Cue action or cue actions

[jonny66]

I think I have developed a cue action that works for me, it's straight, compact and simple and it puts balls in pockets most of the time. But there's no power in it, if I want some serious fizz on the cue ball I have to change it a little, to a much less consistent method which is longer with more hand movement on the backswing.

Anyone here do the same? I always thought it was best to keep your action the same on every shot, but it's also best to avoid power shots so I'm pretty happy with it.

[Terry Davidson]

The only good way to get more power into a shot is to increase the backswing length. The unreliable way is to keep the backswing the same and increase the speed of the forward delivery, however this has the unfortunate side effect of jerking the upper body and leads to missing a lot more shots.

If you can increase the length of the backswing and still stay smooth then that is definitely the way to go for ALL shots, even the ones that don't require a lot of power. It means the player is using less acceleration at the start of the delivery and if he keeps everything smooth he has many more choices when playing a shot but keeps the body jerking out of it.

[tomperty]

The correct way to increase power is to lengthen your backswing. You may be finding this method inconsistent as you haven't practiced it as much as your more compact one and also because you're applying more power which always leads to inaccuracies. If I could give a suggestion that may help it would be to focus on smooth acceleration. The first 1cm of your delivery should be snail speed and then accelerate the cue up to speed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDXX8inUNn0
Here's a video of Martin Gould, someone praised for his compact cue action, having some fun on the table. You can see how he starts off dropping balls in with a very short backswing. When he decides to smash that yellow in with heaps of bottom-right side spin, his backswing becomes enlarged to allow for the greater power used.

[Byrom]

The correct way to increase power is to lengthen your backswing. You may be finding this method inconsistent as you haven't practiced it as much as your more compact one and also because you're applying more power which always leads to inaccuracies. If I could give a suggestion that may help it would be to focus on smooth acceleration. The first 1cm of your delivery should be snail speed and then accelerate the cue up to speed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDXX8inUNn0
Here's a video of Martin Gould, someone praised for his compact cue action, having some fun on the table. You can see how he starts off dropping balls in with a very short backswing. When he decides to smash that yellow in with heaps of bottom-right side spin, his backswing becomes enlarged to allow for the greater power used.

To be fair that was a bit of an easy clearance... is that the best you could find?

[tomperty]

To be fair that was a bit of an easy clearance... is that the best you could find?

I'm confused... Have you not linked the same video that I did previously?

[markz]

I think I have developed a cue action that works for me, it's straight, compact and simple and it puts balls in pockets most of the time. But there's no power in it, if I want some serious fizz on the cue ball I have to change it a little, to a much less consistent method which is longer with more hand movement on the backswing.

Anyone here do the same? I always thought it was best to keep your action the same on every shot, but it's also best to avoid power shots so I'm pretty happy with it.

Just had a session of watching the Ronnie O'Sullivan masterclass videos on YouTube. In the first episode he shows his preferred basics of having cue held so grip arm is vertical, then he says if he wants to add power he just allows the cue to overhang the bridge a bit more which gets you the longer backswing. It's the simplest explanation I've seen and like Ronnie says, he's not done to bad on it lol

https://youtu.be/puD4Lv_m7w0

[jonny66]

Thanks for the replies, gives me something to think about

[blahblah01]

Thanks for the replies, gives me something to think about

"patience is a virtue" (it seems like Quote day

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pthXRHxj18A has some good views of his right hand.....

[itsnoteasy]

Just had a session of watching the Ronnie O'Sullivan masterclass videos on YouTube. In the first episode he shows his preferred basics of having cue held so grip arm is vertical, then he says if he wants to add power he just allows the cue to overhang the bridge a bit more which gets you the longer backswing. It's the simplest explanation I've seen and like Ronnie says, he's not done to bad on it lol

https://youtu.be/puD4Lv_m7w0

I take it he must pull back to the bridge most shots, it's the only reason I can think to push more cue out for more power as he can't lengthen his swing otherwise.

[itsnoteasy]

"patience is a virtue" (it seems like Quote day

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pthXRHxj18A has some good views of his right hand.....

It just really annoys me how he times that ball, why can't I do that?

[Shockerz]

It just really annoys me how he times that ball, why can't I do that?

Hmm.......I think we can all agree with that.

I played today and it's gone again..........not an ounce of feel or timing.

Gotta love this game.

[Erwan_BZH]

It just really annoys me how he times that ball, why can't I do that?

this is what makes the difference between Ronnie and us, mere mortels
But hell yeah, his timing is the best in the business. Always impresses me how effortless he is on shots, so relax in the back arm, so smooth...

[throtts]

If your not relaxed your not going to get through the cue ball. Cueing through that cue ball also encourages cueing straighter. And you have to cue through the cue ball to get that desired position on the next object ball..

Yes, cueing through it is quite important..