Badsnookerplayer wrote:rekoons wrote:Errr don't know really, i'm inclined to say yes...? gonna check this next time.
But how does the stance width relate to up and down head movement? isn't it more torso-shoulder-neck stuff?
Not a definite cure but if your feet are not spread well enough then the movement of your cue-arm can affect the 'less than solid' base that your stance is built upon.
Just a thought.
Otherwise ensure your bridge arm is fully extended.All hypothesising really but those things can affect me.
Of course - overanalysing my stance is more detrimental than my bad stance!
Good luck
None other than the great Joe Davis was a proponent of a fully extended bridge arm. Watching modern players, a fully extended arm is rather a rarity today. I believe this change over time has two primary reasons: 1) Average stature of players (and people in general) is a bit taller than 50 years ago. Shorter players will tend to stretch the arm a bit further because they have to. Taller players can have a crook in their elbow yet the head is still in a good position. and 2) Older style cue action did tend to be a shorter backswing, not the long backswing of the modern game which requires the bridge hand further back, thus the crook in the elbow. My own opinion only (no evidence to support it) but personally I believe this change in playing style with the longer backswing is mainly to do with the modern, very fine, and fast cloth. Equipment from many decades ago, the cloth was much thicker and slower, and the balls were heavier. Positional play was less accurate, and balls would drift offline just due to the heavy cloth. Cueing straight and on center was more critical, applying side spins was more oriented toward English Billiards with its losing hazards, not the Snooker so much.
So Joe said, stretch your arm out straight. His biggest reasoning for this was to keep the head at the correct distance far enough back from the cue ball. If the head is too close, the line cannot be sighted properly and accuracy suffers. Imagine sighting down a rifle or a shotgun, like Dan with his clay pigeons. Now, if you try the same thing, but with a pistol instead, do you hold your eye up right to the handle of the weapon in the same way as the rifle? No, your head must be well back, arm fully extended so that your brain can properly analyze the line of aim.
Rekoons, I think your head bobbing up and down may be exactly that.....your subconscious trying to get your head into the correct position because your current body posture may be promoting your head being too close to the cue ball. You say your arm being straight feels unnatural and uncomfortable. But most things are that way.....quite a bit of talk about the "pause" on this thread. When I first incorporated the pause into my game, it felt really strange for maybe two weeks or so, probably 12 or 16 hours on table. It continued to feel odd for another month although it did seem helpful. And for the next month or two, I would just notice it once in a while. Then, since that first two or three months, I never even think about it; it is just absolutely natural, "bedded in" as Dan quipped, and it was the greatest change I ever made. So the point is, even if it feels odd for some time, give it at least a couple weeks physical time (or at least 6 or 8 hours table time if you don't play too often) to allow it to start to become comfortable. Best if you try this out during practice first, but if you must incorporate the change during matches, just don't wager what you can't afford to lose. Progress often starts with a step back before a few leaps and bounds forward.
On the other hand, if you give this change that fair amount of time, work your way through the discomfort, but it hasn't been useful to actually potting more balls, then you will have to keep looking.