Grip - wrist turned in

[Snookclops]

I recently videod my grip and my wrist is cocked in with my palm facing my body. Instead of running perpendicular to my arm handing from shoulder, the wrist is bent through 45 degrees inwards, with fingers more underneath.

I am considering changing to more orthodox but does anyone/has anyone suffered with this? Is it integral to poor cueing and should it be worked with or immediately corrected?

Thoughts?

Cheers

[luke-h]

pick your cue up in the hand you hold the back of the cue with like you would any other stick....now thats the grip keep wih it.

[herbie]

Some Pro's also have a non-standard cue grip, like Joe Swail or Darren Morgan (retired already?). Hold your cue in that way which pleases you best and gives you the best playing result.
I hold my cue like I hold a hammer when I am hammering, with an emphasis on middle and ring finger.

[barrywhite]

I recently videod my grip and my wrist is cocked in with my palm facing my body. Instead of running perpendicular to my arm handing from shoulder, the wrist is bent through 45 degrees inwards, with fingers more underneath.

I am considering changing to more orthodox but does anyone/has anyone suffered with this? Is it integral to poor cueing and should it be worked with or immediately corrected?

Thoughts?

Cheers

A friend hits tons with the same grip, but he also rotates inwards on delivery. Sometimes, he inexplicably misses and I think it's down to the grip movement and the cue moving offline. If you want to change it, good move. Switch to a V grip with the V of your web directly over the chamfer of the butt with the chamfer facing upwards. Do this at practice. Feel the contact on the inside of your index finger and feel the contact on the inside of your thumb. Both should feel 'upright' and parallel in the your hand. Just concentrate on that feel as you set yourself up for the shot. Now begin feathering, concentrating on this upright feel. When you deliver the cue, purposely concentrate on this feel. The shot will take care of itself. Do this as many times as you can. You will set down a feel of the cue in your memory, wiping out the old memory. It takes time, but it can be done. If you don't twist or rotate with a V grip, you should always pot the ball because the cue can't go off line. That's why pros use it. Good luck.

[MrRottweiler]

I recently videod my grip and my wrist is cocked in with my palm facing my body. Instead of running perpendicular to my arm handing from shoulder, the wrist is bent through 45 degrees inwards, with fingers more underneath.

I am considering changing to more orthodox but does anyone/has anyone suffered with this? Is it integral to poor cueing and should it be worked with or immediately corrected?

Thoughts?

Cheers

Hi Snookclops, I want to share what I think because I spent a loooong time experimenting with my grip and position of my wrist. One day I noticed my wrist naturally sticks out quite a lot. It was wreaking my game because I noticed that whenever I straightened up the wrist so it was a straight line from the knuckle over the wrist I was far far more consistent with every shot I took. Not just potting but being able to control the cueball much better became so much easier and it was because I was making sure my wrist didn't move. Even a minute movement of the wrist when cuing is going to apply unwanted spin and this is one if the biggest issues a snooker player can face. With a straight wrist I could, for example, place the cue ball somewhere between the pink and black spots and knock in a long blue much more consistently when I was thinking about my wrist position before the pause and strike. Sometimes 3 or 4 times in a row. I've never been good with the pause but know how important it is and concentrating on keeping a straight wrist also made me pause a lot more so it was win win. I know some players are unorthodox but it's no surprise that some of the games most prolific break builders such as Hendry and John Higgins have a straight wrist. I used video footage of Higgins to observe his grip and learnt a lot from it. He plays like Hendry and has a very straight wrist and will use that small side-to-side movement of the wrist to apply the pace he needs. Applying pace is much more reliable this way than from the force of the backswing.

The only problem for me personally is that since breaking my wrist this action is very painful and bending the wrist just a tiny amount removes most of the pain so that is how I naturally play. I'm faced with a dilemma of playing comfortably with the wrist sticking out a bit but not being anywhere as consistent as I know I am with a spirit level straightness or keeping it straight and getting a lot of pain from that back and forth movement on the wrist when it's straight. The discomfort builds up so a few shots is ok but after a few frames it will ache a lot.

Grip is one of the basics for a good reason but is often overlooked so it's great when someone recognises it's an important cog. Never fall in to the out of sight out of mind trap. If in doubt with any part of your game the first thing you should do is stop all competitive play and make time for yourself to give yourself an MOT. Maybe even get a few hours with a registered coach who can check everything and even if you don't plan on repeat lessons they can give you the best advice you can get on all the basics to help you with how you proceed.

I don't want to hammer home my point but I really think playing with a straight wrist and using the motion of the hand is worth trying because it was like a miracle for me. Hold up your arm and put your cuing hand in to a fist and while keeping it level to the arm bend your hand left and right. You can only move it about a centimeter in each direction but this movement is a big secret to cuing fluently.

[tomlimcj]

It would help if you can keep your wrist still throughout the shot. Some people have all their fingers wrap around the butt and when they drawback, the wrist moves to accomodate the drawback. The ideal would be to keep wrist still, open the last 2 fingers to allow the butt to "slip through" on the backswing.

Your grip is not the most perfect, but that's not to say it wouldn't work. If you can focus on the area on the bone where your thumb connects to your wrist, try not to let that bone move throughout the entire shot, you might notice some difference in your shot. Less wrist movement, more consistency in the delivery, easier to correct any grip issues you might have. If your wrist is moving or rocking, we would have a tough time trying to figure if the rocking wrist is the reason you are missing, or other aspects of your game.

[MrRottweiler]

I feel like I was as clear as mud with my last post What I meant is that the forward-backward movement of the wrist during striking is the 'flick of the wrist' and you can see players do it but usually it's too subtle to notice. It acts as a kind of suspension but if the wrist moves to the left of right even a fraction it's going to change the point of contact the tip makes on the cue ball enough to miss the pot. This is why a steady wrist is so important and keeping it straight is generally the best way of monitoring any unwanted side to side movement because it's centered.

Combine this with a two fingered Hendry grip and you have the basis of a very reliable cue action. I still tend to grip too hard with all my fingers because it's a habit from a young age but when I'm practicing I notice how much more sweetly I play when I concentrate on my wrist action and grip.

[tomlimcj]

oh, i was replying to Clops post..

[MrRottweiler]

oh, i was replying to Clops post..

I know that and you are spot on with the loose grip during striking because the wrist action relies on this. It's always tempting for me to be touching the cue with all fingers when striking but the reality is the best way is with a light and flexible grip. Anthony Hamilton is another great example. I think it can be too easy to say play with what suits you because you will never know if doing it that way is holding you back or helping you advance.