Straight cueing

[Matt-10ant]

As above says what's the methods used to make your cue action straighter.

[guernseygooner]

A lot of practice

[RoryM147]

I'm in the same boat mate it's one of the hardest things to master. What has improved my cueing is the importance of the pause at the backswing to give your brain more time and understanding. Also the pause at the front stroke.

[Chappy5]

My coach swears by the pause on the back swing before delivering the Cue and tells me off all the time for forgetting to do it! You just need to get into the groove of it so to speak and practice practice practice. Sometimes i just rush to much and then forget all about the pause which more often than not leads to a miss pot.

To help with cueing straighter, long Blue balls of it's spot with White on the baulk line is great for this into any bottom corner pocket, if you can constantly pot 8/10 or there abouts you know you are doing o.k. After you pot close to 80% or more with the Blue off its spot try to do the exact same thing but hit the Cue ball top side resulting in top spin and follow the Cue ball into the exact same pocket after the Blue. This is very hard and you need to strike the Cue ball perfectly with a very straight action or else the cue ball will veer to the left or right as you are not cueing straight enough. 5/10 is excellent going for this routine and well worth practicing.

[itsnoteasy]

Chin and chest contact, chest keeps it straight, chin on the cue keeps the head down and still, which eliminates movement.
Also getting the head online, otherwise you are cueing across it even if it's ever so slightly, this is what I have found in my game, probably diferent for everyone.

[j6uk]

10 min practice on the baulk line. cue along the line like you would do in real time play, do a couple of feathers and accelerate. watch the cue come back straight pause and flick your eyes back along the line like you would do to the ob, when you've completed the stroke look to see if the tip is bang on the line. stand and repeat
you'll also notice how often you'll feel off balance but with some more work that too will improve
you might wanna try looking at the cue coming back in a straight line when your actually in play, this is something that also might be a game changer for you
enjoy

[devilronnie]

Agreed with itsnoteasy

Additionally, don't grip the cue too tight, no power is needed when striking the cue ball. Cue through the ball!

Chin and chest contact, chest keeps it straight, chin on the cue keeps the head down and still, which eliminates movement.
Also getting the head online, otherwise you are cueing across it even if it's ever so slightly, this is what I have found in my game, probably diferent for everyone.

[renniwevarb]

Good reminder for myself is "body to be still when delivering the cue". This ensures that the cue is pushed through straight, when chin and chest contact is there.

With every contact in place, but when you move during delivery, all goes down the drain.

[hotpot]

10 min practice on the baulk line. cue along the line like you would do in real time play, do a couple of feathers and accelerate. watch the cue come back straight pause and flick your eyes back along the line like you would do to the ob, when you've completed the stroke look to see if the tip is bang on the line. stand and repeat
you'll also notice how often you'll feel off balance but with some more work that too will improve
you might wanna try looking at the cue coming back in a straight line when your actually in play, this is something that also might be a game changer for you
enjoy

Sorry to disagree J but i think cueing across the baulk line or in a matchbox etc is totaly different than hitting a ball where there is much more emphasis on the shot especially where power is required , i watched a video of Terry playing a plain ball pot and the thing that struck me was how much he grimaced on the shot , take the object ball away and i bet he would have remained completely still right throughout the shot , i think this is the case with a lot of players . Just cueing along a line or even hitting the cue ball alone is not the same as hitting a ball . Not knocking it as a practice aid but hitting a ball is totally different .

[Matt-10ant]

Thanks everyone for all the advice.

[itsnoteasy]

Sorry to disagree J but i think cueing across the baulk line or in a matchbox etc is totaly different than hitting a ball where there is much more emphasis on the shot especially where power is required , i watched a video of Terry playing a plain ball pot and the thing that struck me was how much he grimaced on the shot , take the object ball away and i bet he would have remained completely still right throughout the shot , i think this is the case with a lot of players . Just cueing along a line or even hitting the cue ball alone is not the same as hitting a ball . Not knocking it as a practice aid but hitting a ball is totally different .

Just to sit on the fence and get the odd splinter, I agree with both J6 and Hotpot.
I know what your saying Hotpot about the mental change that takes place when you place a ball in front of you, it's like golf ,your practice swings are always perfect ,then you address the ball and it all tenses up and that smooth swing is lost.
In defence of cueing along the baulk line ,not something I do, but I can see how just repetition of something ,correctly, has to be of benefit and it's easier to repeat it without the pressure of hitting the ball,I don't think its a routine to replicate a shot but it will let you feel what it's like to deliver a cue straight, you will see if the cue comes back straight and feel where your hand ends up, how still you are, in the shoulder ,head, hip area, if you are comfortable at the end, there is a lot of information you can take in, then you can play some shots and see if you can match the way you felt while practicing, agreed the secret is being able to transfer your practice action to a real shot and that isn't easy, but it's what we are all after isn't it? I have found half the battle in this game is being able to cue relaxed, when you want power that's when everything should be at its most relaxed(I'm probably explaining this wrong) tension and grimacing is a killer, I feel we try and fight the cue instead of just letting it do its work, it knows what it's doing lol, it is a straight object, it wants to come through straight, but we like to wrestle it into submission

[vmax4steve]

You can do the baulk line thingy, you can cue through a matchbox, you can practise long straight blues in to the corner pockets and your cue action can be as straight as a die, but on those angled pots that we all need to to leave ourselves in order to break build there is something that makes all that sraight cueing practise irrelevant.

Taking your eye off the object ball.

Straight cueing practise is fine, everything is all in line, cue ball, object ball, pocket and you can look at almost any point along that line and your cue will stay on that line, but on an angled shot there are options open to your subconscious, and when your eye flicks to one of these options, even for only a split second, when lining up the shot and delivering the cue, then the cue will not come through straight.

Practise potting every angle and keep your eyes on the object ball, straight shot practise doesn't guarantee straight cueing.

[Leo]

straight shot practise doesn't guarantee straight cueing

I've always stood by this and can't argue with that. So many different aspects to take into consideration

[Chappy5]

You can do the baulk line thingy, you can cue through a matchbox, you can practise long straight blues in to the corner pockets and your cue action can be as straight as a die, but on those angled pots that we all need to to leave ourselves in order to break build there is something that makes all that sraight cueing practise irrelevant.

Taking your eye off the object ball.

Straight cueing practise is fine, everything is all in line, cue ball, object ball, pocket and you can look at almost any point along that line and your cue will stay on that line, but on an angled shot there are options open to your subconscious, and when your eye flicks to one of these options, even for only a split second, when lining up the shot and delivering the cue, then the cue will not come through straight.

Practise potting every angle and keep your eyes on the object ball, straight shot practise doesn't guarantee straight cueing.

I agree.

Good points and well said.

There are just so many factors to consider and you have to practice everything 100x over than do it all again! lol

If you cannot Pot straight balls though with confidence the angled shots will be near impossible for most players to hit consistently.

[j6uk]

Sorry to disagree J but i think cueing across the baulk line or in a matchbox etc is totaly different than hitting a ball where there is much more emphasis on the shot especially where power is required , i watched a video of Terry playing a plain ball pot and the thing that struck me was how much he grimaced on the shot , take the object ball away and i bet he would have remained completely still right throughout the shot , i think this is the case with a lot of players . Just cueing along a line or even hitting the cue ball alone is not the same as hitting a ball . Not knocking it as a practice aid but hitting a ball is totally different .

you would never have written this post if you'd of practiced the baulk line and the matchbox. doing a monster face and whilst moving on the shot is another issue and has nothing to do with training to be a cueist. though if you'd have done the training necessary those problems wouldn't exist in your game
your confusing cueing straight with timing