The "EYES" have it.
As strange as it may sound, I know immediately when I am going to shoot good or bad just by looking at the table from a few different angles.
For over 40 years I had perfect vision, but my eyes are all screwed up now and I wear glasses daily. I have extreme astigmatism in both eyes and I have cloudy vision in my left eye, along with a few floaters. I only play pool on Sundays, and on those days I wear contacts.
I am pretty good about always lining up the same way and my PSR is pretty much the same on every shot, but, on some days, when I lean over the table it looks a "lot" shorter than nine feet for some reason. I know I'm not standing closer to the table and I know I'm not leaning over more. On these days, I know I am going to shoot good because I can see the angles a lot better and I don't even have to think in order to see my lines.
On other days, the table looks longer than nine feet and I know I will have to concentrate more because every shot looks longer than it actually is.
I'm thinking it has to do with the way my head is aligned when I'm over the ball. One of my contacts (left eye) is stronger (for closer vision) than the other (which is for distance) and I think that I have to have my head aligned just perfect to get the proper "blend" for accurate aiming.
I would think that anyone with vision problems who hadn't played as long as have would have an even more difficult time.
With all that said, I think the majority of people's aiming problems are due to not "properly" "seeing" the ball. Everyone is wired differently and "perception" isn't the same for everyone. You can put people's heads in vices and align them to the same table orientation, but you can't make them all see the same thing the same way.
That is why it is important that you find what is "working for you" and try to ingrain that into your brain as your "default". If you can immediately go back to what "worked" for you before, you, hopefully, can isolate your problem area, correct it, and get back on track.
As strange as it may sound, I know immediately when I am going to shoot good or bad just by looking at the table from a few different angles.
For over 40 years I had perfect vision, but my eyes are all screwed up now and I wear glasses daily. I have extreme astigmatism in both eyes and I have cloudy vision in my left eye, along with a few floaters. I only play pool on Sundays, and on those days I wear contacts.
I am pretty good about always lining up the same way and my PSR is pretty much the same on every shot, but, on some days, when I lean over the table it looks a "lot" shorter than nine feet for some reason. I know I'm not standing closer to the table and I know I'm not leaning over more. On these days, I know I am going to shoot good because I can see the angles a lot better and I don't even have to think in order to see my lines.
On other days, the table looks longer than nine feet and I know I will have to concentrate more because every shot looks longer than it actually is.
I'm thinking it has to do with the way my head is aligned when I'm over the ball. One of my contacts (left eye) is stronger (for closer vision) than the other (which is for distance) and I think that I have to have my head aligned just perfect to get the proper "blend" for accurate aiming.
I would think that anyone with vision problems who hadn't played as long as have would have an even more difficult time.
With all that said, I think the majority of people's aiming problems are due to not "properly" "seeing" the ball. Everyone is wired differently and "perception" isn't the same for everyone. You can put people's heads in vices and align them to the same table orientation, but you can't make them all see the same thing the same way.
That is why it is important that you find what is "working for you" and try to ingrain that into your brain as your "default". If you can immediately go back to what "worked" for you before, you, hopefully, can isolate your problem area, correct it, and get back on track.
