Improving Your Carom Shot
Improving Your Carom Shot
Learn to develop a proper stance, bridge, stroke, grip and alignment. They are the basic building blocks that are necessary to proceed to the next level. Practice them diligently.
Be patient and put a lot of effort on each fundamental skill. Remember that each basic mechanical skill presented in this section will serve as the foundation of your game. The stronger your foundation, the better prepared you will become at learning the next stage of your journey to mastery of this sport.
At Carom Cue Company , we believe consistency is the key ! .
Consistency = ( Proper Grip + Proper Stance + Proper Aiming + Proper Bridging )
Proper Grip of the Cue
The Pool Cue Grip technique that you employ can be one of the most important parts of your billiard game. An improper pool cue grip can cause your otherwise proper shot to play out terribly wrong. There are two main things that one should keep in mind when thinking about their pool cue grip; The angle and straightness of your back arm, and the looseness of your actual hand around the butt of the cue.
Your pool cue grip should be loose and relaxed, and should remain that way through your entire stroke. At first, you'll have to concentrate on not tightening it up, as tightening is a natural reflex. This is especially true if you are nervous or under stress when shooting. Use two to three fingers to hold your cue stick from the outside while using your thumb as support from the inside to keep your cue from falling out of your grip. This will make sure that you have full control of your cue while not having to grip it too tightly.
Keeping a loose grip will allow your cue to move through the stroke in one fluid motion. If your pool cue grip is too tight, it will cause the cue to jerk from its intended path during the stroke, causing the trajectory of the cue ball to differ from that which you intended.
The second aspect of the pool cue grip that you should think about is the angle of your back arm. Your wrist and lower arm should always be in a straight line up from the floor to the ceiling. (180 degrees) Your lower wrist or palm should point straight downward toward the floor and not inward (greater than 180 degrees) or outward. (less than 180 degrees) If your wrist is anything but aligned at the proper 180 degrees, your stroke is likely to jerk, since the natural motion of your arm, when in this position, will not be fluid and straight.
Finally, it is important to remember that once you get your pool cue grip established, you shouldn't need to think about it at each shot. It should just be right there like a natural thing that you have been doing for years. This will come only with practice.
Where to Grip the Pool Cue
The answer to this question will indeed be different for everyone and will also depend on the length of cue you play with. The key is to find the pool cue balance point so that you know where to grip it.
To find the balance point, take your index finger and balance the cue stick on it so that it teeters on its own. Once it is balanced, take a mental note of the point on the cue stick where your finger was holding it and use this as your balance point or reference point. In general, but depending on how tall you are, you should grip the cue at least six inches back from the balance point towards butt end of the cue stick. Shorter players should place their grip hand slightly closer to the balance point we found earlier, while taller players should put their gripping hand a greater distance away from the balance point.
Billiard Stance
Every player's billiard stance will vary, however, there are a few things that everyone can keep in mind while trying to perfect this aspect of their game. These include head alignment, balance, and the angle and position of your shooting arm.
Where possible, a good billiard stance includes the alignment of the shooter's head with the aim line of their cue. Align the cue with the center of your head (via your nose) or slightly off-center biased toward your dominant eye. You should also perform a quick check to ensure that your head is perpendicular to the floor, as opposed to tilted either to the left or to the right. You may not always be able to pick up on this on your own, so you can either have a buddy observe you, or you could videotape yourself during a practice session.
To achieve a proper stroke, you will also need to perfect your body's balance. Try to ensure that you have minimal body movement during your shot, with the exception of your swinging arm. Proper balance will help you attain low body movement. Some players prefer a wider stance, while distributing their weight evenly on each leg. Also, you should lead with the same foot as your arm used to bridge the cue. You should also avoid any unnatural stances, as they will likely throw your shot angle either left or right depending on the way your body moves to return to its comfortable position.
When shooting, there should be ample room for your stroke to occur without hitting the side of your torso. Generally, your body should be 25 - 35 degrees away from your cue. Your upper shooting arm should begin at a perfect 90 degree angle (perpendicular) with the table's bed, as opposed to being angled to your left or right. The arm should remain this way for the duration of the stroke. During the stroke, avoid movement from side to side so as to ensure a straight shot. Finally, you should ensure that your cue runs fairly level with the table's bed. You may have to bend at the waist and lower your upper body for this to occur.
Some billiard players also talk about rigidity of the legs during the shot. Although this is discussed often, and there are proponents of both sides, there is a general rule of thumb that any rigidity whatsoever in shooting is bad. As always, you may have to stick with whatever feels right when it comes to your billiard stance.
Finding Your Dominant Eye
To perfect your pool shot aiming skills, you will need to figure out which one of your eyes is the dominant one. It is thought that 96% of the world's population has a dominant eye. This dominance can seriously change the way you aim your billiard shots.
When you process an image, your brain complies the images from each eye. It combines the information to produce a third image. This third image is actually what affects your aim, and motor skills during the billiard shot. When you are aiming your shot and looking down the cue, your dominant eye takes over, and is responsible for the alignment that you choose when you finally release the shot. Because of this, the dominant eye should be the one looking directly down the cue and aiming the shot and the weaker eye should be looking to the periphery or the pocket.
