what do you really look at?

do you look at the cue ball or your tip when your tip is moving back and forth?

  • cue ball

    Votes: 46 50.5%

  • tip

    Votes: 7 7.7%

  • varies

    Votes: 19 20.9%

  • I don't want to think about it

    Votes: 20 22.0%
  • Total voters
    91
  • Poll closed .
ShootingArts

ShootingArts

Smorg is giving St Peter the 7!
Silver Member
OK, I meant to spring this on local shooters when we were in the middle of an important match but since I can't use it to shark all of you I'll ask you a simple question, what do you really look at?

When you look at the object ball, you usually look at the object ball. Sometimes I look at a point in front of or behind the object ball, the base of the object ball or the edge, but I pick a point and look at it. However when I look at the cue ball it is a different story. Our eyes are natural drawn to movement, that old hunter and hunted thing. Often when my eyes are moving back and forth between the object ball and the cue ball they are actually moving between the object ball and the moving tip of my cue stick.

Grab your stick and really notice, what are you looking at? I'll try a poll but I rarely do them so I may fail. If the poll doesn't work please just post a quick answer below, cue ball or tip. Most would automatically answer cue ball without checking and some are surprised to find that the answer is tip.

Thanks,
Hu
 
I chose "I don't want to think about it" for all of the normal superstitious poolplayer reasons.

But it's interesting you should ask this today.

Last night in the middle of a match, I had a shot that needed perfect hit point/ angle/ speed/ spin to make the ball and to get good "window shape" on the next ball. I aimed, aimed, imagined the entire shot a la small motions, and made the ball with perfect shape through the only window I could use for the run.

But as I stood up, I realized that not only had I not been focusing on this ball, that ball, the tip, the line whatever- my eyes had not actually been focused on anything at all.

It creeped me out so badly I had to firmly push it out of my head, and I wouldn't have thought of it, or told anyone, without your post here.
 
thousand yard stare

blah blah said:
I chose "I don't want to think about it" for all of the normal superstitious poolplayer reasons.

But it's interesting you should ask this today.

Last night in the middle of a match, I had a shot that needed perfect hit point/ angle/ speed/ spin to make the ball and to get good "window shape" on the next ball. I aimed, aimed, imagined the entire shot a la small motions, and made the ball with perfect shape through the only window I could use for the run.

But as I stood up, I realized that not only had I not been focusing on this ball, that ball, the tip, the line whatever- my eyes had not actually been focused on anything at all.

It creeped me out so badly I had to firmly push it out of my head, and I wouldn't have thought of it, or told anyone, without your post here.
Click to expand...



Funny how well that can work. On some shots that I have to shoot very upright after lining things up I look at a blank piece of table square in front of my eyes and just let my vision relax into a "thousand yard stare" with absolutely nothing in focus. It's not possible to do any last minute steering or make any changes based on what you see when you are "down" on the shot. Amazing how well this can work.

Now, what do you look at on your second practice stroke? :grin-square: :eek: :grin-square:

Hu
 
blah, I think that's the quiet eye you experienced :) The inner game of tennis opened me up to that a couple years ago.

It's a beautiful thing when it's repeatable.
 
: ) I was really expecting to be made fun of for that.

Superstitiously, I don't think it should be discussed. Call it Zen, call it Fight Club, I just don't like to think about it directly. That bothers me big time.
 
blah blah said:
: ) I was really expecting to be made fun of for that.

Superstitiously, I don't think it should be discussed. Call it Zen, call it Fight Club, I just don't like to think about it directly. That bothers me big time.
Click to expand...

Us Jedi refer to it as the Force. :)

Actually, it's always the cue ball and never anything else. If I try looking at something else I am sure to miss. I only look at the cue ball to ensure my aim is correct and my cue aim is where I want it to be.
 
I first line up the shot while standing, then get down and take a few practice strokes while looking at the spot on the OB that i want to hit and the spot on the QB that i want to hit. When I pull the trigger, i'm looking only at the QB while still "seeing" the OB in my head. It's pretty weird and I always figured it was the wrong way to go about shooting but it works pretty well for me. It feels really awkward shooting while staring at the OB.

