Holding the cue right at the end of the butt vs an inch or so before the end.

[Inoffthered]

OK. This is prob. very obvious to some, but need to ask..

I've always been most comfortable with my cueing when holding a cue right at the end of the butt. A friend of mine pointed out to me last week, that by holding the cue this way my grip was loose and caused my shoulder to move on the shot ( and drop when the shot is played ).

He asked me to try and adjust my grip, holding the cue 1 to 1.5" further up. When I tried this, my shoulder became locked and didn't drop at all when I played the shot. Can anyone else verify this? Everything felt so much more solid.

Thing is I've played to a decent ( subjective ) standard with my previous grip. And just wondered if anyone else has experience of this change in the way they hold their cue.

Thanks to all in advance.

[Particle Physics]

OK. This is prob. very obvious to some, but need to ask..

I've always been most comfortable with my cueing when holding a cue right at the end of the butt. A friend of mine pointed out to me last week, that by holding the cue this way my grip was loose and caused my shoulder to move on the shot ( and drop when the shot is played ).

He asked me to try and adjust my grip, holding the cue 1 to 1.5" further up. When I tried this, my shoulder became locked and didn't drop at all when I played the shot. Can anyone else verify this? Everything felt so much more solid.

Thing is I've played to a decent ( subjective ) standard with my previous grip. And just wondered if anyone else has experience of this change in the way they hold their cue.

Thanks to all in advance.

Try it another ten sessions, if it keeps working, stick with it. Hendry held his cue a couple of inches up the butt I think. Ronnie holds the end of the butt. I've gone up and down recently. Holding the cue up the butt is more solid, largely because the grip can change so that the heel of the hand comes down on the chamfer. If you go up the butt, there is a tendency to bring the wee finger into play and wrap the fingers round the cue more, so it will feel more solid. In my experience, this also leads to a loss of spin and power, because with a tighter, firmer grip, it's harder to drive the cue and accelerate (as Terry would say). Butt (lol) if it works for you, consistently, stick with it. Everyone is different, no one grips or position suffices for all, which you already know of course.

[Inoffthered]

Try it another ten sessions, if it keeps working, stick with it. Hendry held his cue a couple of inches up the butt I think. Ronnie holds the end of the butt. I've gone up and down recently.

Snap lol. .

[Particle Physics]

Snap lol. .

Always worth trying these things out. You don't know if you don't do it. Don't cost much time really, and it's snooker education at the empirical level. Let us know if it sticks.

[nullsys]

I've been holding it about 2-4 inches. Sometimes more.
There are quite a few pros that I've seen do this.

If someone could correct me:

If you typically bridge at 12inches from the white, and can correctly line up your body so that your line-up leg is vertical, then you want to make sure that your back forearm is as vertical as possible when the tip is almost touching the white.

This is what's resulted in my moving up the cue from the butt, to keep my back forearm vertical.

[Terry Davidson]

inoff:

I was exactly the same as you. I always had a 57" cue and held the very end of the butt and sometimes had the baby finger actually behind the butt and again the same I (subjectively) played quite well.

Recently I had a 58" MW cue here and was trying it out and held the cue with about 2" of butt behind the grip hand, which also put my head about 1" closer to the cueball and (it seemed to me) I was playing magic. Unfortunately a cue collector bought the cue for a very good price and I let it go but then as he couldn't afford all cash we did a deal of cue + cash and the cue is a 58" Green Baize with a medium hit (which I prefer) and I've been playing the last week with this cue and grip and it sure seems to me I'm playing much better and more consistently.

There might be another cause (like for instance maybe my bridge arm is a little straighter) but something has improved my technique and I don't think it's just the longer cue, which has a really great hit.

Stick with it for awhile and see what happens.

nullsys:

ALWAYS have the grip forearm absolutely vertical in the address position. There are some players who play really well with the forearm forward of the vertical (Joe and Fred Davis) and I've seen some really good players with the forearm behind the vertical, but all of the top pros and perhaps all pros in general and all the top amateurs have the forearm exactly vertical for a normal shot.

The forearm behind the vertical at address will give you more follow-through and more power but it's much more difficult to drive the cue along the same plane.

Terry

[nullsys]

...
There might be another cause (like for instance maybe my bridge arm is a little straighter) but something has improved my technique and I don't think it's just the longer cue, which has a really great hit.

nullsys:

ALWAYS have the grip forearm absolutely vertical in the address position. There are some players who play really well with the forearm forward of the vertical (Joe and Fred Davis) and I've seen some really good players with the forearm behind the vertical, but all of the top pros and perhaps all pros in general and all the top amateurs have the forearm exactly vertical for a normal shot.

