How to curb shivering movements while cueing?

[x3dnd3x]

Hi all,

I'm new to the snooker world as I just took it up. Recently ordered a budget Mastercue as my 1st. I've read quite and view quite alot of videos on foundation and am picking it up well. The only problem I'm facing is a little shivering while I'm cueing. I don't know whether its because my stance or etc is wrong but usually when I'm lining up a shot, my left foot would always be in the line of shot(I'm left handed), bent bridging(don't really know how to term it but its the usual bridging for most players) and my elbow would be jacked up to the highest while I'm low on the table to lock my elbow. I would cue for 6 times then my 7th would be the shot. I would also always move back my left hand(expanding grip) and pause for a slight second and shoot. The shivering would always occur at the pause moment.

Is this normal for everyone? On some shots, I would say the little shivering does affects game play.

[nrage]

So you're pausing at the fully back position (AKA back pause) and the cue is shivering? Are you very tense at this point? Are you the kind of person whose hands shake when you try to hold them still? Maybe upload a video to youtube and we might spot something.

[denja]

I would say (I am no expert) that the stress of learning a new skill is making you tense up we have all been through it, maybe you are a little frightened of making a c*** up a mis-cue e.t.c. I would say that shivering is a sign of un-due tension somewhere ok get the cue action and stance right but it must be relaxed and flowing, go through the cue action without any object ball and no thought of potting anything, if possible on the practice table with no distractions and see how it goes

[x3dnd3x]

So you're pausing at the fully back position (AKA back pause) and the cue is shivering? Are you very tense at this point? Are you the kind of person whose hands shake when you try to hold them still? Maybe upload a video to youtube and we might spot something.

Sad to say, I am those people whose hands would shiver a little while I'm holding them still.

[x3dnd3x]

I would say (I am no expert) that the stress of learning a new skill is making you tense up we have all been through it, maybe you are a little frightened of making a c*** up a mis-cue e.t.c. I would say that shivering is a sign of un-due tension somewhere ok get the cue action and stance right but it must be relaxed and flowing, go through the cue action without any object ball and no thought of potting anything, if possible on the practice table with no distractions and see how it goes

I've been playing for like 6 months, twice a week of like 10 hours. I would say I'm pretty relaxed but as mentioned by nrage, I'm those whose hands would shiver a little while I'm holding them still.

Any ways to actually curb this? I'm already locking my elbows. I did try not shift my elbow to the highest but the shiver gets worse. From the start, I didn't lock my elbows until I saw Judd Trumps videos and the locking of elbow by shifting to the highest point of your shoulder, I tried and it works for me but whenever I pause at the back position, there's a little shivering and its affecting my game play.

[Terry Davidson]

Unless you have some type of nervous condition the shivering might be caused by you gripping the cue a little to hard at the end of the backswing. Try relaxing the grip, allowing the back 3 fingers to just touch the cue and just barely hold the cue between the top inside of the thumb and forefinger but WITH NO TENSION OR PRESSURE!

When you start your delivery do NOT tighten the grip and apply more pressure, which is a natural tendency in order to start accelerating the cue. Just start the delivery nice a slow with no pressure and do not change the amount of pressure until after you strike the cueball (it's correct to allow the back 3 fingers to close on the cue again but also without applying pressure to the butt until well after the strike of the cueball.

I think the vibration in your grip hand might be cause by having tension in the grip and that comes from applying too severe grip pressure. You do not need to grip the cue tighter in order to start accelerating, just let it lay in the bed of the forefinger initially and then the bed of all 4 fingers as the back 3 fingers re-close on the butt.

Terry

[x3dnd3x]

Unless you have some type of nervous condition the shivering might be caused by you gripping the cue a little to hard at the end of the backswing. Try relaxing the grip, allowing the back 3 fingers to just touch the cue and just barely hold the cue between the top inside of the thumb and forefinger but WITH NO TENSION OR PRESSURE!

When you start your delivery do NOT tighten the grip and apply more pressure, which is a natural tendency in order to start accelerating the cue. Just start the delivery nice a slow with no pressure and do not change the amount of pressure until after you strike the cueball (it's correct to allow the back 3 fingers to close on the cue again but also without applying pressure to the butt until well after the strike of the cueball.

I think the vibration in your grip hand might be cause by having tension in the grip and that comes from applying too severe grip pressure. You do not need to grip the cue tighter in order to start accelerating, just let it lay in the bed of the forefinger initially and then the bed of all 4 fingers as the back 3 fingers re-close on the butt.

Terry

Thanks for the explanation Terry.

As I'm a little short in height(1.64), I seldom have the chance to actually have my 3 fingers at the back of the butt. Its usually just above the badge area. I would practice more on the table with your advice. What this coach told me at the snooker club was not to pause for my case. Cue as usual and just strike the shot on the 7th cue to prevent shivering. He also mentioned that the locking of elbow is not meant for everyone and its certainly not meant for shorter people like me. But if I do not lock it, the shivering gets worse.

I just tried yesterday cueing and on the 7th cue just pull back and strike. Very very not used to it.

[Terry Davidson]

x3d:

I think you misunderstood me and also I note you are doing a couple of things wrong and in addition I am going to have to disagree with your coach, but don't make him mad.

