Cue Sport Group

Archive for the ‘Amateurs’ Category

By raising the butt of the cue, the shooter, especially a beginner or intermediate player, invites serious problems. It will be very difficult for a student to learn how to aim if the ball does not follow a straight line. Advanced players use curve and massé shots to their advantage, but they know how, and it is not an accident. Beginners should never curve the cueball, and raising the butt of the stick invites just such a mistake.
Don’t start off with bad habits. Keep the butt of the cue stick as level as possible for all shots. When you become advanced, you will learn when and how much to raise the butt for specialty shots, such as curves, massés and jump shots. One side benefit of keeping the stick level: you are less likely to be charged with the cost of replacing the cloth. Driving the stick downward can force the tip into the cloth. The cloth, on most tables, is not glued to the top, but stretched across it. It can easily be torn.

Many top players suggest that the use of side spin (right or left english) is not critical to shooting good pool. I agree. Most of what can be achieved with side spin can be accomplished with top or bottom, if there is a clear path to the position point. However, knowledge of side spin can offer alternative “paths” to the position desired if the preferred path is blocked.

It is not the spin alone that makes it possible to alter tangents and rebound angles. It is the combination of spin and speed that makes the possibilities infinite. Consider the following:

1) Using top spin will bend a tangent path forward.

2) Bottom will bend the tangent path backward.

3) Shooting hard will close the rebound angle off the rail.

4) Shooting easy will widen the rebound angle off the rail.

By combining the appropriate top or bottom spin with the right speed, the shooter can send the cue ball off the object ball to about any place on the table, assuming interfering balls can be avoided.

Speed relates to distance. With a 3/4 hit, not only will the cue ball deflect at 25%, and the object ball at 75% of the contact speed, the object ball will travel 3 feet for every 1 foot traveled by the cue ball.

In the diagram above the cue ball was stroked with a speed that would send it 4 feet. When it hits the object ball (a 3/4 hit) the object ball is sent 3 feet, and the cue ball 1 foot. The distance is equal to the percentage ratio (3 /1 ft. = 75/25%.)

You can test this for yourself. Put an object ball on the head spot. Place the cue ball between the object ball and the head rail so that the inside edge of the cue ball is lined up as shown below. The inside edge of the cue ball is lined up to intersect a point 3/4 the distance from the outside edge of the object ball (25% from the inside edge.) If this is confusing, just set up as shown below.
Stroke the cue softly with a center ball hit. Drive the object ball 3 feet, and then measure the distance the cue ball traveled after the hit. It should be 1 foot.

If you drive the object ball 6 feet with this same set-up, the cue ball should travel 2 feet (6/2=3/1 ratio, or 75/25).

A good way to approach the table for your shot is to first look at possible safeties. This assures that you will not get so involved in thinking offense that good defense is never considered. Once you see a good safety, only then analyze the balls for an offensive attack. If you train yourself to look for good safeties, it will become automatic.
With the 8-ball in the open a failed attempt to pocket your ball will cost you the game. Go to the short rail using a very soft center-ball hit. If the object ball is frozen, the cue ball must drift to the rail after contact (or you must drive the object ball to another rail (which would be dumb.) If the object ball is not frozen, either the object or cue ball must go to the rail after contact. The key to this shot is speed. It requires a hit slightly harder than it takes to get to the object ball. If you pull it off (and you can do it easily with practice) you will hook your opponent tightly behind your ball and get ball in hand when he misses the 8-ball, or at the least a good second chance to sink your ball from a better position should he manage to hit it. Variations of this shot come up frequently. Try moving the cue straight back (toward the detail insert) to create more challenging angles off the short rail.

The Open Bridge
Some people have a lot of difficulty making a closed bridge. It does require supple joints in the fingers and wrist. Additionally, there are shots where a closed bridge is not the best choice, such as when shooting off the rail, over balls, or reaching for balls. In these situations the open bridge is preferable. Many (if not most) snooker players use the open bridge exclusively because aiming is so important and the open bridge offers an unbroken line of sight down the shaft. Many top pool players also prefer the open bridge for the same reasons.

5) Start with the same hand position described in figure #1.

6) Now, instead of wrapping the index finger around the shaft, simply raise the end of the thumb to create a “V” between the thumb and index finger and you have completed open bridge.

7) To raise the tip of the stick, simply pull the fingers in and cup the palm. To lower the tip of the stick, flatten the palm.

I have seen some shooters fold their fingers (except for the pinky) under as shown. I do not know why and I think it is a bad idea, but enough shooters use this bridge to show it.