The forearm behind the vertical at address will give you more follow-through and more power but it's much more difficult to drive the cue along the same plane.

Terry

Hi Terry, thanks for confirming that! Phew, glad to know I'm doing something right lol.

Well, I wonder what could be causing you to be playing better. Perhaps just a different mindset with the new cue?
Maybe a different butt thickness or weight?

I am considering my next cue to be a 57 or even 56. Hmm, you've made me think now.

[Terry Davidson]

nullsys:

I think it might be a slight change in my set-up and also getting the right flex (medium) in the cue. I know it sounds a little weird, but I've had 4 cues here which had a very nice medium flex and they were all 58" and all of them were a little light for me, around 17.7oz or so and I played really well with all 4 of them.

I've kept the Green Baize and am giving that a really good try-out plus I've ordered a 58" with medium flex and 'blackspin' ferrule from the CUEFATHER which I'm expecting within the next century or so. I also have a Dave Coutts coming but it will be with a good medium flex and 57" so I should be able to determine whether it's the length of the cue or just me using a new cue and paying more attention.

With anything like this you have to give at least one month to it, just to make sure it works consistently for you.

Terry

[nullsys]

Terry,
Thanks for that.
It's good to hear about experiences and that people need to try different cues.
Unfortunately for me, I don't have that chance, I just ordered one from online. Which is fine, since it's my first one in 8 years.
But, through your experiences and other peoples, I know my next will be a custom. I also didn't think there would be much difference between cues of the exact same measurements.
I wouldn't of known that until now, so thank you!

[throtts]

Surely having too many cues can be a problem in itself. It's like changing your technique a lot, a good few changes seem to work but then you do not know which one to choose.. Maybe that's when a coach comes in to play..

[Terry Davidson]

throtts:

When I learned to play snooker I had a Brunswick Trophy cue, which was maple and was pretty whippy. In those days almost every Canadian player would have a Trophy cue if he could afford it. I believe my most natural technique is likely to be towards a medium flex cue but most of the cues made today (unless custom ordered) come at medium-stiff or even stiff and now a lot of players are convinced stiff is what they want.

Bill Werbeniuk(SP?) used a Trophy cue which I believe had been sanded down to make it even more whippy and he was a very strong long ball potter and also had good control when in the balls, even on the heavier British cloths in those days. He was known for his power and accuracy.

I also believe Judd Trump's cue is fairly whippy, probably medium flex and I think Ronnie's is the same way but I'm not sure as you can only really tell by using the cue.

Terry

[alabadi]

inoff:
always have the grip forearm absolutely vertical in the address position.

The forearm behind the vertical at address will give you more follow-through and more power but it's much more difficult to drive the cue along the same plane.
Terry

i agree this is what i have finally settled on , it is much stable and give the best follow through power.

a grip that allows the forearm to be vertical is the ideal position, myself it is 2-3 inches from the butt.

Alabbadi

[vmax4steve]

Cue length is a crucial factor the taller you are. The average 57 inch length of a snooker cue will fit almost everyone until you get a player above the height of 5 feet 10 inches. Then one has to muck about with the bridge arm to give oneself enough cue over the thumb to have a decent length backswing, Steve Davis is a perfect example, and to some extent also Mark Selby.

It is also quite normal for a player to adjust the length of the cue over his thumb in order to better sight the shot about to be played. Close in around the black and pink spots hold the cue further up the butt to shorten the cue, for distance shots hold the cue at the end of the butt giving a longer length over the thumb. If you do this naturally then all is good, but if you don't it could be the reason behind you missing certain shots all the time, like cueing from on or close to the cushion or, if you are tall, putting more cue over the thumb for long shots while still holding the cue at the end of the butt because the cue is too short for you, thus putting the cue arm infront of the vertical and dropping the shoulder before the strike.

Just one inch can stop that shoulder dropping. Myself I am 6 foot 2 inches tall with long arms and suffered from this until I got myself a 62 inch cue. a bit extreme some may say but it means that I have the same length of cue over my thumb for long shots as Luca Brecel who plays with a normal length cue but is very short.

[snooks1000]

I'm 6' 4" and am playing with my new MW shark which is 58". I'm finding it difficult to not put a bit of shoulder into some shots and my game is struggling

[vmax4steve]

I'm 6' 4" and am playing with my new MW shark which is 58". I'm finding it difficult to not put a bit of shoulder into some shots and my game is struggling

If you have a mini butt with it screw it in and experiment with moving the hand beyond the end of the butt to find a good length for you.