I agree with Nick Varner about HIS misses.
He did not say that about the amateurs.
You have an amateur who's been playing for a short while.
He does not need an esoteric aiming system.
He can stroke consistently straight through the aiming line/ghost ball center, he will be on his way to a much better player.
He certainly does not need to learn a system you have spent some decade+ already and STILL do not have a good grasp of. Something so complicated it needs multiple dvd's and books and lessons to learn.
Great aiming system? The greatest one should be the simplest one.
Joey may I ask you what qualifies you to speak for all amateurs? You're a great cue maker by all accounts. I make cases. Both of us are amateur players. Both of us have had the privilege of being around a lot of pro players over the years.
But of the two of us I think I am the one who has delved heavily into the aiming systems and you have simply been a critic as far as I can tell.
I don't even know if you actually play much pool. Sure you're around it and you have seen tons of pool but how much do you REALLY know about aiming systems outside of these forums?
How much do you play? Do you gamble? How many people have you had real life on-the-table discussions/sessions with going over aiming systems? Can you tell me how to do basic CTE, ProOne, 90/90, S.A.M., Samba, Shishkebab, Quarters, Mullen Method, Shane Van Boening's shaft aiming system, Shadows/Lights, Double-The-Distance, Aiming by The Numbers or any other "named" system other than Ghost Ball?
You keep using the word esoteric as some sort of denigration as if to say that any of these methods are so complicated that only a very few people will understand them. But in fact if any of them had been developed and brought into the game 50 years ago then you would likely be touting them over anything new developed today.
Once again, AIMING is what happens first. When any person picks up a cue for the first time and with no instruction whatsoever the first thing they do is TRY to aim that pool cue at the cue ball in the direction of the object ball.
STROKE is what happens second. AFTER the aiming is done the player strokes.
Both aspects of the game are important. One of them is not MORE important than the other. Both of them must be mastered to become a consistent player.
In the past 20 years since Hal Houle came on the scene and introduced us all to objective aiming through perception of fixed references the "genre" of aiming systems has matured into robust methods with clear instructions. They produce shot lines that are accurate and precise when used properly. Just as a PROPER stroke produces the cueball reaction desired.
I don't understand why people, like you, want to make this an either/or proposition. It's not. Learning how to aim with a higher degree of precision does not mean one should neglect the stroke. Nor is is true that one just automatically learns to aim by virtue of developing a great stroke. Nor is it that one can't learn to do both at the same time. In fact it's pretty much a prerequisite to have a decently straight stroke when learning to aim properly otherwise one does not know if misses are the result of bad aiming or bad stroking.
I don't understand why anyone who loves pool, especially someone who builds and sells pool cues, would do anything to prevent people from trying anything that could possibly help them get better. And when it comes to aiming systems there is ample evidence by very very very good players that they help with accuracy and consistency. And ample testimonials from amateurs who resisted the ongoing campaigns of negativity and criticism and tried and learned aiming systems who have reported great improvement in their ball pocketing accuracy.
So why do you persist in trying so hard to convince people not to learn aiming systems? Why not live and let live?