Lining up center cue ball and dominant eye

genomachino

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
During my travels on the road teaching Perfect Aim I also discovered another problem that most players have.

Lining up on the center of the cue ball.

I've seen the problem for the last 5 years while traveling the road and teaching and finally know the cure .

Most players that are left eye dominant line up the cue to the left of the center of the cue ball. it has something to do with the eye dominance.

If the player is right eye dominant they line up to the right of center on the cue ball.

The cure for this starts in the preshot and has to start there.

If this problem is not fixed the player is constantly hitting the cue ball with unwanted right English or left English.

To see for sure which side you accidently favor have someone watch in front of you when you come down on a long straight in shot. They will be able to see.

And don't just assume that you come down in the middle because it is hard to tell all by yourself.

The cure ties right in with Perfect aim. Imagine that?
 

pdcue

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
During my travels on the road teaching Perfect Aim I also discovered another problem that most players have.

Lining up on the center of the cue ball.

I've seen the problem for the last 5 years while traveling the road and teaching and finally know the cure .

Most players that are left eye dominant line up the cue to the left of the center of the cue ball. it has something to do with the eye dominance.

If the player is right eye dominant they line up to the right of center on the cue ball.

The cure for this starts in the preshot and has to start there.

If this problem is not fixed the player is constantly hitting the cue ball with unwanted right English or left English.

To see for sure which side you accidently favor have someone watch in front of you when you come down on a long straight in shot. They will be able to see.

And don't just assume that you come down in the middle because it is hard to tell all by yourself.

The cure ties right in with Perfect aim. Imagine that?

Players who understand what they are doing line up with their dominant eye over the shaft,
so they would only line up on the center of the CB if they intend to shoot with Center Ball... wouldn't they.

Dale
 

dedstroke38

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Yup...left eye dominant and I definitely line up with left inadvertently. Have done it for so long I've compensated rather well, but I'm sure it costs me at times.
 

genomachino

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
no............

Players who understand what they are doing line up with their dominant eye over the shaft,
so they would only line up on the center of the CB if they intend to shoot with Center Ball... wouldn't they.

Dale

That's not true Dale. Watch a few players when they line up and you will see the tip of the cue will be to the right or left of center.

And it depends on which eye is dominant as to the right or the left.
 

genomachino

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
It does for sure.........

Yup...left eye dominant and I definitely line up with left inadvertently. Have done it for so long I've compensated rather well, but I'm sure it costs me at times.

We compensate just the same as we do for the flex of the cue, squirt or deflection.

When you get down and really try to put allot of right English on the ball cutting to the left, think about how hard it is to get the tip of the cue way over to the right?

It's tough. Not only for you but me and about 2,000 players that I have worked with.

We tend to hit closer to center not getting the spin that we want. Or at least not as much as we need.
 

dedstroke38

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
We compensate just the same as we do for the flex of the cue, squirt or deflection.

When you get down and really try to put allot of right English on the ball cutting to the left, think about how hard it is to get the tip of the cue way over to the right?

It's tough. Not only for you but me and about 2,000 players that I have worked with.

We tend to hit closer to center not getting the spin that we want. Or at least not as much as we need.

Absolutely. Very tough to get lots of right which I then compensate for with back hand english and consequently my fundamentals fly out the window.
 

genomachino

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Kind of strange but nobody talks about this much.......

Absolutely. Very tough to get lots of right which I then compensate for with back hand english and consequently my fundamentals fly out the window.

Maybe they do? does anyone have any input on that? I personally havn't seen anything.

And this is a huge problem with many players.
 

larry732

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I try to correct that problem in teaching, by having the students face absolutely straight, chin and nose over the cue, when down in there stance instead of keeping there head slightly side ways. It seems to work to hit center ball.
 

dedstroke38

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Maybe they do? does anyone have any input on that? I personally havn't seen anything.

And this is a huge problem with many players.

I mean it makes sense that it isn't the most ideal. Not that there is anything wrong with some back-hand english. Just that I'd assume symmetry is important. So the fact that with left english I don't need any and with right english I need a fair amount of back-hand probably isn't good. I guess since I'm 1.5 years clean (not playing pool) it's not as big of a deal for me :embarrassed2: Anyway...good stuff as usual, Gene.
 

genomachino

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
It helps to explain why they have the problem...

