Most common reasons not cueing straight

[svendh]

I am looking for the most common reasons for not cueing straight. This is what comes to my mind:

- head/body movement
- closing grip hand too early, grip to firm i.g.
- dropping elbow or/and shoulder before striking the cue ball
- twisting grip hand during delivery

[j6uk]

not practicing cueing straight

[itsnoteasy]

not practicing cueing straight

BANG!!, you can't argue with that.

[narl]

BANG!!, you can't argue with that.

Incredibly tedious to hit the ball up and down the spots though. Lately i've been playing blues off the spot with the white just to the left of the green spot, getting quite a few of them, when i miss its generally just jawing occasionally it goes a bit wide though.

[OmaMiesta]

I think it also has to do with the amount of pressure you apply during chest contact. When I have the cue lightly brushing my chest I find it easier to deliver the cue straight and this really helps me with long pots. But too much pressure can result in the opposite and the cue will likely push off line.

[j6uk]

baulk line, matchbox, and the ronnie bruce

[Ethanat]

baulk line, matchbox, and the ronnie bruce

I get the first 2 but what is a ronnie bruce?

[svendh]

I think it also has to do with the amount of pressure you apply during chest contact. When I have the cue lightly brushing my chest I find it easier to deliver the cue straight and this really helps me with long pots. But too much pressure can result in the opposite and the cue will likely push off line.

This could be also an issue with gripping the cue too tight as you need to do this in order to apply pressure to the chest

[guernseygooner]

As J6 has said you need to know what everything feels like when cueing straight and that is the baulk line and matchbox. Develop this muscle memory then take it to the table.

The original problems mentioned are a consequence of not cueing straight

[narl]

My coach has me doing a very simple exercise to improve sighting, concentration and straight cueing. It requires a gentle touch which improves the balance of the cue hand, using a relaxed grip.

Put the blue ball on its spot, place the white anywhere, but ideally on the centreline facing the blue. If you can sight and cue straight, you will leave the white on the centre line after potting. See how many blues you can sink in succession this way. And it works too. How many do you think you could pot in succession? If you can't do more than 5, and most players can't when they begin, then you will find/know what adjustments to make in order to increase the number of pots. These could involve grip, stance, bridge, sighting, etc.

If you can pot 20, move on to the same exercise, potting the blue into the corner pockets. When you can pot 20 into the opposing corners, you can move on to placing the white in the jaws and potting the blue only with top.

What do you mean centreline?

[jrc750]

What do you mean centreline?

Surely he means on a straight line between the 2 centre pockets

[vmax4steve]

I am looking for the most common reasons for not cueing straight. This is what comes to my mind:

- head/body movement
- closing grip hand too early, grip to firm i.g.
- dropping elbow or/and shoulder before striking the cue ball
- twisting grip hand during delivery

All the above are/can be the consequences of not putting the cue on the correct line of aim to start with and taking your eye off the object ball on the strike.
Get these two right first.

[timcunnell]

All the above are/can be the consequences of not putting the cue on the correct line of aim to start with and taking your eye off the object ball on the strike.
Get these two right first.

I agree. IMHO not cueing straight is usually a consequence of bad setup, rather than bad action. The four points you've mentioned all happen during the stroke. But if you work on a consistent pre-shot routine and get in a good posture its actually much harder to cue across it.
That said, there is a pretty useful video by Nic Barrow on cueing straight, which is worth a look. Line up with your cue along the baulk line and make some very slow, very long strokes back and through, and you'll soon get a feel for what might be causing you to cue across the line.

[DeanH]

baulk line, matchbox, and the ronnie bruce

I get the first 2 but what is a ronnie bruce?

confused by that one as well

anyone know what j6 is on about here?

[alabadi]

i have found one of the most reasons for me not cueing straight, is tightening my grip too early. i've tried all sorts of things to remedy it, but gets hard especially when you have to play a shot a bit hard.

one of my issues which i only discovered last week, the main problem is my index finger, as it tightens it kinda twists the cue. i am now experimenting gripping the cue with the 2 middle fingers with the index finger hardly doing much at all.

although its early days and feels weird i have had more accuracy on long pots especially those that need a bit of power to stop the cueball or stun run.