Shooting over a ball

[Spud]

I just got back from a tournament, and I'm pissed.
Twice in the same match in singles competion, I had to bridge and shoot over a ball, at an OB, that would otherwise be a fairly easy shot. I missed both.
If I'ld made either 1 I'ld still be alive in the winners bracket.
It's a shot I've always struggled with.
I spent 3 hours today working on it with very little progress.
I assume its a stroke problem, because the eye dont lie. Right?? Or not, because I swear to God, my eye is lying to me.
Is there a trick to this shot, or an easy fix.
I would be grateful for any HELP!!!

[McChen]

any time you have to elevate your cue like that the shot becomes exponentially more difficult. if the OB is far away, then it's a pretty low percentage shot. you must hit the CB in the absolute dead center for it to work. if you are even slightly off, you will miss the shot, because the cue ball will curve due to the elevation of the cue. hitting it harder can reduce the masse effect a little. this difficulty can also be compounded by having to make an elevated bridge, which some people can't make steady. and also you have to stand and stroke differently and may not have a good aiming view. even if you have great technique, you still have to make a very, very precise hit. if the OB is a diamond or two away it can be makeable, if it's farther away than that, i would think of playing something else. i don't know the situations you were in, but perhaps you should have not taken the shot on and played something else?

[tsuguy]

Use a bridge... Even if the shot is easily reached. You can keep your line of sight the same, there's no unsteady hand helping you with a "shaky bridge" and if you practice with a bridge you are standing far enough back to see the reaction of the cueball on an uncentered hit. After you can make it with a brige consitantly then try practicing with all the other variables included.

If you don't like the bridge idea, try it with a jumpstick... a slightly off centered hit with a phenolic tip won't create enough spin to see any serve in the cue ball, it's also lighter so it might be easier to stroke in an awkward position...

If those don't work... well... you better get real good at kickin'!!!

[skor]

Because of the engle and the stance, you don't really see the line of the shot as if you are in a normal stance, you should prctice this shot and watch where the OB go when you shoot it just like you have so far and correct the angle of the shot.
Another thing is that because of the stance, your stroke may not be straight so you don't hit the cue ball where you want to, use a stripe ball for a cue ball or the pro cup (measle) cue ball if you have it, and see if there is some unintentional spin snuck in there...

In this type of shot you should only concentrate on pocketing the ball, don't even think about controling the CB, not for now anyway!

what you should do is once you're in position, take practice strokes and while doing that look at your shaft, make sure that it moves in a straight line, take as many practice strokes as you need untill your stroke is straight then focus on the point on the CB you want to hit and start the whole routine of moving your eyes from the CB to the OB, on the final stroke, keep your eyes on the OB and let the cue "slide" into the CB, don't try to force it harder or to slow it down, just let it slide.

That shoud do the trick.... 8O

[tsuguy]

I know what Skor is saying here... I never had any problems ( well too much anyway ) shooting over another ball, but when it comes to a CB frozen on a rail I was aiming wrong... I used a "measles" ball to make me realize it wasn't CB swerve... I just couldn't aim a shot on the rail the same as others.

[pool808]

i used to struggle shooting over balls too. an easy fixed that someone told me was try to keep you elbow on the table if the shot allows it. you can also grip the felt with tip of your fingers and pull the felt towards you and it will give you a more stable bridge. this work well when i tried it but it can take a little time to get used to it. let me know if this works cause it worked wonders with me.

[Spud]

While I certainly throw a bad stroke in once a while because of the elevated butt, for the most part the stroke isn't to bad. I kinda think the main problem is not getting centered over the cue. I was consistently missing to the right.
A conscious effort to make sure I'm centered over the cue, and to keep the stroke nice and smooth, which is what I took slide to mean, has helped alot.
Thanks to all.