Backswing off Line

[Dez87]

Hi all

Just joined this forum been viewing it for a while now and just had a few questions I'm not sure about.

My Main problem is I cannot consistently cue straight down the spots, I always put unintentional right hand side, and feel I am cueing a crossed the ball.
I have a few theories but not to sure, as not a lot is working to fix it... I feel the cue is coming off line on the backswing towards the chest but am unsure what is causing this I understand terry had a similar problem, Did you manage to fix this?

I read somewhere the thumb should be pointing towards the floor, which would change the direction of my wrist?
Could the chest be dipping slightly on the backswing causing resistance for the cue to go through straight?
could cueing without touching the chest solve this?

I know its hard without seeing a video but any help would be much appreciated
Thanks

[Terry Davidson]

I recommend you have the cue lightly touching the chest all the time during the backswing and delivery. I would also recommend you have the thumb pointed directly at the floor and the cue held with the middle pads of the four fingers but with no real pressure, it should just sit there.

On the backswing (especially a longer one) the hold on the cue becomes just the upper inside of the thumb and forefinger and the butt of the cue should push the back 3 fingers out of the way naturally. The back 3 fingers will re-grip the cue after the strike.

Yes, the thumb pointing straight down will force you to have a natural 'wrist cock' which should be comfortable and you should not allow the wrist joint to turn at all during both backswing and delivery. Try cueing slowly along the baulkline with long backswing and then deliver without dropping the elbow but with the back of the grip hand thumb hitting the chest. Your objective is to keep the cue on the chest, have no upper body movement and keep the cue on the same plane which would be slightly higher that perfectly horizontal due to the cushion height. The cue should remain about 1" off the cushion throughout the stroke although a lot of players will drop the elbow and drop the cue closer to the cushion. The 1" clearance is so you don't break your knuckles on a hard shot.

Terry

[Dez87]

Thanks for the help Terry, next time I play I will try and add them things to my game