cue action question

[vmax]

I wouldn’t worry too much about the stance, a consistent repeatable straight cue action is key to the foundation of technique.

Rubbish, if your stance means the butt of the cue is off the line of aim then you're cueing across the line and no matter how straight your cue action is you won't hit what you're looking at.

All things must come together before they can work as one. I've suffered unkowingly from a stance issue for the past couple of years and practising along the baulk line showed me the centre of the butt of my cue was a 1/4 inch to the left of the piece of masking tape on the cushion rail. I moved my right foot three inches to the right, the width of my heel, and cured it, potting much better now especially from distance.

Before this adjustment I was finding the near jaw far too often as my stance meant I was striking that 1/4 inch from left to right across the line of aim, now I'm finding centre pocket a great deal of the time, all I need now are some new eyes

[kflps]

If you're stance is wide open, you're likely to open up at the elbow and cue across the ball.


Your stance is VERY IMPORTANT.

Kflips, post a video of yourself. If you can't even feather straight, they'll be something obvious we can help with.
Jack

ok,i filmed 2 videos of my delivery from front & back and i noticed that in the front video when i lean to my right in order to get my vision center on the line of aim (i'm slightly left-eye dominant),i lean way too much causing my head to move across the line while getting down.but still i don't think the head moving across the line of aim has any effect on one's ability to cue straight.also i want to point out that i'm using a relatively short bridge length which reduces the cueing error a little.here are the videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sruZxyY6cM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1b9TTWDCYM

also i have 3 more older videos with longer bridge-length which reveal the cueing problem better,you can see the wrist turning slightly out while feathering and the elbow moving from side to side:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7k_J-EC02Vw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLf8bTJUH4Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtRXWyjhBSQ

[kflps]

generally what happens with my stroke is that every time i pull the cue back it goes away from my body and in order to bring the cue back on the line of aim on the forward delivery i turn my wrist a bit inwards or move my elbow towards my body to compensate.if i don't do either of those i will almost certainly cue across the ball.at least that's what i think is happening.but another guy from another forum told me that maybe i learnt to twist my wrist on the forward stroke so i pull the cue away from my body to compensate,which is the opposite of what i think is happening.

[pottr]

The problem is with how you get into the shot.

You sort of slump down into the address from too close to the shot.

Stand back behind the line of aim and walk in.

The way you're doing it currently will mean you will need to compensate to adjust to get on the line of aim. That's what's causing the inconsistent cueing.

[kflps]

i'm kinda confused now because you said alignment isn't the problem if i can't even feather straight.maybe when you say 'alignment' you mean something different.

[tedisbill]

i'm kinda confused now because you said alignment isn't the problem if i can't even feather straight.maybe when you say 'alignment' you mean something different.

Hi. The new video links above do not work. I can only see the old videos.

[kflps]

i'm not sure why they don't work for you,they open normally when i click on them.what does it say when you click on the links?i've listed them as public because i had them on private maybe that is causing the problem

[DeanH]

i'm not sure why they don't work for you,they open normally when i click on them.what does it say when you click on the links?i've listed them as public because i had them on private maybe that is causing the problem

that was the problem
all videos showing now.

[GavinYorkSnookerCoach]

Try and get the Camera in a direct line with the cue ball and object ball for a straight pot. When you first get down your cue should be in a straight line through the middle of the balls and pocket. If your not in perfect line then you will cue across to correct this initial error. I would also suggest staying down after the shot longer to feel where your grip finishes at the chest. You can practice along the baulk line without a cue ball and find where your grip should finish on the shot completion. You can then aim to replicate that on every shot. I hope that helps a little.

[Staezione]

Get down for a shot with your feet pointing out... Then address the white...

Keeping your chin on the cue and the tip to the ball, move your elbow off the line of the shot.

You'll find you could pull your cue off line to a point where you can miss the white ball entirely (not that you'd want to)


Now... stand square on to the shot with your feet facing forward and try to do the same thing...


You'll find you can't move the tip of the white ball away from the white entirely (even if you wanted to)


The fact that changing your stance slightly can reduce the margin of error so greatly, shows that it is a very important fundamental and should not be ignored.

Pure mechanics. But remember, the right technique is the one that produces the right result and can be repeated. There is no 'one size fits all' cue action.

A mate of mine has his both feet pointing outwards and he's knocking 130+ in for fun

[GavinYorkSnookerCoach]

Personally I don't put much attention into the stance. As long as you are comfortable, have got your body down to the cue and you can play without your cueing being impeded by your hip or other body part then I don't see too much of an issue. I would say try and stand in the same or similar position on every shot for consistancy.

[blahblah01]

Personally I don't put much attention into the stance. As long as you are comfortable, have got your body down to the cue and you can play without your cueing being impeded by your hip or other body part then I don't see too much of an issue. I would say try and stand in the same or similar position on every shot for consistancy.

Best reply from a Coach that I have read on here.

[GavinYorkSnookerCoach]

Thank you. I try :0)

[Shockerz]

Personally I don't put much attention into the stance. As long as you are comfortable, have got your body down to the cue and you can play without your cueing being impeded by your hip or other body part then I don't see too much of an issue. I would say try and stand in the same or similar position on every shot for consistancy.

Didn't know if I'd read that right Gavin or if I was missing something else?

What if you are down with your body correctly on the cue, not impeded by your hip but cueing slightly across the line; I might have misunderstood so just clarifying the point.

I was sent a handy little mirror recently which I am testing with cue alignment and stance which I think is an eye opener when thinking around approach to the shot, stance and how it moves the cue alignment and of course the old favourite.......dominant eye.

Always interested to see how everyone approaches thinking around straight cueing.

[GavinYorkSnookerCoach]

My opinion is that you get the cue online and then move your body to the cue. Many players try to stand in a certain way but then pull the cue into the body which pulls it offline. I always think the cue is the important part and the body is there to support it. If you concentrate on your body positing you can easily forget about the cue and keeping it online. Just my opinion.