Deep screw shot

[gagg8ball]

The biggest factor in swapping clubs is the weight of the balls.

With a lighter white, it's an absolute doddle to pull the white a length of the table. With a proper set of balls, it is something that needs to be practiced.

I have to agree with pottr, in our local league the tables are all same sort of speed and standard,but it seems every set of balls require a different approach. Being a newish convert to snooker from pool,i didn't realise this for some time,trying the deep screw shot to nothing from baulk,back to baulk. Couldn't get my head round why I could cue same shot so differently on different tables. Wasn't until I watched one of the more experienced players in our team continually refusing anything more than 3/4 length straight ones,that I sort of twigged, if he can't play the shot maybe I should look for other options. Actually helped me alot, as I paid more attention to leaving the right angle instead of trying to get myself out of trouble with my cue power,and started to drop balls in instead of trying to club everything in lol

[Sidd]

The biggest factor in swapping clubs is the weight of the balls.

With a lighter white, it's an absolute doddle to pull the white a length of the table. With a proper set of balls, it is something that needs to be practiced.

Absolutely... the weight of the balls do matter and not only in deep screws but almost all shots... !

[Sidd]

Here's something I've discovered regarding deep power screw shots. I wasn't having much luck with them and couldn't figure out why since in shorter and lower power screw shots I have no problem at all.

I watching myself on video I realized I was dropping my elbow early and thus the tip was coming up slightly on the cueball and no matter what I tried I just couldn't get rid of this on a power shot until I tried the loop bridge which guarantees the tip will stay low on the cueball and not lift at all (at least for me).

So now, if I was to use a deep screw with power on a long shot it's absolutely no problem and also the accuracy seems to be better for me too. In practice the long blue from the baulkline and screwing back into baulk or even into the yellow pocket is not a problem now but then again you use this type of shot so rarely but it's nice to have it in the quiver

Terry

Right said Terry. I might never switch to the looped bridge as changing bridge would somehow put me off. however, it is good to note that at times one might be introducing quicker elbow drop and hence hitting rather high and not screwing to the level required. Will keep that in mind too.

This shot has to be there because sometimes during opening shots of a frame having this shot in one's bag can make a huge difference...

[ace man]

I watching myself on video I realized I was dropping my elbow early and thus the tip was coming up slightly on the cueball and no matter what I tried I just couldn't get rid of this on a power shot until I tried the loop bridge which guarantees the tip will stay low on the cueball and not lift at all (at least for me).

I experimented with loop bridge some years ago during my US pool days and was shocked to find that I was able to generate more backspin than with the classic open V bridge, though not a whole lot more. Later I've found that not only my bridge height was different, but I was adding cue elevation without realizing. Simply put, my action was different. There was no magic in loop bridge despite what my pool playing friends said. I shot with it a few times on a snooker table as well just for the sake of it, but can't say I've gained any more cue power.

I know some older generation snooker pro's used the loop bridge occasionally. How about modern ones? Would they even consider it?

[Terry Davidson]

ace:

It is just a recommendation for those players who cannot hit the bottom of the cueball for one reason or another. It works for me but I don't recommend the loop bridge for snooker although even Joe Davis did for power shots.

Today I'm going to get on the table and try and eliminate that premature elbow drop on power shots since I also believe I'm doing it on lower power shots too but it doesn't effect the height of the tip as much. I noticed it when I had a couple of dead-in browns where I had to screw back for the blue and I just wasn't getting the screw I should have. Tried the same shot with the looped bridge and there was no problem but it's not the right solution for this problem.

I think the only time a pro would use it these days is if he's cueing along the cushion and can't use a normal bridge

Terry

[Staezione]

My secret to this shot is accelerate.
When your cuetip is in contact with cueball you are on 80% of your power. Then and only then accelerate to 100% using your cueball.
Good Luck

[Staezione]

My secret to this shot is accelerate.
When your cuetip is in contact with cueball you are on 80% of your power. Then and only then accelerate to 100% using your cueball.
Good Luck

[throtts]

The secret to a deep screw shot,, practise, practise and loads more practise.

Like on any shot, you must keep still. It's got nothing to do with muscle power, a good young 12 yr old wannabe pro can screw a cue ball. The power comes from a nice follow through combined with good timing.

You can read all you want to, but you just have to practise this shot to be able to do it. That's snooker all over though.

[DandyA]

The secret to a deep screw shot,, practise, practise and loads more practise.

Like on any shot, you must keep still. It's got nothing to do with muscle power, a good young 12 yr old wannabe pro can screw a cue ball. The power comes from a nice follow through combined with good timing.

You can read all you want to, but you just have to practise this shot to be able to do it. That's snooker all over though.

I am going to sound really pathetic here but whenever I practice 3 screw shots in a row (say, my playing partner has gone to the loo) I always miscue on the third one ... despite chalking my tip between each shot ... lately, I've taken to rotating my cue 1/4 turn between each shot but that simply delays the inevitable miscue to the 4th or 5th shot ...

anyone know why that is? ... vmax4steve, please do not comment to my posting, send me a PM if you wish ...

[Sidd]

I am going to sound really pathetic here but whenever I practice 3 screw shots in a row (say, my playing partner has gone to the loo) I always miscue on the third one ... despite chalking my tip between each shot ... lately, I've taken to rotating my cue 1/4 turn between each shot but that simply delays the inevitable miscue to the 4th or 5th shot ...

anyone know why that is? ... vmax4steve, please do not comment to my posting, send me a PM if you wish ...

