Cue action and grip frustration

[Slimjim81]

Hi there, I’m new to the forum but wanted to get your thoughts on my question as it’s driving me nuts. I’ll apologise in advance for the essay :-)

I’ve been playing snooker for a few years now (max break of 50 so not prolific) however I recently had some coaching sessions to try and improve my game as I felt I was just stagnating at a certain level. The coaching sessions were great as they highlighted a few things I could improve on one of which was the grip. It’s been a few months now that I’ve kept with my new grip but in truth I’m still no better than I was before.

I think the grip accounts for the majority of my problems hence the cry for help :-).

I create a ring with my thumb and index finger and then the remaining three fingers wrap around the cue very lightly. Pressure wise I’d say the ring is about a 7 with the rest then decreasing. My thumb tends to point down to the floor and I go down in the shot with back of plan resting on the butt too.

Because I felt unsure about this grip I’ve since watched many YouTube videos to get more advice and I think I’ve confused myself on what’s right and wrong. Barry stark says to have a trigger using the third finger, Shaun Murphy says to just pick up the use and that’s your grip and others say different things. The videos from Barry stark showing how the grip hand should look in the backswing look exactly like mine (I’ve videod myself) but it’s not paying any dividens.

I know there’s no golden rule on what’s right or wrong but any help would stop me from going insane.

Thanks.

[arsalanjami]

Something I have been thinking about recently.

Try to use your palm (opposite to your knuckles to feel the cue). When you are holding the cue in your hand..try to grip it just enough so that it flows with your feather movement and the power comes from the elbow and forearm, not your wrist. I think the trouble comes when this doesnt work and we resort to just continuing to fix without actually knowing what is wrong.

My grip is similar although I have changed it ever so slightly in terms of what i find keeps the cue st8 in my hand.

my middle finger is wrapped around the cue to the point where the tip of my finger is touching my palm underneath my thumb. the ring finger and pinky are resting along with the middle finger but the pressure is significantly less. the pinky finger is just keeping contact the make sure that the "feeling" is not lost. Now this for me creates a good base for the cue to flow st8 forward and back....

The index finger and thumb for me have no pressure (maybe 2/10) and the tip of my thumb and finger are touching (thumb resting over the finger in a sort of st8 line.

As long as the back of my hand is gripping the cue properly....the cue naturally sits in between the fleshy part of the thumb and index...and there is room underneath but not above at...this allows the cue to flow back and forth with ease...

anyway..my 2 cents. Good luck.