Pressure of the grip (ROS Show, Nov 14)

[michaelthrane]

I have watched the Ronnie O' Sullivan show from November 2014. In this episode which he talks about keeping the same cue speed, accelerating all the way through on all shots, but varying how much pressure he puts on the grip. From reading other posts here I've tried to keep my grip as light as possible, but changing the length of my backswing and cue speed - is this an entirely different technique

[j6uk]

as you improve and learning the reaction of the cue ball from differing levels of striking like stun and stun run, you'll find that you can move the ball around the whole table with similar speed. your technique will mold around this discovery as you find your own way through the white

[throtts]

I have watched the Ronnie O' Sullivan show from November 2014. In this episode which he talks about keeping the same cue speed, accelerating all the way through on all shots, but varying how much pressure he puts on the grip. From reading other posts here I've tried to keep my grip as light as possible, but changing the length of my backswing and cue speed - is this an entirely different technique

When ROS stated different grip pressures it really summed up snooker and peoples opinions as a whole. What it comes down too,,, is to ride with what you feel comfy with yourself. The differential in pressure should be automatic, not something you dabble with,,, imo..

You can see the club players now farting about with different pressures. It was a bit advance by ROS and that being if its correct and consistent across the pro circuit with all players

[j6uk]

in a nutshell ron was talking about timing the white, nothing to do with opinions just how to get through the white, and that pressure comes on at the moment of impact on the cue ball

[dcrackers147]

I have watched the Ronnie O' Sullivan show from November 2014. In this episode which he talks about keeping the same cue speed, accelerating all the way through on all shots, but varying how much pressure he puts on the grip. From reading other posts here I've tried to keep my grip as light as possible, but changing the length of my backswing and cue speed - is this an entirely different technique

You should bear in mind the speed of the tables ROS and the rest of the pro's play on. Reaction is easily achieved with minimal power on them. It can work to a degree on a club table and when your timing the ball well you dont really need to force your action at all. But going through the ball at the same speed you play a stun shot is not going to give you a deep screw on a club table just because your grip tightened more on the delivery.

[Pedantic Stroke]

I like what he said about keeping the cues speed and acceleration the same on the delivery, it all aids consistency. But about grip pressure confused me. The moment you start thinking about tightening the grip for a certain shot you're over complicating matters. It happens naturally.

The thing is though, you are at the mercy of the angle of the shot as far as position is concerned if you hit everything with the same cue speed. Sometimes you've really got to force a ball in, sometimes you've got to really slow rolls them. If you always have the correct angle on the shot you should in theory be able to hit shots at the same speed but vary the spin... If only it was that easy.

The thing I've found about pros is that they struggle explaining what they do. Probably a good thing. The minute you start picking your game apart and consciously being aware of every thing you do is the minute your game takes a turn for the worse.

[Terry Davidson]

I like what he said about keeping the cues speed and acceleration the same on the delivery, it all aids consistency. But about grip pressure confused me. The moment you start thinking about tightening the grip for a certain shot you're over complicating matters. It happens naturally.

The thing is though, you are at the mercy of the angle of the shot as far as position is concerned if you hit everything with the same cue speed. Sometimes you've really got to force a ball in, sometimes you've got to really slow rolls them. If you always have the correct angle on the shot you should in theory be able to hit shots at the same speed but vary the spin... If only it was that easy.

The thing I've found about pros is that they struggle explaining what they do. Probably a good thing. The minute you start picking your game apart and consciously being aware of every thing you do is the minute your game takes a turn for the worse.

You have it slightly wrong. The power of a shot is normally determined by the length of the backswing plus the rate of acceleration. Ronnie generally uses a longer backswing than most of us and regulates his rate of acceleration to vary the power. Terry Griffiths teaches keeping the rate of acceleration the same for all shots but varying the length of backswing to adjust the power.

Either method works although in general (there are exceptions - like Graham Dott) pros will use the longer backswing on all shots method and regulate the rate of acceleration whereas most amateurs will go the Terry Griffiths route, varying the length of backswing.

What I see most often is players will use a backswing too short for the power they want and start accelerating the cue too rapidly right at the start of the delivery and this will lead to an abrupt delivery causing upper body movement and missed shots. At the same time they will tighten the grip excessively in order to accelerate the cue rapidly. Whatever method you decide on you must stick with it and practice it and the main mental 'trick' is to keep everything SMOOTH.

A neat trick taught to me by Nic Barrow and something I use myself and with a few of my better students (when I get a better player) is on both the backswing and delivery just hum a tone from the front pause until the end of the delivery. If the tone changes pitch during the delivery then you have an abrupt delivery and you should practice smoothing it out until you can deliver a power shot with no change in tone.

Terry

[Pedantic Stroke]

You have it slightly wrong. The power of a shot is normally determined by the length of the backswing plus the rate of acceleration. Ronnie generally uses a longer backswing than most of us and regulates his rate of acceleration to vary the power. Terry Griffiths teaches keeping the rate of acceleration the same for all shots but varying the length of backswing to adjust the power.

Either method works although in general (there are exceptions - like Graham Dott) pros will use the longer backswing on all shots method and regulate the rate of acceleration whereas most amateurs will go the Terry Griffiths route, varying the length of backswing.

What I see most often is players will use a backswing too short for the power they want and start accelerating the cue too rapidly right at the start of the delivery and this will lead to an abrupt delivery causing upper body movement and missed shots. At the same time they will tighten the grip excessively in order to accelerate the cue rapidly. Whatever method you decide on you must stick with it and practice it and the main mental 'trick' is to keep everything SMOOTH.

A neat trick taught to me by Nic Barrow and something I use myself and with a few of my better students (when I get a better player) is on both the backswing and delivery just hum a tone from the front pause until the end of the delivery. If the tone changes pitch during the delivery then you have an abrupt delivery and you should practice smoothing it out until you can deliver a power shot with no change in tone.

Terry

Perhaps I didn't explain what I wanted to put in writing very well. When Ronnie said about keeping the cue delivery at the same speed I assumed he meant all the time for every shot. Maybe I misunderstood what he was saying. If you have a half ball pot and only want the white to travel 2ft along the tangent line by stunning the cue ball you can achieve that by hitting just below the middle of the white, you will have to aim lower on the white and accelerate at a slower pace through the white...if that makes sense? I'm confusing my self here.

The humming thing is something I need to give a try. When I've got to play a long deep screw I can hear my self sort of stop breathing and gasp kind of...as though you get hit in the stomach. Obviously I'm tensing up but if I can keep the humming steady and fluent then I may be onto a winner. Cheers for that little nugget

[j6uk]

What I see most often is players will use a backswing too short for the power they want and start accelerating the cue too rapidly right at the start of the delivery and this will lead to an abrupt delivery causing upper body movement and missed shots. At the same time they will tighten the grip excessively in order to accelerate the cue rapidly. Whatever method you decide on you must stick with it and practice it and the main mental 'trick' is to keep everything SMOOTH.
Terry

a shorter backswing is fine and shouldn't lead to any body movement. its a very compact and efficient way of playing. if a player likes that way of delivering the cue then id not change it, just give the pointers as to the mechanics of that style of play