Cuing straight

[cazmac1]

Can any one help, with a fault I have with cuing straight. When playing up and down the spots I tend to put a thouch of right hand side on the ball. it does not happen all the time but it is allways right hand side. I did cure the fault years ago but can't remeber how. Is this fault common and can any one suggest a cure. the last time I cured the fault my game went through the roof, high scoring and great potting. I'm sure if I can correct this fault again I can hit top form again. All suggestion welcome especially if you have hand this fault.
PS I am right handed player and make reguler breaks of 70+ so not to much wrong I hope

[Terry Davidson]

Check your elbow alignment which should be directly over the cue. Also ensure your right shoulder is up as high as you can get it and that it's behind your head.

Keep your grip loose and your backswing slow

Terry

[cazmac1]

Hi Terry, thanks for you reply, I'm pretty sure that my cue alignment is correct and the other things that you have advised are pretty good too. My Gut feeling is that it is my approach to the shot. I remember watching Terry Griffits commentating on a match on TV recently, and he made a comment that most right hand players, when missing a long pot tend to miss on the left side of the pocket. If this is true it would fit with the fault I have. Have you heard of this before and if so what in the action is causing it?

[Terry Davidson]

cazmac:

Your 2 posting conflict with each other. First you said when you shoot the spots you are applying right hand side. This would push the cueball to the left and cause you to miss shots to the RIGHT of the pocket.

In the second post you figure you have whatever Terry was talking about and you're missing to the LEFT of the pocket.

First of all you need to find out exactly what you're doing and you've given me 2 conflicting symptoms which don't match up.

To find out what you're doing here are some exercises you can try to see what results you get.

Place object ball on blue spot, cueball on baulk line to the pot is dead into the top pocket, aimed just inside the edge of the leather (the normal aiming spot for this shot). Get down on the shot and pot the ball (or miss it maybe) with medium power or higher and LEAVE YOUR CUE EXTENDED AND DON'T MOVE AT THE END OF THE DELIVERY. Now, look down your cue and see where it's aiming. If it's still aiming to the edge of the leather (your intended aiming point) then this means you are delivering the cue straight and there is some other problem.

If your cue is pointed to the right or left (left is more common and what Terry talked about) then you are not deliverng the cue straight and you have to discover why.

Now your 3 solutions left are:
1. Go see a good coach - (recommended, Nic Barrow in Milton Keynes or Wayne Griffiths in Llanelli, Wales)
2. Get a digital video camcorder and tape yourself through a set series of shots from head-on, sideways and directly behind and also place the camera 1ft behind and exactly level with the butt of the cue and then watch yourself in slow-motion playback and see if you can find the problem yourself.
3. Send me the DVD you recorded above and I will do a video analysis using a sports software analysis tool (Dartfish) and also frame-by-frame analysis and find out where you're going wrong. This will cost you somewhere around 90quid plus postage to me in Canada.

Terry and Wayne Griffiths are set up at the Matchroom to analyse just this problem (and other minor problems) for professionals mostly, but if you can afford it I would recommend you go there for a 2-hour session and they will sort out your problem.

A hint though, check to see if your backswing is absolutely straight. A lot of very good players think their backswing is perfect but on video analysis it will have some type of glitch in it, either movement right or left. This is then mirrored and amplified in the dynamic delivery and leads to 'cutting across the ball' as I'm certain you've seen on TV matches. Putting the camera directly behind the butt of the cue and watching is slow motion will reveal this problem (and then you need a good coach to advise you how to correct it)

Terry

[cazmac1]

Hi Terry, thanks for your advice, I have video myself before but never focusing on one aspect IE: my cue action. I will try this. I do intend to get some coaching, but it is not an option at this time.
PS: although I have stated that it is side on the ball it may well be that I am cuing slightly across the ball, I must point out it is very small amount but is consistent in it error. It does not happen all the time and I can often play the white up and down the spots and get the white on the black spot. I will put your advice into practice.
Regards Cazmac

[Welshsteve]

I'm going to try this. Last night I found I was catching everything thick when potting to the right on my long shots.