This is pretty strange... Should not happen really. If you get the first two correct there is no reason to miscue the third unless you for some reason after getting confident on two shots increase power and unconsciously tighten the grip or life the but and get up chopping the cue ball... Just a thought; i think its mostly psychological and not really technical.

[Terry Davidson]

DandyA:

When in the address position do two things. First of all, when playing deep screw ensure you've dropped the BRIDGE and not raised the butt of the cue to get to the bottom of the cueball.

Secondly, have the cue against the chest AND KEEP IT THERE AS YOU DELIVER THE CUE. The easiest way to accomplish this is to make sure you bring the chest to the cue initially and then as Judd Trump does, raise the elbow up as high as you can (even if the cue flexes a bit) and then when you deliver the cue maintain the upward pressure on the butt to keep it against the chest.

When delivering the cue you don't have to have the pressure which flexes the cue as you should slack it off a bit but there should still be some upward pressure from the grip to hold that cue against the chest.

Provided you don't move the chest on the shot this will ensure you deliver the cue on a straight plane with no dipping or lifting of the tip caused by dropping or raising the elbow and you shouldn't mis-cue EVER as long as you don't drop the bridge too low

Terry

[DandyA]

This is pretty strange... Should not happen really. If you get the first two correct there is no reason to miscue the third unless you for some reason after getting confident on two shots increase power and unconsciously tighten the grip or life the but and get up chopping the cue ball... Just a thought; i think its mostly psychological and not really technical.

DandyA:

When in the address position do two things. First of all, when playing deep screw ensure you've dropped the BRIDGE and not raised the butt of the cue to get to the bottom of the cueball.

Secondly, have the cue against the chest AND KEEP IT THERE AS YOU DELIVER THE CUE. The easiest way to accomplish this is to make sure you bring the chest to the cue initially and then as Judd Trump does, raise the elbow up as high as you can (even if the cue flexes a bit) and then when you deliver the cue maintain the upward pressure on the butt to keep it against the chest.

When delivering the cue you don't have to have the pressure which flexes the cue as you should slack it off a bit but there should still be some upward pressure from the grip to hold that cue against the chest.

Provided you don't move the chest on the shot this will ensure you deliver the cue on a straight plane with no dipping or lifting of the tip caused by dropping or raising the elbow and you shouldn't mis-cue EVER as long as you don't drop the bridge too low

Terry

thanks Sidd and Terry for your advice, I appreciate you taking the time to reply

Terry, I don't have a general miscue problem at all, in normal play, it's once in a blue moon if that, it's only if I practice deep screw after deep screw repeatedly ... no need to reply further with regard to that, I'll take your and Sidd's advice on board, thank you ...

however, I do have an additional question ... how low exactly will you hit the white say with a 9.5mm tip ... assuming a good bridge and good delivery, how low will you go?

will you go to the maximum, the bottom of the tip kissing the cloth, or 1/2 or 1 tip above that ... also do you vary that with the distance between white and object ball and power required ...

[sunny3909]

Cuepower comes naturally to some player and some have to really work hard to attain it.
It all about going through the white smoothly with perfect timing with a good backswing.
I have my deep screw shot youtube link posted below you can have a look.

[Terry Davidson]

DandyA:

The correct answer to how low you hit the cueball is 'as low as you can without mis-cueing'...however that answer doesn't help anyone to achieve deep screw. The answer I would go with is no more than 5mm off the cloth from the bottom of the tip (or in other words a 1/2-tip width as you mentioned).

I also see you have the wrong impression of when you should use deep screw so let's get that corrected too. First of all deep screw means hitting the cueball very low, as low as you can but there is no inference of the power used when you use the term 'deep screw'.

The other problem some people have is they think there is a difference between how to play a deep screw shot and how to play a stun shot as they feel they are different hits. Stun is the same as screw with the exception of 'top stun' run-through shots.

When you decide a positional shot requires screw then you hit the bottom of the cueball and if you think it requires something less that deep screw then you raise your bridge in order to raise the tip on the cueball. When you decide you need to use screw you should ALWAYS use deep screw since you can use less power to screw the ball back compared to if you hit the cueball a little higher (which is actually stun and NOT screw if we were to be precise).

What happens with too many players is they think they are hitting the cueball very low but when they actually strike the cueball the tip is up higher on the cueball than they intended and they don't get that nice screw effect. This can be caused by dropping the elbow early or else not lowering the bridge sufficiently and raising the butt of the cue to get to the bottom of the cueball.

When you practice your screw shots, lower the bridge ONLY and do not raise the butt of the cue. Ensure the bottom of the tip is very close to the cloth and then start out with real easy and gentle shots, like say the pink on its spot and the cueball 1ft or even less behind the pink and just hit the pink near dead weight with deep screw and see what happens (I think you'll be surprised if you've driven through the cueball - driving the hand to the chest). As you get comfortable with doing this move the cueball back further from the pink so you can increase the power a bit but still concentrate on having that tip on the bottom of the cueball near the cloth and driving through the cueball.

Last exercise is to place the cueball 2ft behind the pink but at a bit of an angle so when screwing back the cueball will head towards the green pocket (or yellow if a lefty) and your challenge is to pot the pink and go in-off into the green pocket. You may be surprised at the angle of the pink pot since if you are using deep screw correctly it will end up being near to half-ball and the cueball should arc after it hits the pink.

Terry

[DandyA]

thanks very much for the advice Terry, I'll try it when I get a chance