Erect posture

[vapros]

In many posed pictures, especially of the older players who might have played in an earlier era, it appears that they are preparing to make a shot while standing upright, or very nearly so. How many of them actually played from this stance? From above, one gets a better perspective of the whole table and the pattern of the balls, yet today's top players are mostly down low, as near to the cue as they can get.

For one thing, can you still swing from the elbow when standing up? I would like to see some comments on this topic.

[Bob Reynolds]

I have been playing for over 35 years. The old man who tought me the basics played while standing upright, only leaning over as needed to get the cue over the table. I have also seen video footage of Willie Masconie shooting and it looks like he too is not bent over to far. I think it is from the old days when strait pool & eight ball ruled.

On a side note, I shoot a lot of one handed and this requires me to stand more upright. I can see the path of the cue ball and the way I was tought to shoot, the follow through on the stroke takes your aim from the cue ball to the object ball, pointing the tip of the cue at the point of impact on the object ball. Sounds a little odd I know, but I learned from BUCKTOOTH and he was at one time perhaps in the top ten one-handed shooters in the country. He also stood more upright than the players of today.

Of course at my age the old prostrate kicks in and you don't have much bending over available. Just kidding!

[Pelican]

Since my back surgery I have had to shoot more erect because of the brace and the fact that with all the rods and screws I can't bend my lumbar. It sure is hard to get used too.

Pel

[Tom Wirth]

For me, it depends on the shot. I like to get down low enough to clearly see both the cue ball and the object ball without having to use peripheral vision.
The more distance between cue & object ball, the more I need to get low on the shot.