[andy carson]

easy answer is go back to basics, make sure your stance is right5, dont try and play anything too hard, and then practice practice practice til you are hitting it straight again, then keep practicing to try and ingrain it back into you to keep on playing it as you do when hitting it straight

[mooneyy]

sightline problem?

hi cazmac

is it possible that you have a slight problem with your sightline and/or your dominant eye?

if your right eye is 100% dominant but you do not perfectly align it with your cue, right hand side could easily occur because you only think you're hitting the cueball dead center.

[cazmac1]

It could be, I definitly will have a look at it. but for now I am going back to basic's and will be building a new stance and que action.
Thanks for the advice.

[C-J]

It could be, I definitly will have a look at it. but for now I am going back to basic's and will be building a new stance and que action.
Thanks for the advice.

cueing left or right of center(but straight) is useally a sightning problem,cueing across mostly a stance(to narrow) problem

[cazmac1]

This is all good stuff and will look at both.
thanks
sorry CJ can you give some more detail on the what you mean by narrowing the stance

[Terry Davidson]

cazmac:

CJ didn't say to narrow the stance, he said if you're cueing across the ball your stance may be too narrow, which means your feet are too close together. There sould be about 18in between the heels (minimum) for a 6ft player or around 6ft.

However, even cueing across the ball will put unwanted siding on the cueball and you need to determine exactly what your cue is doing.

By far the most accurate way is to put a video camera right behind the butt of your cue and on a tripod and on the same level as the butt but around 1ft behind the butt in the address position (so you don't hit the camera on the backswing). Video your self and then play it back in slow motion into a computer or even better a large screen TV and look for any sideways motion in the butt of your cue.

With the table lighting the way it is, the butt will be in shade so you might need an extra light to see it clearly. The butt will likely move either up or down a bit which isn't extra bad and is pretty normal in everyone's cue action however, any sideways movement of the butt in either the backswing or delivery will result in cueing across the cueball.

If you do not see any sideways movement then it most likely is a vision problem and you're cueing up to one side or the other on the cueball. However, most of the problems develop during the backswing and are mirrored (opposite way) in the delivery).

From the video also see when you are tightening your grip on the cue as you might be doing that early and that results in pulling the butt up and to the right which means the tip is going down and to the left. You should not tighten the grip until you are well through the address position and ideally when your grip hand thumb hits your chest.

Terry

[vmax4steve]

All this talk about where to stand and where your elbow should be doesn't matter a jot if you are not looking at what you are aiming for. Hand follows the eye, so it could be that you are not focussing on anything in particular when playing up and down the spots.
Put a chalkmark on the cushion directly behind the black spot to give your eyes something to focus on. Walk into the shot directly behind the cue ball and focus on this mark when getting down on the shot and you should stand in the correct place naturally, then focus on this mark when you actually strike the cue ball.
You could also try cueing through the outer cover of a matchbox without moving it when playing the shot, a tough excercise indeed, but it works.

[Terry Davidson]

I agree with vmax. Always place a piece of chalk with one of the edges facing you on the rail directly behind the black spot.

Don't get too discouraged if you can't bring it back exactly over the brown spot or into the tip of your cue (which is better) as some tables could have the black or brown spot slightly out or the top cushion might not be exactly true (I have this problem and use the green spot and a piece of chalk 11.5in to the left of the black spot on the rail) or there may be a slight roll-off on the table bed. You can check for roll-off by setting up a plant just ahead of the brown spot and hitting it exactly full on and see where the second ball goes and how much it drifts off.

Stay down on the shot and play it soft enough so the cueball returns to the baulk line and it should hit your tip. As vmax says, when you are getting down on the shot keep your eyes focused on the piece of chalk until you start your feathering and then somewhere between your front and rear pauses lock your eyes on the edge of the chalk which is facing you.

Terry

[cazmac1]

Once again, thankyou all for the advice, I will book the table on all day deal and pratice all the things suggested, and video the practice session. Hopefully I can find the problem using the technics and advice given.
Merry Xmas everyone