Let me demonstrate what I mean via a few simple questions. The answers will be telling!
1. How elevated is your shooting hand before you bend over the table to shoot? Is it hip high, navel high, or low near your mid-thigh, during a session when you are playing well?
2. When you are playing your best game, where is your chin in relation to the cue stick? Is it centered over the stick or off to one side? How elevated above the stick is it? (Have a friend take measurements, this is difficult to determine for yourself, even while facing a mirror)
3. Most good players bring one foot a step in front of the other as I illustrate. Do you take a baby step or a very long step? Is your step forward akin to your natural stride while walking?
4. Are you offsetting your body from your shooting arm as I recommend? Or are you bent down straight over the cue in space to play well?
5. What other stance specifications should you record and refer to so you can play better tomorrow than you do today?
I challenge you to search for a photo of a top pro like Efren Reyes or Karen Corr taken ten years ago and one taken last month. Make sure each photo is for a similar stroke at the table. You should be able to overlay the photos, finding them identical in most respects!
The pros find and detail the table stance that works best for them and stick to it. When their game sags, they return to this basic.
