Different Strokes . . .

I had a conversation today at the pool hall with a friend about my stroke. He’d been watching me practice for a few minutes and then asked me why I didn’t pause before I took my final stroke at the ball. I explained my logic and we talked for a few minutes. Neither of us was taking the position that we were right, we were just talking about the pros and cons of several different approaches, as we understood them.

It occurred to me that this would make a great discussion topic for the blog. I’ll explain my reasoning for my approach, lay out a few of the comments my friend made and then open it up to all of you to carry the discussion forward. Remember, I do not hold myself up as an expert, just a student of the game. I often have strong opinions about things but do my best to base them on evidence, and I also do my best to maintain an open mind. I’ll be happy to change my mind if you make a better case.

I don’t usually pause at any time during the process from the time I first draw the cue back until I make my final thrust toward and through the cue ball.

I do my best (not always succeeding) to have a fluid stroke. I don’t usually pause at any time during the process from the time I first draw the cue back until I make my final thrust toward and through the cue ball. I try to keep it smooth and continuous.

Sometimes, if I’m not satisfied that everything is right, I’ll stop and adjust my stance or arm position, etc, and then start again. This is in contrast to many (including, according to my friend most pros, and I don’t dispute him though I’m not personally sure) who either pause just before the last backswing, or pause at the end of the last backswing, just before the last forward thrust.

Basically I have three reasons for my approach. The first two are related to what I learned from The Inner Game of Tennis; to keep my self #1 out of the physical side of the game and to focus on what my body is doing rather than telling it what to do. I find that the more fluid and constantly moving I make my warm-up and final stroke, the easier it is to concentrate on the feel of my muscles making the action. And the more I can focus on this kinesthetic sense, the easier it is to quiet my verbal side.

I’ve tried pausing, but I’ve found that it requires a conscious effort to do, and this is antithetical to quieting the analytical side of my mind.

I’ve tried pausing, but I’ve found that it requires a conscious effort to do, and this is antithetical to quieting the analytical side of my mind. Even before I tell myself to pause, I’m telling myself “don’t forget to pause before the last stroke” and that completely kills any chance I have of really getting into the physical side of the stroke, the very place I want to be.

Third, I also want to incorporate what I learned from the University of Florida research I summarized in Quiet Eye and Deep Focus. When I am focusing strongly on my target point for the several seconds leading up to and through the moment when I pull the trigger, my potting rate is substantially better than it is when I’m not so strongly focused. I find it all too easy to lose this important concentration, and having to think about pausing at some specific point in my stroke throws my concentration all out of whack.

I am only able to concentrate on ONE thing at a time (I don’t think I’m alone here, but who knows), so anything that takes the tiniest bit of attention makes me lose my focus. It isn’t just pausing, either. For a while I thought it might be good to exhale just before I fired, to quiet my body that little bit more. It didn’t work for me for the same reason that pausing doesn’t. It made me conscious of and verbal about what I was doing, and I lost focus.

Nearly all of the top pros have a distinct pause in their preshot routine.

My friend’s main point was that nearly all of the top pros have a distinct pause in their preshot routine, and although that doesn’t make it right, it does lend a lot of weight to the argument. His comeback to my talk of loss of focus was that for him the pause has become so ingrained that he doesn’t have to think about it. While I don’t dispute that it doesn’t cause him any loss in concentration, I bet that it did for quite awhile until it became so ingrained he no longer has to consciously think about it.

Let’s take this blog to the next level and get a serious conversation going on this. What are your views as to the merits/disadvantages of having a distinct pause in your preshot routine? I look forward to hearing from you.

13 Responses to “Different Strokes . . .”

  1. Johnny OhmNo Gravatar - February 5th, 2009

    I use the pause. I use to overhit the balls and I rattled the pocket a lot and I think it was because I used a continuous stroke. A continuous stroke engages the mucles in the arm which equals tension in the arm which can cause the tip of the cue to move when you don’t want it to. The pause allows a return to a state of rest, of no tension, before addressing the cueball with the final stroke.

    The pause also allows me to clear my mind and to have a singular focus. At that moment I’m focused on delivering the cue straight and executing the plan and path of the shot I envisioned.

