Should We Really Try To Hit CCB?

nobcitypool

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I've been working a lot with the Bullseye Billiards drill for CB control. Found early on there were a few I struggled with. At first, I thought it had to be something wrong in the set up, I wasn't even close. But I thought it had to be me and kept working at it. Finally figured out it was stroke related (surprise huh?). It wasn't gross but I figured out on some shots where I'm shooting from the right side of the table where the table slightly gets in the way of my body, I was drawing the cue back out of alignment and ever so slightly applying a slight amount of inside English. Changed the CB path after the hit substantially.

This was an unintended benefit of this drill tool, that is, it tells you about your stroke. Being an amateur, it made me consider whether I'd be better off planning CB placement counting on a perfectly straight stroke, and being able to precisely hit the CB where I need to, or would it be more sensible to intentionally try to apply a slight amount of inside or outside English? The reality is, playing almost all bar box competitively, I don't often have to have perfectly precise CB placement. But when you're planning on the CB coming off in one direction and inadvertently apply English to where it goes completely in another direction, it can be disastrous.

To put this in perspective, I only play masters league now so I don't know my exact rating. I'd say I'm a lower 7 in 8 and a medium 8 in 9 ball. So I'm not a complete hack but suck compared to a real player. I practice stroke a fair amount but am realistic, I'm never going to have a pro stroke. So should I accept the limitations and try to account for stroke errors? And if so, what recommendations do you have for doing so?
 

FranCrimi

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I sounds more like a perception error rather than a stroke error. Also, dominant eye can come into play. Most players are see either left to right, or right to left shots better. They usually have to train themselves to adjust the weaker side.

Try starting from scratch and recreate your approach and stance on your weaker side until you have success. You may even have to visually trick yourself for awhile as to where you think center ball is. This is a fixable issue. There's no reason to just accept it.
 

Scott Lee

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hey buddy...it's that crappy Revo shaft! Get rid of it immediately (you can send it to me, and I'll give it good home)! :eek::thumbup: Good to see you posting again. I was great talking to you recently!

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
 
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