Most common reasons not cueing straight

[svendh]

thanks to all for the useful replies. im not quite sure if cueing straight can be practised without knowing where the error comes from. thats why im looking for the most common errors, mainly to give my mates some feedback.

@alabadi: i found that beeing an issue for my harder shots too

@Rifle: yes the ring grip feels right to me too, terry griffith teaches that one too

here is my updated list:

- 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
- not beeing on the line/leaving line during approcach
- switching eyes from object ball to pocket too early

[timcunnell]

im not quite sure if cueing straight can be practised without knowing where the error comes from.

It can be useful (at least I've found it useful!). If you cue along the baulk line (without a ball, obviously) you can see if the cue is moving back and through it a straight line. If you notice for example that the tip of the cue veers to the left as you follow through, you can practice tweaking your action (grip, contact point on chest etc etc) until you find something which keeps the cue on line.
As I understand it at least, this is the method Nic Barrow and other coaches recommend. You can use this to hone a gun-barrel action.

As Rifle rightly says though, this isn't the whole story, and cueing straight only forms part of the jigsaw puzzle, along with sighting, alignment. There are plenty of very good players who don't cue straight - Barry Pinches is the first one that comes to mind. So if you know you're cueing straight, this doesn't mean you're going to start consistently knocking everything in. And so the best practice might well be to concentrate on potting long straight balls. If you can teach yourself to pot straight blues out of the jaws for example then you know your sighting, alignment and cueing are in harmony, and thats really what you're after.

[itsnoteasy]

On shots with a bit of power, well on all shots really ,I practiced really hard starting the forward stroke really slowly,, and accelerating all the way through, it seemed to take the grip right out of my cue action and I hit the ball with my forearm not my hand ,if that makes sense.
If I cue poorly ,it's because my hand has got involved in my action. Don't know if this is right, just that it worked for me.

[timcunnell]

starting the forward stroke really slowly,, and accelerating all the way through

Stephen Maguire cues like this (so does Robbo and Murphy - and ROS - but not quite as pronounced). I WISH I could do this!! I am sure its the key to pushing the cue through in a straight line, and also timing shots well.
It just requires a long-ish bridge, and a long backswing, which for me causes other issues at the moment!!

[itsnoteasy]

Does this involve elbow drop on most shots then?

I don't know Rifle, sorry.
Tim, Stephen Lee did an exhibition at our club and his forward stroke is so slow and smooth right the way through, it's just out of this world, our county champ Rob Simm has a similar cue action, and he's had a few 147s so I thought if it's good enough for them ,I think I will try it, I still grip sometimes, but I'm only learning.
Watch his cueing on this ,it's unreal.https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ho2j6ooeVZo

[Byrom]

all comes down to practice as has been said - I thing its all down to the individual to perfect their own action as we all have our ways of doing things - probably down to a number of things but grip would be the main one obviously as its a moving part of your action - alignment of the shot incorrect sighting perhaps and movement of the bridge could be another and then there is how you time the shot and accelerate thro the ball.

[timcunnell]

I don't know Rifle, sorry.
Tim, Stephen Lee did an exhibition at our club and his forward stroke is so slow and smooth right the way through, it's just out of this world, .https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ho2j6ooeVZo

Ah yeah that's exactly what I'm talking about! That is one silky action!! If one can cue like that it gives so much control, yet makes power and cue-ball reaction effortless.

Such a shame about Stephen Lee. I'm not sad for him - but its sad that snooker is deprived of any player of that class. He always used to be mentioned in the same breath as ROS for natural talent and technique. What a waste!!

Was that video taken at your club? I know the guy who's mainly off camera speaking Chinese! Bobby Lee - 9-ball player and all round great lad!

[pottr]

I know Bobby too... used to play with him and Andy regular.

[itsnoteasy]

No that's not at our club Tim, to be honest his cue action is even better in the flesh so to speak, he was playing frames against a variety of players at diferent standards and some of the shots he played with so little effort was incredible he must have perfect timing on the shot.

[j6uk]

putting your cue straight through a point on the white is an art

[cyberheater]

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.

I've been doing that for a while. It helps me.

Hello mate, the index finger problem can be solved by adopting the ring grip. This grip is just tight enough to stop the cue falling if you hold the cue upright and don't use the other fingers. The ring should never move or tighten, you try and keep it as constant as possible and you should be able to pot most balls with just this ring grip and nothing else. In fact, some coaches advise this method to get rid of index finger movement and over-gripping, and to improve feel of the cue from the index finger and thumb, especially in the balls for those delicate stuns and cannons. Some coaches also advise a more open grip, where the cue rests on the fingertip of the pinkie, and the pinkie forms a balancing act.


As ever, try things and see if they improve matters. If not, bin them.

Very useful to know. I will try it. Thanks.

[itsnoteasy]

Just stumbled across this, I have never seen this before, has some great views of a top pros grip, light as a feather, cue doing all the work, well worth a watch.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KvPmvbgPrJk

[cyberheater]

Just stumbled across this, I have never seen this before, has some great views of a top pros grip, light as a feather, cue doing all the work, well worth a watch.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KvPmvbgPrJk

One thing I noticed. He really pushes through the white. Much further then I do.

[timcunnell]

One thing I noticed. He really pushes through the white. Much further then I do.

Definitely. The best cueists I can think of all seem to share this trait.

Bent left arm (for right-handers) is the key I think. But this means you've got to straighten your cueing arm quite a lot on the backswing. So you definitely need to very good in order to play this way!

[cyberheater]

Well I tried using the just the ring finger. Very loose. Hardly gripping the but at all. Strange thing is that I could screw back just as well, maybe more just using one finger relative to using all 4 fingers. I guess that's what they call letting the cue do the work.