There were 30 players mentioned. If you read it and not skim it you'll see.
I didn't skim it and read all of it. Yes, there were 30 players named, one of which was Michelle Adams. She had noting to say at all about aiming. Her comment was about which ball she looked at last, OB or CB. So I eliminated her from the count either way.
For instinct or feel I included every player that didn't specifically mention using any known system. Like Tommy Kennedy, who said, "I look at the object ball straight ahead, and then look little by little to the right or left of the ball. I keep going until I see the spot where it's going to hit the bigger part of the pocket."
There's a good example of a matter of interpretation. I included him as a user because he was specifically looking for a SPOT (CONTACT SPOT) where it's going the hit the bigger part of the pocket. He wasted time by scanning back and forth while down on the ball. All he had to do was stand behind the OB and look directly at a line to the middle of the pocket to identify the spot.
This means he keeps adjusting until it feels right. Miz specifically said it's instinct. He visualizes where the CB should contact the OB in order to make the shot, then uses feel or instinct to put the CB in the right place to accomplish that -- no systematic approach to doing it.
That is correct in one part of the section. But later on he mentioned the CONTACT POINT.
If you read it and not skim it you'll see. :grin:
Steve Mizerak waffled all over the place. HERE'S WHAT HE SAID ELSEWHERE:
Similarly, Steve Mizerak says, "The way I find the target or contact point on the object ball is to visualize an imaginary line from the back of the pocket through the object ball. During my warm-up strokes, my eyes move back and forth between the cue ball and the target point. I use one or two low strokes, as if I'm going to draw the ball, on all shots because that gives me confidence in hitting the cue ball correctly — because the bottom of the cue ball is the strongest
foundation to build on. I have no special tricks for cutting the ball or shooting aball down a rail."
There were 4 or so that used natural methods like this, where they just base their aim on what they see, the relationship between the balls and the pocket, which can be called instinct or feel. Another 6 or 7 called it instict. The remaining 19 say they use a particular system or at least learned from a particular system.
Honestly, IMO, visualizing a ghostball or contact point is a natural aiming method, not a true system in the sense of following certain steps to determine where to aim.
Contact point aiming is and always has been a true system whether you wish to believe it or not. I honestly think all of us learned how to play that way. Stand behind the OB in line with the center of the pocket, put the tip of your cue right at the spot, then run as fast as you can back to the CB without ever taking your eyes of the spot and then get down and try to hit it. Just DON'T hit it with the center of the CB or it won't go in. It has to be an equal and opposite site on the CB. A lesson I had to learn in the beginning from missing so many balls trying to hit it with center CB.
You simply look at the OB and visualize where the cue ball should be in order to make it...no pivoting or parallel shifting or alignment perceptions or fractional/angle calculations. Nevertheless, I included those who say they visualize a GB or contact point in with system users because somehow (over the years) these methods have become labeled as "systems". Still, if I concede Miz, there are 10 others that say they either don't know how they aim, can't explain it, or just look and shoot based on what they see.
But you're right, the majority use a "system" of some sort, even though the oldest "systems" are simply nothing more than looking at where the CB needs to be and putting it there, which equates to trial and error until you develop a feel or instinct for it.