I try to correct that problem in teaching, by having the students face absolutely straight, chin and nose over the cue, when down in there stance instead of keeping there head slightly side ways. It seems to work to hit center ball.

Hi Larry, I see like many teachers you have seen this trouble. The problem is that usually the player goes right back to off center unless they over exaggerate the dominant eye in the most dominant position and make it a habit.

When we look at the cue ball we are actually going cross eyed. When we look at the object ball we could still be looking cross eyed depending how far the object ball is.

In the preshot stance we are not cross eyed.

Your right by getting them centered up there in the preshot. just have them over exaggerate the other way a little and keep it that way down into the shot. They might even shoot straighter immediately because the dominant eye will be in a better place naturally to envision the shot more correctly.

It all goes hand in hand. Or should I say hand to eye.

Good Luck with your teaching Larry........
 

pdcue

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
That's not true Dale. Watch a few players when they line up and you will see the tip of the cue will be to the right or left of center.

And it depends on which eye is dominant as to the right or the left.

If you check i wrote "players who know what they are doing..."

Dale
 

dedstroke38

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I don't get this. How is it tough to get lots of right spin?


This either. How can you get more right spin with back hand english than another way?

pj
chgo

I should rephrase that. It makes it tough to execute a proper shot with loads of right when I naturally line up with some left. It's an important detail that the bit of left I line up with is back-hand. So in order to get right my set up changes more than if I need some left, as it's closer to my home position.

I agree. I'm not saying you get more english with back-hand. I just pocket better with it. But...like I said, lots of back-hand right is slightly less comfortable than left for me.
 

genomachino

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Not exactly the same..........

I believe the above in red is the opposite of what you said. I'm very right eye dominant and what I perceive to be CCB is actually about a 1/2 tip the to left of center.

Dave Bollman pointed this out to me about 10 years ago. I didn't believe Dave then (should have!!)......then Stan Shuffett told me the same things a few years ago. Because of this, most of my misses are to the right side of the pocket.

The below link is to Joe Tucker's Youtube vid on how to correct this - 3rd eye trainer. In it he says the same thing......using himself as an example of being left eye dominant and lining up right of CCB.

http://www.tubechop.com/watch/7129838

Joe talks about the stronger eye and moves the back of the cue in the drawing over.

I'm talking about the tip is to the left or the right of the center of the cue ball pertaining to the dominant eye. Some players have it way over and some just a little. This is a little different but he does understand there is a problem.

In order to correct this problem completely I need to use what I teach called Perfect Aim, to get the dominant eye in the most correct position so I can get the cue in the middle of the cue ball when needed and get right English that is needed as well.

Soon for me it will be more natural and the other things that happen with the cue such as squirt and deflection will become more natural from the new positioning of my cue tip on the cue ball.

I'm already seeing great results but I need to practice more to get more comfortable with my new toy.
 

genomachino

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I know what I'm doing........

If you check i wrote "players who know what they are doing..."

Dale

These players that know what they are doing are to the right or the left also. Take a look and watch.

It's easy to see from in front of a shot.

Take a look at about 5 to 10. You might be surprised.

It seems like about 10 to 15% get it to the middle. Some might have really worked at it but some just seem to get it there no matter what their level of play is.
 

benjaminwah

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Then you have Niels Feijen who is supposedly blind in one eye and one of the best shots in the world....
 

dr_dave

Instructional Author
Gold Member
Silver Member
Most players that are left eye dominant line up the cue to the left of the center of the cue ball. it has something to do with the eye dominance.

If the player is right eye dominant they line up to the right of center on the cue ball.
I believe the above in red is the opposite of what you said. I'm very right eye dominant and what I perceive to be CCB is actually about a 1/2 tip the to left of center.
Which eye is dominant (or not) is not what is important here. What is important is where the cue is aligned relative to one's personal vision center position. If one has their head too far to the right, with the vision center to the right of the cue, the tip will typically be aligned to the right of center. And if the head is too far to the left, with the vision center to the left of the cue, the tip will typically be aligned to the left of center. For good illustrations showing why this is true, see the diagrams in:

"Aim, Align, Sight - Part II: Visual Alignment" (BD, July, 2011)

And for a video demonstration showing what affect alignment errors have on shot direction, see:

NV C.1 - "Vision center" alignment drill, from VEPP I

Enjoy,
Dave
 
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