how important is bridge hand ?

[Byrom]

thank you very much, glade people are here that can give free and useful advice
yes i will try the bridge hand finger tips however i did not understand your second paragraph, how do i lock the bridge hand shoulder? you mean like garry or gerry wilson ? who played against ronnie somehow stephen hendry is also touching his bridge hand shoulder to his chin or few more players

tnxx

Well Gary Wilson is more locked in than any other player I have seen because he cues way to the left of his chin and leans over to sight the line. - See Terry's explanation on how to achieve it - It does not have to be so severe you could just feel your shoulder next to your cheek almost re Higgins.

If you adjust your stance slightly you can turn in a little more to feel the shoulder next to your chin - because you feel this you become used to feeling it and it sort of reminds you to keep still before and after delivery and it helps promotes consistency - you become aware of any movement without having to think about 'am I doing it' - moving after/on delivery is a killer as is thinking about it - this method may stop you doing it and having to think about it - having one less thing to think about is good - it worked for me.

[blahblah01]

well, once you get down ofcourse you dont have to move or adjust . however my problem is different i lineup perfect but as soon as my hand touches the table or as im down on the shot. 50% of the time i am offline and its been for along time , which means im doing something absolutely wrong

i tried to drop down my nose to the line of the aim, my head. place the cue on the bridge hand while standing and bring it behind the cueball ( maybe this is called sliding, i dont know )
all i know is that jimmy white does it so obvious

tnx , and please do share your experience

I think that you are overthinking this....

This should sort you out..

[vmax4steve]

Best way to get that shoulder locked into your cheek is to have a very straight bridge arm like Michael White

michael white.jpg

[highestbreak50]

guys i found my mistake , i think so , im just sharing here , please tell me if this could be the problem

i just found today , after watching tons of videos, and reading couple of snooker pdf books, that i do not even lineup properly. why?

because i always draw a line from the pocket, to the object ball, then cueball, then same line goes to the ground ( imaginary line ), i place my foot there and get down while online. although i am not using the ghost ball method, but today i just watched ghost ball method in details, then i am compared to what i might be doing wrong.

the guy says , tell someone to remove the ball for you and aim right in the centre of that ghostball , BUT HERE IS THE IMPORTANT PART " remember : THAT THE IMAGINARY BALL IS ONE BALL SIZE BEHIND THE OBJECT BALL. " he meant that when that ball is removed then your line of aim is in the centre of that ghost ball.

CONFUSING GUYS ?

when i compared my aiming, i found out that i line up based on the object ball, and i never compensate few inches or few mm away from object ball. because once you hit the object ball , the object ball is not invisible so that the cue ball goes through and stop right where the object ball was......

i just dont know when we lineup while standing, do we have to look at the point of impact on the object ball and get down, (thats what i m currently doing ) or do we have to compensate or imagine the cue ball right behind the object ball then lineup

sorry guys im confused, and i cannot really explain this, i just wanted to share what i researched and what i felt might be wrong with my line up , or aiming


thank you guys
i love this game, just trying my best to learn it and improve

[highestbreak50]

Absolutely. Like all the top professionals and any good players I know.

It's one of the biggest mistakes beginner players make: trying to place their hand without sliding in.

so should i avoid making fingermarks in the cloth by sliding against the nap? im confused

[highestbreak50]

If you want to copy someone you can't go far wrong here:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zwicPHEI_Qc

Watch how he slides his bridge hand along the line into position

thank you , i never knew this. but terry has mentioned something, that good, teaching players sliding against the nap of the cloth ? does he mean we shouldnt be doing it or i just didnt understand him

thanks for sharing this video though love you man

[tedisbill]

so should i avoid making fingermarks in the cloth by sliding against the nap? im confused

If you're playing at Terry's house, yeah. Otherwise, slide forward into the shot like every single professional player.

[Terry Davidson]

If you're playing at Terry's house, yeah. Otherwise, slide forward into the shot like every single professional player.

On a table which has just been blocked and ironed a player dragging his hand against the nap will leave marks on the cloth. On a club table where there is not much blocking and ironing taking place normally there's no marks on the cloth and I am going to check some youtube videos but I find it hard to believe all pro players do this. It might be they are sliding forward but do not have their hands directly on the cloth because on TV tournaments where the cloth is blocked and ironed I cannot see any finger marks and believe me they show up and are hard to remove.

Other pro players used to complain about Fred Davis who did leave fingermarks all over the table. I have a friend who does this on my table and it looks awful and there is the suspicion fingermarks will effect slow shots as they are actually a line of raised nap. I have seen tables in clubs with newer cloth with fingermarks too. As far as I know it's not considered good etiquette but then again most players do not concern themselves with etiquette, do they?

