[CCn7]

im in need of help in breaking a bad habit..please suggest some tips or suggestions on how to correct dropping my shoulder

[Billy_Bob]

I always thought it would help if someone watched me for an hour each day and whacked me with a broom every time I did something I shouldn't. I think Willie Hoppe trained in a similar manner.

See an instructor if you can of course.

If you have your own table and can place a hook in the ceiling, do so and tie a short rope to it, then an adustable belt to the rope. The belt hanging down from the ceiling should be located so it holds your arm up like it should be at all times during your stroke.

You can't move your upper arm down while shooting because the belt is holding it in place.

Then practice practice practice. Then without the belt on your arm, have someone watch you with that broom!

Good luck!

[Black-dot]

When Fast Larry was out in Chicago recently, I took a lesson from him. What I asked him to do was to straighten out my stroke, and by golly he did it. He diagnosed my problem and in less than 10 minutes had me rolling the cue ball up and down the table perfectly, straight, no doubt about it. He even had me doing that one handed... He found my flaw and fixed it. And he also told me that on some shots it is NECESSARY to drop the elbow to shoot the shot correctly. The shot he said it was especially important to do this on was on a force follow. He showed me how the BCA teaches stroking the ball, and remember he used to be a BCA certified instructor, and how that method induces some ball skidding before the natural roll and inertia of the cue ball overcomes the skidding. The way to make sure the ball rolls naturally is to drop the elbow so the tip of the cue keeps going forward or a bit up, rolling the ball. In my mind there's no way around this, and after he had me stroking like that my accuracy improved greatly.

He says the pro players drop their elbows, and by golly after I started shooting the way he showed me I run those balls better, and am more accurate in my delivery of the cue ball to the object ball. By the way, it wasn't long before I was shooting a striped ball up and down table, with a strong draw stroke, using his method, and making the cue ball roll perfectly true.

Why not send Fast Larry an email or repost your question in his forum (perhaps you already have and I just haven't seen it yet) and see what he suggests?

Best,

Black-dot

[Billy_Bob]

Well I'll be darned!

I tried dropping my elbow on a shot which required a lot of follow and it worked much better!

Thanks...