grip

 Dr. Dave's answers to frequently-asked questions (FAQs),
mostly from the BD CCB and AZB discussion forums

maintained for the book: The Illustrated Principles of Pool and Billiards
and the monthly Billiards Digest "Illustrated Principles" instructional articles

for more information, see Section 2.02 in The Illustrated Principles of Pool and Billiards

effects of light vs. tight grip

Can grip pressure affect the cue ball during tip contact?

I think the short answer is: No. HSV A.34 shows the hand grip during a firm stroke, striking the cue ball at the bottom of the pendulum swing. It is not totally clear from the video, but the hand flexes well after the cue ball is gone, as the hand accelerates the cue after it is slowed by the ball. The cue tip is in contact with the cue ball for such a short period of time (~ 0.001 sec) and the hand flesh is so flexible compared to the cue wood, it cannot have much of an influence during tip contact.

from Spiderman (concerning whether grip tension has any effect):
Not on the cue, it doesn't. But it has a big difference on how you play.

I think it's been both theorized and verified that the impulse force during the brief contact far overshadows anything you can do by accelerating/influencing the cue during contact. There was a long thread on this last week.

On the other hand, from a shooter's perspective, a loose grip encourages you to let the cue travel naturally in line without swoop or wobble, and keeps you from shoving it off-line with a poor stroke. Almost everything will work better with the loose grip, but it isn't because of anything that happens during contact. It's because it makes everything before contact work in better harmony. It helps your "real" stroke follow the exact path of your warm-up strokes rather than being a somewhat-independent event.

If you could keep the cue flowing perfectly in line with a tight grip, it would work just fine, but most people can't do that - they will unintentionally pull it off-line. A tight grip also seems to sometimes manifest itself in a really bad habit where you try to "take something off" your stroke just before contact, and the decelerating cue condition is very prone to missing your intended tip-contact point. People who "take something off" are much more likely to miscue when trying to play the edges of the cueball. Next time you miscue during a low soft draw, ask yourself whether you tried to pull your stroke just before contact. That is far less likely with a loose grip.

There are times when a tight grip is appropriate - for example, a nip draw to avoid a foul - but loose seems best for normal strokes.

For years I've had problems with tight grip and eye control (where I look during warm-up and delivery). I'm still working on both, and the more I work on it the better I shoot.