Mensabum said:

I had a class in college called 'Spherical collision and rotation' got me hooked. Used billiard balls frequently in demos.

Had a class called 'Spherical collision and rotation' that used billiard balls frequently in demos. Got me hooked.

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How come you don't know how to aim?

Doug said:

My question is once you are confident of OB contact point, do you shoot the CB with center ball aiming the cue tip directly at the contact point or aim the edge/contact point on the CB at the contact point? Elementary or intuitive I'm sure to good players.

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Generally, you should connect the two contact points. In some cases, you can aim directly (CB center) to the contact point (assuming farthest spot from pocket, opposite side on target ball), but not always. The contact-point-to-contact-point is the geometrically desired, "center-pocket" aim, but there is also 'throw' to contend with. However, if you have a fairly consistent, baseline result in your shots, then you can learn to compensate for speed/spin differences.

The point-to-point aiming is to offset for the curvature of the balls, which is not considered when aiming center-CB to OB-contact point. The offset is compensated for in other aiming systems, such as using the "side of the cue (ferrule)" type of alignment, which moves the centerline of the cuestick over for the necessary offset. For Ghostball, the offset is achieved by aiming at where the centerline of the ghostball touches the cloth. For fractional aiming, there isn't really a calculation for offset, as the specific cut-angles are "burnt in" by practice, and more/less cut angle is determined by experience.

I learned to offset by aiming (CB) centerball (to *assumed aimpoint to make the ball*), seeing that I missed, and then began to move my aimpoint to compensate *to the pocket*. I have other ways to determine cut angles now, but that was how I began to focus on *making the cue ball hit the "outside" of the target/object ball*.

Mensabum said:

Did you have to??

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Can't be having them sudden stops.

Patrick Johnson said:

Definitely, since pool wouldn’t exist. I manage to look pretty dumb anyway.

pj
chgo

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Belief is everything.

Maxx said:

Definitely not him in the obituary. I have a wood pin titlist conversion that he did, with the no ferrule shaft. Nice cue.

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Sounds really awesome.

LibraryFool77 said:

RIP, Chuck. Always wanted to try one of his wood big pins. Never pulled the trigger, regrets.

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Yeah, me too. Those wood joint cues looked so cool, I thought. Biggest joint pin I ever seen. Always imagined that they probably hit super solid.

Bob Jewett said:

There's a whole forum for aiming topics. Maybe this thread will get moved there, but in the meantime....

Suppose you can keep the contact point in mind, say it happens to be a feature on the object ball. What do you then do with that point once you get over to shoot the cue ball?

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My question is once you are confident of OB contact point, do you shoot the CB with center ball aiming the cue tip directly at the contact point or aim the edge/contact point on the CB at the contact point? Elementary or intuitive I'm sure to good players.

Bump

garczar said:

not same guy. Chuck lived/lives in Missouri iirc.

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Death of Chuck Starkey​

Chuck Starkey, the respected custom cue maker known for his handcrafted cues and exceptional customer service, passed away on August 15, 2025, at the Cortland Wyoming Assisted Living and Memory Care in Wyoming, Michigan Kempf Family Funeral and Cremation Services. He was 76 years old.

straightline said:

Without physics you'd look pretty dumb playin' pool.

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Definitely, since pool wouldn’t exist. I manage to look pretty dumb anyway.

pj
chgo

Ever heard of a bridge? Shooting from horseback, that's a thing.

Hail Mary Shot said:

I got a nice experience with a Crical CF. You can try that. Just make sure it is your preferred taper. I can do either, but I prefer playing with a pro-taper since I'm using an 11.5mm.

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I have a Crical Cue with the pro taper 12.5 mm shaft and it plays good for what it is. I normally play with a 11.5 wood shaft.