In the first case...the MAXIMUM number of feather should be NO MORE than 3. So let's start with the actual cueing dynamics...when you drop your head straight down to assume the address position, there will be a very short pause while you check your tip against the cueball and perhaps do a very quick check down the line of aim. Then 2 or 3 SLOW feathers and at the end of that stop the cue again in the address position against the cueball (called the front pause). Then a slow and DELIBERATE backswing, a short rear pause no more than 1 second or so and then deliver the cue, accelerating through AND BEYOND the cueball and when your grip hand hits your chest remain in that position and VERY STILL for at least 1 second (see Shaun Murphy for the best example of this) with the cue extended (do NOT pull the cue back as some people do).

What you misunderstood is me saying allow your back 3 fingers to release from the butt of the cue. I didn't mean at the end of the cue as you should be gripping the cue with 2-3inches of butt hanging out the rear of the grip hand. Your grip should ALWAYS be just the top inside of the thumb and forefinger with the back 3 fingers BARELY touching the butt and as you backswing you should feel the butt of the cue actually pushing those back 3 fingers out of the way until just the tips of the fingers are touching the butt.

When you deliver the back 3 fingers will come onto the butt again but they are not to exert any pressure on the butt but remain just the way they were at the address position (remember, the object of the backswing and delivery is to get the cue back to the EXACT address position at the time of strike. Once you drive through the cueball (still accelerating) then the back 3 fingers should grip the cue tighter, but only to keep it from sliding across the table.

Lastly...I disagree with your coach and I recommend a player get BOTH his shoulder (in your case the left shoulder) up as high as you can without discomfort and also in behind the head and also the elbow up as high as you can without discomfort. The correct way to achieve this is to push your RIGHT shoulder down to the table as far as you can get it (maybe bending the right leg a bit more) and also pushing the RIGHT shoulder out into the table (in other words 'bracing' the right shoulder down and out which will in turn bring your LEFT shoulder up as high as possible and into behind your head as much as possible. (The left shoulder should not be visible to someone looking directly at you from in front of the shot).

To see what I mean by a finger release of the back 3 fingers check Hendry on youtube for a video from the 1990's where he actually lets his back fingers fly out until they are parallel to the floor. I don't recommend that much of a finger release as the back 3 fingers should remain in contact with the butt by their very tips. Also get a look at Hendry from straight-on and you won't be able to see his right shoulder.

Tell your coach you want to try out 2 or 3 (maximum) feathers but don't tell him I told you to do that. With 6 feathers you are giving your upper body more opportunity to move on the shot and you're also giving those shakes plenty of time to take hold of you.

Remember, loose grip, SLOW backswing and start the delivery slow without tightening the grip.

Terry

[agromann]

Hi,
2 cents here...
Firstly: Listen to Terry (above)
Secondly, some additions:
Try some easy shots with slow pace. E.g.: Try and pot an easy ball into top pockets or middle pocket where you can have bridge hand and the body aligned comfortably and just drop the object ball in at dead weight. Do not play spin or anything; just let the basic delivery do its work.
Check your bridge hand. If you do not have a solid bridge on the table, you will quiver and aggravate the tension issue on the back hand.
Try and do a few shots with just 2 (or 3) fingers on the cue and just focus on delivering the tip through the white.
On the above feathering: Agree with Terry and you should end up with 2-3 feathers once you are comfortable but here is alittle practice to focus just on the back hand. Line up your body and bridge and back elbow as per Terry's instruction for an easy/dead-weight shot. (Make sure that before you go down you have the correct line of shot and have based you body position on the position of the cue when it is closest to the white). Get into position, intitiate your backswing, stop, sight the object ball, take a deliberate 3 count in your head and make a deliberate effort to relax, then slowly start your delivery and play the dead weight shot. No feathering, just lining up and chillax and focus on relaxing the hand on the stroke. You might find that forgetting about a gazillion feathers and focussing only on relaxing may help.

[joejoe]

hi,i have a exact problem like you,and i find out is the cue was to long for me,try hoding the cue a little foward and see any inprovement or not.it work for me.

[x3dnd3x]

Sorry but what's the definition of feathering here?

[denja]

Sound advice from Terry and other members however I would like to add one small piece of advice ! dispense with the object ball and try just potting the cue white ball into a selection of pockets if you find you can do this with no tension or shivering then it may be the tension of potting (Or not potting !!!) the object ball that is the root of the problem, I always do this when possible before a match its a bit like a athlete warming up it gets the cue action flowing.

[throtts]

Sound advice from Terry and other members however I would like to add one small piece of advice ! dispense with the object ball and try just potting the cue white ball into a selection of pockets if you find you can do this with no tension or shivering then it may be the tension of potting (Or not potting !!!) the object ball that is the root of the problem, I always do this when possible before a match its a bit like a athlete warming up it gets the cue action flowing.

Yes, but if he does not pot the cue ball then the shivering will become more of a shaking. Not advisable in match play....

[denja]

Yes, but if he does not pot the cue ball then the shivering will become more of a shaking. Not advisable in match play....

My point was that getting the cue action smooth and correct with no distractions is important, old coaches used to make you hit the cue ball up and down the table sometimes over the spots before they let you loose with a object ball, in cricket and other ball sports you are taught how to play the shot before the ball is introduced.

[throtts]

My point was that getting the cue action smooth and correct with no distractions is important, old coaches used to make you hit the cue ball up and down the table sometimes over the spots before they let you loose with a object ball, in cricket and other ball sports you are taught how to play the shot before the ball is introduced.

Yes, I understand, I was just having a joke.

The shivers sound like a nervous problem however, definitely needs to be addressed before any standard of match play is carried out..Maybe just play with no care in the world with its just a game attitude, which of course it is...