The GRIP

[bigbro6060]

Guys, do you grip the cue with the thumb and the first finger only, or the thumb and the first two fingers ?

or does anyone use any more fingers ?

i grip with thumb and first two fingers, with the other two fingers just there for the cue to rest on

Efren i think uses only the thumb and first finger

[Cueless Joey]

Index finger and thumb only, here.
Let the cue do the talking.

[Popcorn]

Thumb and the third and forth fingers and a lite touch of the fifth. My first finger does not even contact the cue. It seems to help keep the wrist going straight. I know it helps my shot making. When I used to use the first two fingers, I would sometimes twist the cue. Once I changed my grip my game improved. It is nice when you can find something that will automatically fix a bad habit, mine was turning my wrist. Played with this grip for 30 years or more now.

[PQQLK9]

Thumb and SECOND finger...somewhat snuggled in the vee (no daylight)seems to help me from turning my wrist out. [img]/ccboard/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

[Fred Agnir]

<blockquote><font class="small">Quote bigbro6060:</font><hr> Guys, do you grip the cue with the thumb and the first finger only, or the thumb and the first two fingers ?<hr /></blockquote>

I'm mainly a three-finger-carry type of guy, using the thumb, middle, and ring fingers. I normally do not use my forefinger on my grip.

Fred

[Barbara]

I now grip the cue with my thumb and the last three fingers - the middle, ring and maybe the pinkie.

The thumb and forefinger are considered your "directional" fingers. And they can inadvertantly twist the cue on a shot. The middle, ring and pinkie fingers cannot do this. Try and twist the cue with these three fingers as opposed to the other two yourself and see what happens.

Barbara

[Rod]

I use the thumb, index and ring finger. I hold the cue very light. I've seen and heard of several players using the grip you describe Fred. If one can get use to it it sounds good to me. I've played that way several times in practice. I keep getting the feeling I'm going to toss the cue across the table.

[bluewolf]

<blockquote><font class="small">Quote Barbara:</font><hr> I now grip the cue with my thumb and the last three fingers - the middle, ring and maybe the pinkie.

The thumb and forefinger are considered your "directional" fingers. And they can inadvertantly twist the cue on a shot. The middle, ring and pinkie fingers cannot do this. Try and twist the cue with these three fingers as opposed to the other two yourself and see what happens.

Barbara <hr /></blockquote>

Now this is an idea worth trying!!!! When I was trying to get the tenseness outta my grip, I was resting the cue on the first two fingers. This gave me a great follow through but it did feel like the cue was going to fly outta my hand. Pretty kool feeling actually. I usually use thumb lightly and first two but drop a finger if I am gripping too light.

But I like you idea, Barbara, and will try it.

bw

<blockquote><font class="small">Quote bigbro6060:</font><hr> Guys, do you grip the cue with the thumb and the first finger only, or the thumb and the first two fingers ?

or does anyone use any more fingers ?

i grip with thumb and first two fingers, with the other two fingers just there for the cue to rest on

Efren i think uses only the thumb and first finger <hr /></blockquote>

giving credit where it is due, dick...ooops, i mean ####leonard suggested several years ago, on this board, that i try moving the grip to the back of the hand. he actually suggested i try hanging it on the pinkey only just to see what would happen.

it took a ton of work and the help of a bca master instructor (fran) but i did get the thumb and forefinger completely out of the game. made a huge overall improvement. there are still some specialty shots which require different grips but for the most part, moving the grip to the back of the hand was the right thing to do.

dan

[Barbara]

Yep!! ####leonard said the very same so many years ago and right when I needed the help so much, Fran comes home from meeting Stretch and ####leonard, but it was Linda Haywood-Shea that originally told me how to grip a break cue - thumb and middle finger because the forefinger and the thumb are the steering fingers.

But Fran reinforced this with ####leonard and that's when I changed my grip. And it also reduces the elbow drop, to boot!!

Barbara