"Poolology", Maybe the best $10 ever spent!

ryanshea

Dreamer of dreams
50 line back cuts

I have been practicing the Poolology method this week. I've set out a bunch of donuts on different lines in different zones and have been working primarily with very clear half and quarter ball shots. That said, I am having a very reproducible issue with back cuts in Zone A when the OB is around the 50 line - they are just plain not working. Being careful to minimize cut-induced throw with draw or follow I'm finding myself several inches fat. I realize with ~5' distance from the pocket the errors really multiply, but I am able to be fairly precise - however the calculated back cut for, let's say 50 Zone A with an alignment of 25 is not working and is not among the listed areas that are a problem for the system.

I am curious if I am a unique snowflake / only have trouble aiming half ball from here, or if this is simply another system problem spot I must account for.
 

BC21

https://www.playpoolbetter.com
Gold Member
Silver Member
I have been practicing the Poolology method this week. I've set out a bunch of donuts on different lines in different zones and have been working primarily with very clear half and quarter ball shots. That said, I am having a very reproducible issue with back cuts in Zone A when the OB is around the 50 line - they are just plain not working. Being careful to minimize cut-induced throw with draw or follow I'm finding myself several inches fat. I realize with ~5' distance from the pocket the errors really multiply, but I am able to be fairly precise - however the calculated back cut for, let's say 50 Zone A with an alignment of 25 is not working and is not among the listed areas that are a problem for the system.

I am curious if I am a unique snowflake / only have trouble aiming half ball from here, or if this is simply another system problem spot I must account for.

Can you pm me the exact location of your donut on 50? I'll check it out.

**** UPDATE ****

I just nailed several 1/2 ball shots as described. No problem. I recorded them and will pm you the video link. I'm not sure what could be happening on your end... maybe the video will be helpful in figuring it out.
 
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BC21

https://www.playpoolbetter.com
Gold Member
Silver Member
I have been practicing the Poolology method this week. I've set out a bunch of donuts on different lines in different zones and have been working primarily with very clear half and quarter ball shots. That said, I am having a very reproducible issue with back cuts in Zone A when the OB is around the 50 line - they are just plain not working. Being careful to minimize cut-induced throw with draw or follow I'm finding myself several inches fat. I realize with ~5' distance from the pocket the errors really multiply, but I am able to be fairly precise - however the calculated back cut for, let's say 50 Zone A with an alignment of 25 is not working and is not among the listed areas that are a problem for the system.

I am curious if I am a unique snowflake / only have trouble aiming half ball from here, or if this is simply another system problem spot I must account for.

No problem.....

https://youtu.be/om2qEB-tN6g
 

Dan White

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I am curious if I am a unique snowflake / only have trouble aiming half ball from here, or if this is simply another system problem spot I must account for.

Based on Brian's reply it sounds like you are doing something wrong and are not aware of it. Take this as a good thing because you are about to fix a problem that you didn't know existed. I've always maintained that this is a great side effect of Poolology. Since you have a shot that must be, say, a half ball hit, but is not going in the pocket, you have something to learn. Maybe you aren't really seeing 1/2 in both directions, or you are swooping your stroke, etc. Could be lots of things. The objective Poolology "template" gives you the ability to fix problems overnight that otherwise might take years, if ever, to recognize.
 

ryanshea

Dreamer of dreams
I'll record some examples and provide the donut location. I chose half-ball because it is the least likely to be a visual alignment problem. I have seen a tendency in my visual alignment on 3/4 shots toward thicker hits, but I'm not sure why this specific line is giving me issues. Again, I'll provide more information.
 

ryanshea

Dreamer of dreams
I should have tried both directions to see if the problem existed toward both corners. I'll give that a shot tonight and provide results. I completely agree that having very reproducible and consistent issues is great information - hit-a-million-balls was not working consistently enough with what my brain is telling me for many shots, so I look forward to improving.
 

BC21

https://www.playpoolbetter.com
Gold Member
Silver Member
I should have tried both directions to see if the problem existed toward both corners. I'll give that a shot tonight and provide results. I completely agree that having very reproducible and consistent issues is great information - hit-a-million-balls was not working consistently enough with what my brain is telling me for many shots, so I look forward to improving.

Sounds good. The only factor other than a possible stroke issue is throw (collision-induced), but it seems like you have a good understanding of that. Anyway, let us know if you discover something and it starts clickibg for you.
 

paultex

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Sounds good. The only factor other than a possible stroke issue is throw (collision-induced), but it seems like you have a good understanding of that. Anyway, let us know if you discover something and it starts clickibg for you.

is there another induced throw other than collision?
 

sixpack

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
is there another induced throw other than collision?

English induced throw. Even though it's related to the collision, of course, it changes the behavior of the OB and so is usually referred to as a separate effect.
 

BC21

https://www.playpoolbetter.com
Gold Member
Silver Member
is there another induced throw other than collision?

As sixpack stated, "english" induced. I was specifically referring to throw caused by friction at the point of contact due to being too close to an ob and shooting firm enough to cause a stun shot.

I like using the word PUSH better than throw, because that's really what's happening. English throws the ob left or right off the shot line, but the collision pushes it off the shot line. Oh well, I guess "push" is already defined in the pool dictionary and that settles it.
 

One Pocket John

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Just throwing this out there.
Pay close attention to the foot work for getting into a proper stance and then getting down into the shooting position.

https://youtu.be/qzjousgGLjU?t=441

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKoMZrg1MAg

Watched your video Ryan. It appears you are having an issue with cutting balls to your right which would indicate that you may not be seeing a correct shot line and placing your body incorrectly.

Watch the last video as posted above.
From a standing position stand behind the cue and move your body to one side or the other until the stick and the balls all look straight in as you see it, when you feel that they are all straight in walk up to the butt of the cue staying focused on a straight line. When you reach the table look down and see exactly where on your body the butt of the cue is pointed, is it at your mid-section, a little to the right, a little to the left of mid-section? Where ever the butt is pointed at on your body this will always be the starting point for your grip hand, no matter if it's a straight in or a cut shot. This is where it all starts, then build your stance/feet while standing around the shot line as you see it bend down and shoot as shown in the first video.

John :)
 
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Dan White

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Ryan - Please double check something. Without giving away the system, I want to say that the hole reinforcers do not appear to be on the 40 line. It looks like they are lined up with the near point of the side pocket. Can you confirm that, as well as the correct placement for the 50 line? You are hitting them fat, which would happen if your reinforcers are too far down table.
 

ryanshea

Dreamer of dreams
John you're right I was not finding my shot line before getting down on the shot on that video. I am also short-stroking and hitting a bit light trying to reduce variables. The results are consistent whether I am headed toward the left or right corner, so at least whatever I am doing is symmetrical.

Dan, for the donuts I could go take a picture, but I put those down pretty carefully while looking at the book. I would say that spotting the alignment line probably has larger error bars than my donut placement.
 

ballbanger

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hi Ryan, i've been working on this for a bit and i just tried on my table the shots u are having problems i had no probs doing so i think as john suggested. How i practiced i put nine balls across 40 and worked my way down to 10 using all angles on the way down, then went down other side i don"t use the donuts.
So in last nite of league last week we played the 1st place team and i won all my games this is a strong B league finished 7 over all out of 60 players not to bad for a hack lol. Winter will be starting in another 2 weeks and i'll be playing in a stronger B league and an A league so i feel this is going to help me and the team so ill keep on practicing. cheers
 
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