I believe my statements are quite clear "these techniques DO work for me".
Are you suggesting YOU have a perfectly straight stroke and alignment?
We humans are not perfect,
pool playing machines that's why it's vitally important to to incorportate techniques that produce effective results.
The end result is a finely tuned and blended combination that produces the best results for us as individuals.
I see no reason why everyone that applies themselves can't play as well as they desire. 'The Game is the Teacher'
CJ, you want to pass along what works for you, great! Maybe it well help others on here too, and that is what most of us are after here...to get help, or to help. But....when you consistently say things like "advanced technique", and things like this is what separates the pros from the amateurs, ect, you come across as demeaning to anyone that doesn't play at your level and that you think that if we just all do what you say, we will all be great players. That just isn't so. Sorry.
There are things that separate the top pros from the rest of us. That is all in how their brain processes conscious vs. subconscious thought. THAT is the key, nothing else.
What you don't realize, is that while trying to help on here, you are taking the stance that "I do this, and I am a top player, so this is how it should be done, won't work for everyone, but try it anyways." What you fail to realize, is that a lot of these things are working for YOU and maybe 5% of the rest of us. They are little idiosyncrasies of YOUR stroke, that you have incorporated to make up for other little errors.
For others to try the same "correction", and have any success, would require them to also have the same initial problem that you do, whatever that is. If they don't happen to have the same initial problem, and odds are they don't, then they will be practicing something that will actually throw their stroke off even more than it is now. All because they want to religiously take any advice offered by a world champion. You could tell some that it is best to spin around once before getting down on the shot, and they would do it.
You ask if I have a perfectly straight stroke. Most of the time, yes. But not always. And, 99% of my misses are because of it. So, why don't I have a perfectly straight stroke everytime? Simple- I'm not playing for a living anymore, I play because it's in my blood now, but now it is just a hobby to me. Due to health reasons, I can no longer play for a long time, so trying to get "perfect" is pointless to me. However, I do take the time to find what works, and WHY it works, and then pass that info on to others.
Recently, I changed my stroke some again. I played some with Scott Lee a week or so ago, and maybe he caught it, maybe he didn't. We were just "knocking them around to get together", so he might not have even been paying any attention to my stroke or stance. But, recently, in an attempt to cut down bad delivery of the cue, I tried a different stance altogether. It felt very awkward at first, but I looked at the principles behind it, and with a week of work perfecting it, it is now habit. Today, my stroke is straighter consistently than it has ever been. I did it, by breaking down what is required to stroke straight, and incorporating only those things. Eliminating anything that was a "correction" to my stroking straight naturally.
As I have stated before, what separates the top players from the rest of us is their innate ability to use more of the subconscious during play. While the subconscious can be trained to assist at a pretty good level of play, to be tops requires use of the subconscious that the rest of us just don't have, and cannot obtain. Those people are the "naturals". The rest of us, we have to incorporate the easiest methods possible, and ingrain them into our subconsciousness. That takes time and hard work. More time and hard work than most are willing or able to do.
Bottom line CJ, are you interested in truly helping others play better by clarifying what is proven to work and will benefit the most people, and what is unique to your particular style of play which may actually hurt more people than it helps but is important enough to you to include in a post with that clarification?