Do you know where to grip a cue stick? Here is an easy way for anyone to determine exactly where to grip the butt of the cue.

1. Place the cue ball on or near either one of the spots on the pool table. The spots should be marked. There will be dots at either end of the table, halfway in from the sides.

2. Hold your cue stick with the tip about 6 inches from the cue ball. It doesn’t matter how you hold it there right now, just hold it there.

3. Let the butt end of the pool stick rest on the rail while you stand at the side of the table as if you were shooting.

4. Grip the cue where it touches your hip or leg. Within a few inches, this is where you should be gripping the cue every time you shoot.

There will be circumstances when you may need to adjust your grip forward or back on the cue – but it is extremely rare to ever need to grip the very end of the pool stick.

The Closed Bridge

1) First, place your hand flat on the table. Turn your hand so that your fingers are pointing toward one o’clock. (These photos were taken from the side. Your view will be different.)

2) Lay the stick across your thumb knuckle, and across the second knuckle of your middle finger.

3) Now try to curl your index finger around the shaft, and spread your fingers. This may be the most difficult part since some people find that their joints are too stiff. But, keep trying. It may take a little practice, but in time you will be able to do it.

4) Now, simply slide your thumb up to the tip of your index finger, creating a complete circle around the shaft. Keep the cue stick as level as possible to the surface of the table. Now, straighten your arm as much as possible. Try to lock your elbow. Your hand will have to turn counter clockwise. This will tighten the grip around the shaft, so be prepared to loosen the grip by adjusting your index finger.

The stick should slide easily through your fingers, but still be held firmly. If the shaft does not slide smoothly, you might need hand chalk, or try a pool glove.

Bottom english is applied by spreading the fingers out and as flat as possible on the table.

To shoot a center cue hit, cup your palm by pulling the fingers toward the heel of your hand.

To stop the hop, level your cue out where the shaft is now parallel to the bed cloth.Set up a simple shot in the corner, almost straight in, very slight cut. Put the OB one foot out from the pocket and the CB one foot from the OB. Now place a dime between the CB & OB, half way. Place a 2nd dime beyond the OB, half way to the pocket. Aim one tip up, one tip right on the cue ball to hit a force follow shot. Now shoot jacked up as usual and watch the OB go in and neither dime moves.

Why, you did a double jump that happens so fast the eye can’t see it but the dimes prove it. You jumped the cue ball over the dime to land on the OB, which jumps it over the dime to go in the pocket in the air never touching the cloth. This also explain why now and then you fire a ball into the center of the pocket and it comes right back out. You jumped the OB in high and it rebounded back off the hard top of the pocket.

What you will need:
•Cue tip
•Razor blade
•Cyanoacrylic glue preferrably in a gel form ie Duro-gel, Superglue Gel, Loctite 454
•60-80 grit sandpaper
•Paper towel
•400-600 grit sandpaper

What to do:
1. Remove what’s left of the old tip with the razor blade.
2. Sand top of ferrule flat with 60-80 grit sandpaper.
3. Sand bottom of cue tip with the same sandpaper till rough.
4. Apply a light coat of glue to both the ferrule and bottom of tip.
5. Carefully center the top on top of the ferrule as best as you can and hold in place for about 60 seconds.
6. With the tip down, carefully trim the excess overhang to make the tip flush with the ferrule.
7. Gently wet the sides of the tip and burnish with the 400-600 grit sandpaper.
8. Shape the tip to your desired radius.
9. To keep your tip from popping off prematurely, it is best to let the glue cure overnight before final trimming and sanding

Note: It’s recommended to get a tip that’s bigger than your ferrule.

Pool is not about only one shot. If you missed one, so be it. Get your head on the next one. Here are a few tips on how to achieve it.
1. First things first. Make up your mind. A player would say that they are hitting high with medium speed. But when they get down right before they make the shot, they start thinking of hitting it softer. If you deal with it this way, you’re sabotaging your shot. You must learn to trust your own decisions and abilities. You will need to learn to accept that you might actually miss that shot. But deciding on that after missing the shot rather that before making the shot would be easier to adjust.
2. Take your time. Don’t be in a hurry, it doesn’t mean that if you’re making balls consecutively, you will already switch to quick mode. Remember that there is a chance that you might miss that side-to-side. The thing is, if you don’t line up with a shot, your body has a tendency to overcompensate, especially if you’re stroking the ball with power.
3. Find a rhythm. After a single shot, pick up the chalk for a few seconds. It would be a great way to slow down. It will help you focus on the shot at hand rather than what happened the previous shot. At the same time, it will avoid unnecessary miscues.