I think I have strong work ethics and determination. So when I win I feel pleasure. I practice to win, but I don't know if I find practice itself to be fun... I think I find practicing pool to be amusing or interesting like detective work. Like testing myself to keep trying to pocket as many balls as I can without missing, because I know that that will build consistency, and stamina. Is practice fun or work?

I am confident I can beat opponents 50-100 pts above my Fargo, for maybe 3 or 4 consecutive hours. Is this fun though? I feel like I am exerting a lot of effort, trying to keep my mind energetic and positive. But big money tournaments are never this short. After 7-8hrs, I'm lucky if I am still playing at my existing Fargo level. but if I can hold my self together for additional 3-4hrs I might just be able to take a big money finish spot. Is almost winning fun? I can tell you with great confidence I do know what satisfaction feels like to me, and I don't know if making it 8hrs out of a 12hr tournament is satisfying, but I know with great certainty that it is draining on the mind and body. Is a long and tiring day of pool fun?

So what exactly is this thing we call fun? What part of pool is actually fun for you?

I think of things that I can categorize as fun: riding a roller coaster, slow playing a pair of pocket aces while not drawing dead on the river, having a great conversation with someone who is excited to talk about the same things as you, getting drunk and not giving a fk about how you shoot.

I have a friend who said. "Pool is fun at the beginning. That is how you get sucked in. After that its nothing but battling stress to get better at the game". Problem is, is that I don't see how the game can remain fun if you never get better. Which brings me full circle back to the beginning of this post, because I doubt there are any members of this forum limiting their play to once every full moon that are experiencing fun. Maybe that is the issue... Once you develop pool passion you throw this thing called fun out the window.

Suckahs!

I am returning to pool after a long absence. During the intervening years, my left eye underwent surgery to correct a detached retina. That eye now creates an image which is rotated approximately 10 degrees clockwise. Furthermore, the rotation is not constant across my field of view. In other words, a horizontal line appears to be somewhat wavy and rotated approximately 10 degrees (on average, one might say.) The amount of waviness and rotation also seems to change when my eyeballs are rotated strongly upwards, as when aiming a cue.

My vision system does not fuse the two images; I have a type of mild double vision. This is, of course, a problem when aiming a cue. This type of problem can not be corrected with prism in my eyeglasses, as some types can be.

I am currently learning how to aim, which as you know, is difficult enough. I know about the vision center and believe I am positioning it over the cue and shot line. My face is square to the shot line, within reason. Most of my shots go a little left of the target - 9 out of 10, or more. My stroke seems straight, again within reason. The fact that nearly every shot is slightly left tells me something repeatable is occurring.

I have experimented with aiming and shot analysis when standing, as normal, but when I am down to aim, I close (or ignore) my left eye. In nearly each case, the cue ball hits the target spot on. However, all of my tests have been hitting the cue ball straight into the target; perhaps this is a special case and cut shots would not be so successful.

Nearly all the advice I have seen is to use two eyes when aiming. The primary reason given is the need for depth perception.

The reason for this post is to inquire if anyone has experienced this problem and how it was accommodated.

Secondly, concerning the depth perception issue. When the shot is planned and ghost ball position determined while using two eyes, doesn’t the need for depth perception greatly diminish while down in your stance and aiming the cue? In which case, am I not better off aiming with a single eye?


Thank you in advance for any insight you may have.