cue runs over the top/laces over the foot if you look down on it.
Right foot: Forward and off to the side in a comfortable position. Foot paralell to the cue or slightly turned out for comfort.

[x3dnd3x]

Left foot: Under the cue as you feather. Angle of foot is slightly turned out so that the cue runs over the top/laces over the foot if you look down on it.
Right foot: Forward and off to the side in a comfortable position. Foot paralell to the cue or slightly turned out for comfort.

So meaning for a lefty, right foot is on the line of aim?

[agromann]

So meaning for a lefty, right foot is on the line of aim?

I was actually basing all my instructions on a lefty because I know you are a lefty...

[x3dnd3x]

I was actually basing all my instructions on a lefty because I know you are a lefty...

I appreciate it. But because there's too many different versions of it. I'm still wondering whether my left or right foot should be on the line of aim.

[agromann]

I appreciate it. But because there's too many different versions of it. I'm still wondering whether my left or right foot should be on the line of aim.

Let me see if I can clear this up a bit more...
I’ll try to simplify.
Stand with the cue in your left hand and the cue pointing through the white at the spot you want to hit on the object ball.
Your left hand, your back hand will be next to your left leg and if you turn your left foot out a few degrees you can see the cue run over the arch/laces as it points at the white.
That is your cue line or line of shot.
Your left foot is your back leg and needs to be locked.
Place your right foot forward and slightly to the right - try something like an easy shoulder-wide step forward with the right – and make sure you stand comfortably.
Now either leave the right foot pointing straight ahead (the length of the right foot parallel to your line of shot) or turn it out a few degrees if it is uncomfortable.
Your right foot is your front foot and is to the right and forward of your left foot and to the right of your line of shot.
Now bend over and place your bridge…
Start with the feathering and grip etc we (you, Terry, me and others) discussed…
Does this make sense?