High Blacks Problem

[alabadi]

I am sure i have mentioned this issue before and have commented on the difficulties i have playing the black from a high position. well i have uploaded a video to YouTube and i have taken a view from the rear to look at my cueing arm.

i would appreciate any comments especially why i am missing, the shot i set up was around half ball, sightly on the thickish side. i marked a spot and played all shots from the same position. for those who watch the whole video, i think i pot 8 and miss 5.

i have had a look my self and have looked at it in slow motion and what i can see is there is some movement from my arm from right to left, its a bit difficult to see in real time but when slowed down quite noticeable.

in spite of this movement i still pot so i am

1) not sure if i am missing because of it
2) what is causing the movement

i would love any comments from coaches, as i am struggling to find an answer to why i miss so many of these shots.

here is the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tb-fi3JpJfY


Alabbadi

PS: i apologise for the running commentary in the video, i'm getting to the age where i talk to myself to focus ...lol

[narl]

Vids private.

Hmm, not private now.

[alabadi]

Vids private.

sorry i have changed it now

[vmax4steve]

Your cue is slightly high, take it down lower so that it's just off the cushion.
Also, for such a slow paced shot, your cue action is a little snatchy, your grip hand closes too fast like you are playing a power shot and trying for pace from the get go and decelerating instead of smoothly accelerating and following through. Try playing without feeling the grip hand close by keeping the fingers relaxed and just having the cue resting in them.
Your head is quite still, no problem there, but where you are looking when playing the pot is very important, contact point of the object ball, nothing else.

[Terry Davidson]

I agree with vmax on the grip thing but I did notice what's REALLY causing you to miss. That is you are shifting your upper body when you are down on the shot so therefore you are changing your original aiming line when you are sighting.

Look close at the video in slow motion or frame-by-frame and you'll see the right shoulder moving to the right just a bit when you're down on the table. This will tend to move the tip slightly to the left on the cueball and you will end up cueing right-to-left and over-cutting the ball. It isn't much as this pace but it is enough to throw the cueball off along with your line of aim.

I turned the volume down and tried to ignore the view of your backside but the video does show the butt of the cue and the grip hand well. Other people who are considering putting up video should use this as a master.

Terry

[narl]

Have you thought about maybe moving your hand a bit further up the butt? You seem to hold it right at the end which would probably make you have quite a long bridge, any movement on the shot in the backarm would be amplified further the more cue you have hanging off your bridge.

[throtts]

I would also suggest ( if I may ) to only use the actual black when practicing black ball spot potting...Nice jeans mucker haha...

[alabadi]

Have you thought about maybe moving your hand a bit further up the butt? You seem to hold it right at the end which would probably make you have quite a long bridge, any movement on the shot in the backarm would be amplified further the more cue you have hanging off your bridge.

the cue is just the rigt size for me and for the shot i was on, i couldn't move up otherwise my cueing arm wouldn't be at 90 degreesi n the address position . the cue is a 57" i use to have a 58.25" which i was gripping a few inches up so i got this shorter one which seems ideal.

[alabadi]

I agree with vmax on the grip thing but I did notice what's REALLY causing you to miss. That is you are shifting your upper body when you are down on the shot so therefore you are changing your original aiming line when you are sighting.

Look close at the video in slow motion or frame-by-frame and you'll see the right shoulder moving to the right just a bit when you're down on the table. This will tend to move the tip slightly to the left on the cueball and you will end up cueing right-to-left and over-cutting the ball. It isn't much as this pace but it is enough to throw the cueball off along with your line of aim.

I turned the volume down and tried to ignore the view of your backside but the video does show the butt of the cue and the grip hand well. Other people who are considering putting up video should use this as a master.

Terry

Thanks Terry

so do you think that i am moving off line when i am getting down and this is causing my arm to move right to left to compensate.
if this is the case well you might have sorted my problem.

i have been dogged with this for a year or so i think, i always knew that i have an issue cueing across to the left but could figure out why. i was of the opinion of Vmax that it was something to do with my grip tightening. i have loosened my grip over the last 3-4 months quite a lot however i am not yet comfortable, i sometimes feel the cue is going to fly accross the table if i held it any looser.

now i have the problem how do i solve the issue of this movement, if i am shifting when i get down, this must mean i dont get down on the line correctly which i did have some suspicion but wasn't sure. all i was sure about is the cueing moving right to left, if you look at the video in slow motion it is really exagerated.

thanks for your views Terry what i need now is to figure out a way to get down correctly so i don't have to move.

i have another video which i did on the night and its a front view of me taking the blacks off the spot, i might look at that one in more detail to see if i can spot anything there too

[alabadi]

Your cue is slightly high, take it down lower so that it's just off the cushion.
Also, for such a slow paced shot, your cue action is a little snatchy, your grip hand closes too fast like you are playing a power shot and trying for pace from the get go and decelerating instead of smoothly accelerating and following through. Try playing without feeling the grip hand close by keeping the fingers relaxed and just having the cue resting in them.
Your head is quite still, no problem there, but where you are looking when playing the pot is very important, contact point of the object ball, nothing else.

Thanks Vmax you are right and not the first person to mention this to me, i do seem to put more power than needed into certain shots, i think i need to get more feel into my cueing as at this moment in time i am not sure i do.

its quite a tricky thing to let the cue just rest in your hand and let the weight of it do the work without using force from the arm. i feel if i hold it any looser i might loose the cue across the table, maybe this is why i am anxious to grab it a bit early.

its a case of working on it i guess until i'm comfortable with the feeling, not an easy thing to do.

thanks for your comments much appreciated

Alabbadi

[pottr]

You're swaying as you get down. I've only watched two shots but that sticks out as a sore thumb.

If you don't drop 'straight' down onto the line of the shot no matter how well you get through the ball you risk missing anything no matter how simple.

It's something I am occasionally guilty of. It's just laziness on my part.

[pottr]

That rear pause doesn't belong to you either... It's very inconsistent in terms of it's duration

[alabadi]

thanks Pottr for your input, im going to look at the vid again in slow motion and take all the comments on board. with regards
to the back pause i do feel on ocasions that it is inconsistant, i sometimes lose my focus on the contact point and have to pause longer to get it back.

other than that i will be just getting up all the time. it is something i am trying to get right,i never use to pause but have been told that it helps to steady things down. i'm still learning this game and its taking time for these things to become second nature.

Alabbadi

[jim evans]

dont you ever go to work lol

[alabadi]

dont you ever go to work lol

i am at work..lol , its my break