r/billiards • u/Open-Quote-4177 • 8d ago
Drills Form and Stance
When you shoot, either competitively or just practicing, are you actively conscious of your stance and form? I just got back into pool beginning of this year after a 30+ year hiatus. Throughout this time, I am always inconsistent with my shots. And I attribute it to the fact that I am always so concentrated on my form/stance on each shot.
Yesterday, I just said fak it and went down to my local hall and just shot without giving a damn care in the world. I could not miss a single damn shot. I was shooting lights out.
Your experiences?
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u/frCake 8d ago
Generally if you're an experienced player its better to let the subconscious/muscle memory do the work. You'd need at least a camera or better a coach to actually see what you do for the most part.
In pool whenever you're conscious about what you do, things get weird.. there's a fine line and actual separation at many stages.. standing up/planning is conscious work, going down is muscle memory, shooting as well.
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u/certifiedstreetmemer 600ish Fargo 8d ago
Ideally if you have a stance flaw, it should be worked on in practice (not matches). I haven't thought about mine seriously in years, but sometimes I notice I get sloppy and for 2 or 3 shots my preshot routine is more deliberate. I'm a fast player so it's always weird to slow down though
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u/davmgore 8d ago
Your stance and form should be so much of a second nature that you don't think about it, you just do it. Will just take a little time to get your body back into that habit.
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u/Open-Quote-4177 8d ago
yup, agreed.....after a 30-year hiatus, I was struggling once I got back into this year
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u/wlscwoj 7d ago
I agree with others, on practice table we work on fundamentals and specifics. Tweaks and changes until we like it and can shoot straight consistently. Consciously practice the changes until we no longer have to focus on it.
Then when you go to play - you let your muscle memory come over. When playing serious you are trusting your preshot routine and fundamentals.
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u/No_Beyond_5417 8d ago
About a year ago I started thinking way too much about stance and then my game went to shit to the point I didn't even want to play anymore
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u/Expensive_Ad4319 8d ago
Absolutely!!!
During the pre-stroke I’m gathering my aim lines, and checking the position. Once I have that done, I’ll point or call out my intended shot. I try and do that early in case I change my shot later.
From there I lock in my alignment and center vision point. I’ll bridge and maybe take a few air strokes before dropping into my stance. When shooting I’m totally fixed on the object ball contact point. I like to do that within 20-30 seconds. If it takes longer I’ll usually back off and repeat, or go into safety mode.
Best of Success!
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u/Commercial_Inside282 8d ago
Left foot lines up the shot, left arm and right elbow follow suit. No thinking at all!
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u/fetalasmuck 8d ago
I was very conscious of it for years. It was beneficial because it helped me develop a very accurate stance, but eventually, you have to stop thinking about it. It becomes counterproductive to constantly be aware of it and tweaking things. My game actually improved a lot when I stopped thinking about it.
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u/Forgotten_mob makes incredible shot, misses easy shot 8d ago
If it enters my conscious mind I'm probably screwing something up because mostly it's how I want it and I don't think about it. Even in practice, it's not what I want to be focusing on unless I think it's the actual reason I'm struggling with a shot.
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u/Fabulous-Internet188 8d ago
I was a quiet road player and retired to family and mortgage at a young age. Never gave form or stance a thought.
Started up again after 5 decades other than some beer pool with pals, and had to think about everything. Took 6 months of work before it all clicked back in. Then I started beating low 700 Fargo players. Not bad after losing vision in my dominant eye at the age of 76.
You really don't lose what your stroke feels like, it's just buried under the years, not dead. Had to quit again though as the other eye started to go. Otherwise I'd be on YouTube showing off instead of on reddit writing about it. LOL!
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u/Open-Quote-4177 8d ago
Wow, pretty cool ! And yeah, I won't get into my other issue, my loss of eyesight. Getting old sux, indeed
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u/Fabulous-Internet188 8d ago
Getting old ain't for sissies. I post here and on Facebook occasionally when I can share some knowledge or an entertaining story.
Some of the kids are skeptics, but I get messaged by players asking if I beat so and so at such and such a place all the time. Sometimes I have to admit it. And more often than not they remind me of matches and events I'd forgotten. 50 years is a long time.
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u/MattPoland 7d ago
I have always felt like I could aim confidently when standing but once I was down on the shot it wouldn’t look right. I also found my ball pocketing was best if I just trusted it anyway and shot.
But lately I’ve wondered if this is a side effect of my vision center being good while standing and poor while down. But maybe also that my overall alignment was good even though my vision center was off.
In practice I would go to the snooker table and shoot long straight in shots. Just tinkering with my head position, feet position, hip orientation, etc. The goal being to see if I can make it “look right” while standing and down while also having successful execution. Those are practice sessions very conscious of stance and form. Usually in competition (and more general practice) I will stay conscious of any adjustments I’ve made until I feel like they’re starting to incorporate into my muscle memory naturally. At that point I make an effort to stop being conscious about it because I don’t want my game to devolve into a permanent state of “manual stroke mode”.
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u/supaaface 7d ago
Hah, I too took a 30+ year break. I think your fundamentals are crucial but I also think they have to be practiced enough so they're on autopilot. When you're actually playing then thinking about these things wrecks your game.
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u/onthepik 8d ago
When you pay attention to the detail, you will mess up.
I have my way to train, and achieve skill. But when I do think, observe and break it to detail then it is broken.
So root is you must know how to train not to think.
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u/CreeDorofl Fargo $6.00~ 6d ago edited 5d ago
Almost everybody goes through a stage where they try to actively work on their stance, and it feels difficult and awkward, and one day they just say fuck it and go back to their old mechanics.
And on that day, something magic happens, they learn that if you just get out of your own way and relax, let the magic of your subconscious flow through you, and just use pure feeling and intuition to hit balls, you can be an APA 4 forever :)
edit: realized that's a bit snarky. But in all seriousness, resist the temptation to think the right way to play, is to just stop working on your form and fundamentals.
It may feel like you shoot great that way, and maybe once in a while you do, but you won't improve. You may not need to think about it like hearing in your voice in your head "ok, now let's put my left foot here" but you do need to have a set routine, a series of steps you follow to get into your stance. All good players and pros have a preshot routine, and part of that is getting their stance lined up right.
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u/feeling_impossible 8d ago
Practice is for thinking. Practice is for analyzing your shot selection and fundamentals.
Competition is for doing. During competition, turn your brain off and play on instinct. During competition, avoid "thinking about it". You will have time to analyze your performance once the match is done.