    I feel like the pause has helped but, yes, it did take a while to get use to it. I took a step backwards while incorporating the pause into my game but haven’t taken two steps foward once I have become comfortable with it.

    That’s my 2 cents.

  2. Pool MinnowNo Gravatar - February 7th, 2009

    I learned fairly early on to incorporate a pause, but its true that it needs to become part of your natural rhythm or I think it can actually increase tension in the stroke. When I learned to pause, it was a critical part to having a consistent rhythm to my shooting sequence. After the pause, I would refocus on the contact point, and then stroke through. Instead of interfering with the quiet eye technique, it actually helped it. (I think I’ve read that’s the reason Allison Fisher pauses)

    Unfortunately, overtime, as I worked on shots that were more difficult to aim, I spent more time checking my alignment, looking back and forth between object ball and cue ball while I was down on a shot. My shooting rhythm became less consistent, and unknowingly started eliminating the pause. Now, when I catch myself not doing the pause, and I try to consciously do it in a match, the results are disastrous. So, I try to be very careful to never force it in a game, but am working on reconditioning my shooting sequence in practice….but its not easy.

  3. John BiddleNo Gravatar - February 11th, 2009

    I come at this a little differently, I guess. I find there to be very little tension in my stroking if I keep it smooth and steady, and use the several stoking motions to gauge the strength of my stroke while I focus on the target. If I pause, then I have a hard time stroking smoothly and with the right power for the shot. I’ve noticed that my miscues nearly always happen when for some reason something has gone wrong with my rhythm. That is, I try to do all my warm ups smoothly and steadily but do not always succeed, and when I don’t is when I have the most problems.

    For example, If I get the stroking to where I’m satisfied (I don’t do a set number) then I can close my eyes before my last back stroke and shoot with almost the same success rate to what I have with my eyes open. Can you guys do that? Close your eyes just before the last back swing, pause and then shoot with success?

  4. Johnny OhmNo Gravatar - February 12th, 2009

    The purpose of the pause, in my humble opinion, is more about the mental part of the game rather than the physical part. It’s why, I feel, that the “closing your eyes and being able to make the ball” example isn’t really relevant in this discussion.

    You indicated that you feel there is very little tension in your practice strokes when smooth and steady…would that be true if, let’s say, it was hill-hill for the championship and you have a long, tough, cut in shot for the match? With, say, everyone in the pool room watching?

    A situation like this is where I feel the pause is most useful – it’s a moment to gather yourself, to use “Quiet Eye” and take dead aim, to steady the arm and nerves and to deliver the cue to the cueball as straight and smooth as possible.

    This is could quite possibly be why so many pros use the pause as they play under those conditions all the time.

    Just a thought.

  5. John BiddleNo Gravatar - February 12th, 2009

    Well, I’m not going to claim that in your example I wouldn’t feel the pressure, maybe even succumb to it. The non-pause stroke, though, is what helps me (to the extent I’m able) to block out everything else, focus on the rhythm and feel of the stroke and continue that rhythm while I switch my focus for the last time to the object ball before pulling the trigger.

    For me, to pause I have to tell myself to pause. That interrupts the feel of the stroke that I’d like to stop thinking about and just do. I do consciously focus on the object ball as the penultimate thing, so I’m no longer thinking about the stroking, but about the target. The very last thing is the conscious act of “firing” that is of making the hit. It just seems simpler if this is different from the practice strokes only by the last follow through distance. If I have to initiate a stroke from a dead stop, it’s more complicated, and much more likely to cause me to take my concentration off the object ball.

    The pause obviously works for many of the worlds top players. I’m not suggesting that there’s anything wrong with it. I’m only trying to explain why not pausing can also be very good.

  6. Johnny OhmNo Gravatar - February 13th, 2009

    I switched to the pause because I felt that, under pressure, I couldn’t keep my stroke steady and smooth and ended up rattle a lot of pockets. I would “tense up” or “speed up” on final delivery and that would be enough to cause a miss. I found it very hard to maintain a continuous perfectly straight stroke trying to get that feeling right before pulling the trigger over pausing, and focusing on deliver one perfectly straight stroke to the target. (It does, as Pool Minnow stated, work very well with the Quiet Eye concept.)