You can find your dominant eye by holding your arms straight out in front of you and fully extended. (Paralell to the ground.) Connect your index fingers to a point toward the ceiling, and then join your thumbs at the bottom to form a triangle. with both eyes open, focus on a distant but stationary object as normal. While remaining focused on that object, slowly bring the triangle closer to your face. As it is moving closer, you will notice that your dominant eye will begin to take over focus, and hone in on the object, and your hands will naturally move toward that eye. Whichever eye your triangle is aligned with is your dominant eye. At first when you do this, you may only notice a slight movement of your triangle to one eye. If you are unsure, try forcing it to the other one while remaining focused on the distant object. Notice how awkward it feels?
Use this knowledge for finding your dominant eye for billiards. Then you can ensure that the dominant eye is always placed over your cue when shooting.
The Bridge
The bridge hand is crucial to your success. Players at all levels of experience follow the basic advice we give here, whether they choose an open bridge style or a closed bridge style.
The only purpose of the bridge hand is to provide a stable path for the cue stick to travel while striking the cue ball. Do not lean on it to suppot your body--let your stance carry your weight.
Your hand, and not just your fingers, be on the table surface or rail. Resting your fingertips on the table to form a bridge is unstable and should be avoided. Not only is a raised bridge unstable, but it also requires you to elevate the back end of your cue; contact with the cue ball is always best when your cue is as level to the table as possible.
There are times when you can't avoid using just your fingers, like when you must shoot over a ball and have to raise your bridge above it. These type of shots are much harder to execute and reinforces the need to keep your hand on the table. Practice these shots to find the most stable position of your fingers. Sometimes it is more stable with your finger tips spread out as far as possible. At other times you may want your fingers tight together in a group. In every shot, you want your bridge hand as stable as it can possibly be. Should I use an open bridge or a closed bridge? If you are shooting a shot with extreme english or shooting harder than usual, you will want to use a closed bridge. In most other cases, just choose whichever is more comfortable. If both feel the same, keep in mind that an open bridge allows you to see the cue ball better.
The bottom line: create the most stable bridge you can, while keeping your cue as level to the table as possible.
The Rail Nurse
In the game of straight rail, the object of the game is to hit both of the object balls with your cue ball (one player has the white cue ball, the other player has the yellow cue ball). Unlike 3-cushion billiards, you do not have to hit any rails.
The animation, on the left, shows the most important shot in straight rail, the rail nurse. The cueball hits both object balls, knocking one of them into the rail, resulting in the same position, a few inches down the rail. With the use of the rail nurse, a player can run many points. Professionals have run thousands of points.
In reality, a player seldom achieves a perfect rail nurse. Each position may vary. And, when he/she gets out of shape, it may take several shots to get back to the above basic position. Dealing with the corners often takes some creativity, as well. A player can usually maneuver around a corner, or go back the way he/she came, after one or two shots.
When the balls are far apart, the basic task is to get them close together, to gather the balls. Once the balls have been gathered, the basic task is to achieve a rail nurse.
Source: Jimloy's Billiard's/Pool Page.
The Chuck Nurse
In the game of straight rail, the object of the game is to hit both of the object balls with your cue ball (one player has the white cue ball, the other player has the yellow cue ball). Unlike 3-cushion billiards, you do not have to hit any rails. See my animations of the important shots, The Rail Nurse and The Pass Nurse.
The animation, on the left, shows another important shot in straight rail, the chuck nurse. The first object ball is frozen to the rail. The cue ball is hit very very softly, double kisses the first object ball (not moving it), and just barely nudges the second object ball (not moving it), and ending with the same shot. With the use of the chuck nurse, a player can run many points. In 1912, William A. Spinks ran 1010 with this shot alone, and quit with the balls still in the diagrammed position. Because of runs like this, the rules of balkline billiards were adjusted to eliminate this shot. I won't go into the rule changes here.
The player can move the first object ball to the left or right, adjusting its position, with the use of side English.
Source: Jimloy's Billiard's/Pool Page.
The Pass Nurse
In the game of straight rail, the object of the game is to hit both of the object balls with your cue ball (one player has the white cue ball, the other player has the yellow cue ball). Unlike 3-cushion billiards, you do not have to hit any rails. See my animation of the important shot, The Rail Nurse.
The animation, on the left, shows another important shot in straight rail, the pass nurse. The cueball hits both object balls very softly, hardly moving either ball, and ending with the same shot from the other side. With the use of the pass nurse, a player can run many points, even dozens of points.
This kind of position comes up fairly frequently. It takes a great deal of practice to develop a soft enough shot to run 15 or 20 points in this situation.
Similar shots can result in long runs, when one (the anchor nurse) or both (Rudolphe's nurse) object balls are frozen to a rail, or are very near a rail (pendulum cannon). In these cases, the rail may prevent the balls from separating.
Source: Jimloy's Billiard's/Pool Page.
Questions? Have more tips for us to add? Email us at khoa@caromcue.com to let us know your helpful hints to Carom.
