Distance between bridge hand and cue ball

[MattB]

I was having a discussion with a firend the other day about this and I'd be interested in what you thought. How far away should your bridge hand fingers (or bridge hand thumb) be away from the cue ball? Does this vary with different shots - more power needed the further away? And is there a maximum distance your bridge hand (or thumb) should be away from the cue ball assuming your in a normal situation?

[reverse_side]

Hi Matt, IMO there'll be variations depending on your height but have a peek at this thread that I was inspired enough by superdude84 to get my cue out, a measuring tape and a mirror! http://www.thesnookerforum.com/showthread-t_581.html

For my game, I feel that if my bridge is too long, my accuracy (especially on long pots) leaks out and I tend to over cut shots leading to rubbish positional play.... at best, missed pots at worst. BUT, if you have either a coach, good experience or some specific advice from someone, then you can nail down what you're doing wrong to be able to correct it. btw, keeping the line of my elbow and head as straight as possible is essential for me; when you're flowing and surprising yourself with the shots you're pulling off, it happens naturally, but as with golfers say, you can feel something's not right when the shot you attempt makes you frown. Knowing how to correct a fault isn't easy on your own, but giving yourself the basics to concentrate on is a great starter... buying a book on technique, reading forums! asking a friend who's learning themselves is a great inspiration etc.

Imagine a small piston, compact, accurate & reliable.... if the linkages get too long, then all those small inaccuracies get magnified until you're off the rails and feeling frustrated. A short ruler is useful and strong, one of those coiled up metal ones soon crack and fall to the floor if you extend it too far.

Anyhow, have a butchers at the other thread where I hope you find some useful info; we can all be good at snooker (at anything really) it's just a matter of time, support, specific help, focus, commitment and expectations. Sometimes, all that needs to change is a willingness on the shot to try hard; not the kind that entails playing 5 hours a day which only a small %age can afford.

Dave.

[MattB]

Thanks for your reply. After talking to a friend I've also tried getting my bridge hand thumb 9" away from the ball which I'd never considered before and I must have been 14" away. This has definitely helped me put more screw on the ball and I can see how it'll minimize any faults one has. The problem I have now is that it's totally thrown my aiming off as I now have to try and get my body a lot closer to the cue ball and has somehow managed to take my cue action with it.

He suggested that you vary the distance of the bridge hand from the cue ball depending on how much power was needed in the shot using 9" as a standard. I don't like this idea as the change I've made has thrown my game off so I'd like to find a distance that I can stick with for all shots to get some consistency in my game.

I've looked through a few books and on the internet to try and get some info on this - most say anywhere between 9" and 12" for your bridge thumb and don't specify anything about moving your hand closer or further away, some say move it closer for delicate shots and don't specify any distances and then there is the fcsnooker website that suggests 12" away on all shots.

So as you can probably see I'm a little confused and frustrated at the moment. Do you think this one could just be a matter of opinion as opposed to any hard and fast rules? Thanks.

[topcue1]

i think its down to personal preference and what you feel comfortable with.personally the middle finger of my bridge hand is normally about 6 inches away from the cueball.

[Semih_Sayginer]

it depens on a lot of things, including:-

what you are playing....8/9 ball pool, snooker or billards

what type of shot youre playing

what height you are, and the length of your cue / where you hold the back of it...

[hegeland]

This is one I have never understand: Why on Earth does most snooker players have such long distance between cue ball and bridge hand?? 14 inches (35-36 cm) is crazy! Having too long a distance is only making it harder for yourslef, without any benefits at all. I see a lot of beginners at our club who have only watched snooker, not pool and they have this absurdly long snooker bridge and they miss tons of shots just becuase of this. The distance should be a bit longer when you have a power shot in front of you, but a normal distance should be not more than 6-7 inches. I cannot see any benefit at all with a longer distance than that; only disadvantages. I play both pool and snooker.

[Robert602]

I play pool as well hegeland and I know where you're coming from, it does seem odd.

As you say, it's essential for power shots in order to get the proper backswing and follow through that the bridge is longer. I suppose it may be that players like to keep the action consistent, so they use a long bridge regardless of whether it's really needed.

It's probably also true to say that practising with a long bridge helps you develop a straight cue action (something pool players tend to lack). In a way though, that's only because you're making it more difficult for yourself, doesn't make much sense in a match.



On another note, it's a refreshing thing to hear that you get players over there who've watched more snooker than pool. I was under the impression that the UK was the only place that was the case. Maybe it really is an international game .

[hegeland]

Well, pool is much bigger than snooker here, but thanks to Eurosport a lot of people who have never touched a cue in their life, they start with snooker instead of pool. Which in a way is good, but I think it's better to start with playing 14.1 on a 9 feet table because it's easier for a beginner and really help you delevop a good sence of all aspects of cue sports, while at the same time they can actually pot some balls and have fun. 14.1 is the best practise game for beginners for all cue sports as well as advanced pool players.

