Trouble keeping cue horizontal or parallel to table (with video)

[Ramon]

That shot at 2 minutes where Joe says it's the shot of the week, surely the shot of all time ??? amazing

Yeah, u'r right about that one !! he played it in to the perfection !!
they asked S Davis about that shot ... He said : one of few best shots in the history of snooker !!

[MrRottweiler]

Dropping the elbow on the backswing is not a problem and you are right in that it must come up that inch or so at the start of the delivery. Watch any of the pros who have a long backswing (almost all of them, like John Higgins) and you will see the elbow drops near the end of their longer backswings.

Absolutely +1. I used to watch John Higgins for hours looking at where he gripped and how far back he brought the cue for different shots. He would grip further in and feather about an inch for certain stun run through shots amongst the pack but grip almost right at the bottom of the cue and bring the cue so far back the ferrule was touching his hand on longer shots that needed more power and positional play. You get more reaction from the cueball and it can help with timing because it's essentially the point of no return so it's something I've naturally started doing. The elbow has to drop to make sure the cue doesn't lift up and this technique goes against the more traditional style of cueing which is to keep the top of the elbow fixed but it's become an essential part of the game which a lot of players adopt and I think Hendry and Higgins proved how effective it is and everyone else has followed.

[Terry Davidson]

Absolutely +1. I used to watch John Higgins for hours looking at where he gripped and how far back he brought the cue for different shots. He would grip further in and feather about an inch for certain stun run through shots amongst the pack but grip almost right at the bottom of the cue and bring the cue so far back the ferrule was touching his hand on longer shots that needed more power and positional play. You get more reaction from the cueball and it can help with timing because it's essentially the point of no return so it's something I've naturally started doing. The elbow has to drop to make sure the cue doesn't lift up and this technique goes against the more traditional style of cueing which is to keep the top of the elbow fixed but it's become an essential part of the game which a lot of players adopt and I think Hendry and Higgins proved how effective it is and everyone else has followed.

To me this is exactly correct.