OK here it is then.
I have been practicing and playing for quite some time now. Excluding my break of the past 5-6 months I have started again off and on and will try to be on the table at least 2 days a week. I have noticed that I have lost my touch and hence am not playing well. I cannot pot 4 balls in a row now. I understand it would require some time to get back in action but then there are people around me who have had no coaching and they play 3-4 days a week and yet make 40-60 breaks on and off but well that is not the point here.
I was on another thread here and saw a clip by Neil Maxman uploaded by Steve (Vmax) which was about cue length against a player's height and that made me think in a new direction. I knew it before but never gave it any considerable thought. I went to the club and measured my cue against myself and it is much shorter than my shoulder height. It reaches up to my chest say nipple height. This got me thinking and here is what I think.
I am a tall person i.e. 6 feet 1 inch or maybe 2 I do not remember, well not that tall by your Western average but quite tall by Pakistani Pakistani average
anyway since my cue finishes at my chest and not shoulder so I personally think and checked it yesterday as well that that is the reason I have been doing the following:
1. Bending the bridge arm to leave some cue after the bridge to the CB. I have changed my set up after uploading my video and seeking guidance and straightened it but I personally think that now I perhaps have hardly 7-8 inches of cue after the v of the bridge to the tip. In order to increase wood here I will have to again bend my bridge arm and that might lead me in to problems I have been having in the past.
2. Since the cue is small and I am rather tall, with my old set-up I was not bending enough on the table as highlighted by my older video and hence to bend more I had to move from straight to boxers as that also helped me straightening my bridge arm. But that is not really an issue I think.
3. Due to the small cue when I held it where I felt comfortable Vmax and Terry pointed out that my cueing arm was not vertical when at address position and then I observed that too so in order to get my cueing arm in vertical while at address I had to grip my cue from the edge of the butt and now I grip it from the butt where I have no butt behind my grip hand and my last finger is at the last edge of the butt. But well that is kind of ok.
4. Last but not the least, I believe the real problem might be here... with the current cue (smaller than shoulder height) I need to cue straight for snooker but this cue being smaller than required forces me to drop my elbow, a consideration that never came to my mind before, and hence I do not cue straight. You see when my grip hits the chest since the cue is smaller then that can only be achieved by dropping the elbow. That is probably the reason why I was not being able to control my elbow drop as it was only natural for it to drop with a smaller cue in hands.
Now then if this is correct, then I immediately need to change my cue. Please provide your suggestions and if I conclude that I need to change it then I will ask you to guide me as to which cue would be good. I cannot buy cues from here, there arent any good ones around, only Master Cue which is good enough but I can order to UK something of my choice... I will however order this time with proper specifications to suit me.
Cheers,
Sidd.
I have been practicing and playing for quite some time now. Excluding my break of the past 5-6 months I have started again off and on and will try to be on the table at least 2 days a week. I have noticed that I have lost my touch and hence am not playing well. I cannot pot 4 balls in a row now. I understand it would require some time to get back in action but then there are people around me who have had no coaching and they play 3-4 days a week and yet make 40-60 breaks on and off but well that is not the point here.
I was on another thread here and saw a clip by Neil Maxman uploaded by Steve (Vmax) which was about cue length against a player's height and that made me think in a new direction. I knew it before but never gave it any considerable thought. I went to the club and measured my cue against myself and it is much shorter than my shoulder height. It reaches up to my chest say nipple height. This got me thinking and here is what I think.
I am a tall person i.e. 6 feet 1 inch or maybe 2 I do not remember, well not that tall by your Western average but quite tall by Pakistani Pakistani average
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1. Bending the bridge arm to leave some cue after the bridge to the CB. I have changed my set up after uploading my video and seeking guidance and straightened it but I personally think that now I perhaps have hardly 7-8 inches of cue after the v of the bridge to the tip. In order to increase wood here I will have to again bend my bridge arm and that might lead me in to problems I have been having in the past.
2. Since the cue is small and I am rather tall, with my old set-up I was not bending enough on the table as highlighted by my older video and hence to bend more I had to move from straight to boxers as that also helped me straightening my bridge arm. But that is not really an issue I think.
3. Due to the small cue when I held it where I felt comfortable Vmax and Terry pointed out that my cueing arm was not vertical when at address position and then I observed that too so in order to get my cueing arm in vertical while at address I had to grip my cue from the edge of the butt and now I grip it from the butt where I have no butt behind my grip hand and my last finger is at the last edge of the butt. But well that is kind of ok.
4. Last but not the least, I believe the real problem might be here... with the current cue (smaller than shoulder height) I need to cue straight for snooker but this cue being smaller than required forces me to drop my elbow, a consideration that never came to my mind before, and hence I do not cue straight. You see when my grip hits the chest since the cue is smaller then that can only be achieved by dropping the elbow. That is probably the reason why I was not being able to control my elbow drop as it was only natural for it to drop with a smaller cue in hands.
Now then if this is correct, then I immediately need to change my cue. Please provide your suggestions and if I conclude that I need to change it then I will ask you to guide me as to which cue would be good. I cannot buy cues from here, there arent any good ones around, only Master Cue which is good enough but I can order to UK something of my choice... I will however order this time with proper specifications to suit me.
Cheers,
Sidd.
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