can't cue straight

[Master Blaster]

That's a good one. A lot of very good players use their second finger as the primary grip, ROS being one of them (he uses 2nd and 3rd finger normally)

Yes, but he has to do elbow drop to make up for this, and develop cue power. Alex used to do the same but really struggled to generate enough spin without wildly using his arm, which then sacrificed accuracy. Second and third finger grip combined with elbow drop is complicating things a lot for most players. Easier to use the ring grip and have loose rear fingers. This leads to power and accuracy ala Trump.

[j6uk]

That's a good one. A lot of very good players use their second finger as the primary grip, ROS being one of them (he uses 2nd and 3rd finger normally)

Yes, but he has to do elbow drop to make up for this, and develop cue power. Alex used to do the same but really struggled to generate enough spin without wildly using his arm, which then sacrificed accuracy. Second and third finger grip combined with elbow drop is complicating things a lot for most players. Easier to use the ring grip and have loose rear fingers. This leads to power and accuracy ala Trump.

nice players dont do grip

[Master Blaster]

nice players dont do grip

If you mean their grip is hardly noticeable and they've got soft hands, I get ya. Otherwise, I haven't got a clue, as everyone has a grip of some sort.

[j6uk]

yeah i hear you blaster. unless a player is hopeless 'an theres many around' im sure you would find with many hours on the green a way of suporting the cue with a repetertive hand configuration, but the so called grip thing always gets me

If you mean their grip is hardly noticeable and they've got soft hands, I get ya. Otherwise, I haven't got a clue, as everyone has a grip of some sort.

[Master Blaster]

yeah i hear you blaster. unless a player is hopeless 'an theres many around' im sure you would find with many hours on the green a way of suporting the cue with a repetertive hand configuration, but the so called grip thing always gets me

Grip is one part of the puzzle of straight cueing. Changing stance, bridge, alignment, etc, many parts to it in reality. But if you can't cue straight and want to cue straight without too much fuss, changing grip is a short-cut method of achieving it.

[j6uk]

Grip is one part of the puzzle of straight cueing. Changing stance, bridge, alignment, etc, many parts to it in reality. But if you can't cue straight and want to cue straight without too much fuss, changing grip is a short-cut method of achieving it.

hows that work?

[Master Blaster]

hows that work?

If you take the cue back and you/a friend notices that you are pulling it out to the right, this suggests too loose a grip. If you pull it in towards the left, too tight a grip. Keeping the ring grip the same but loosening or tightening the back three fingers around the cue can stop the cue going out or in, helping straight delivery on the forward stroke. If you take the cue back straight, you've got a greater chance of delivering it straight and not across the ball. The other way is to keep your grip the same, but open the fingers more or open them less on the take-back, this can also stop the cue going to the left or right.

The way to understand it on the table is to adopt a tighter or looser grip on the rear fingers than you usually use and see what happens. I know you cue very well, so this may seem an odd thing to suggest, but try it and see. Don't change anything else.

[j6uk]

just let the cue do the work, thanks for the expanation blaster

[GeordieDS]

Grip is one part of the puzzle of straight cueing. Changing stance, bridge, alignment, etc, many parts to it in reality. But if you can't cue straight and want to cue straight without too much fuss, changing grip is a short-cut method of achieving it.

I have serious grip issues these days,i used to hold the cue very lightly but somewhere along the way my thumb decided to get on the top of my cue at the end of the delivery causing me to miss simple blacks off the spot, it's driving me round the twist because i have no idea how it's happening.

[j6uk]

as much as its good to hear success from nice players improving its always a welcome chuckle to listen to the cant break through players sharing their frustrations an how their slappin their cue on the head bone on easy shots

[alabadi]

i have had a problem for years pushing the cue from right to left on delivery, i probably still have from time to time when i don't focus enough.

i can tell just by cueng over the baulk line for a few minutes, ask J6UK a nice exercise to do, it will show you if you are cueing straight.
what i have found is if i use my index finger to grip on the follow though this is when the cue will push left, so now i use my second finger, it makes a huge difference, especially on those long straight shots.

[Master Blaster]

I have serious grip issues these days,i used to hold the cue very lightly but somewhere along the way my thumb decided to get on the top of my cue at the end of the delivery causing me to miss simple blacks off the spot, it's driving me round the twist because i have no idea how it's happening.

Feeling for ya. Do you also flick the wrist on the way through to impart spin?

[Master Blaster]

i have had a problem for years pushing the cue from right to left on delivery, i probably still have from time to time when i don't focus enough.

i can tell just by cueng over the baulk line for a few minutes, ask J6UK a nice exercise to do, it will show you if you are cueing straight.
what i have found is if i use my index finger to grip on the follow though this is when the cue will push left, so now i use my second finger, it makes a huge difference, especially on those long straight shots.

Good good, but does this not lead to a power drop on those big spin shots? I'm thinking that the power merchants; Judd, Neil, Smurf are all using ring grip, know what I mean? Alex used an extreme form of what you and Ronnie do, dropping the index finger out of the equation altogether but he lacked power as well, so much, that he used this arm, shoulder and legs to take the shot! lol

I think Parrot went the opposite way and used both the index and second finger to grip the cue, more grip and he had plenty of power if memory serves. I could be wrong though!

[alabadi]

Good good, but does this not lead to a power drop on those big spin shots? I'm thinking that the power merchants; Judd, Neil, Smurf are all using ring grip, know what I mean? Alex used an extreme form of what you and Ronnie do, dropping the index finger out of the equation altogether but he lacked power as well, so much, that he used this arm, shoulder and legs to take the shot! lol

I think Parrot went the opposite way and used both the index and second finger to grip the cue, more grip and he had plenty of power if memory serves. I could be wrong though!

obviously i am not blessed with power as Judd and Robertson are , who is...lol. however i can generate quite a lot of spin. i have had a few videos posted on here potting long blues of the spot from the baulk line and screwing back into the yellow pocket.

i naturally have a an elbow drop , its not as predominant as Ronnie but i do drop it a bit, i find its all about timing, when i get it right i can get loads of action, so i would say it works for me as long as i keep the focus.

[Byrom]

I have serious grip issues these days,i used to hold the cue very lightly but somewhere along the way my thumb decided to get on the top of my cue at the end of the delivery causing me to miss simple blacks off the spot, it's driving me round the twist because i have no idea how it's happening.

Never heard of this on before - kind of a bad nervous twitch this moving the thumb over the cue at the end of delivery - but a cure might be to hold with the first finger first and the thumb behind making a circle then open/loosen the remaining fingers on the back swing - because the first finger is over the thumb it will stop it coming up off the cue-
If this cures it as always with grip issues I recommend getting a natural feel for this quicker by practising it away from the table for example when driving the car hold the steering wheel this way - takes time but is the only way unless you have the luxury of being able to spend 8 hours a day every day on the table.

I also think you have a mental issue you need to get over with regards the fear of missing - not being completely set on the shot in your own mind - Nik Barrow has actually done some interesting work on this subject you might care to read.