Pushing through on long pots

[callum from hallam]

My short game is very good and once in and amongst the balls I can make decent breaks. Overall my safety play is decent. However long pots are my downfall. If I'm close to the object ball and I'm hitting it at an average pace then I'm fine. Long distance pots are really tricky for me though. I believe this is because when pushing the cue through I shift the cue to one side, I believe this is down to the power behind the shot. Is there anyway I can rectify this?

[Ramon]

My short game is very good and once in and amongst the balls I can make decent breaks. Overall my safety play is decent. However long pots are my downfall. If I'm close to the object ball and I'm hitting it at an average pace then I'm fine. Long distance pots are really tricky for me though. I believe this is because when pushing the cue through I shift the cue to one side, I believe this is down to the power behind the shot. Is there anyway I can rectify this?

You do'nt need power with long pots . You need a better timing.
Cue as effortless as you can . Just the same way as you do with any other shot .
practis in order to improve your timing.
as well as straight cueing.
Especially when it comes to the long pots. Due to the distance between CB and OB,
More likely to have CB deflection and swerve.
If you gonna use side, cue stright. do not put the cue across the CB.
With long pots you have a big gab between CB and OB.
CB has more time, so more likely gonna swerve and deflect.
Shorten your backswing abit with long pots ,can do no harm. the shorter the back swing, the less chance of cueing error.

keep an eye on this thread please . others may Follow with better opinions.

[Terry Davidson]

My short game is very good and once in and amongst the balls I can make decent breaks. Overall my safety play is decent. However long pots are my downfall. If I'm close to the object ball and I'm hitting it at an average pace then I'm fine. Long distance pots are really tricky for me though. I believe this is because when pushing the cue through I shift the cue to one side, I believe this is down to the power behind the shot. Is there anyway I can rectify this?

The absolute best thing you can do to discover the root cause of this is set up a video camera over the top pocket which takes in from 6" in front of the cueball to the top of your elbow. Now attempt 10 times to pot a long blue and screw back to at least the baulkline or even the yellow pocket. It takes very good timing.

If you can download the video into your computer then also download a video analysis program like Kinovea which is freeware and watch teh video frame-by-frame during your backswing and delivery. Watch the shaft of your cue over the leather of the yellow or green pocket and carefully look for any sideways movement during either the backswing or delivery. Try and see exactly where you are, is it the middle of the backswing, is it the stop at the end or is in when you start to deliver or during the delivery.

On power shots the most common problem is tightening the grip too tight and too early, usually before the strike.

[callum from hallam]

I think that may be a cause as well, the tightening of the grip. However I think atm my mentally is if I hit the ball harder then I will get screw or stun to keep it were I want to and by playing softer it will roll on further.

[callum from hallam]

Yep I think this is the problem, is there anyway to produce the same CB control with less power or is that just down to the timing of the shot. Also Terry what tipe of bridge should I use for long pots?

[blahblah01]

Suspension bridges are best for long ones

[Terry Davidson]

Yep I think this is the problem, is there anyway to produce the same CB control with less power or is that just down to the timing of the shot. Also Terry what tipe of bridge should I use for long pots?

Power comes from the length of the backswing and the rate of acceleration. When you tighten the grip too early you are actually starting to decelerate the cue when you should be accelerating all the way through and beyond the cueball. Hitting the ball harder while not using a longer backswing will result in a jerk of the body and loss of accuracy and this will show up more on longer pots with less room for error.

You can obtain all the power and control you want by lengthening the backswing to where the ferrule comes to the V of the bridge. For long power shots or even some deep screw shots where I need a lot of power I use the looped bridge which is as Joe Davis recommended. Tou'll also see the loop bridge used more in American pool because the balls are heavier (I think that's correct)

[DeanH]

Something I picked up some years ago was, with long shots, to "ignore the cue ball"; that is to say imagine that you are trying to hit the object ball with your cue tip. In effect of doing this you play the cue ball perfectly and you get good reaction of cue ball

[Terry Davidson]

Something I picked up some years ago was, with long shots, to "ignore the cue ball"; that is to say imagine that you are trying to hit the object ball with your cue tip. In effect of doing this you play the cue ball perfectly and you get good reaction of cue ball

I was told that years and years ago by a player who was asked to turn pro but turned it down, this was probably early 70's or late 60's. John Spencer and Ray Reardon asked him when they were in Canada. I also use it with my students but on all shots unless they might foul. It works a treat but sometimes I forget about it to my horror.

[DeanH]

Something I picked up some years ago was, with long shots, to "ignore the cue ball"; that is to say imagine that you are trying to hit the object ball with your cue tip. In effect of doing this you play the cue ball perfectly and you get good reaction of cue ball

I was told that years and years ago by a player who was asked to turn pro but turned it down, this was probably early 70's or late 60's. John Spencer and Ray Reardon asked him when they were in Canada. I also use it with my students but on all shots unless they might foul. It works a treat but sometimes I forget about it to my horror.

It could have been you who told me of this years ago? As I get older and the hard drive is full, new info is overwriting old data :wink:

[throtts]

It could have been you who told me of this years ago? As I get older and the hard drive is full, new info is overwriting old data :wink:

Lol, Dean, you try that ""one"" you have just read about but at the very same time you have chucked out ""two"" to make room for it....

You know what, that why I just keep it all natural. You can really try too hard a lot of the time....:snooker: