Poll: Who have tested that their cue is pointing at the right place.

In so many threads, there are so many players who wonder why they are not making the pocket or whether their alignment is off or whether their aiming system is unsuitable for them, or problems with their cueing action, or their basic stance, etc etc.

I believe in any sports that requires pointing with an instrument, ie. a rifle, it is imperative that a person wielding the instrument must be able to point directly at the target at all times to ensure a chance of a bullseye.

In a rifle, there are three points that the eye makes use to aim. The rear side aperture (the one with the circle), the foresight tip and the target. If they are all in a line, then the rifle will always be pointing at the same spot.

Now imagine a rifle without the rear side aperture and the foresight tip, how then can you aim (as in using the cue). In the scenario of the rifle, the difficulty level is higher as the target is in a three dimensional space. For pool, it is two dimensional.

As there is no rear sight aperture and foresight tip to help us with our aiming, the aiming for many of us is by pure gut feeling - maybe muscle memory for the pro. If you are always off in your basic aiming (sometimes a little to the left and sometimes a little to the right), then you will always question yourself on whether it is the cuing action, aiming, aiming system, basic stance, etc that is making you inconsistent in your shooting assuming you neglect this fundamental aspect of a shooting instrument.

My question to all pool players here amateur and experts: [B]Have you ever tested to see that you are able to point your cue tip in the center of the cue ball to a target line (vertical line) in the distance, and ensure that your aim is spot on?[/B]

I am not sure if there are any tools or instrument aide that can help you to test this. I have devised a home made DIY which you can test at home. I am sure some of you have your own if not a better method.

Not exactly. Hitting the cue ball up the length of the table and back to the cue tip - Yes, it most likely meant that you are hitting a point on the other side of the table and the cue ball coming back to the centre of your cue tip.

However, this drill is meant for better players and it is no guarantee that the player is aiming spot on. Many factors could contribute to the cue ball coming back to the cue tip. If you are a beginner or a weak player, you will not be able to achieve this. Even if you are aiming perfectly, due to cueing action, the cue ball will not come back anywhere near the cue tip.

Just to make it clearer, if there ever is a laser cue stick where the tip is where the laser shoots out. Use this laser cue stick and aim at a short vertical line at a wall in a distance (maybe 8ft away) behind the cue ball. Your intention was to strike the cue ball at this vertical line. Now, get someone to take the cue ball away and switch on the laser with you motionless. See where the laser spot is. Is it on the line or left or right of the line? This is just an example of what I am trying to find out. No other factors like cuing action, perpendicular to rail, rebound action of the rail, etc. Just plain simple pointing.

bbb said:

is this what you are looking for??
http://www.cuesight.com/lascues.html

Click to expand...

This is one way. Of course there are other cheaper methods. I have devised one. But that is not the topic of this thread. The question is, have you ever check whether your cue is pointing dead center on where you aim, despite not having the aiming sights of a rifle to assist you.

Thanks for the link bbb.

I don't get it? Why is there a commercial here? I am simply trying to find out who actually tested their cue aiming in that manner. If you are not pointing at the correct spot, no matter what you do with the rest, they are irrelevant. You will never be an accurate potter, period.

No, I am not promoting anything. I am sure there are many methods to do that aiming. I will share my method later. No worries, mine is free.

qbilder said:

Using a cue is not unlike using a gun, or a hammer. With repetition it becomes muscle memory & is automatic. If you can't make balls, then you need more table time. There is no substitute. A carpenter can drive nails all day, sending the head of that hammer home every single strike. A weekend warrior will bend a few because he hits them off center. A cop or soldier can rapid fire instinctively and send every round to center mass. A weekend warrior has to take time for aiming & still won't be as accurate. Ask them or the carpenter how they do it & they will tell you they just do, because they've done it 100,000 times. No aiming methods or testing to ensure their alignment is correct. They just do because it's what they do. No different than pool.

Click to expand...

I beg to differ. I know of a chef who cooks for many years without having any feedback. He doesn't know his cooking was not up to par and he doesn't listen to others. As such, he has been honing his skills for many years, and it got worse by the years.

Hammering a nail, you get instant feedback. You know when you missed and when it hits your thumb. For pool, it could be your aiming system or your cuing action.

And by the way, there is no way a cop or soldier can fire instinctively. The first and foremost that they have to do, is to zero the weapon. In weapon, firing instinctively is a sure miss (without zeroing) and if the target is far away. You should always use the aiming devices on the weapon for shooting.

In other words, if you are not aimed at your target in the first place, all other factors aren't important anymore. The aiming system and cuing action would only increase the error factor.

To find out if you are aiming at the exact spot, this is the method I have devised. I have kinda explained it in one of the the Aiming Conversation thread.

Here goes:

Have in hand a roll of string, some tape and a marker. The steps are:

1. Mark a cross on the wall on the same level as would be a object ball on a table with reference to your table(dining?) that you will used to put your bridge hand.
2. Put one end of the string there and tape it down securely.
3. Pull the string to the table (dining) and make sure it is taut.
4. Tape the other end to the end of the table opposite the crossed mark on the wall.
5. Mark a point on the table where the cue ball is to sit - preferably 6 - 10 ft (2 to 3m) from the marked cross on the wall. You can tape a masking tape on the table and then mark a cross on it. Make sure the intersection of the marked cross is directly below the string.
6. About (20 - 30in) 50 to 80 cm from this point, draw a straight below the string towards the end of the table where the tape is.
7. Now, take out the string. You will see a cross (where the cue ball is supposed to lie) and a line to the end of the table some distance from the cue ball (this is where the cue is supposed to be).
8. Lay your cue directly behind the crossed mark (for the cue ball) parallel with the drawn line and with the drawn line splitting your cue into two. Now, draw the outline of your cue from where your line starts.
9. End of preparation.

The theory is, the target point, the center of the cue ball and the cue shaft must be in a straight line. If the cue shaft is not parallel, then it is not pointing at the target.

The Exercise:

1. Place the cue ball at the cross.
2. Look at the target and aimed at it from the center of the cue ball, as you would when you are playing on a pool table. Some of you might even want to draw an object ball on the wall with colour for simulation purposes.
3. Stoop down, aim and as you are feathering about to strike the cue ball, STOP.
4. Lay down your cue shaft on the table. Now look at the outline of the shaft on the table with that of the actual shaft that you have laid down. If it is not perfect in line, that meant your aim is off. You can figure out which direction you are aiming off from the difference in the two directions.


For different exercises, you can put the cue ball far away so that you have to stretch and/or cue ball close to edge of the table so you so not have the luxury of having a comfortable bridge.

Hope this method will proof to be useful for some of you. If you have a laser pen, then you can do away with the string and tape.

I believe there are others with a better method. Do share.

Best wishes.

ipoppa33 said:

Jeez, it's hard to do without a laser cue. Would you please, pretty please tell us how to do it. Unless you are a natural I think alignment is the hardest part to getting better.
Thanks.
Stan

Click to expand...

My method is as above. Cheap and doable at home on a dining table.