Top Spin Trouble

[Deep Screw]

I've been having problems with top spin, every time i strike the cue ball my arm tenses up and i don't push the cue through very far. I have had this problem for years and have never been able to find a solution.

Any help would be appreciated.

[Strickimicki]

If this only happens on top spin shots, then you have to ask "yourself" why! Play blues across the middle pockets and see if it's a straight cueing problem or of course a mental blockage. If it's a subconsious problem, then the only thing you can do is practice the shot. If you do go to practice it, at the beginning don't worry about where the object ball goes, your first task is to cue through the ball until your hand hits your chest! The optimum is of course both balls in the pocket (Blue & white - middle bag, Pink & white - corner bag, Blue and white -(long) - corner bag.

I hope this helps,

Brian.

[nrage]

As Brian has said, I think the solution is to practice the shot causing you difficulty and I would add that when you do try to relax your grip to avoid the tension which is causing you all that trouble.

I think the tension comes from the unconscious belief that you're going to miscue the shot - perhaps because when you were learning to play with top you did miscue a lot. The tension is your unconscious way to try and avoid a miscue and to stop it you need to teach your unconscious that you're not going to miscue, and in fact cueing positively through the white as Brian has said will reduce the chance of a miscue.

[magicman]

Try raising your bridge hand so your cue is naturally at the right height for the top of the cue-ball. Then aim your cue at the same height on the object ball. Do this, while maintaining a relaxed grip and keeping still on the shot.

[Csmith]

Try playing the cue ball up and down the table hitting with top spin. The point is simply to take the object ball out of it and just focus on a smooth relaxed stroke. Re-introduce the object ball when you have the feel for it. Hope this makes sense.

[DandyA]

might also be worth checking the white and object balls are roughly the same weight ... stating the obvious, you can't get anywhere near as much topspin playing a 128g white onto a 143g object ball however good your cue action is ...

[vmax4steve]

Try raising your bridge hand so your cue is naturally at the right height for the top of the cue-ball. Then aim your cue at the same height on the object ball. Do this, while maintaining a relaxed grip and keeping still on the shot.

Good point magicman.

The contact point of the tip of the cue on the cue ball should be determined only by the raising and lowering of the bridge hand while keeping the heel of the bridge hand in contact with the bed of the table. The butt of the cue should never be raised when applying screw or top and should remain constant, as parallel as possible to the bed of the table.