Could anyone review me?

[Chu]

Hey guys,
I just video'd myself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJohazB7B9g (side, front and behind 5 shots each)
(sorry for the bad quality and dark room)

anyone have some comments bout my mistakes? shout ahead!

1)I noticed my cueing elbow straightens up, during the final backswing ( grip problem => not lose enough, I thought it was)
2) Gripping the cue too early mostly
3) leaning too much forward? ( dunno bout this)
4) bridge distance to cueball too long ( fixed it )

I noticed these things when I watched the video again.

Anyone have something to add?
Much appreciated!

Thanks

[Inoffthered]

Hey guys,
I just video'd myself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJohazB7B9g (side, front and behind 5 shots each)
(sorry for the bad quality and dark room)

anyone have some comments bout my mistakes? shout ahead!

1)I noticed my cueing elbow straightens up, during the final backswing ( grip problem => not lose enough, I thought it was)
2) Gripping the cue too early mostly
3) leaning too much forward? ( dunno bout this)
4) bridge distance to cueball too long ( fixed it )

I noticed these things when I watched the video again.

Anyone have something to add?
Much appreciated!

Thanks

Looks good to me. Your technique is very compact ( which is a good thing ) and looks as if you're adopting the 'chest to cue' contact point.

Only thing I would say, from the side shots ( too dark ), your action isn't very fluid ( not a bad thing, just sayin' ). The danger with this game is to become TOO analytical. Just go with the flow. As long as you keep your technique as compact as you do now, you should be g2g m8.

However, I'm no coach so you may want to have the opinion of a more experience TSF member ( Terry, are you around? ) to give you their thoughts.

Good luck!

[Chu]

Looks good to me. Your technique is very compact ( which is a good thing ) and looks as if you're adopting the 'chest to cue' contact point.

Only thing I would say, from the side shots ( too dark ), your action isn't very fluid ( not a bad thing, just sayin' ). The danger with this game is to become TOO analytical. Just go with the flow. As long as you keep your technique as compact as you do now, you should be g2g m8.

However, I'm no coach so you may want to have the opinion of a more experience TSF member ( Terry, are you around? ) to give you their thoughts.

Good luck!

Hey thx for the reply. Yeah i'm still working on the technique , so it becomes automatic. But when i'm going with the flow ( and it's working , which isn't often lol) I play pretty stable, multiple 30-50 breaks in few frames.
You're right though, I need to find my rhythm

[nrage]

I'm just having a look now.. BTW you can download AviDemux from here:
http://avidemux.sourceforge.net/download.html

Which can 'convert' the video applying filters, like a brightness filter

[Chu]

I'm just having a look now.. BTW you can download AviDemux from here:
http://avidemux.sourceforge.net/download.html

Which can 'convert' the video applying filters, like a brightness filter

Cool! thanks

[nrage]

As Inoffthered has already said, you have a nice compact cue action with no major problems that I can see.

Some minor points, first the side on view..

Using kinovea I drew a line along the cue prior to feathering, and one after the shot.

On most shots you exhibit some elbow drop, this drops the grip hand by 1-2 inches and raises the tip by a small amount. The first shot has the largest drop, the rest are less.

The key factor is when the drop starts. So, I played the video back in frame by frame to see. It appears to start just as the hand just goes past the vertical, which is also just after the tip strikes the white. So, it should not be a problem, provided it doesn't happen any earlier.

The problem you might have, is that on a shot where you lengthen the bridge (without moving the grip back by a similar amount) or move your grip hand up the cue (without shortening the bridge). In these cases the drop may happen earlier, and if you're trying to screw the ball you may have some trouble.

So, bear that in mind. You can get it to happen a little later with some minor adjustments. The best solution is to learn to control it, by concentrating on keeping it from dropping when you need to, and by squeezing/bending the elbow a little more on delivery. The thing to watch out for is going too far the other way and ending up with a squeeze which raises the butt of the cue. Also, as you've probably guessed, you can simply move the grip hand back, or shorten the bridge. You do not need to shift things by very much, we're talking 1/2 inch or less.

