getting it wrong for 30 years

[cazmac1]

Have a look at this, might be better to watch with the sound down lol.

[Inoffthered]

Good stuff Caz. You seem to be doing ok m8. Let us know how it goes on the practice table..

[Terry Davidson]

caz:

Get the latest snookerscene mag as Nic Barrow goes into the set-up in his coaching article. It's not exactly what you are talking about here as he doesn't discuss the elbow, but he does go into alignment and having the bridge shoulder nearer the left cheek and how to alter that. I feel this might help you to understand what's going on when you're altering things.

However, in this last video it appeared the cue was staying on line although you are not doing an actual delivery on a snooker table and that will be the acid test since in this video there doesn't seem to be a lot of power in the delivery and it appeared to be quite short to me too.

Terry

[cazmac1]

caz:

Get the latest snookerscene mag as Nic Barrow goes into the set-up in his coaching article. It's not exactly what you are talking about here as he doesn't discuss the elbow, but he does go into alignment and having the bridge shoulder nearer the left cheek and how to alter that. I feel this might help you to understand what's going on when you're altering things.

However, in this last video it appeared the cue was staying on line although you are not doing an actual delivery on a snooker table and that will be the acid test since in this video there doesn't seem to be a lot of power in the delivery and it appeared to be quite short to me too.

Terry

I agree with your comments terry, I have got the battery I needed for my camera so the next chance I get I film every thing correctly in on a real table.

[Terry Davidson]

caz:

See if you can set it up for a shot using a bit of power, like a long blue and using a stop shot which should be a bit above medium pace. This will show up any inconsistency you have in the backswing and delivery more readily.

Terry

[cazmac1]

I was working last night till 10 o'clock and today so am knackered, but will be spending all day down the club tomorrow, so will try various types of shot's. It a shame I don't have someone who could come with me as it is easier with an extra pair of eyes.

[snookergr]

cazmac1: that's a good advice, you shouldn't get lost in your technique and miss out practising hard to get a solid action. I too have been found guilty of that in the past :-D
Terry, cazmac1 & everone else: I found that when somone is tucking the bridge arm shoulder to his cheeck then he has to be really careful not to move the cueing arm shoulder as it very easy to do that and end up tucking the cueing arm elbow inwards. For that reason since I too have the bridge arm shoulder close to my face, I do that while getting down on the shot and try to make sure that the cueing arm shoulder and elbow stay on the line as I drop.

[CoachGavin]

Think steve davis changed cos of ronnie more than hendry. At his peak hendry kept his elbow up probably cos frank callan coached him. In ronnies autobiography he actually critizizies davis for changing as ronnie believed davis had a great technique and was meddling too much. Personally I also think davis was better when he didn't drop his elbow.

[Terry Davidson]

In line with Gavin's comments above, my belief is Davis was able to twist the spine a bit more when he was younger and thus get a good distance between the front of his grip hand and his chest contact point when in the address position. This allowed him to get somewhere around 6" of follow-through without dropping his elbow very much at all, even on fairly hard shots.

If a player is able to get 6" or more clearance from the front of the grip hand to the chest contact point then there is really no need to drop the elbow at all but of course as we get a little older and less flexible we aren't able to get that chest contact point longer and in order to get the same power (acceleration distance actually) we still need to punch through that 6" or so and thus have to drop the elbow somewhere around 2" or so.

I need a really skinny and younger student who I can check this out with as I'm not flexible enough and also with a few extra pounds on the frame I can only get somewhere between 4-5" clearance unless I really put the left foot forward and twist the spine so the cue is running closer to my right armpit and even then I can only seem to get a bit more than 5" which is decent but I would prefer to get that 6" minimum and do away with the elbow drop which in my case tends to creep up earlier in my delivery and causes a lot of problems with straight cueing especially on power shots

Terry

[Strickimicki]

This is my cueing after a couple of hours trying to get on line, I can't get my elbow more verticle otherwise it gets uncomfortable. I sent this to Terry for his thoughts, but also interested in anybody elses.

Thanks,

Brian.

P.S I got the laser line idea from this thread that's why I'm posting.

[LittleMissAlexa]

as long as your cueing straight feeling comfortable and hitting the ball cleanly then does it matter which technique you use what coaches forget is people have different natural postures and bone structures what is perfect technique for one person may not work for someone else humans arent robots

[LittleMissAlexa]

Im Able to play shots some people cant i dont like not being able to look down the cue hence i dont like playing left handed shots behind the back if u know what i mean i prefer to bridge over (gymnastics/wrestling meaning not snookjer meaning) to play those shots it works for me when playing pool ive even long potted playing it (would be midrange) on a snooker table so i know i cue straight doing it its works for me its unorthodox but i cue straight doing it and find it surprisingly comfortable despite having a long standing back injury since i was 18 (before i started playing it that way)

[Terry Davidson]

stricki:

I answered your PM but in the interest of people following this string...my comments were along the lines of 'although the lighting made it hard to see the butt of the cue it looked to my like your backswing was perfectly straight and that's 90% of the battle. The delivery was also a little hard to see but it also looked straight to me. It looks like your elbow hangs out a bit from the body but if you deliver straight then it's not worth worrying about'.

Every player has a different physique and every player has to develop a technique which fits himself. Sometimes that is nowhere near the 'ideal' textbook techique. Players should remember both textbook and a coach making comments on here in general (rather than on a particular video) has their comments aimed at a lot of readers and they are meant to be a GUIDE and not a bible on exactly how you should play. Players should read the second book by Joe Davis where he says a lot of players gave the game up completely after trying to copy his style and he goes on to say that is HIS particular style but players should modify it to suit themselves

Terry

[Chris Bedford]

getting it wrong for 30 years

How did it go Caz?

[cazmac1]

Hi chris, I haven't been able to set it up due to the fact I have no regular club and the places and just not right for setting up the equipment. As soon as I find some where to play I will put up a new video. I can tell you that I have decided to change my set up so that I get my elbow and hand in line with the shot. This ain't going to be easy so I have a lot of work to put in. Things will be a lot easier if this club I'm setting up gets off the ground.