[DeanH]

On a table which has just been blocked and ironed a player dragging his hand against the nap will leave marks on the cloth. On a club table where there is not much blocking and ironing taking place normally there's no marks on the cloth and I am going to check some youtube videos but I find it hard to believe all pro players do this. It might be they are sliding forward but do not have their hands directly on the cloth because on TV tournaments where the cloth is blocked and ironed I cannot see any finger marks and believe me they show up and are hard to remove.

Other pro players used to complain about Fred Davis who did leave fingermarks all over the table. I have a friend who does this on my table and it looks awful and there is the suspicion fingermarks will effect slow shots as they are actually a line of raised nap. I have seen tables in clubs with newer cloth with fingermarks too. As far as I know it's not considered good etiquette but then again most players do not concern themselves with etiquette, do they?

There are loads of TV shots showing all the finger marks on the cloth in various matches especially overhead views; now whether "all" pros do this I dont know but will surely be looking from now
One I have noticed is ROS, who is renowned for sliding in to the shot and as he has been getting older seems to do it more and for a longer distance as well.

[Byrom]

guys i found my mistake , i think so , im just sharing here , please tell me if this could be the problem

i just found today , after watching tons of videos, and reading couple of snooker pdf books, that i do not even lineup properly. why?

because i always draw a line from the pocket, to the object ball, then cueball, then same line goes to the ground ( imaginary line ), i place my foot there and get down while online. although i am not using the ghost ball method, but today i just watched ghost ball method in details, then i am compared to what i might be doing wrong.

the guy says , tell someone to remove the ball for you and aim right in the centre of that ghostball , BUT HERE IS THE IMPORTANT PART " remember : THAT THE IMAGINARY BALL IS ONE BALL SIZE BEHIND THE OBJECT BALL. " he meant that when that ball is removed then your line of aim is in the centre of that ghost ball.

CONFUSING GUYS ?

when i compared my aiming, i found out that i line up based on the object ball, and i never compensate few inches or few mm away from object ball. because once you hit the object ball , the object ball is not invisible so that the cue ball goes through and stop right where the object ball was......

i just dont know when we lineup while standing, do we have to look at the point of impact on the object ball and get down, (thats what i m currently doing ) or do we have to compensate or imagine the cue ball right behind the object ball then lineup

sorry guys im confused, and i cannot really explain this, i just wanted to share what i researched and what i felt might be wrong with my line up , or aiming


thank you guys
i love this game, just trying my best to learn it and improve

this is quite a separate issue to the original thread about your problem moving on the shot and should be a new thread - someone said you are overthinking it ... I agree

[blahblah01]

someone said you are overthinking it ... I agree

Yep, and somehow I omitted the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFQ8AOLGFxE

[itsnoteasy]

I take it these two fellas ( Jimmy white and Alex Higgins)wouldn't get a game a Terry's, look at the state of this table.

Here's one of Ronnie messing the nap up.

[tedisbill]

Terry:

At my club the tables are brushed blocked and ironed before every session we play. Of course you'll get some finger marks on the table, but you're trying to play good snooker, not keeping the table looking perfect constantly.

As for saying "all" pros do it, I don't know that for sure do I, but let's just say the vast majority of pro players and good players. All the 100 break players in my team certainly do it, that I'm certain of.

[tomwalker147]

Terry:

At my club the tables are brushed blocked and ironed before every session we play. Of course you'll get some finger marks on the table, but you're trying to play good snooker, not keeping the table looking perfect constantly.

As for saying "all" pros do it, I don't know that for sure do I, but let's just say the vast majority of pro players and good players. All the 100 break players in my team certainly do it, that I'm certain of.

I do it too. Table's usually a bit of a mess after 5/6 frames, then we brush and block it and continue playing.

[Terry Davidson]

OK, I'll have to agree with the proof I see here which is not Trump's 'fake news'. However when I was down practicing on my table yesterday I took a good look at the marks my friend left on the table and there are fingermarks up near the baulk cushion and I thought jeezus, that must be hard to do as the fingermarks ended at the baulk cushion. I also noticed he's managed to get fingermarks SIDEWAYS to the nap (go figure that one out).

Well, obviously my friend (who is a 100-break player) drags his hand back AFTER he makes the shot, so not only that but he also pushes his hand into the shot and my table comes out much worse than the pro tables pictured here because every shot against the nap PLUS even every shot WITH the nap he is making finger lines.

Now, as to the original question on whether players should slide into the shots with their bridge hand, I also noticed I do it too but for some reason I only have to slide maybe 1 or 2 inches and it appears not on every shot. Does it improve my game. Hell, I don't know as it seems such a minor thing and as far as I know I've never seen a coach emphasize it.