    I found it complicated in the beginning to make the switch but I have become use to the pause and it’s now just part of my routine. I believe it took me a full month to become fully adjusted to it and to do it without thought. (Results will vary depending on how many hours you practice a week.)

    I can only say that you should try it, really try it, and see if it helps. If, after a month, you still do not like it you can always switch back.

  7. Jim WalshNo Gravatar - February 14th, 2009

    I returned to playing pool about 1 yr ago after a 40 yr layoff. For all practical purposes I had to relearn what came easy eons ago. For a while it was a Little difficult because the mind and memory was happy in their retirement.

    As would be predicted my game had gone so far south it did not seem to want to be reactivated. But I persisted, and as time pasted the grove started to become familiar and comfortable. I was having problems with shots that should not have been a problem and I began to look for a solution.
    I started to do the research and became acquainted with the discussions revolving around the “pause at the back stroke”.

    I tried it and dropped it, and tried it and dropped etc cetra. Somewhere along the line I realized that I was making more shots with the pause, and I got serious about it. Litle by little it became a part of my back stroke and I do not even thing about it.

    When I start missing shots, I know right where to look for the problem. That 2-3 seconds makes a difference in my overall stroke and follow. And it also gives my tired old eyes (70+) a chance to check my aim. It has become a second nature part of my stroke.

    You know what they say…..pause and smell the roses. It will be good for you. And your game.

    Another nation heard from.

  8. Chris O'DonnellNo Gravatar - February 18th, 2009

    I tend to agree with John Biddle. A protracted pause of any kind that disrupts the natural and steady rhythm of the stroke may help somehow with the mental game, but I prefer to rely soley on the tempo of my stroke when I am under pressure. I find that anything that alters that tempo is a problem for most of my students as well.

    I truly believe that the biggest problem most people have keeping a steady stroke from the practice stroke to the shot stroke is focusing too much on a target point, which tends to make players punch at the ball with a stroke that is a bit harder than the practice strokes they have been taking. It is the change in tempo that causes most of the problems in pocketing shots.

    That is why I consider the “protracted pause” (or “hesitation” as Byrnes refers to it) to be a real problem for anyone who doesn’t spend 6-10 hours a day refining it. I’m sure it provides some visual assistance, but I prefer to rely on the targeting that I do when I line up the shot and take my stance. And keeping a good rhythm and tempo can be crucial when you don’t get a chance to play for a week or so. Try that pause when you haven’t played for a while and I bet it isn’t so easy to keep a good rhythm with it.

    But, as always in this game, each to his own.

  9. Roy ZornowNo Gravatar - August 21st, 2009

    It seems to me that pausing risks altering one’s pendulum line. There is a stabilizing gyroscopic effect from swinging an object rather than holding it and dropping/pushing. Golfers don’t pause – they don’t want to employ antagonistic muscles to stop a motion.

    I do better when my aiming and adjusting are done during warm-up strokes, not while performing the actual stroke itself. So hat’s off to the people who pause, because to me it’s harder.

  10. goettlicherNo Gravatar - September 14th, 2009

    SET on the cue ball.
    PAUSE is the transition from back to forth.
    FINISH is the end result of your stroke.

  11. Ben ConleyNo Gravatar - September 23rd, 2009

    I don’t pause, mainly because I bought a course from Jimmy Reid and he said don’t stop.. fast and free, three dead aim strokes and let the cue continue to the cue ball, don’t shoot, just let it flow… I tried the pause after I heard Allison Fisher say that it was the best tip she ever received, it works okay but I like the continuous motion much better… It is probably whatever you like the best, either will work. It is just a matter of practice.

  12. Jack ShepherdNo Gravatar - October 21st, 2009

    Re the Ultimate Coach, which I like very much – I think you are missing the most important point. As I read your review, I think you say it reveals if ones arm is correctly vertically aligned. Assuming it is not, the device goes one step further – it means that the FEET are not positioned correctly. It then follows that the correction is made by adjusting the Feet, not the arm. This is the key. Nothing could be more important.

  13. Bill AsherNo Gravatar - November 8th, 2009

    As in the waggle of the golf swing your constant motion is important to get a rythym and make the stroke without starting from a frozen postition (the pause)…Hogan beleived the “waggle” loosened him us and prepared him for the full swing…and so with your stroke that is in constant motion before the hit…good article…

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