Why should I bother “staying down” after a shot?
… so you don’t risk moving during the shot. For more info, see stroke technique advice.
from Andrew Manning:
Staying still helps for a few reasons.
1) If you’re freezing at the finish of the shot, then you’re certainly not jumping or moving during the final stroke, which I think everyone agrees is a bad thing to do.
2) When you freeze at the end of the shot, you can see where your cue finished. If you didn’t stroke straight through the ball, this will be evident in your finish position, and you’ll be able to observe it and use that feedback to improve your stroke.
3) Staying down and continuing to sight down your cue will keep a consistent frame of reference to observe the results of your shot. Your brain can record what the CB and OB do, versus what you wanted them to do, in great detail from this perspective. If you stand up before the shot is done, you have to adjust to looking at the shot from a different angle, and your brain will not be able to calculate what went right/wrong nearly as effectively. Getting the best possible visual feedback is crucial, since this feedback is drawn upon heavily by your subconscious the next time you’re lining up a similar shot.
There may be other benefits as well, but I think those are the most important.
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