Delivering the cue in a straight line.

[Canny Tim]

Thanks for the replies. I've taken them all in and hopefully can apply it to my game. To answer this question, I normally keep my bridge hand quite close to the cue ball as I struggle to hit dead centre otherwise. I will pull the cue as far back as the tip gets to my hand.

How far are you pulling it back, as I have noticed that I sometimes pull it back a bit to far , and that causes me to pull it in to the body,
Tape yourself playing to see if that's the case with you, as I did this and was surprised at my long backswing.

might help???

[alabadi]

i agree with what has been said about the backswing.
i found that i had a very short backswing pause, really not much at all, however since i have introduced this 2 sec pause (which Chris Small talked about it in another post) at the end of my backswing i have been delivering the cue straighter than ever.

i did find it labored to start with and counting 1,2 really lost my rhythm, so what i do now is switch my eyes to the OB once i have paused, this gives me that 2 sec delay before delivering the cue, i watch the cue as it returns slowly which helps keeping it straight.

it takes time to get use to this, i have been doing this for 4 weeks now and i am still finding on occasions i lose focus and revert to my old ways, but overall i am getting there my backswing and delivery are much straighter now, which have meant i am potting better than ever.

all i need to do now is get down on the damn line of aim i have chosen consistently and i'll be sorted

alabbadi

[j6uk]

I like to practice this by dropping down on to a physical line, I find the baulk line helps not only with straight cueing but with all round alignment as well. After a two dozen times or so I would start doing it with my eyes closed. So just before I dope down I'd close the eyes, feel all the sensations of the drop, hand hitting the cloth and all four points connect around the cue in address position. Open them and see what you got.
Could move on to do this with potting long blues and keeping them shut, that's the fun part You'd be surprised with a bit of practice what the results start to show. enjoy

all i need to do now is get down on the damn line of aim i have chosen consistently and i'll be sorted

alabbadi

[itsnoteasy]

Jeez J6, do you mean you can shut your eyes before walking into the shot and pot a long blue? I take it you do the aiming first, and are not spun around three times and told to sense the shot lol, that is very impressive to me, I can pot say three or four long blues with my eyes shut but that's just before my backswing, and then just concentrating on grip and nice release through of the cue, I doubt I would hit the white from a standing position lol but it goes to show what Chris said its 90% aiming and staying online.
Good posts Chris and Terry, it's great the advice you get on here.

[luke-h]

Hi

The bridge should be very stable. Alot of people dont think the bridge hand is all that important but its very important. I tell my clients to grip the cloth with the pinkie and forefinger and with the left and right pads of the hand. So there are 4 grip points. I then put a credit card under the pad of the bridge hand and it should be very difficult for me to remove the card. The backswing should be slowish for control as if its very quick its very hard to pull back in a straight line. The rear pause does disconnect the backswing from the delivery but if the backswing is not straight it is very difficult to go through straight and this will cause problems no doubt about it. The need for a rear pause is to get the eyes fixed on the contact point of the ob and for the control of the delivery. So slow backswing for control and straightness rear pause for fixing eyes on ob and also for controlled delivery which will mean straight and controlled delivery keeping everything still until the shot is complete. Ie until ball is in the pocket. Another common fault even with a good standard of player. Lifting the head far to early on the shot and because they dont realise they are doing it the problem gets worse and as time goes on they start lifting the head even earlier. I trained myself to not move until the ball was in the bag and maybe even wait on cb hitting a cushion depending on the shot obviously.

Cheers Chris small

thanks for your input, i have been playing years and yesterday really was the first time i noticed how loose my bridge hand was, no matter how hard i tried in the past to find the centre of the white i struggled, yesterday was something of an epiphany lol hopefully my game will improve now
luke

[Terry Davidson]

I've read somewhere the other players used to get pissed at Fred Davis (world champ at the time) because he gripped the cloth so hard he would put finger marks all over the table.

But I'll bet he had a very stable bridge hand

Terry

[j6uk]

I got the (drop into the shot and pot with closed eyes) from John Higgins in an event in Poland.
I could just say it all starts with the feet

Jeez J6, do you mean you can shut your eyes before walking into the shot and pot a long blue? I take it you do the aiming first, and are not spun around three times and told to sense the shot lol, that is very impressive to me, I can pot say three or four long blues with my eyes shut but that's just before my backswing, and then just concentrating on grip and nice release through of the cue, I doubt I would hit the white from a standing position lol but it goes to show what Chris said its 90% aiming and staying online.
Good posts Chris and Terry, it's great the advice you get on here.

[itsnoteasy]

I tried one shot at this today, I aimed shut my eyes got down, cued and hit the red which surprised me but I missed by about eight to ten inches , red was on blue spot white on the baulk line, it felt really strange.

[alabadi]

I've read somewhere the other players used to get pissed at Fred Davis (world champ at the time) because he gripped the cloth so hard he would put finger marks all over the table.

But I'll bet he had a very stable bridge hand

Terry

Terry that reminds me around March this year when Ronnie came to the Star Snooker Academy in Sheffield before the world champs to practice. I was talking to the guy who runs the Academy and he was saying when Ronnie finishes practice the table was terrible, it was covered in finger marks. It seems Ronnie grips the cloth tight too.

interesting, however since I have started gripping the cloth tighter than normal about 6-8 weeks ago I have been getting pain just below my inner part of my elbow top of my forearm.

Alabbadi

[Terry Davidson]

When I tried to really force my bridge into the cloth I also found I initiated a little stress on the left hand. I had to walk back a bit on it because every player should remember that COMFORT is THE most important consideration in a snooker technique and set-up.

Terry

[j6uk]

Yeah good players after practice look like they've really played with the table itself. Not bashed it about like an indestructible toy but cherished it like their favorite.. With no chalk marks

[Terry Davidson]

j6uk:

I disagree with the 'no chalk marks' as you often see on TV the pros (especially Mark Selby) brushing the chalk marks off the cloth with their hands. When they did that super slow motion video of deep screw shots you could see the tip going along the cloth after the strike although I don't know which pro they used to video (probably Davis or Parrott as they were commentating on it).

Terry

[j6uk]

Okay but in practice most really good players are getting through the ball so well that there is not that much chalk to be seen even after a couple of hours work..
The slow mo was probably Martin Clark.

j6uk:

I disagree with the 'no chalk marks' as you often see on TV the pros (especially Mark Selby) brushing the chalk marks off the cloth with their hands. When they did that super slow motion video of deep screw shots you could see the tip going along the cloth after the strike although I don't know which pro they used to video (probably Davis or Parrott as they were commentating on it).

Terry

[itsnoteasy]

I wipe chalk marks off the table before I leave. Wish everyone else would.

[alabadi]

I wipe chalk marks off the table before I leave. Wish everyone else would.

after every practice session i brush and block the table.

Alabbadi