My first line shows that on each shot you get down to almost exactly the same position, so consistency is very good.

[nrage]

Front on view..

I notice your elbow starts slightly behind the back and during feathering moves around till it is in fact directly over the line of aim/cue. This movement may have an effect on your cue line, perhaps. Ideally you want to start with the elbow directly over the cue. Just something to work on.

There is some very slight head movement, on the shot itself. So, work on that also. But, there is no body movement I can see, which is excellent.

[nrage]

Back view...

The elbow movement is clearer here. The final backswing appears to be what what 'corrects' the elbow position, moving it over to the line of aim/cue. I notice that your initial feathers are very short, I wonder if you lengthen them whether that will move the elbow earlier. Ideally you want it in the correct position to start with, so maybe practice a few long backswings and get a feel for the elbow before and after, try to train the feeling of the 'correct' position in, so that you can get directly down in that position.

Lastly, on the shot itself, if you draw a line down the center of the forearm before the feathers, on the last backswing and after the elbow drop you see the movement I talked about above, and also a continuation of that movement on the elbow drop, so that the elbow actually ends up slightly outside the line, and the hand closer to the hip. This likely occurs after the cue strikes the white, but it's the same deal as with the elbow drop, if it happens earlier, you will add unintentional side.

The only solution for this, that I know of, is to work on the elbow position and/or grip and shoulder to control it. It's the main issue I have myself, and is very common. I think it's probably the biggest barrier to the 'perfect' cue action.

[Chu]

Tyvm nrage for your complete analysis!
I noticed the elbow movement myself after watching it again ( I had no idea I was doing that ). I think it's mainly bout my grip, turning the wrist etc..
Gonna work on those points you gave.
I'll make a video again in few days, after I removed my flaws hopefully.

Thanks again, I appreciate it.

[Terry Davidson]

chu:

I think nrage has covered all the points which are visible however what we can't really see is what the grip hand is doing throughout the backswing and delivery (or at least I couldn't anyway).

If you can get one of those construction spotlights or some kind of photographic light and put that on the right side of your body and have the camera getting all the way from your feet to the top of the head for a side-on view. For a rear view shine the light right on the butt of the cue and have the camera set up to get from the cue to the top of the head.

Those two videos would allow us to get a real good look and what's actually happening.

Remember, THE most important thing in the entire set-up and delivery is the GRIP as it is what is actually controlling the cue

Terry

[Chu]

chu:

I think nrage has covered all the points which are visible however what we can't really see is what the grip hand is doing throughout the backswing and delivery (or at least I couldn't anyway).

If you can get one of those construction spotlights or some kind of photographic light and put that on the right side of your body and have the camera getting all the way from your feet to the top of the head for a side-on view. For a rear view shine the light right on the butt of the cue and have the camera set up to get from the cue to the top of the head.

Those two videos would allow us to get a real good look and what's actually happening.

Remember, THE most important thing in the entire set-up and delivery is the GRIP as it is what is actually controlling the cue

Terry

Hey Terry,

I'll try to do this the next video, and yeah it was way too dark.
anyway it'll be for next week, (going to a coach on monday)

Cheers

[magicman]

I have to echo what Inoffthered said to you Chu, in that your action looks very deliberate and obviously coached. There doesn't appear to be many flaws and yet it didn't surprise me to see your high breaks are around the 70-90 mark. I feel you need to relax a little and let your action flow a bit more. It's all very well having a slow back-swing, a pause, and an initial slow start to your delivery, but touch and feel are imo even more important.

[DandyA]

just a thought but, in the side-on shots unless my eyes are deceiving me, your cue tip is well over a ball's width from the cue ball when you're addressing the shot ... I'm surprised none of the coaches have mentioned this as I think it's important to get the cue tip as close to the cue ball as possible (without fouling) for the following reasons ...

so you can better judge the line (more cue in front of you) ... so you can better see where the cue tip will hit the white ... and probably the most important, so your cue hits the white whilst your forearm is vertical - rather than hitting it on the follow through as you seem to be doing now ...

hope this helps