holding the cue "wrist"?

[Terry Davidson]

HOLD IT, HOLD IT!!!!!!!

Snooker2011:

Cally has it exactly right. THE WRIST SHOULD BE TURNED OUT (or what I refer to as a 'wrist cock', and it's exactly as Steve Davis says. The wrist cock not only brings the butt of the cue more under the straight bone in the forearm but also helps prevent the wrist from turning in a bit to the body when the player is re-gripping the cue on delivery.

Only turn it out as far as it's comfortable for you but there should be some angle between the back of the forearm and the back of the hand at the address position and this angle should be maintained from the address position (when the bridge hand first hits the table) all the way through to the end of the delivery when the hand hits the chest.

The only player I'm aware of who doesn't have much of a wrist cock, although he still has a small one is Hendry. Steve Davis had a fairly severe wrist cock in his prime. So if we say a straight wrist is at 0 degrees to the forearm and the most severe wrist cock is with the wrist at 90degrees to the forearm, then most players should have somewhere between 30 and 60 degrees depending on their own individual comfort zone and their wrist joint flexibility.

Cocking the wrist also helps to align the elbow up over the cue. The way to get a correct wrist cock is having the cue laying in the bed of the 4 fingers (or 1, 2 or 3 fingers - whatever your grip is like) and have the thumb pointed down directly at the floor and in a vertical position.

Terry

[Terry Davidson]

pottr:

Buddy, you have to give me a chance to get up and get on-line!!! (Contrary to popular belief I'm not glued to TSF and do have a life although last night I was busy changing a ferrule for one of my customers)

The post was at 8:30pm my time and that's my family time and here it is 8:20am so this is my first opportunity to get on line

Terry

[pottr]

A thousand apologies Terry, i'm still relatively new.

Old enough on here to know that if there's a coaching question you're more than articulate with your answers. A question on tables then Geoff Large is a fountain of knowledge. If you're after cue advice then ADR's advice is usually spot on and to the point.

I guess many of us are guilty of forgetting the timeshifts when posing a question.

[sealer]

HOLD IT, HOLD IT!!!!!!!

Snooker2011:

Cally has it exactly right. THE WRIST SHOULD BE TURNED OUT (or what I refer to as a 'wrist cock', and it's exactly as Steve Davis says. The wrist cock not only brings the butt of the cue more under the straight bone in the forearm but also helps prevent the wrist from turning in a bit to the body when the player is re-gripping the cue on delivery.

Only turn it out as far as it's comfortable for you but there should be some angle between the back of the forearm and the back of the hand at the address position and this angle should be maintained from the address position (when the bridge hand first hits the table) all the way through to the end of the delivery when the hand hits the chest.

The only player I'm aware of who doesn't have much of a wrist cock, although he still has a small one is Hendry. Steve Davis had a fairly severe wrist cock in his prime. So if we say a straight wrist is at 0 degrees to the forearm and the most severe wrist cock is with the wrist at 90degrees to the forearm, then most players should have somewhere between 30 and 60 degrees depending on their own individual comfort zone and their wrist joint flexibility.

Cocking the wrist also helps to align the elbow up over the cue. The way to get a correct wrist cock is having the cue laying in the bed of the 4 fingers (or 1, 2 or 3 fingers - whatever your grip is like) and have the thumb pointed down directly at the floor and in a vertical position.

Terry

I have been reading 100 of you posts terry and as I started to play several months ago I feel I own you money for the coaching, your advice is pricless, thank you
Do not laught but it is another post about the wrist that I just do not get, it is the only topic I just do not understand, any chances someone who gets it could do a bit of a drawing and description?

[Terry Davidson]

sealer:

Here are some important facts about the grip in snooker:

1. It is THE most important aspect of the technique as it is how you actually control the cue.
2. It is NOT rocket science and is very simple.

I will see if I can explain it (yet again) so everyone can understand how the grip is formed and what pressure is applied along with what happens to the grip as you backswing and deliver.

