Expert: Bill Newsted - 2/13/2007

Question
Thanks for a outstanding answer,Im not joking,I had other advice befor but this is already working right now!Follow up question is Im 5'9" tall 127 pownds and play 9 ball on 7' tables and I think on some shots I miss is because I am too low aiming at the shot, any advice is appreciated,Thanks Larry
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The text above is a follow-up to ...

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Hello,thanks for taking the time for my important question I have been told many times that I raise my head or my body up on tough shots and causes me to miss. Now someone said I jump up while breaking hard I have many Accu stats tapes & alot of good players lift while breaking? any help would will be greatly appreciated, thanks Larry
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Hello Larry,

Thanks for your question.

I don't thinking standing up causes you to miss the shot. I believe it's because you're in the process of missing the shot that the body stands up prematurely. This is a great topic for every serious player - it's the Zen of pool.

Many people have the bad habit of standing up to quickly in a reflex kind of way. And you're right, many great players rise up and forward during their break. Pool's greatest, Willie Mosconi, used to rise slightly on many shots.

But there's a difference between having a slight rise built in to certain strokes and having a reflex that pops you up before you've completed your stroke. Popping up before your stroke is complete is one of the worst habits to develop. It often happens as a result of the body's trying to make an emergency adjustment to a shot that isn't quite lined up but you're mind wants to shoot it anyway. Herein lies the issue and one of the great mysteries of pool.

You'll probably agree that pool is not purely a physical game, nor is it purely a mental game. There's a subconscious part where the mind and body act together in a perfectly natural and coordinated way. Compare it to riding a bicycle. You can't think about the balance and all the movements of bicycling fast enough to do it successfully. You just have to get used to the feeling of it and let it happen (Look Mom, no hands).

In pool there is that moment after all of our rational thinking and planning is done when we need to turn over responsibility for delivering a stroke to the mind/body unit that knows the feeling of it.

Now here's the crux of the issue. Over time we want to make friends with that subconscious mind/body stroker, the one that really knows how to deliver the perfect stroke without our rational thinking and interference. The time to do that is just as we strike the ball and just afterwards. You stay down and take careful account of how it felt and try to let your conscious mind learn about the subconscious role the body plays. Over time you learn to relax lots of muscles before you stroke, loosen your belly, let out your breath in hopes of conjuring forth that subconscious performing player and, perhaps most importantly, you consciously stay down and listen to the body as it tells you without words what it just experienced. Let the body know you appreciate it by paying attention to all it's feedback, become friends with it, learn to love it. This may be pools greatest secret.

Below are some paragraphs I wrote responding to a similar question. I hope they are helpful to you.

Stay down, enjoy the finish,

Bill


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Of course on one hand you're right. You could do a cartwheel after the ball has been struck and it wouldn't make any difference. But the thing is, you want to stay down so the muscles of your body don't learn to respond as if stroking and standing up are two parts of one action. You want to train your body to learn them as two distinct and separate actions, otherwise you'll have some of your "stand up muscles" going into action before you've completed your stroke.

You'll probably agree that it's best to be relaxed during your stroke. Softer muscles deliver the beautiful fluid stroke - even on the break shot. Many players consciously relax various parts of the body as part of preparing to stroke, especially in the stomach area where stress and anxiety often show up first. Other than what keeps you from falling to the floor everything should be pretty much calm when your tip glides through the cue ball.

So, we stay down as a method of letting the muscles that make you stand up stay calm. How long to stay down may depend a bit from player to player but at least a full second to keep the actions separate (unless you have to get out of the way of moving balls of course).

During your 1 or 2 second "stay down time", you want to pay attention to what just happened. Your breath, your stance, your eyes, the way your back arm moved - the feeling of it all. Especially when you deliver your best stroke, stop and spend time with it. How it felt in your arm, your stance, your breath. You want to burn that image into your pool brain. Later, when you're shooting a pressure shot you'll be able to evoke your best stroke because of all the seconds you've spent making friends with how it feels. The same players who often jump up after they hit the ball are the ones that choke in tough spots - they don't know their stroke, they ignore it.

We say, stay down and "enjoy the finish" of your stroke. You can stand up anytime, but you can only feel a great stroke when you're down on the table.

Answer
Hi Larry,

Glad my comments are useful to you. I do believe they're valuable.

It's hard to say about missing from being too low while aiming without seeing it happen. There are many great players referred to as "chin draggers" that don't have any problems aiming with their face right down on the cue. So, in itself, I don't think of "lowness" as being a problem.

If, however, being low causes other fundamental problems with your ability to stroke that could be an issue. I suggest you check a couple of things. First, make sure your back forearm is basically perpendicular to the floor when it contacts the cue ball and that you have only 6 to 8 inches of stick out in front of your bridge at that point. I've seen many players who play with a longer bridge getting too far behind the shot when they're down low. That is, their forearm really has no place to go without dropping the upper arm.

If your back forearm is vertical at the point of contact with the cue ball and you have a 6-8 inch bridge you should be able to get through the cue ball well enough.

Don't be afraid to shorten the amount of cue stick you have in front of your bridge. 6-8 inches is all you ever need to get a great stroke. Check to make sure your cue is as level to the table as possible too - don't get jacked up in the back or you'll run out of stroke before you hit the ball.

Level cue, forearm vertical, 6-8 inch bridge. You can win a lot of games just with that.

Let me know how you make out,

Bill