New Start - Aiming Question

Sorry if this is a topic that gets beaten to death on here. But I think my situation is a little different then most and I would like your opinions on the topic.

I started to really play pool seriously around 19 years old. I lived in the country with no pool halls around so I would say I was self taught. I was obsessed. I probably played pool 12 to 16 hours a day for six months, that lead to years of playing for hours and hours a day. All I had to learn from was a trick shot video from Gerry Watson. Keep in mind this before Internet and pool wasn't on TV.

I found a book called The Science Of Pocket Billiards. Read it front to back about 10 times. It really helped teach some fundamentals and understand those stupid over sized cue balls. They drove me nuts. Lol.

I finally got a VHS tape from a guy in a Detroit pool hall. Actually bought my Schon there too. Still have it today. The VHS tape was Bert Kinister. It changed my game immensely. I improved so much in six months I was asked to play on the best pool team in our area the next season.

I am now 44 years old and getting back into playing pool again. I quit pool 14 years ago and recently the last few years really started to miss it. Just bought a new Diamond table and when's it gets installed I plan to start working on my game. This time I want to do it right.

My weaknesses when I played were definitely shot making. My stroke was good but not great. Had some flaws. Worked on it but always lost the Center of the cue ball. I was always off just a bit. I will be working on my stroke a lot and when I'm satisfied it's good I want to start on an aiming system.

Which leads me to ask you all, I would say I am an intermediate to advanced pool player. Which aiming system should I learn. I want to be a better shot maker then I ever was before. But I didn't have an aiming system. It was just memory.

Sorry for the long post. Hoping my background helps choose the right aiming system to start off with.

Thank you. I very much appreciate your post and advice. I will be looking into it and using it.

Sounds like we are or were in similar situations. I'm hoping to get my kids into the game as well.

Mkindsv said:

I wouldnt use an aiming system, I was in the same boat as you, I was a very good player, at least locally then gave up the game for 17 years or so while I was raising my son. Got back into it about 16 months ago. At work I have a ton of time so I found myself watching alot of matches and pool videos.

I cannot tell you what a blessing it was to accidentally find Tor Lowry on youtube. I watched his free content online many times, took it to the table and improved alot in a very short period of time.

I then decided I was going to order his entire video Library, at the time is was 69 bucks, about 14 hours of videos, all of which have helped some part of my game. I put all of these on my tablet along with a ball pocketing book and a pattern play book (both ebooks). So I never make it to a table without any of it.

I will attest that if you do the ball pocketing exercises in the order they are in the book your game will skyrocket when it comes to pocketing balls.

The 5 hour pattern play videos coupled with the ebook are invaluable for learning to read patterns.

I have invested alot of time in other videos as well, Dr Dave is fantastic as well, also have watched some of Bert Kinister's stuff...but by far Tor Lowry and the Zero X system training has helped me the most.

Good luck and I hope you find what you need and enjoy Pl laying for years to come

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Mirza said:

CTE Pro One definately!!

http://justcueit.com/

If I were you I would go to one of the instructors to speed up the learning curve - Stan Shuffett, Tyler Styer, Bob Nunley, Stevie Moore..

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I would normally do that exact thing. But where I live there isn't an instructor with in 500 miles. Makes it tough.

I may eventually look into some online lessons. Just not sure how effective they are.

Thanks for the link. I wanted to read about CTE to try and understand what it's about.

That's funny you brought this up. My eyes are not what they used to be. Made an appointment to get them looked at.

Thanks for sharing.

GoldenFlash said:

My comment may not apply to you at all...then again it might.
I laid off for many years also.
When I started back, I was pathetic with shotmaking. Putting spin on shots when the shots weren't requiring spin. Missing balls right and left.
I had my eyes checked by an ophthalmologist. She said.."sorry, but you've had too many birthdays". Recommended glasses.
I suddenly found out that when I THOUGHT I was hitting the center of the cueball, I was off by a tip or so.......adding spin which threw the object balls off-line.

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Dan White said:

Not seeing center of the cue ball is caused, at least in my case, by not having your eyes in the right place. You can experiment around with eye position until it looks like center and actually is center. If you can video tape yourself this is a big help.

You are advanced beyond the need for an aiming system. You already know where to aim. I'd bet almost anything that the majority of your misses are due to your stroke/alignment/etc.

