Should you aim to hit the chest??

[j6uk]

Good. That's what I thought you meant.

I remember when I first saw this video and thought it's a perfect demonstration of good technique.

It's text book and demonstrates everything that Terry has advocated on this forum.

* Walk in on the shot
* Tip close to the white with your forearm at the vertical position
* Front pause
* Very slow backswing proportional to the shot strength required
* A good rear pause
* Start off slow and smoothly accelerate through the white until the grip hand reaches the chest
* Remain in the finishing position until the OB drops in the pocket

The only thing that moves is the cueing arm and cue. Everything else remains rocks solid

your almost there

[vmax4steve]

in a word, no. its all about timing the shot well, and tuning in to how you yourself time the ball.. listen, in a nutshell: back pause, eye to ob, hit from the elbow, and complete the shot by head still and closing the back of the hand.
this will come with lots of practice btw

I agree with j6, the chest doesn't need to be contacted by the hand on every shot, besides what if your stance doesn't allow for the hand to go through to the chest, like mine.
The stroke ends when the hand closes and the momentum of the stroke gives you a long or short follow through. I can't imagine playing little touch strokes with the hand coming through to the same point every time.
It doesn't work that way, each stroke has it's own feel and acceleration of the cue doesn't come with having exactly the same length backswing and follow through, both change according to the needs of the stroke.

BTW stop chopping and changing everything all the time or you'll end up with a head full of everything but being able to execute nothing because of it.

[vmax4steve]

Not yet buddy not yet... thoughts, doubts and what not but still trying hard though.

Trying too hard to be honest.

[j6uk]

I can't imagine playing little touch strokes with the hand coming through to the same point every time.

this is always worth another look
looking at the first few shot you'll see ron close the hand early on the blue to hold the white, then on the next shot he closes the hand late on the run-through, and letting the cue do the work

[vmax4steve]

this is always worth another look
looking at the first few shots you'll see Ron close the hand early on the blue to hold the white, then on the next shot he closes the hand late on the run-through, and letting the cue do the work

Good spot j6. It looks like the elbow drop only happens when the hand closes late.

[CJ Kumz213]

I agree that the thumb should point down when in the address. However as the grip hits the chest the grip and line of the knuckles will change. If the forearm and back of the grip stay in line throughout cueing the thumb won't be pointing at your foot. timing wise if you accelerate the tip into the cue ball on the strike then you will get more action from the white.

Interesting thought you gat there Coach. The knuckles will change the angle unless you are using loose wrist

[CoachGavin]

Should you aim to hit the chest??

yes. a lot of the top players will open the front of the grip as they follow through. The wrist and forearm can then move through as one.

[j6uk]

locally known as working around the cue, so as the cue does all the work

[Sidd]

Ok so now sometimes the elbow drops (run through) and sometimes it doesnt (holding the white) and so the grip hand would sometimes hit the chest and sometimes it wouldn't... Sometimes the grip hand would close early on the shot (holding the white) and on others it would close late in the delivery (run through)... when it closes early the elbow wont drop when it closes late the elbow would drop ... and on both occassions the elbow as well as the closing of the hand would not happen at the time of strike but a bit after the strike.... easy game this !

[CJ Kumz213]

Thanks people. Seems my game improved when I started focusing on sending my wrist joint going back and forth. All I do is just grip the cue nd lock the wrist.. Just have to screwbacks nd tops now. It seems I am hitting high than intended. I'm still looking for the fault

[j6uk]

just see what work for you, only time on the table will give you the real feedback you need..
please let us all know how you get on over the next couple of weeks.

[tomlimcj]

if ur wrist joint is loose and u lock it when u drive the stroke, u may over-cock and force the cue higher. i did that before and now i lock my wrist but keep the grip looser. seems to be better altho the cue usually feels like its going to fly out of my grip during power shots! i do like to ask, do you control your delivery (to "force" it go down the line) or do you just thrust ur cueing arm forward?

[CJ Kumz213]

if ur wrist joint is loose and u lock it when u drive the stroke, u may over-cock and force the cue higher. i did that before and now i lock my wrist but keep the grip looser. seems to be better altho the cue usually feels like its going to fly out of my grip during power shots! i do like to ask, do you control your delivery (to "force" it go down the line) or do you just thrust ur cueing arm forward?

I seem to have been doing what you have suggested above over starting with a loose wrist then locking it later lol. Will try and work on that as soon as I get the chance... I just thrust my cueing arm forward. What are your thoughts over that??

[tomlimcj]

I seem to have been doing what you have suggested above over starting with a loose wrist then locking it later lol. Will try and work on that as soon as I get the chance... I just thrust my cueing arm forward. What are your thoughts over that??

to be honest, im having mixed results. if you have a straight delivery, then when u thrust forward (not considering another wrist rotation) your cue will go straight down the line.
unfortuntately, most of us cant achieve that, whether is it on the backstroke or forward stroke, the cue goes off the line imparting unwanted side. as such, it won't help to just thrust the cue forward hoping it goes straight. you will need a controlled delivery.

i find that many people lose the discipline on the delivery. But most of the time, the cueing actually starts to go off on the final backswing.
for me, i have to control my final backswing, followed by a slight pause which allows me to tell my brain to send a controlled delivery down the line. if i do not pause, i will lose that discipline and it will cause my cue not to go down the line.

pardon my long reply, but i am always interested to find out about the delivery. the way i see ronnie, shaun murphy and john higgins, they have a controlled delivery. but some players like ding, stephen maguire...they trust their waggles and thrust the cue forward. so i want to find out, which is actually better...

[CJ Kumz213]

to be honest, im having mixed results. if you have a straight delivery, then when u thrust forward (not considering another wrist rotation) your cue will go straight down the line.
unfortuntately, most of us cant achieve that, whether is it on the backstroke or forward stroke, the cue goes off the line imparting unwanted side. as such, it won't help to just thrust the cue forward hoping it goes straight. you will need a controlled delivery.

i find that many people lose the discipline on the delivery. But most of the time, the cueing actually starts to go off on the final backswing.
for me, i have to control my final backswing, followed by a slight pause which allows me to tell my brain to send a controlled delivery down the line. if i do not pause, i will lose that discipline and it will cause my cue not to go down the line.

pardon my long reply, but i am always interested to find out about the delivery. the way i see ronnie, shaun murphy and john higgins, they have a controlled delivery. but some players like ding, stephen maguire...they trust their waggles and thrust the cue forward. so i want to find out, which is actually better...

On that part from what I know is Ronnie, Murphy and Higgins use the drive stroke (Del Drive) and the others use pure pendulum strokes.. The advantage with the pendulum method is it has less moving parts so the accuracy is quite improved but on powershots it can lead to body movement cause of thrusting to fast. On the other hand the "drive stroke" has more moving parts. The elbow drops and involves the shoulder which can throw you off target. But on powershots you can do them with ease. Watch this clip to get the drive stroke idea.