See Part one here.
Stance part 2.
In this article we will cover more about stance and how it relates to your shooting technique.
In order to easily and constantly hit the object ball our stance should be stable—balanced. If we had four legs it would much easier. 😀
Under unfortunate circumstances, nature gave us only two legs and we must learn to stand beside the cue with stability. Maybe you noticed that with some beginners stance is in one point—they close their legs, bend their knees and crouch with the cue swing from side to side. That stance in one point is unstable and exhausting.
Also you must have seen a self-proclaimed star standing like a swordsman: back leg bent and front leg in line with the cue with the foot pointing in the direction of the cue. That’s also a wrong stance because players swing from left to right. Or maybe you have seen some horseback stance with legs placed at the 90 degrees from the cue and the only thing that’s stopping you from falling flat on your face is the hand that makes the bridge.
I assume that you have seen all kinds of stances and I hope none of these is your “killer” stance. Now that we have analyzed the mistakes lets go and analyze the proper stance. I assume that because of this you are reading this article. How to take the proper stance for billiards? As we stressed out earlier we stand beside the cue so that the cue is a above the foot of the back leg, in line with the thumb and the little finger connecting it to the foot, so 45 degrees.
In order that stance wouldn’t be lined and have wideness that will give it stability, with your front leg step forward and in side in length of your hip width from the direction of the cue which is in the shot line, so that when you put the left arm (bridge arm) on the table it forms together with your legs a triangle which is a stabile formation, like a chair with three legs.
Remember the following: The front arm, which together with your legs forms a triangle, is not the part of the stance because it shouldn’t take the weight of the body or balance the body. You must stand stable on your feet, so if you should lift your bridge arm from the table, you don’t fall down or left or right. The front arm stabilizes the formation of the triangle but we don’t stand on it. It has a very important role in forming a bridge and thus it should not be related to stance.
Hopefully by the next article you will adjust your foot position and find your balance so we can continue with the next topic.
In the next article we will discuss more about comfort of the stance.
Photo: Boris Vidakovic/1O6ez10.com Diagram: Easy Pool Tutor Editor: Dana Gornall