[Robert602]

14.1 is the game I tend to play at home, no room for a 9ft table though, just a 6 footer here.

I'll grant that it's the most fun game for a beginner and is probably more likely to get them interested in cue sports than snooker is (snooker is incredibly frustrating until you get to 20-30 break standard, and even then...). I wouldn't say it's the best way to start in terms of fostering a good technique early on though. Speaking from experience, it can lead to pretty lazy cueing habits.

[hegeland]

I'll give right to that 14.1 might not be the best game to foster a good technique for everyone.

Would be interesting to see what other knowlegdeable people like reverse_side and the rest would say about my question.

[Semih_Sayginer]

when you play 14-1, do you play "proper" rules, leaving one ball to go into the new pack?

[cueman]

Going back to the original point the point of distance between bridge hand and cueball is down to the individual but I would suggest anything from 9-12 inches should be ok for the majority of shots. You need this distance so you are getting through the cue ball properly, you cue arm should come through and almost hit your chest when you have followed through properly.

If you reduce the distance to say 5-7 inches you are restricting the power you can put into the shot and your technique will be more like a jab. This can cause all sorts of problems and cause movement on the shot when using any sort of power. A long bridge of say 13-15 inches can also mean the cue can push off line as it has further to travel and will also cause problems, very few players have such a long distance between bridge hand and cueball.

[hegeland]

Going back to the original point the point of distance between bridge hand and cueball is down to the individual but I would suggest anything from 9-12 inches should be ok for the majority of shots. You need this distance so you are getting through the cue ball properly, you cue arm should come through and almost hit your chest when you have followed through properly.

If you reduce the distance to say 5-7 inches you are restricting the power you can put into the shot and your technique will be more like a jab. This can cause all sorts of problems and cause movement on the shot when using any sort of power. A long bridge of say 13-15 inches can also mean the cue can push off line as it has further to travel and will also cause problems, very few players have such a long distance between bridge hand and cueball.

I don't agree with you at all on this one. I cannot see why you would get through the cue ball better with a long bridge. I belive that is a myth. If you look at all other cue sports, in all parts of the world, the vast majority of all players, pros as well as beginners, use a much shorter bridge than you suggest. Is it because their game is so much different? No. It's because they are right. IMO, the extensive use of long bridge by snooker players is probably a product of the realtively isolated development of snooker. Tradtion is essential here.

Surely you restrict the power of the shot with a shorter bridge, but on 90% of the shots you don't need very much power at all. So on 90% of your shots, the shorter bridge is the better one. You only need to use as much distance as the cue pulls back.On power shots, long bridge. On normal shots, short bridge. Simple as that. Why have a longer bridge than you need? It's only making the shot more difficult.

[cueman]

So in effect you are saying that any other cue sports players other than those playing snooker are technically superior than professional snooker players? Get a grip!

This is why I said between 9 and 12 inches for the majority of shots, it will depend on the type of shot you are playing. A slow rolled pot or anything just requiring the minimum of power and you can shorten the length to 8-9 inches, the follow through doesn't have to go through so far. However most shots on a snooker table require medium paced shots, including any stun, screw or top spin shots. This requires a slightly longer bridge and follow through, any coach will tell you this, including myself!

You maybe confusing the different types of techniques players use as well. Some players like to pull their cue right back to the 'v' on their bridge hand, Mark Selby is a good example of this, O'Sullivan too pulls the cue quite far back before release. This is down to the individual, there is no right or wrong but there are pros and cons to a short and long bridge as I mentioned earlier.

[cazmac1]

I been playing with a long bridge for some time now, and when shorten it by straightening my arm I find that I feel like I'm hitting the white ball a lot better but I can't get the cue on line the line of aim. So when I play with a long bridge ( bringing the bridge hand in closer) I can get the cue on line of aim and I can pot well, but only in a certain shot range. Like others have mentioned you loose accuracy with the long bridge and this shows itself on power shots and difficult pots. So today I was practicing and getting my cue on line with the long bridge and not playing too hot, so I thought why don’t I shorten the cue. So I started holding the cue one hand widths up from the end of the butt and immediately started playing better. I was still able to keep the cue on the line of aim and another plus was that the cue was making solid contact with my chest which I can't get just by pushing my arm out straight in order to shorten the bridge. When I went to see Del Hill he set me up like this but I ignored this part of his advice and now can see how foolish I was.
It feels very strange shortening the cue to 9inch's and it changes your perspective with regards to aiming but without doubt is better. So this will be my main focus over the next few weeks. Just wanted to share this in the hope it may help some fellow members.
Just wanted to point out that I found shortening the bridge made power shots easier not harder and that when playing simple plain ball run throughs that the long bridge was fine.