cueing question? problem?

[phidavi7]

I have decided to switch from playing pool to snooker as i find it more challenging and fun, im an average snooker player, knock in 20's most frames, highest break is 56 at the moment.

that has been using my pool cue which is 58 inches long and a 9.25 mm tip, when using this cue my grip is right at the bottom of the cue, i have 2 fingers gripped right at the bottom and the rest of my hand is not on the cue, people i talked to said its best to have your whole hand on the cue, so i ordered a 60 inch cue and have had it a few weeks now, and im struggling to get used to having my whole hand on the cue, and its affecting all aspects of the game as im struggling to get breaks above 10, find myself cueing accross the ball a lot especially on the long shots.

could anyone give me some advice on ways to take my cueing action back to the drawing board, or the other choice i have been considering is to maybe have the cue taken down slightly

Thanks for any help

[Terry Davidson]

You are closing your hand too soon and too tight in the delivery. When you had your back two fingers off the cue this wasn't a problem but now that you have them on the cue when you tighten them you will unconciously bend the wrist joint inwards toward your body and this will take the butt of the cue off-line.

Try and see a coach to get this squared away. In addition, unless you are very tall or have longer arms it's likely you have another serious fault in your set-up or technique as you don't really need a 60in cue otherwise

Terry

[phidavi7]

im 6ft 3. not to tall, the problem came about 5 years ago when i got injured playing football, i have a weakish knee now and my stance changed during this period, as i now bend both knees instead of having a straight leg, i have thought about some coaching and may arrange this, problem i have is i live in the middle of nowhere so its about a 2 hour trip anywhere to see a coach

Thanks for the input though, im going to get some practice now and ill think about what you said and try and change that

Thanks

[phidavi7]

im 6ft 3. not to tall, the problem came about 5 years ago when i got injured playing football, i have a weakish knee now and my stance changed during this period, as i now bend both knees instead of having a straight leg, i have thought about some coaching and may arrange this, problem i have is i live in the middle of nowhere so its about a 2 hour trip anywhere to see a coach

Thanks for the input though, im going to get some practice now and ill think about what you said and try and change that

Thanks

[Terry Davidson]

OK, so your fairly tall but a 60" cue may still be too long. Bending both legs is not a serious problem if you can keep still on the shot and have a good foundation.

I've found players who have a cue too long for them will also have their back leg too far back in the stance. The laces of the back foot should be directly beneath the laces of the shoe and there should be somewhere around 11" of cue out the front of the bridge 'V'. In addition the bridge arm should be either straight or ideally bent just a little.

The straight arm will mean a slightly longer cue. If you have more than 12" from the 'V' to the back of the cueball you should consider shortening that distance and then bringing the grip hand forward on the cue an equal amount. This is especially true when you are in the balls as a more compact technique is usually better and the longer length of cue over the 'V' should be reserved for long pots.

Terry

[j6uk]

I used to play with a 60, it was an extended club cue. Iv played with 59, 58, 57, 56. Now I use a 56.5 with roughly a 8" over hang and I'm 6'4, Its all about timing and how you get through the ball enjoy
You need a good coach to put you on the right track, no short cut with this game, and commuting 2-4 hrs for coaching or for a tournament it nothing really..

[nrage]

...The laces of the back foot should be directly beneath the grip hand and ...

I believe Terry meant to say ^

[Terry Davidson]

nrage:

That's correct. I'm having another one of those difficult days and it won't let me in to edit my post. The grip hand should be directly above the laces of the back foot.

Terry

[phidavi7]

thanks for the advice, i changed my staance slightly, and adjusted my grip. i still sometimes now grip the cue to loose but i know when i have because the cue will make a slight sound.
the other night i made a lot of 30's and even had a 55, feel more comftable with the cue now, only shots i struggle on our long shots with power, as i cue right accross them, if i go for a long shot dead weight im normaly close to potting it if i dont get the pot.

but overall thanks for the input guys