So the first step is to take the butt of your cue off (if you have a 3/4-butt) or your mini-butt if you have one and lay it on the bed of the table. Now place your hand on top of it and pick it up and hold it EXACTLY like you would hold a hammer in order to drive a nail. Now straighten your arm straight out in front of you, still gripping it like a hammer and take a long and VERY good look at the configuration of your hand.

You should notice in the first place your thumb is pointed directly away from you (and perhaps curled just a little bit around the forefinger but straighten the thumb out until it is straight and pointed directly away from you). Also note the hammer (or butt) is held by the curled 4 fingers AND THE BACK OF THE HAND (the bottom of the palm in this case) is against the butt too AND THE WRIST JOINT IS TURNED TO THE RIGHT (in a right-handed player) so the back of the hand is facing to the right by some degree.

Experiment with turning the wrist joint more to the right until you have almost a 90degree bend in the wrist joint and then turn the wrist inwards as much as you can towards the left so you have almost a 90degree bend in the wrist the other way. Now as you do this note where the butt is in relation to the long straight bone of the forearm and adjust the wrist angle ('cock' of the wrist joint) until the butt is either directly under that straight forearm bone or even a bit outside (to the right) of the forearm bone.

THIS IS THE CORRECT CONFIGURATION OF THE GRIP FOR SNOOKER.

Now, without changing the grip at all, drop your arm down to the right side of your hip and the thumb should be pointed straight down at the floor and resting against the outside of the forefinger (you should still be able to use the butt like a hammer to drive a nail).

CORRECT GRIP PRESSURE

Now put your cue back together and lay it on the table and grip it where your would for a normal hand-on-the-table shot, pick it up and assume the address position---you should be able to drive a nail with the cue just like a hammer. Now stand back up still holding the cue the exact same way and place it across your upper thighs with the grip in place and the thumb pointed straight down to the floor and the LEFT hand gripping the shaft of the cue somewhere.

Now, relax your right hand WITHOUT CHANGING THE CONFIGURATION OF THE GRIP and try and move the cue THROUGH your grip hand with NO RESISTANCE AT ALL by pushing and pulling the cue using your left hand on the shaft. This is the correct grip pressure every player should use.

So with the grip relaxed like that re-assume the address position and start feathering the cueball BUT DO NOT INCREASE THE GRIP PRESSURE ON THE CUE, the butt should be just laying in the curl of the 4 fingers with the primary hold on the cue being the top inside of the forefinger and thumb. DO NOT SQUEEZE THE FINGERS AT ALL!!!

Now, do a front pause and then very SLOWLY do your final backswing and note how the butt of the cue will sort of push the relaxed back 3 fingers of the hand out of the way and at the end of the backswing the ONLY hold you have on the cue is with the upper part of the thumb and forefinger.

SLOWLY start your delivery and GENTLY close the back three fingers around the butt HOWEVER DO NOT INCREASE THEIR PRESSURE SO THE ARE JUST TOUCHING THE BUTT OF THE CUE and deliver the cue maintaining this nice and relaxed grip until the cue strikes the cueball and meets some resistance from the weight of the cueball and at that time start gripping the butt with the back 3 fingers BUT TRY NOT TO CURL THEM AROUND THE BUTT TOO HARD WITH A LOT OF PRESSURE AS THAT WILL TAKE THE BUTT OF THE CUE OFF-LINE.

Drive the cue through the cueball and don't stop it until the back of your thumb hits the chest which will squeeze the thumb over to the right and give you a tight hold on the butt without moving it to the right or left.

Is that clear enuff?

Terry

[sealer]

You are a star. Thank you.

[snooker2011]

ye thanks for your comments ive been workin on my wrist for a few days and its now mor or less straight , so thanks for the help.

[Terry Davidson]

snooker2011:

You must not have read my posting...IT SHOULDN'T BE STRAIGHT (or at least it shouldn't with most players).

sealer:

Copy/Paste my posting up there ^^ into a word document and print it off and take it to the club with you and do EXACTLY what it says and then try some pots and see if you don't do better. Remember, no body movement during the feathers, backswing and delivery either.

Terry