If I've given this kind of advice freely once, I've given it many times… but it really works! - Matt Sherman, Guide to Pool & Billiards at About.com
"Hi Matt, I've read a lot of your articles at About.com and I think they are really informative and funny. There are so many details to learn about the fundamentals of how to shoot pool and you describe them very well. Your thoughts on the mental game and strategies are well thought out and apply to many situations.
I honestly believe a lot of people read your articles and come out better players because of them. I know I did for sure. I play in some tournaments over here in Sweden and I enjoy playing even more now than before.
I think I win more racks by not rushing things when I shoot pool, and perhaps by being a little more cautious and tactical at times. Thank you for sharing your experience with the world.
Again, I do read your articles but I know it's hard to apply the knowledge in practice. I recorded a short video (not in the best quality I know) and I would really appreciate if you could give me some pointers.
I've had huge problems with the dread "elbow drop" in the past but I think I've got the hang of the pendulum stroke now. Obviously I'm just shooting stop shots here online and if the shot needed a little juice I would probably drop my elbow a lot more.
Regards, Alexander H."
And there you have it. This is a set of serious flaws that will take some work to undo!
I'm trying to understand why your hand hits your chest most every time you shoot pool for a long session or even most every stroke. How long is your bridge distance (the distance between the loop of your hand where the cue stick comes through and the cue ball itself)?
Regardless of the fact it's hard to see your bridge length on a small scope video, if a relaxed, balanced forward stroke is supposed to be about equal in length to the backstroke length, your hand should never be hitting your chest, ever!
"Thanks Matt, I'll seriously consider that. I got your instructions printed out so I could just bring them to the pool hall for ease of learning. Again, I think this whole moving problem stems from my old follow through with the elbow going way down requiring even more body movement.
But I read somewhere that the hand is supposed to hit the chest on the follow through and then stop just about there. What happens to my hand is more like jamming it into the chest if I try that, so it might be that dropping the elbow slightly to avoid the chest works well.
Might it also be how I try to elongate and exaggerate each follow through? You haven't seen me playing any strokes so it's probably hard for you to tell but if I do stroke my elbow drops significantly, I would say." -- Alex
[Having reviewed new videos of Alex's shots] …Yes, there is still indeed some head movement when you shoot pool, and even some of what I call body english, both of which can be a part of a pro's movement. But you move so soon in the stroke as I can see on the videos you've sent, and so far!
I think you ought to seriously consider moving to the 1-2-3 stance recommend on this website to best shoot pool. You can still get way the heck down low, being taller in stature to begin with as you are (like me, I'm 6'2"and often feel pool tables were created by little children to stand at for hours at a time), by bringing your knees down through a deep squat that comes from your thighs. Your arm will be better balanced and you'll be able to shoot better with less arm movement.
"Hi Matt, not doing too well with the head staying down... might be a problem of discipline, I don't know? Think I should reset my stance or just try harder?
What I noticed was that my hand tends to hit my chest more on the follow through when I try to keep my head down and that requires moving my body somewhat." -- Alex
Well, things are looking far better overall now. I'm proud of you and I think our readers can learn from your experience. Your stroke looks better, and you look more in control, more relaxed.
Your stroke effort is also far gentler now, with most of the momentum coming downwards and into/through the cue ball--and not into jumping up from each shot!
Ready to go next level? I want to see you staying down until BOTH the cue ball and the object ball have stopped moving/have reached their final resting places. Especially as you wrote "I lift my head a little" but I can see you standing up on almost every shot! Keep the head and ENTIRE body down until the cue ball stops moving.
Try that and see--you should get even better results when you shoot pool. And so say I to everyone reading this conversation!
