magic feather

L

lastdimetaker

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I watched a friend of mind for years and i discovered that he is like dumbo the baby elephant if you give him something to believe in he will fly. Example he is tall and i suggested that he needs a longer shaft, as soon as he gets the shaft he is a world beater. Now i did a toi experiment i told a player just the opposite to use a touch of outside on all his shots told him it would make the object ball go in easier. Sob could not miss. I started to think about my own game and i probably have more magic feathers than anyone and i swear it all works i believe in them so i fly.
I been thinking about all the hoobla over toi and wanted to say the emperor has no clothes. I believe their is some real magic out there spf, cte, toi, i also believe in jedi powers. Faith is powerful stuff ... what do you think. This is not to criticize toi please dont bash me. It's about magic.
 
From one of the greatest baseball movies ever:

Crash Davis: I told him that a player on a streak has to respect the streak.
Annie Savoy: Oh fine.
Crash Davis: You know why? Because they don't - -they don't happen very often.
Annie Savoy: Right.
Crash Davis: If you believe you're playing well because you're getting laid, or because you're not getting laid, or because you wear women's underwear, then you *are*! And you should know that!
 
That's the thrust of what a lot of guys say when they get into arguments on the site with pros, or aiming system guys, or both.

Perfectly valid opinion, as long as you say it respectfully. Just don't make it your life's mission to push that point too hard :shocked:

I suspect you're right fwiw. A lot of the theories don't make sense on paper. But anything that removes doubt and adds confidence, will improve your make percentage.
 
CreeDo said:
A lot of the theories don't make sense on paper. But anything that removes doubt and adds confidence, will improve your make percentage.
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I started playing with TOI way back in the fall when CJ first introduced the idea. Made no real sense to me, but I try everything I hear about for a while anyway. Balls started to go in the pocket with more consistency almost immediately.

Here's the thing, though. I don't use his "three-part pocket system", the heart and soul TOI. I personally believe I'm not getting much deflection by cueing only 1/8" away from center ball, so I aim at center pocket and it goes in center pocket. So now I believe in something that works differently than it is supposed to work, but it does work quite well. No idea why, but I'll stick with it until it stops working.

If I am deflecting the CB, then I must be unconsciously correcting for it. If I'm not deflecting the ball, then I must be pocketing more balls because I'm hitting the CB in the same place all the time and now have a more consistent stroke. How could I ever tell the difference? Why should I even question it?
 
I think a lot of the magic in pool systems today is that they mindlessly reinforce a principle which many lack. And that is why these so called systems "work".

Just my $.02

Ken
 
Sloppy Pockets said:
If I am deflecting the CB, then I must be unconsciously correcting for it. If I'm not deflecting the ball, then I must be pocketing more balls because I'm hitting the CB in the same place all the time and now have a more consistent stroke. How could I ever tell the difference? Why should I even question it?
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If anything, questioning may make it stop working. So keep at it. Personally I'd want to know, it'd be frustrating not knowing. But if it doesn't bug you and it's working, don't fix what isn't broken.
 
i always run faster in new shoes.

i hav a buddy who gets a new bicycle every year...keeps him out there, riding around,
 
Whatever you think works or helps, works and helps. The brain is a powerful thing and even the placebo effect has been observed in all sorts of things so pool shouldn't be any different. I do a couple things that probably don't make a big difference or might not even help at all but they make sense to me so I do them. Even just having an emergency aiming system I believe helps me stay in control mentally even in tough spots because I know that I have something to check down on just in case I start feeling overwhelmed.
 
I agree with you but the difference for me compared to the forums is that my magic feather is usually something about my physical game rather than something with aiming. If my stroke doesn't feel right my aiming doesn't matter, and if it feels on everything looks easy. So my magic feathers have always been some mantra about my physical game, things like "hold your stroking arm away from your body" or "keep your shoulders facing the table".

No too long ago I was speaking with a world-class Chicago player/author. I was disconcerted by the fact that my stroke never felt "established", that it was constantly evolving. It seemed like I would occasionally discover some pillars of my technique, important points that I would take with me. But I would always be attending to some different part of my technique. The player told basically that he is always changing things even this late in the development of his game. I think having any kind of magic feather, be it a physical note or a mental technique, helps you be in tune with your body and keep your attention on the game.
 
lastdimetaker said:
I watched a friend of mind for years and i discovered that he is like dumbo the baby elephant if you give him something to believe in he will fly. Example he is tall and i suggested that he needs a longer shaft, as soon as he gets the shaft he is a world beater. Now i did a toi experiment i told a player just the opposite to use a touch of outside on all his shots told him it would make the object ball go in easier. Sob could not miss. I started to think about my own game and i probably have more magic feathers than anyone and i swear it all works i believe in them so i fly.
I been thinking about all the hoobla over toi and wanted to say the emperor has no clothes. I believe their is some real magic out there spf, cte, toi, i also believe in jedi powers. Faith is powerful stuff ... what do you think. This is not to criticize toi please dont bash me. It's about magic.
Click to expand...

Of course all that a human can do is already inside you. Anything external is only a guide to help you direct your focus and energy. But it's also not just a matter of faith.

There are technical aspects of human actions that if learned and practiced make a person extremely proficient. Techniques that a person might not know about or discover on their own. Once learned however performance can increase dramatically and exponentially.

Belief that something works can of course be helpful. However if it actually doesn't work then the performance increase if any isn't going to be lasting.

Since I am not a pro pool player I can only speak about the things that I am a pro at. I am a professional case maker. I can tell you a hundred ways to make a case with some very good techniques that beginning and even some decently experienced makers don't know how to do. Once in a while I will reveal something we do and it warms my heart to hear veteran leather workers give me praise for sharing a good method.

Leather working is of course something where you see the end result clearly, you can measure the amount of time vs. the quality and come up with a very easy performance score. Pool playing is a little more intangible but most people have a sense of where they are and can see if they are pocketing more, winning more and even enjoying the game more. I say if one can look at themselves then and compare to now and really quantify the performance as consistently better then whatever they are doing works and works more than simply faith in the force.

But in the end it is all inside us for sure. CJ might say that they pros are playing a different game than the amateurs and I certainly believe that with all my heart (and have seen it many times playing opposite them) but I also know plenty of amateurs who can't spell TOI and yet they run out like water anyway.
 
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