Timing

[DeanH]

Timing

How many times have we heard "...he timed that well..."
EXACTLY what is TIMING?
How do you get "good" timing?
If it is "just" practise, what do you have to specifically practise to get good timing?
Is it simple and most out there have over-complicated it or confused the subject with something else?

I have read various posts, websites, etc. (so please no links:wink and thought I would ask the forum.

:biggrin:
Discuss...

[Neil Taperell]

I relate it to when the ball goes in the back of the pocket and makes ' that ' sound............and you know you've hit the ball sweetly . Without knocking the head off it !

[ghost121]

Timing for me is when the shot feels effortless but the result is perfectly as intended. I think you can relate it to the 'quality' of cue ball strike, or the time the tip is in correct contact with the white.

[DeanH]

I relate it to when the ball goes in the back of the pocket and makes ' that ' sound............and you know you've hit the ball sweetly . Without knocking the head off it !

to me that is when you have your aiming is so right and hitting the object ball perfectly in to the middle of the pocket to get "that" sound; that we all love to hear

[tedisbill]

The way I always thought about it was like this:

Imagine the cue accelerating as you deliver it, and then slowly slowing down again as you go past the white and the hand delivers into the chest. So the cue goes goes:

1 mph, 2 mph, 3 mph, 5 mph, 7mph, 10 mph, 11 mph, 12 mph, 15 mph, 14 mph, 13 mph, 10 mph, 8 mph, 6 mph, 4 mph, 2 mph, stop.

For me, to time the above shot perfectly, you contact the white with the tip at exactly 15 mph. You can hit the shot well by the tip contacting the white at 12, or 14 or 13 mph, but to time it PERFECTLY as you say, you would contact the white at 15 mph.

That's the way I've always thought about it anyway.

[jrc750]

The way I always thought about it was like this:

Imagine the cue accelerating as you deliver it, and then slowly slowing down again as you go past the white and the hand delivers into the chest. So the cue goes goes:

1 mph, 2 mph, 3 mph, 5 mph, 7mph, 10 mph, 11 mph, 12 mph, 15 mph, 14 mph, 13 mph, 10 mph, 8 mph, 6 mph, 4 mph, 2 mph, stop.

For me, to time the above shot perfectly, you contact the white with the tip at exactly 15 mph. You can hit the shot well by the tip contacting the white at 12, or 14 or 13 mph, but to time it PERFECTLY as you say, you would contact the white at 15 mph.

That's the way I've always thought about it anyway.

Yep that's how I understand it, except I'm at about 30 mph at moment due to ridiculously slow cloth 😮

[denja]

When the cue sort of floats through the cue ball with all I can describe as a contented sigh ! you dont hit the cue ball you play through it like it was a bubble you dont want to burst, your delivery should be slow to start and build up until you play through the cue ball I use the word "Strawberry" at the start of the cues foward motion not to fast not to slow (eg) Straw - ber - ry. I have heard some people use a monotone hum to obtain the same smooth affect.

[alabadi]

to me its that smooth delivery , where the cue just glides through and keep contact with the object ball that extra bit more.
it s feels different the cueball makes that lovely ping when it hits the OB, and you get great reaction more spin than usual.
you know you have hit it well as you get that bit extra for less effort.

[DeanH]

The way I always thought about it was like this:

Imagine the cue accelerating as you deliver it, and then slowly slowing down again as you go past the white and the hand delivers into the chest. So the cue goes goes:

1 mph, 2 mph, 3 mph, 5 mph, 7mph, 10 mph, 11 mph, 12 mph, 15 mph, 14 mph, 13 mph, 10 mph, 8 mph, 6 mph, 4 mph, 2 mph, stop.

For me, to time the above shot perfectly, you contact the white with the tip at exactly 15 mph. You can hit the shot well by the tip contacting the white at 12, or 14 or 13 mph, but to time it PERFECTLY as you say, you would contact the white at 15 mph.

That's the way I've always thought about it anyway.

yep, very close to how I have been seeing it myself, but maybe to continue your analogy, to contact the cue ball at just under max speed so the top speed is achieved whilst contacting the cue ball - hence the phrase - "accelerating through the cue ball" - to achieve that "contact at optimum speed" is the "timing", ?
but as I said above, maybe over complicating the subject

[billabong]

The way I always thought about it was like this:

Imagine the cue accelerating as you deliver it, and then slowly slowing down again as you go past the white and the hand delivers into the chest. So the cue goes goes:

1 mph, 2 mph, 3 mph, 5 mph, 7mph, 10 mph, 11 mph, 12 mph, 15 mph, 14 mph, 13 mph, 10 mph, 8 mph, 6 mph, 4 mph, 2 mph, stop.

For me, to time the above shot perfectly, you contact the white with the tip at exactly 15 mph. You can hit the shot well by the tip contacting the white at 12, or 14 or 13 mph, but to time it PERFECTLY as you say, you would contact the white at 15 mph.

That's the way I've always thought about it anyway.

I thought to accelerate through the cueball, it would be closer to :-


1 mph, 2 mph, 3 mph, 5 mph, 7mph, 10 mph, 11 mph, 12 mph, 15 mph, 16 mph, 15 mph, 14 mph, 10 mph, blah blah, , stop.

[luke-h]

to reach top speed through the cue ball is how id describe timing.

[tomwalker147]

For me 'timing' is when the transition from front pause, backswing, rear pause, then strike is smooth and at the speed it should be.
The tell tale sign that I've 'timed' a shot well is when the cue ball reacts as I intended.

[tedisbill]

I thought to accelerate through the cueball, it would be closer to :-


1 mph, 2 mph, 3 mph, 5 mph, 7mph, 10 mph, 11 mph, 12 mph, 15 mph, 16 mph, 15 mph, 14 mph, 10 mph, blah blah, , stop.

If you like, yeah.

[Booters]

I always think of it as the grip tightening at precisely the right moment, couple of millisecond's either side can be the difference of a good strike where the cue makes that lovely sound on contact with the White or a not so good strike

[Big Splash!]

You will know when you've hit a sweet one because the tip makes a certain sound on the cue ball and the contact on the OB sounds crisp. It's all about the accoustics. As for hand timing on the cue, accelerate as hard as you can but without snatching. Jimmy White is a bit different because he has a magical touch but for the rest of us; pause on the backswing, up to a second but most only pause maybe half a second, then accelerate the cue hard without snatching. This will lead to perfect timing ala Smurf. If you grip the cue tightly as well as accelerating hard, you'll pump the ball, get less spin and see the balls kick or jump, so a looser grip is often needed for great timing.