My strongest advice to analyze your stroke, is to get a partner… have them look at the 3 pivot points of your stroke. By this, I mean your shoulder, elbow and wrist. Think of your arm as a pendulum, if you flex the muscles in the top half of your arm and keep the forearm relaxed, let your forearm swing back and forth…your arm will naturally go in a straight line. So often I see players pull their wrist in towards their body or push it out.

When you address the cue ball, point your front foot towards your shot, the back foot should be about shoulder width apart and pointed 45 degrees out from your front foot. This will give you a balanced and give you steady footing as well keeping you comfortable. Now, a big key is your stance, keep your back foot beneath the cue ball. (directly behind) Your shoulder should be in line with your foot. Most advanced players already know this but sometimes still forget to do so.

Now, your shoulder, elbow and wrist should in a direct line with your cue stick. If your wrist is pulled in or out, have your partner correct it until your muscles memorize that stroke. NOTE make sure your wrist is NOT cocked in or out, keep it straight, but let it flex back and forth. This is why a partner is good to have around. When I use a closed bridge, my index finger and thumb create a “V” and I use that as a guide to keep my stick in a straight line in front part of the stroke. This will help take out any wobble you may have in your stroke and keep you from missing your point of contact on the cue ball.

A good way to test your stroke is to use the line that the felt and the wood make as they meet the rail, stroke back and forth on that line. Keep your cue in a straight line so you don’t see the line. Your cue covers it up in the backwards and forwards motion. A good stroke will consist of 5 – 8 inches between the cue ball and your bridge hand.

Stack 2 pieces of chalk with the top piece facing your cue. An older, used piece is what I prefer because it has the hole where the chalk has been used so I can push my tip into the chalk. The goal is to push your tip into the chalk without touching it. Keep your partner around to make sure you are set up correctly. Use a slow smooth stroke so your arm can memorize the stroke. I won’t lie, it will burn and your arm will hurt after a while, but it is a very good technique to improve your stroke.

An alternative to that is to use a striped ball, place it about 2 – 3 feet away from the pocket with a stripe straight up and down and shoot a soft shot into the pocket and watch the ball as it rolls. If the striped wobbles then you know you are not hitting center band your stroke is not straight. A Jim Rempe training ball is good for this as well. The Monk always uses a Jim Rempe training ball.

Once your stroke is straight, or even straighter than it was, you will find yourself pocketing a lot more balls.

You can email Mike if you have any further questions regarding his thoughts. Mike has been a big help to all the masters in the program. Mike Moon ,

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