Terry's Technique Video

[choice]

We'll get a cue of our choice from Terry's collection minus the postage

I'll have the Dave Coutts cue then Terry:wink-new:

[Terry Davidson]

Hmmm...I'm not getting any email notifications so I'll try and answer all the comments:

Chrissmall - not sure what the problem is as it works for me and apparently others too.

For everyone...when I first went to video myself and did an analysis using Kinovea I was shocked at the flaws that had crept into my technique. This video I posted is AFTER 4 days of working on it.

First of all...no matter what I try I cannot get my elbow over the cue. Secondly, I used Kinovea on this video and I am hitting the centre of the cueball and the tip is going to the left (grip hand coming outside) after the strike and I'm presently working on that to try and have the complete delivery as straight as possible.

When I slow the pace down the cue does actually go very straight and I think the grip hand flying out is a result of high power. However, I should be able to develop the technique so the grip hand doesn't fly to the right even with power. It's now much better than it was 4 days ago.

For j6uk...I'll see what I can do about cueing along the baulkline although I don't find much value in it as I always cue very straight, hiding the baulkline all the time.

The hesitation you see when I'm getting into the shot is because I just changed my stance to a more boxer configuration as I found my former square stance was causing me alignment problems in that I just can't twist my spine the required amount anymore.

I have had a mirror set up on my baulkline for the past 4 days, working on getting my elbow directly over the cue but I just can't do it. I also cue into the mirror along the baulkline as I'm testing various changes. So far I've changed my stance (hence the bit of dancing around as I'm getting down) and I've also reconfigured my grip to one that feels pretty good, something I've not had for a couple of years now.

Thanks for the comments (Chris...try again please and see what happens. So far it's only been you that hasn't been able to watch the video)

Terry

[Terry Davidson]

Nope, there is no prize just like I never get a prize when I help someone out on here. The magnificent Dave Coutts cue I had has been long sold, to HK I think but it was quite awhile ago.

Regarding this video. I started with the following technique flaws:

1. My head and upper body was moving to the right about 1/2" on the delivery;
2. The tip of my cue was finishing a good 2" to the left of the centre of the cueball on completion of the delivery (or my grip hand was flying out to the right as a result of the elbow not dropping straight). Sometimes called 'chicken wing elbow';
3. I was gripping with the second finger and with a severe wrist cock;
4. My bridge arm was too bent;
5. Backswing was to short and too quick;
6. No rear pause either.

I have been working on various technique changes to get rid of these flaws and here's what I came up with and what was in the video:

1. To eliminate the sideways body movement and get the elbow more aligned over the cue I switched to a more 'boxer' stance from my previous almost square stance. My elbow had been about 4" outside the cue and is now around 1.5" to 2". The shuffling some of you saw was me remembering the boxer stance as I'm so used to getting down in a square stance. I also changed my weight distribution to put more weight on the left foot as I realized I only had about 20% or so on that foot;
2. I relaxed the wrist cock and changed the grip to using all 4 fingers as a bed for the cue but actually 'holding' the cue with the thumb and forefinger (what I teach) and allowing the back 3 fingers to relax in the backswing but come back on after the strike;
3. I relaxed my grip even more but still have no air gap between the web and butt of the cue;
4. Slowed my backswing right down and this had the added bonus of making it very easy to inject a rear pause;
5. I think the next step will be to move the cue a little to the left on my chin to get better elbow alignment and I will also be trying to raise the elbow and shoulder as much as possible.

This will be a process which will take a month or so because I have to work on things one at a time and the first thing is getting the new stance natural, then the new grip natural, then the slower, longer backswing and rear pause natural and the last thing will be attempting to re-align my damned shoulder and elbow as I believe that elbow being outside the cue is encouraging me to cue right-to-left and I want to eliminate that before I have to retire from playing competitively.

Terry

[vmax4steve]

It looks like an alignment issue Terry.
I think your stance isn't wide enough, left foot needs to be wider and further forward to bring the body around to get the elbow more behind the line of aim. This will bring your stance to one where the chest isn't in the way of the follow through at all and the left eye will drop naturally over the line of aim without you having to turn your head.

Also what were you looking at when doing this exercise ?
It looks like you are looking at the cue ball when getting down into your stance but focussing on a target at the moment of the strike.
You yourself state that looking at the object ball (target) when getting down into the stance is the right way to go but you don't seem to be doing it yourself.

[mythman69]

Thanks for putting up the video !!



If you can develop a rear pause it might help you deliver the cue through straighter.

I am trying to put one into my action after getting some coaching from Robby Foldvari. Not easy as I have never had one.

Keep at it !!

Thanks again.

[Samcheung001]

Would it be due to your grip hand a bit nearer to the body while the elbow a bit away from the line of aim when cueing ?

[sydneygeorge]

Terry, first up, well done and thank you for making the effort to post this video.
I can see your elbow is moving to your right at the end of the stroke, I am having some success in dealing with the same problem by only having 2 contact points with the cue, being the bridge and the grip.
Regarding your stance, I completely agree with Nic Barrow's advice of locking the eyes/nose onto the line of aim and dropping the body straight down, IMO the stance doesn't matter so long as it is rock solid and it does not interfere with the delivery of the cue.

[j6uk]

On seeing the video again, Your bridge hand is very unusual. The fingers are flaring upwards off the bed of the table and they seam to be partying all the way through, offering no support consistently, on every shot. This is alarming and puts question marks over every other part of technique and the understanding of it.

No decent player likes to see someone struggling and I believe this can be sorted.
I hope you will do some more videos.
It would be good to see one of you on a lineup or cross.

[Sidd]

Video not loading

[j6uk]

http://s1298.photobucket.com/user/te...=recent&page=1

Video not loading

[Sidd]

http://s1298.photobucket.com/user/te...=recent&page=1

Still no luck.

I go to the page, click on the thumbnail the video tries to load and comes back with the message:

There was a problem playing your video.
Video not found.

How could that be?

[j6uk]

Not sure could be your location.

Still no luck.

I go to the page, click on the thumbnail the video tries to load and comes back with the message:

There was a problem playing your video.
Video not found.

How could that be?

[Sidd]

Not sure could be your location.

I dont know.. Even tried it with one of those proxy changing software.
Is there a chance Terry has removed it ???

[DeanH]

I dont know.. Even tried it with one of those proxy changing software.
Is there a chance Terry has removed it ???

no it is still there, watched it just now

[mythman69]

Maybe try downloading it and then playing it.