The Elbow " To drop or not"

[CJ Kumz213]

The 'Dell Drive' is just a way of saying accelerate through the cueball. I assume Del believes if a player has an elbow drop he will do this more naturally and achieve more power (not sure about accuracy though). I don't advocate it as both with my students and myself it tends to encourage using the shoulder muscle to accelerate the cue more which shows up as dropping the elbow.

I believe the power in a shot should come from the length of the backswing. If a player doing a power shot backswings the cue 9" getting the ferrule back to the 'V' of the bridge I believe that 9" will provide all the room he needs to accelerate the cue any amount.

I note Trump and even Ronnie a lot of the time don't drop their elbows and with Trump it's on a power shot, but both of them use a longer backswing.

Terry

Just had a few games a while ago. Though I was playing pool. The point you have made over keeping the elbow up actually works wonders hey. And yes Trump is an excellent example.. I just have to work on power shots now and need help with releasing fingers on the back swing and bringing them back on the strike without snatching at the cue. Any advice on this??? And what should be the average distance between the grip hand and chest at address??

[Terry Davidson]

Just had a few games a while ago. Though I was playing pool. The point you have made over keeping the elbow up actually works wonders hey. And yes Trump is an excellent example.. I just have to work on power shots now and need help with releasing fingers on the back swing and bringing them back on the strike without snatching at the cue. Any advice on this??? And what should be the average distance between the grip hand and chest at address??

In order to release the fingers at the end of a longer backswing you must allow the butt of the cue to 'push' them out of the way HOWEVER they should remain in contact with the butt. The tip of the baby finger should be just touching the butt, the 3rd finger probably the first joint and the 2nd finger around the middle pad. If you take the back 3 fingers right off the butt it will be harder to bring them back on by the time you reach the address position again during the delivery.

Now in saying this some players will play with a forefinger and thumb grip with the back 3 fingers really loose or off the butt (see Hendry in the 90's) and some of these players will not bring the back 3 fingers onto the butt until the very end of the delivery. This will lead to more accuracy and will force the player to have a loose and relaxed grip.

You should remember if you use a graduated backswing that on lower power shots, below medium pace, it's not necessary to release the back fingers. The whole object of the exercise is to keep the cue on the same plane and not have the butt rise in the backswing, giving that 'pump handle' technique where you end up scooping into the cueball.

Terry

[RichardM]

Sorry for the stupid question, but can someone explain what is meant by dropping the elbow?

[Terry Davidson]

Sorry for the stupid question, but can someone explain what is meant by dropping the elbow?

Gosh I would think that's pretty obvious and probably why no one has answered you. The normal elbow height at address is considered 'ideal' if it's up as high as possible. Any variance in that height has meant the elbow has dropped and the only way to drop the elbow is to use the shoulder muscle which is not a good muscle for fine motor control.

If you think of the elbow as a pure hinge and you kept it in the same position all the time and without releasing the grip then it would act as a pendulum and therefore the height of the butt would rise at the end of the backswing and the end of the delivery just like a pendulum does.

The idea with snooker is to try and keep the cue always on the same plane which ideally is about 1" or a little less above the cushion BUT in order to keep the cue on the same plane and even releasing the back fingers of the grip on a long backswing you have to allow the elbow to drop maybe one inch.

On the delivery and after the cueball has been struck again it is necessary to drop the elbow for a player with a long follow-through but unless that player has learned to play that way and also learned to drop the elbow after the strike then the dropping of the elbow will creep up in the delivery until it happens either at or just before the strike. This type of player will be using his shoulder muscle to accelerate the cue through the cueball and normally the cue will go off-line.

So to your question...the answer is if the elbow moves down from the position it was at when the player was in the address position.

Terry

[hotpot]

Wouldnt advise anyone to try and develop an elbow drop its a recipe fot disaster , all the player that do it do it naturally i would think

[RichardM]

Thanks for the explanation Terry.

[itsnoteasy]

I think everyone drops the elbow to some extent or other to get right through the cue ball, but to actively do it? Not for me, just let the follow through dictate it.

[Bladebot22]

make a hole in the table and drop ur elbow through the hole and after u have done this process get about 6900000 spruce chipping to fill in the hole

and before u say fanks no probz

[jrc750]

make a hole in the table and drop ur elbow through the hole and after u have done this process get about 6900000 spruce chipping to fill in the hole

and before u say fanks no probz

Seems we have a new comedian on board

[j6uk]

i love the telephone number followed by spruce chippings.. in no time he'll have a few yellow stars

[Bladebot22]

chipping* brewbrew