Edit: Just read your question more closely and I guess I could have just said "cueball".
 
Last edited:
blah blah said:
I chose "I don't want to think about it" for all of the normal superstitious poolplayer reasons.

But it's interesting you should ask this today.

Last night in the middle of a match, I had a shot that needed perfect hit point/ angle/ speed/ spin to make the ball and to get good "window shape" on the next ball. I aimed, aimed, imagined the entire shot a la small motions, and made the ball with perfect shape through the only window I could use for the run.

But as I stood up, I realized that not only had I not been focusing on this ball, that ball, the tip, the line whatever- my eyes had not actually been focused on anything at all.

It creeped me out so badly I had to firmly push it out of my head, and I wouldn't have thought of it, or told anyone, without your post here.
Click to expand...

I know exactly what you are talking about. As part of the SPF pool school they teach eye movement as a part of the shot process. They explain the eye movement patterns between tip, cueball, object ball, etc.. Then they had us do some drills and concentrate on what we were looking at.

I saw the cueball for the first time ever! It was really that pronounced that I had never been focusing on the cueball at all and like you, not really focusing on anything just "feeling" the whole scene out with my eyes.

I still do that on occasion, but I find that by really focusing on the different points of impact, my shot making is improved.

I still haven't decided on how to answer the poll though.:confused:

MM

Edit: OK, after careful thought I chose "varies" because my process is as follows: I line up my aimpoint which has me looking at where my tip is aimed at the OB, through the CB, once I'm comfortable with the line, I focuse on making sure the tip is going to be hitting the CB in the right spot - and adjust for spin, then as I pull the trigger the focus goes to the OB, because the "hands tend to follow the eyes" and if you did everything else right you should hit your target. All this time my tip is going back and forth (though it shouldn't - you should keep this to a minimum). Randy G. and Scott L. - How'd I do at explaining PEP?:wink:
 
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I answered "cueball".

For me, if I'm looking at the CB, I want to see where the tip is hitting. Following the cue tip back and forth would prolly make me dizzy.


Eric
 
I'll check tonight. I always thought I was going between CB and rough contact point on the OB. Specifically I think my eyes are noticing how much the CB overlaps the OB (eclipsing it by 1/4th ball, 1/3rd ball, and so on) and I am trying to make it overlap the correct amount.
 
I look at the cue tip to see how much it jumps up and down. Then I look at the cue ball to see where I am going to hit it. Then I look at the object ball where I am supposed to hit it. Then I look for my soda to take a drink and sit down after I miss it.
 
I chose tip although that may be misleading. I look at the tip to make sure it will hit the cue ball where I want but to do so also requires one to look at the cue so do with that what you will. I probably should have gone with varies.
 
ShootingArts said:
OK, I meant to spring this on local shooters when we were in the middle of an important match but since I can't use it to shark all of you I'll ask you a simple question, what do you really look at?

When you look at the object ball, you usually look at the object ball. Sometimes I look at a point in front of or behind the object ball, the base of the object ball or the edge, but I pick a point and look at it. However when I look at the cue ball it is a different story. Our eyes are natural drawn to movement, that old hunter and hunted thing. Often when my eyes are moving back and forth between the object ball and the cue ball they are actually moving between the object ball and the moving tip of my cue stick.

Grab your stick and really notice, what are you looking at? I'll try a poll but I rarely do them so I may fail. If the poll doesn't work please just post a quick answer below, cue ball or tip. Most would automatically answer cue ball without checking and some are surprised to find that the answer is tip.

Thanks,
Hu
Click to expand...


i use a preshot routine that scott tried to teach me. when i do it right i fall into gear a lot easier.

when i'm stroking i'm looking at the object ball. with a fuzzy image of the pocket in the background. kind of like shooting a rifle. clear front site post
 
blah blah said:
: ) I was really expecting to be made fun of for that.

