Bend from the hips not the waist

[denja]

One of the top players in my area visited our club on leaving he tapped me on the shoulder and said "If you were to bend more from the hips and not the waist you could be a pretty good player" I did not get the chance to question him further as he was just leaving, could someone enlighten me as to the bending from the hips and not the waist issue.

[cazmac1]

I would like to hear the answer to this as it is sounds like something I working on in my game at the moment.

[Noelcwb]

Maybe your are crouched and your back is not so level as should be? I dont know....

[Particle Physics]

I'm not a snooker expert by any means, but what the guy said makes total sense. The pivot point that can generate the greatest angle between your legs and torso, are your hip joints. The same is true in tennis and golf, if you wish to be low down, you gotta bend ze hips! Bending your tummy will result in a canked over position, which is bad for your back, sighting of the cue ball, and cue action. If your torso is near to being in the same plane as the table (it can't be totally inline obviously), then your cue position will be just above the surface of the table, and that's where you want it to be. With your torso straight (because you bent at the hips instead) it's going to be easier to get the arms/shoulders in the correct plane as well, which is bound to lead to better shots. Textbook example is Hendry, quite perfect.

[Terry Davidson]

It's really pretty simple to explain but not so easy to do. If you look at ANY of the top pros take a very good look at how FLAT their backs are. Now, I do NOT mean level since the right shoulder has to be higher than the left but the back is as flat as they can get it or in other words they bend from the hips and not from the waist in order to keep the spine as straight and flat as possible.

If you bend from the waist you will look like (only navy term) 'a dog f**k**g a football' and this bent spine will make your upper body very unstable and stability in the snooker set-up is what every good player should strive for

Terry

[denja]

It's really pretty simple to explain but not so easy to do. If you look at ANY of the top pros take a very good look at how FLAT their backs are. Now, I do NOT mean level since the right shoulder has to be higher than the left but the back is as flat as they can get it or in other words they bend from the hips and not from the waist in order to keep the spine as straight and flat as possible.

If you bend from the waist you will look like (only navy term) 'a dog f**k**g a football' and this bent spine will make your upper body very unstable and stability in the snooker set-up is what every good player should strive for

Terry

THANKS ! FOR YOUR SPEEDY REPLY I am right eye dominant with a square stance I take it the same rule applies ? Could you direct me towards a video or picture of one of the pros who has the classic flat back stance.

[Terry Davidson]

Robertson is a good example and he doesn't run his cue centre-chin. I know he's a lefty though. Steve Davis is a great example for those over 6ft and also Hendry is a classic in that he actually bends his back (spine) below the vertical rather than bowing it above the vertical. Shaun Murphy, Ronnie, even Stephen Lee (even though he is overweight) are all good examples.

As I said in my post take a look at any of the top pros and they all have flat back. Not having checked any videos I think the only top pro I can think of who might have a bowed back is Maguire, but I'm not certain of that

Terry