Most
professionals who have written instructional books have
assumed that the grip is
not very important. Why is this?
Probably
because they haven't experienced any problems themselves.
Their talent for the game makes the grip come naturally
to them.
Readers have usually been advised to pick up the cue as
though they were going to hit someone over the head with
it, but when it comes to striking a ball I think there is
more to it than that, particularly for players who haven't
got that natural talent. We are looking for a grip which
will enable a player to send the cue along in a straight
line, up to and well through the cue ball.
Since top professionals have so many different grips, it
would be wrong to suggest which is right and which is wrong,
so I am not going to 
advocate
one grip for all players. It will be the right grip if it
feels correct for you.
Experiment
with several until you find one that suits you.
It could be that your wrist is turned out to the right,
which naturally puts the grip more into the fingertips,
(Fig 1 >>>>).
Alternatively, you could have the wrist dead straight and
in line with the forearm (Figure 2).
Or finally, with the elbow jutting outwards like six times
former world champion Ray Reardon's, which takes the grip
more into the palm of the 
hand
(Figure 3).
Reardon was thought to be very unorthodox in this respect,
but that didn't prevent him from winning six world titles.
Could he possibly have done this if his grip had prevented
him cueing along a straight line? Is it wrong when a world
champion, the best player in the world at the time, has
a grip with the wrist cocked slightly to the right? To my
mind it isn't.
Steve Davis, won his first two world titles with a grip
which many coaches say is wrong, although he has now altered
his grip. Ray Reardon won six world titles with another
grip, which again according to many snooker coaches is wrong.
What
should be noted also is how you grip your cue influences,
in some cases, where your elbow is. You just cannot say
that one is right and 
another
wrong. Remember that the grip (your back hand) is what you
play snooker with, and it should not be dismissed in just
a few lines, as in most coaching books.
The grip is all about feeling the cue, and that feeling
has got to come into your game when you are playing different
types of shots.
In Figure 4, the grip is one where the 'V' formed by the
thumb and forefinger is not in contact with the cue. In
Figure 5, the 'V' is closed up with a much firmer grip and
is in contact with the cue. Billiards players of old had
a looser grip because power play seldom came into the game.
Even
Joe Davis had to close up his 'V' to get a firmer grip for
snooker, which requires far more accuracy in terms of hitting
the object ball on the necessary spot.
Cliff Thorburn would be the first to admit that power play
is not his forte because of his loose grip, but Jimmy White
and John Parrott, both have a grip which is suited for power
shots.
What
matters in snooker is straight cueing and getting through
the cue ball. The right grip allows you to do this and while
there are a number of things to look at and experiment with,
they all achieve the same objective - sending the cue along
in a straight line. If a player feels more comfortable with
his hand in a particular position, is able to send the cue
along a straight line, can get well through the cue ball,
and with that grip is capable of playing all the shots needed,
quite simply that is the correct grip for him.
The
most common mistake is to grip the cue too tightly (Figure
6) and, worst of all, grip it even tighter when a power
shot is required. Clearly, it is very important to keep
your cue as horizontal as you can, but if you grip the cue
tightly with all the fingers when your cue arm is vertical
from wrist to elbow, you will automatically lift the butt
end above the horizontal on your back-swing.
This produces a scooping motion instead of a horizontal
strike and causes some of the spectacular miscues which
are seen when a player attempting a deep screw shot, instead
jumps the cue ball over the object ball. When a professional
does this it is almost invariably because tension has caused
him to grip the cue more tightly than he knows he should.
Many coaching books say that the grip of the fingers should
be just strong enough to pick up the cue from the table,
but I would stress the 
importance
of easing the grip of the second and third fingers as the
cue swings back - which most professionals do instinctively.
If you have a four-finger grip and keep the back finger
on the cue on the back-swing, it is bound to lift the cue
above the horizontal. I would emphasize that the back fingers
should be relaxed on the back-swing. You can even lift the
little finger off the cue altogether (Figure 7), as I do
not believe that the little finger plays any significant
part in the shot itself .
Most
books advocate nipping the cue on impact with the cue ball
but, once again, if the grip is too slack - if the cue is
not in contact with the 'V' - this could lead to a snatch
on hitting the ball. With such a snatch, is it likely that
you will be able to keep the cue on a straight line as it
goes through the ball?
If, as I advocate, you have the cue flush with the 'V',
you will feel the cue tighten against the 'V' on the back-swing.
By taking the cue back with the first finger and thumb -
at the same time relaxing the second and third fingers -
you will automatically cock the wrist, (Figure 8). Now there
is no need to pinch the cue on impact. I
repeat: the thumb and first finger
should remain constant throughout the stroke.
