Comfort:
You have finally placed your legs beside the cue in a balanced position. It is the time to bend towards the cue and position yourself for a shot.
At this point we encounter some difficulties because you have to be in that “strange” position for some time.
In order to play pool efficiently for five to ten hours, your stance mustn’t get you tired. You have probably noticed, if you bend in both of your knees you will quickly feel pain and you will get tired faster. To avoid this some players spread both legs which is suitable for shorter players, but taller players stress their backs to much in that position and it is very uncomfortable for them. This is why taller players keep their back leg straight and front leg bent in knee.
Photo via Piroshki Photography
Of course there are some exceptions.
Some taller players also bend in the knee of the back leg so the spine doesn’t get to pressured. In that way they can easily bend down with slight inward rotation and also place the hips wide to perfect position of their body next to the cue. Because the front leg is bent, the weight of the body is transferred on the leg muscle called quadriceps femoris and in order to relive it from the pressure we balance our weight 60% on the back leg that’s straight and 40% on the front bent leg.
In order to additionally relive stress off a muscle, we use an inward rotation of the front foot (we approximately rotate the front foot towards the cue ball) and in that way we balance the transfer of pressure from our muscles to bones by locking the joints (knees). So we relieve our muscles from pressure, relying on bones and joints.
We generally try to play pool relying on bones and joints, not on muscles.
In the next article we will finish this stance chapter with closely related pool characteristics. Until then, I wish you all the best!
Photos: Piroshki Photography Editor: Dana Gornall