Advanced Pocket Billiards by |
Don Rose has been an advanced BCA Instructor since the first 12 instructors were chosen. He has been Midwest 3 Cushion Champion as well as Arizona State 14.1 Champion. The writer of numerous instructional articles, Don has been teaching billiards for 29 years and playing the game for over 50 years. Always willing to help anyone who asks, Don is available for group or private lessons. He will answer any instructional questions, anyone might have. E-mail him at donrose@azbilliards.com His archive of columns is available here. |
A gradual well timed release is one of the most important moves in sports. Without the release, you're just another mediocre player.
A proper release insures effortless power. It accelerates spin on the cue ball giving you more draw, follow, etc.
Within this smooth motion is the ultimate feel for distance. Messages of intended speed are sent by the brain - so if you tense up, your release is severely altered. Tension short circuits the brain's message and your "shooting muscles" become confused.
The better releases are complimented by supple wrist, arm, shoulder and back muscles. Remember, you are trying to create a "flow" rather than a "hit".
Everybody has made the error of allowing their wrist to "jam up". This action ends any possibility of an acceptable release, but the arm, hand, and wrist still continue to move forward somewhat and cause the most inaccurate stroke in pool - THE PUSH!
So, any degree you jam up will equal your degree of push. If you can minimize your tightness level to say 20%, your flow should equal 80%. In my opinion, this is the borderline standard to perform at an "acceptable level".
An excellent player truly feels his flow in the upper 90% area, and on many shots he attains true perfection. He is also acutely aware of any competitors shortcomings in this area and stands ready to take advantage.
How many times have you heard "they make it look so easy"? We surely are seeing tempo, timing and "The Flow".
Many players, after jamming up a few times, will then attempt to force a wrist-arm release. Although, this is somewhat better than no release, the tightness level is too firm to be totally effective. However, this method can be used to teach the "physical" move to people who jam up constantly.
Well, things aren't going well for our jammer, so he decides to "make sure he follows thru". But, as logical as this idea seems, he is almost dead certain to create an "elongated push". Why? Because a proper follow thru is not created. It is the result of a release thru a predetermined area (timing).
This timed release can produce various lengths of follow thru as required by different shots.
Thus, on some specialty shots where follow cannot be used (but you still need spin or power), you can release up to, but not past the cue ball. You actually release at the cue ball. A poor concept? No, it is merely an alteration of your timing. Of course, now we use less forearm release, obtaining most of the movement from our wrist. This will limit the length of follow thru but still maintain higher speeds.
There are no "poke strokes" in pool. There are different releases, or "tap strokes" which I will discuss in a later article.