[Patrick Johnson]

Originally Posted by Scott Lee

PJ...One disadvantage is if you have a issue with tightening up on higher speed shots, the cue can come right off your bridge hand finishing up in the air...never good!

So using an open bridge can help reveal the tightening up problem and a closed bridge can mask it. One of the reasons I like the open bridge is that it promotes good cueing.

...the cue could possibly 'bounce' up off your bridge hand a little, perhaps causing a slight execution error.

What execution error is caused by after-contact "bounce"?

pj
chgo

[Scott Lee]

Originally Posted by Patrick Johnson

So using an open bridge can help reveal the tightening up problem and a closed bridge can mask it. One of the reasons I like the open bridge is that it promotes good cueing. I agree!


What execution error is caused by after-contact "bounce"?

pj
chgo

You can miss where you're aiming by a millimeter or more with a tight grip (sometimes a LOT more than a millimeter).

Scott Lee
2019 PBIA Instructor of the Year
Director, SPF National Pool School Tour

[Patrick Johnson]

Originally Posted by FranCrimi

I played with an open bridge for about a year, and that included playing in pro tournaments. I did that because I was playing with Ray Schuler's constant taper which is a taper used by carom players who usually have shorter bridge lengths so they didn't feel the sharp taper going through their fingers with a closed bridge like I did with my longer bridge length. I came to the conclusion that after a year, for me, it was a disadvantage to play 99 percent of shots with a V bridge in pool. It's different in snooker with the smaller,lighter balls and cue. Anyway, I reverted back to a closed bridge and changed my shaft.

My shaft has a straight conical taper from a 10mm tip to a normal size joint, so pretty steep. But even my closed bridge is very loose, so I never feel it either way - I only use a closed bridge when bridging room is limited (I can make it smaller than my open bridge).

pj
chgo

[AndRun]

Originally Posted by Charles Hartfield

When I practice the mofudat drill, I usually put a slight amount of right english on the cue ball. Are there some common stroke flaws that cause this? Thank you.

Assuming a person has the perfect stroke, off-aim can probably be caused by the difference in sight dominance. This is exaggerated even more when both eyes are not centered over the cue (i.e. tilted head, or side-way shooting).
The pool hall junkies often told me to adjust by compensating the aim when shooting toward the right direction. For me, the problem is not noticeable when shooting cut shots. But quite distinct on straight or almost straight shots.

On that eye-sight dominance, I learned of this from shooting a gun. Connect both indexes and thumbs together, forming a loop. And pick a distant object. Put the object in the center of the loop and look at it with both eyes. Then close one eye. Does the object disappear (or move significantly?) Try it with the other eye. The vision where the object doesn't move much is your dominant sight.