The Bridge Hand - Pool Basics | Pool School

In this video we look at the bridge hand in pool and a couple of different pool bridge techniques. We discuss the open bridge and the closed bridge (also known as v bridge and loop bridge), and reasons why the suit British pool and American pool differently. We also looking at bridging over other balls, bridging from the rail and across the rail.

This is part of a series of video I'll be making to cover the fundamentals of pool and key aspects for pool beginners.
The shots are carried out on a 7ft Supreme Winner UK 8 ball table

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Products used in this video

Elkmaster Pro Tips

Super Aramith Pro Cup pool balls (with carry case)

Balls without case

Triangle ProChalk

8 Ball Cue Rack

GoPro HERO8 Camera

#PoolSchool

[Nkos]

My friends have been destroying me at pool all week😭😭. I had to bring in reinforcements

[RadioTom]

I'm from Indiana, but I had the opportunity a few years ago to visit Southampton and play some British pool. My opponent commented on my closed bridge. I hadn't noticed that British players use open bridges before and I had no explanation of why the difference. Thanks for your wonderful and quite obvious answer! Recently, I've switched to an open bridge on many shots and find it has helped my game. I love the more open view of the shot and the ability to get lower on the cue ball. It has helped my accuracy quite a bit! I love your videos!

[johnnywatson]

I appreciate the clear explanations and descriptions of the physics involved. I do feel that most beginner players don't consider the fact that they aren't striking the cue ball accurately and consistently, and instead think they aren't good at hitting the object ball.

[Fearless]

This technique really improved my game and the grip thanks sir👌

[ericmiller]

I’ve been playing pool for over 20 years and this was still really informative for me! I appreciate the quality of video with all the angles and advise too. I feel like I don’t even want to use closed bridge anymore! Going to try to go to an all open bridge game instead of mixed and see how it goes! Great work 👍

[hardician]

Him: ( explaining how to bridge)

Cue ball waiting to be hit : 👁️👄👁️

[rohansopp]

Never been so teased in my life! I really wanted you to hit the ball

[benjismith]

Thanks. I have been needing this video.

[davidlewis]

It's interesting; I'm an American who has only recently started playing pool and trying to get better, yet I naturally prefer the British open bridge hand. Even when playing with an American style cue. I've tried the closed bridge hand and get too much friction on the cue, even when loosening my fingers. I'm still very new to the game and the whole finger raising to adjust the cue idea never occurred to me. I'll have to try it out next time I play. Good video, glad I watched.

[SeekerLabs]

Awesome, fantastic instructions, and I think you covered every question I could have.

[justtalk]

Took me a while to find a video that really gave me a good idea of the different positions and physics involved with different types of shots. This was awesome, thank you!!

[onniroy]

Another excellent concise video. My major weakness is not being able to confidently use any bridge other than the open hand version. So when a ball is fairly near the cushion my bridge is too high as you observed. I know I should just play with the closed position until I get used to it but just feels like there is too much resistance when the cue passes through the closed loop!!

[XBrandonLeeX]

Thank you for the demonstration. I’ve always used an open bridge & got called out on it. I did what was comfortable for me & I was made to think I was doing it wrong. I wanted to whack the ball! I was getting anxiety😆

[mtburton]

Used to play snooker with snooker cues and had massive problems with wrapping my index finger round the cue. Watching this makes sense. Never had rolled my index over my cue on the cushion either come to think of it

[deekshithreddy]

I was waiting for him to hit the ball the whole video

[dermotshaw]

I like the tip with the over bridge for stability. Cheers pal

[dikshitadesai]

thank you, I always used close bridge and then I saw my friends using open bridge. I was confused. This was helpful

[robinnicholas]

Another top video one thing to note is with US pool bridge they tend to use more power then uk pool so it gives more support for the power shots as opposed to open bridging

[onniroy]

My game has been plagued by missing the odd pot when I should have used the closed bridge instead of the open one. After just a few hours of using the closed bridge (when appropriate) my potting has noticeably become more consistent and it actually has started to feel natural. I am now using the closed bridge for the break off (although my table is 8ft) and again there is a noticeable increase in power and a better spread. I would definitely recommend studying this video closely as it is likely to make a significant difference to your game!!

[lolycandoit]

Thank you for this video. I'm new at playing pool but I enjoy it. You showed some great hand techniques which I will be using!!