the rear pause

[eslim]

Terry,

Can you described the rear pause? For me, I have a rear pause but I often do not count the number of seconds that I pause for, is this the right way? I just deliver the cue when I feel that it is time to.

How about the front pause? Is it a pause before you pull back the cue, rear pause then deliver? Where should the eyes be on then?

Thanks in advance!

[eslim]

Having said all the above I think for us with our own tables we can make a change and practice it more frequent than say having to wait for the next club visit. When I did not have my table I now know I was just playing the same old bad habits week in week out because you just go down there and get in as much play as you can because of the clock. So for those who use clubs, if you make a change and its for the better remember to take that change with you on your next visit.

couldn't agree more. Had a long day of practice on Monday, my cue action was okay(except that I could not generate lotsa of cue power, my school has these tables that run so slow and it is great to have cue power), had some problems with sighting though. However, when i played with my teammates on wednesday, i played with a lot of left hand side, causing me to miss many easy long pots. Anyone has any advice for this?

[Terry Davidson]

eslim:

There are 4 distinct pauses in the 'ideal' cue action, but remember this is the ideal and every player has his own technique which he must discover himself with solo practice and also bear in mind the ideal technique for any player will change as he gets better and also as he gets older.

The 4 pauses are:

1. When the bridge hand first hits the table and before you start feathering. You should have had your eyes on the object ball as you dropped your head straight down and now you should bring your eyes from the object ball back through the cueball and check the sighting of the cue to ensure it's on the line of aim you chose. I call this the 'preliminary pause' for lack of a better term and it is very short, perhaps 1/2-second max.

2. After your 2-3 feathers (or none as John Roberts used to play - see post #11 in this string) you stop the cue at the cueball in the address position for perhaps 1-second max. This is normally called the front pause and a lot of coaches now believe this front pause is more important than the rear pause. I use the front pause to focus my eyes on the object ball and sort of charge up my mind for the shot.

3. At the end of your final backswing you stop the cue for perhaps 1/2 to 1 second and no more and this is called the rear pause. I have seen players ruin their own timing and rhythm by trying to extend this rear pause, thinking a longer rear pause will increase their concentration however I've found it works exactly the opposite and ruins everything (talk to Hendry, as he tried this one and it didn't work for him either). My own rear pause is very short, probably less than 1/4-second and I would like to increase that a bit but I find it throws me right off my natural rhythm I've developed and I've given up trying now.

4. The last pause is also very important and it is when you have fully delivered the cue and your grip hand is against your chest you should keep your eyes either on the object ball as it pots (or hits a cushion) or else where the object ball WAS (as Steve Davis recommends). This pause is the one that EVERY player should have, no matter what his own rhythm as it's at the very end of the action and will not ruin a player's natural rhythm and timing.

Now with all that said, please remember I'm talking about the 'IDEAL' and every player will have some slight modification of these various pauses and techniques. When you are having a solo practice session experiment a bit with the various pauses (use the same shot set-up so you can tell the effects) and see which ones work best for you, but keep in mind what I said above as when you do improve that might demand yet another adjustment in your technique.

To prove this I just have to take a look at both Davis and Hendry, who some consider (I agree) to be two of the best players who ever existed and BOTH of them experimented with different techniques as they got older, trying to find the new 'ideal' technique for them.

The best way I can explain this is to take a look at golf. You see the younger pros driving the ball 350 years down the centre of the fairway because of their muscle tone and great hand/eye coordination. Then take a look at the Senior Tour and you will see all the good pros on this over-50 circuit don't drive the ball 350yds or even 300yds any more but do drive it 250yds or so straight down the middle of the fairway. The reason for this is they just cannot control that power requirement for a 350yd drive and the ball could end up anywhere. When I was a younger player I was able to pot a straight 10ft shot and screw back perhaps 6ft on a good fast table and my accuracy was fair. Nowadays at 67yrs I can still pot these balls and screw back maybe 2ft or less and I have to do that in order to control the cue or else I will miss the pot for certain, so I have had to modify my game and technique as I've gotten older. I believe every player will go through that.

Terry

[vmax4steve]

I think a deliberate rear pause is only necessary to focus the eyes on the object ball, and only then if you haven't already done so on the final front pause. Once focussed on the object ball the subconscious should take over and the shot played without conscious thought. It's conscious thought that can destroy your game, and holding a rear pause for a deliberate time can bring conscious thought into your game.
If, like me, you focus the eyes on the object ball on the front pause, the most important thing is a slow final backswing that will make the transition to the forward motion snatch free without the need for a deliberate final rear pause. If you play this way and put a deliberate rear pause into your action you could very easily find that because you have been focussing on the object ball since the front pause, your eyes could very well wander on to something else during the rear pause because you have interfered with your natural hand/eye rhythm, ie. that pause you have introduced could take the place of where exactly in your action you play the shot with your eyes focussed on the object ball.

[misspentoldage]

This is an old thread but I've been reading it as I was watching Mark Selby closely at last week's Riga Open. He has the most enormous rear pause almost every shot. I tried to extend my rear pause in practice as a result and found that I start to think of other things than the object ball in the time it takes Selby to pause. But he's world champion, not me.

[itsnoteasy]

I think it can depend what you are doing on the back stroke, if you are watching the cue come back in a straight line then switching your eyes, a long pause is ok, but if you lock onto the ob on the front pause and keep your eyes there all though the backswing ,a long pause is too long , if that makes sense, just my opinion.

[Scott M]

Added a rear pause to my game - one of the best decisions I have made.

I find in that short period of time, I am able to decide much more accurately the correct pace to play the shot at and where exactly to strike the cue ball.

[Byrom]

Terry,

Can you described the rear pause? For me, I have a rear pause but I often do not count the number of seconds that I pause for, is this the right way? I just deliver the cue when I feel that it is time to.

How about the front pause? Is it a pause before you pull back the cue, rear pause then deliver? Where should the eyes be on then?

Thanks in advance!

For me the pause has to be a natural not a counted thing - I have a long pause this is just when I feel the muscle memory and correct sighting has kicked in though so its part of the natural smooth timing of the shot - I think I do it after I transfer my eyes to the object ball.

[mg222]

Added a rear pause to my game - one of the best decisions I have made.

I find in that short period of time, I am able to decide much more accurately the correct pace to play the shot at and where exactly to strike the cue ball.

I was under the impression that one should know "exactly where to strike cue ball" before getting down for the shot...?

[mg222]

I already have a difficult time keeping up with the younger players in our tournaments as [B]by the time my third best of seven rolls around at 8pm I've been constantly on my feet since 11am[/B] and there's just no gas left in the tank. (In addition I have to drive 2hrs to these tournaments so I have to get up around 6am so it makes for a very long day).

Terry

Hi Terry, just a thought... at 67 would it not make a lot more comfortable to drive up the day before to a Hotel and start out fresh in the morning?

[Scott M]

I was under the impression that one should know "exactly where to strike cue ball" before getting down for the shot...?

You probably should but I usually adjust a bit when I'm down.

[Terry Davidson]

Hi Terry, just a thought... at 67 would it not make a lot more comfortable to drive up the day before to a Hotel and start out fresh in the morning?

A hotel in Toronto costs around $150 (about 90GBP) which is a lot more than the petrol costs me. These things are no longer important anyway as the Association doesn't pay any entries into the Canadians any more like they used to.

Terry