The Cue Stroke

Here’s a small article on the stroke for billiards not an actual medical stroke. Although when we deliver a bad stroke I think most of us feel like where having one or a heart attack!

The forward stroke or delivery is the fundamental ingredients of a top-class players and I hope with this article and video will show what many do wrong. The ideal stroke is straight and a smooth delivery and the next stage of it is almost as important as the whole stroke.

The delivery of the stroke must get past the cue ball at least 4 inches and longer for power strokes, screws or drawbacks 6 inches plus.

When getting down to the shot after you have decided the cue ball tip placement height and the speed needed and follow through, you should not be cueing at all.

The most important thing here in all cue sports is to look from the furthest point when down. This is from the shaft then through the tip and the cue ball to the point of aim on the object ball.

The reason to not be cueing is a simple one and missed by many coaches.

If your cueing as you’re getting down and at the backswing, then you’ve now lost the follow through past the cue ball. The only way for a good long delivery to happen now is standing up or moving the shoulder more.

When your happy the aim is correct, you can then and only then start your cue action. Unlike some  other players, I believe you need to find a rhythm and in practice I would count the strokes 1-2-3 comeback pause and a smooth follow through. When you do this method, and have a smooth follow through you’ll hear the sweat sound of the object ball hitting the back of the cue ball and the added acceleration with less effort from the cue ball.

Like golfers have a pattern where you see them shuffling billiard players need the same thing a constant set up routine which helps aid in improvements and feeling what went wrong when it does.

With the Stroke the feathers or movement of the cue need to be ultra-smooth and at the same speed for the strokes which is practicing a smooth action. The final pull back needs to be slow not quickly with a pause at the back before a straight smooth acceleration. A good way to practice this is along the baulk line on a snooker table or pool table.

Many player’s strokes will alter when playing competition and what needs to happen is a trick to your brain pretending that there’s only one ball on at a time. This helps eliminate the pressure off and helps maintain a smooth stroke. If you do this you just decide on the position needed and then focus on one ball at a time.

Hope from this article you have learned something for your game to improve more.