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I think your right Dan. Stroke is pretty bad right now and I think it was never perfect. It was good but not great.

Thanks Buzzard, great post and it does help me a lot. Also explains a lot to me.

I have noticed a lot since looking into playing again. There is a ton of lessons both online and instructors. It reminds me of all the golf gadgets and tools with all the online instruction out there. One thing I have learnt from the golf gimmicks and instruction is they can quickly ruin your game easier then they fix it. I am or was a scratch golfer and have a great coach. I have a swing now that is super consistent. Problem now is age is catching up with me. What I've learnt from golf is to not listen to everyone.

This is what I like most about this forum. I have had some really good advice so far. I am very appreciative for this forum so far. But I also see the other side where there is a lot of heated discussions about aiming. I totally relate this to different golf swing theories.

For now I will read a bit about the aiming theories and work on my pool stroke. Probably get some glasses to help a bit.

I don't have the time I did when I was a kid starting out but I feel my knowledge from competing in golf the last 14 years I should become a better mentally strong pool player then I ever was before.

Feel free to send me the best stroke mechanics drills you know. I will be working diligently on creating the best stroke I can.

Thanks again for sharing knowledge.

Buzzard II said:

Just my thoughts on learning aiming, about those DVD's and books and such. I've watched CTE, Pro one, 90/90, TOI, off-set aiming etc. None of that took. The DVD's gave me brain pain as I tried to wrap my head around off sets, pivots and vision sweeps.

People learn by different methods, seeing, hearing, writing, doing and various combinations of these. You also have the fact that people tend to be either abstract or concrete thinkers. I believe that the CTE type of aiming so popular in this section works best with those who tend to be abstract thinkers. I'm more concrete oriented so I find the fraction/stick aiming methods more productive. I think that's why these threads get so heated between the two groups. And thus, why learning aiming can be so difficult. It's hard or even impossible to learn a method that does not apply to your way of thinking, the way your brain is wired.

In any case with lessons from Scott Lee and Randy G. I've also found that the better my stroke gets, the less I need to "aim" at all. It seems I may have known how to aim all along, I just had a shitty stroke. I'll bet you know how too.

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Very well said. And I can see from reading multiple posts on this forum the difference in so many theories. Much like golf swings, it's what works for you is what's best. So very true in pool now.

Main thing i am trying to avoid is waiting time on bad information. So far I have receive some really good information from both sides. I can appreciate both sides of this.

This forum has been awesome and I have had a few pm's that have been extremely helpful. I really do appreciate everyone's knowledge in this forum. Amazing to see where pool has come. I love how these forums are so willing to help. Especially people like me that live in areas where pool is not popular at all.

Thanks for sharing.

JB Cases said:

You should learn CTE and 90/90. I have found those two to be the most accurate.

Those coupled with KNOWING what's possible and probable will help you a lot.

A good aiming system takes the subjectivity in aiming down to almost nothing. There is a lot of contention about this but myself and many others feel that CTE and 90/90 are VERY objective and allow us to get lined up accurately.

That said you will also need a good accurate stroke to actually send the cue ball where you are aiming. So Tor's material and anything that makes your arm hurt grooving that stroke in will help you.

Stroking is not Aiming though and don't listen to anyone who tells you that you don't need to learn an aiming system. You CANNOT be hurt by learning how to aim accurately. Aiming systems OPEN UP so many more shots to the shooter because of the fact that you can line up to shots you may have previously never considered trying, shots that you might even think don't go. But when you line up using the "key" that aiming systems give you you find out that even "impossible looking" shots go in and you aren't fooled by illusions that cause you aim wrong and miss them badly.

So much more to this and you can see the arguments back and forth but consider this, Aiming Systems have a section on the forum PRECISELY because it's a hot topic where many people have testified that learning the good ones has improved their games substantially. A small but vocal minority are opposed to aiming systems in general and can't stand any mention of them. Some of them have begrudgingly accepted that some people get actual benefit from them but they contend that those people are deluded into thinking that they are better because of aiming systems.

The point I want to make to you is look on YouTube at what Stan Shufett does and what other CTE proponents can do and ask yourself if you can do it as well. If the answer is no then perhaps you might want to find out HOW they are doing it.

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