Superstitiously, I don't think it should be discussed. Call it Zen, call it Fight Club, I just don't like to think about it directly. That bothers me big time.
Click to expand...

i just rep messaged you this but i'll type it for anyone else that wants to read it. everyone that hits a gear (everyone i've talked to that is) seems to not focus on anything specific. it seems to happen when we shut out minds down and let our bodies do what we've been conditioning them to do.

for anyone who's interested should really hit up scott lee. i'm not going to lie after i got done with my lesson with him i thought i'd spun my wheels a little but after a week i noticed when was hitting them good (seemed to happen more after my lesson) i was doing all the things right that he'd gone over with me.

his preshot routine info really helped me out!
 
I look at the cue ball, but at the same time I can also see the tip closing in on its target. I do pay attention to both, but without any eye flutter(nothing like bouncing between cue ball and object ball). So I would have to say both ball and tip, with the ball being the primary focus. (Not saying thats the "right" way to do it.....just my preference.)
 
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I recently started to first look at the contact point from the pocket through the OB, then draw back an imaginary line from that point on the OB to the cue tip, (like a laser line) adjust english & speed and fire. It works very well for me if there is an angle between say 20 degrees and 70-75 degrees. Also works great on straight-ins.
 
As goofy as this sounds, when I read the choices in the poll, I had to go to my table and set up a shot to see what I really look at. It was without a doubt the cue ball. I tried looking at the tip as it was moving back and forth, but that gave me motion-sickness :grin-square:!!!

Maniac
 
I look at neither the CB nor the contact point--but both at the same time.

I look down the line I want the CB to travel. I will verify that the tip is going to impact the CB at my chosen spot, and I will verify that the impact point is my chosen spot, but I don't concentrate on either end of the shot, but on the line connecting the dots.

This makes it easier to see deflection and curve and makes it easy to watch the OB impact and see if the OB heads off in the desired direction.

Thus, by the time the OB misses a pocket, I already know if the hit was wrong, if the CB took the wrong path, if the CB currved off the path, of if the CB-OB contact point was improperly chosen. This makes it easier to fix the stroke between shot opportunities.
 
MikeM...A pretty good explaination, but reread your book. We look at the CB while we are doing our warmup cycle (where the cue moves back and forth) for two reasons: 1) so that we can verify exactly where we're aiming on the CB; and 2) so we can train ourselves to be able to get the tip VERY close to the CB, immediately prior to the delivery stroke. While you're aiming, you can look back and forth between CB and OB, pretty much as often as you want to (it is not necessary to move your cue while you aim, although many players do...you can't tell if you're aimed or not until you STOP your cue at the CB). Then you stop your tip at the CB once more, before your last backswing. Then you look up at the OB either just prior to starting your last backswing (Set position), or at the end of your backswing (Pause position). Then your eyes should be stationary, and locked on the OB, before your cue moves forward. The exceptions are the break, a kick, a jump, a masse', or shooting over a ball...in these situations I teach looking at the CB last, at impact.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

MikeM said:
I know exactly what you are talking about. As part of the SPF pool school they teach eye movement as a part of the shot process. They explain the eye movement patterns between tip, cueball, object ball, etc.. Then they had us do some drills and concentrate on what we were looking at.

I saw the cueball for the first time ever! It was really that pronounced that I had never been focusing on the cueball at all and like you, not really focusing on anything just "feeling" the whole scene out with my eyes.

I still do that on occasion, but I find that by really focusing on the different points of impact, my shot making is improved.

I still haven't decided on how to answer the poll though.:confused:

MM

Edit: OK, after careful thought I chose "varies" because my process is as follows: I line up my aimpoint which has me looking at where my tip is aimed at the OB, through the CB, once I'm comfortable with the line, I focuse on making sure the tip is going to be hitting the CB in the right spot - and adjust for spin, then as I pull the trigger the focus goes to the OB, because the "hands tend to follow the eyes" and if you did everything else right you should hit your target. All this time my tip is going back and forth (though it shouldn't - you should keep this to a minimum). Randy G. and Scott L. - How'd I do at explaining PEP?:wink:
Click to expand...
 
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