HELP... Ive got a case of the lefts

J

jmeier1981

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Hey guys Ive developed a horrible case of the "lefts" out of nowhere and cant seem to shake it...
I was at league last night and for some reason my game went to crap and I was missing 2-3times more iften than normal, and Id guess 90% of my misses my object ball would miss to the left of the pocket. I was so frustrated I stayed after league and shot for another 4hrs trying to get straightened out and no matter what I tried I couldnt fix my problem... I tried different stances, grips, strokes everything I could think of. I even started to adjust my aim to the right of the pocket, but when I did that the shot would go exactly where I aimed and I would miss slightly to the right.

Heres a little backstory on myself... Im by no means a "high" level player but Im not a noobie to the game by any means either. I shoot in two different leagues one APA and another thats called metro. The metro league keeps a running tally of three games you play weekly and gives you an average of balls made... 10points for each win or 1point for each ball made in a game, my average up till last night was 9.2, in APA Im a very strong 5 so like I said Im no pro but I shouldnt be having any problems like this out if nowhere for no apparent reason. The only change that has been made is my shooting cue. For the last three years Ive been shooting with a 20oz 12.25mm triangle tipped Jeff Olney cue that was on loan and now Im shooting a 21oz. 12.75mm kamui med black tipped Dale Perry but I even tried shooting whole racks with my brake cue and house cues last night and nothing seemed to help.
Sooo with that being said does anybody have any idea whats going on or how to go about fixing it. I love shooting pool but Ive never been so frustrated with it before
 
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jmeier1981 said:
Hey guys Ive developed a horrible case of the "lefts" out of nowhere and cant seem to shake it...
I was at league last night and for some reason my game went to crap and I was missing 2-3times more iften than normal, and Id guess 90% of my misses my object ball would miss to the left of the pocket. I was so frustrated I stayed after league and shot for another 4hrs trying to get straightened out and no matter what I tried I couldnt fix my problem... I tried different stances, grips, strokes everything I could think of. I even started to adjust my aim to the right of the pocket, but when I did that the shot would go exactly where I aimed and I would miss slightly to the right.

Heres a little backstory on myself... Im by no means a "high" level player but Im not a noobie to the game by any means either. I shoot in two different leagues one APA and another thats called metro. The metro league keeps a running tally of three games you play weekly and gives you an average of balls made... 10points for each win or 1point for each ball made in a game, my average up till last night was 9.2, in APA Im a very strong 5 so like I said Im no pro but I shouldnt be having any problems like this out if nowhere for no apparent reason. The only change that has been made is my shooting cue. For the last three years Ive been shooting with a 20oz 12.25mm triangle tipped Jeff Olney cue that was on loan and now Im shooting a 21oz. 12.75mm kamui med black tipped Dale Perry but I even tried shooting whole racks with my brake cue and house cues last night and nothing seemed to help.
Sooo with that being said does anybody have any idea whats going on or how to go about fixing it. I love shooting pool but Ive never been so frustrated with it before
Click to expand...

There's a number of things that can cause it. But, since you are using a different cue, the deflection is probably different. Try making sure you just hit with center ball (and make sure you are actually hitting center ball) and see if you start making the shots. If you do, it's the deflection change messing with your head. You have to learn to adjust to it.
 
You need to change the angle of the dangle. Lol. Seriously, it is most likely your alignment. Start with the shoot the cueball into the rail and back to your cuetip exercise. Experiment until you reach some consistency. Keeping the bridge arm straight and a smooth follow through should help.
 
I'd guess your issue is this " For the last three years Ive been shooting with a 20oz 12.25mm triangle tipped Jeff Olney cue that was on loan and now Im shooting a 21oz. 12.75mm kamui med black tipped Dale Perry".

Change your shaft, change how the cueball reacts off it. You may also have changed your alignment a bit over the cue, head a bit to the left or right than you usually keep it.

In general, the wider the tip the more it will deflect due to the mass at the tip, your new thicker shaft probably deflects more and you are not hitting exactly center when you miss. Aside from just the size, the construction of the shaft/ferrule/tip are different enough to cause issues with many players, especially the lower skilled ones (I mean under 7 APA which actually covers anyone from a B to an AAA player). If you're not experienced with different cues, you'll have issues switching.
 
Since it's the "take a stab in the dark" method of coaching here goes :D

Taking eye off OB.
 
If you miss most shots to the left, you could be hitting the cue ball slightly off center to the right and causing the object ball to throw to the left. I think most players tend to favor on side or the other due to some flaw in the stance. Try putting the cue ball on the spot and shooting it straight down the table firmly and see if comes back to your tip. My guess is that it will tend to veer off to the right from what you've described.
A new cue will have a different amount deflection but that only affect shots hit with sidespin. For players who use sidespin often, whether intentionally or not, it's a big adjustment to get used to a new shaft.
 
Well I had league again tonight and for whatever reason it seems as though I might have slept off the "lefts"... I wasnt "on" but I was shooting about my average, although when I did miss it was still to the left but the misses in general were few and far between.
Im not sure what I was doing wrong or what I did different but it just seemed to work itself out. I was thinking it was a stance or stroke issue, for whatever reason sometimes my stroke feels sloppy to me Ill ask someone to watch and they say it looks great but sometimes for whatever reason it feels as though Im getting some side to side movement in my stroke. Im pretty confident it isnt a head position problem I get real down on the shot and the cue always glides across the center of my chin and that always feels good. Sooo long story short whatever it was it wasnt a problem tonight but thanks for the advice Im still gonna try some of the test/drills just for piece of mind because for some reason I can shoot like a 3 one night and then a 7 the next so Ive definitely got some consistancy issues I need to work on.
 
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My first thought is "make sure you are lined up correctly before you get down on the shot". This is critical to keeping your stroke straight and making the object ball go where you want it to go. Good luck.......
 
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