Perfect alignment(almost) from the get go

3

3RAILKICK

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Not sure how to pose this question, or observation.


What % of the time do you get down on the shot and you are in perfect alignment. No further minor adjustment needed for aiming, shot line adjusted for english, etc? Particularly the long shots.

How do you do that? How did you learn to do that?

Do you lay the stick down on the line and then get down on that line? Do you see the shot and the alignment from standing up, and step into the perfect bridged position?

Do you always bridge the same distance from the ball, and so are seeing the shot from the same perspective each time for added consistency?

Do we even know? Do you care? Can you teach your alignment consistency to someone else? Can you describe what you see and feel? Or can you only show what you do, without the ability to communicate the process?

Is it a function of relative spatial awareness....where am I in relation to my surroundings(the table, the cb and the ob, and/or other balls to be avoided or purposely run into?

I don't think about this stuff...if I had to explain, I don't know that I could. How do you explain maintaining balance riding a bike or walking?

I'm guessing it is some form of unconscious failure/success feedback system of the brain and body...scrape enough knees and you get better at riding a bike.

...recovering from a surgery..with attendant pain medication:wink:
 
Here's what I've done in the past and I'm currently reworking my stance so I'm doing it again. Using the donut reinforcement things I setup a straight in shot and get into my preferred position. I then chalk outline my feet. Later on I'll go over it with tape. Then I setup the shot and see if I can step into the shot perfectly. It's pretty amazing how off you can actually be with your feet position and still feel like you are in line. I'll keep doing this until my new stance feels natural and then I'll keep this position outlined to continually check my setup.

I bet the vast majority of even serious players haven't paid this much attention to their setup. That sort of surprises me since it's so easy to do -- maybe not in the pool room though.


---Funny I was just thinking about this today---
 
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If when I get down I am not in perfect alignment (what I think is perfect alignment) I get back up. I have made it a habit of never changing my alignment while down on a shot.

Next time you are at league night watch a player. More often than not when they change their alignment while down on a shot they miss.

As to how one can learn this it's like anything else-practice, practice, practice. Try lining up for a shot and getting down on it but not shooting it. Do this over and over until you have it ingrained into your head to never shoot a shot if you are not 100% in line.
 
I think the key is to visualize the line while standing, and don't take your eyes off it while you're getting down.

In his videos, Tor Lowry recommends a drill where you take no practice strokes at all. Just line up while standing, get down, and shoot. I love that drill. It forces you to align properly before getting down into th shot.
 
BRussell said:
In his videos, Tor Lowry recommends a drill where you take no practice strokes at all. Just line up while standing, get down, and shoot. I love that drill. It forces you to align properly before getting down into th shot.
Click to expand...

I do something similar as well. I shoot as soon as i get down without any strokes to make sure i'm lining myself up properly. It also allows you to rely on your ability without letting nerves and overthinking get in your way.
 
While this is just one way to practice (and not one I necessarily recommend), it would very likely be a poor way to play competitively. You see few, if any top pro players who do not have some sort of warmup cycle. Warm up swings are a deliberate movement of the cuestick (once aiming is complete), with a stop at the end (at the CB), where we determine whether we're "ready or not". I call it red light/green light. On a subconscious level the brain needs about a half second at the CB, with the tip close and still, to be able to make that decision. Once you get the "green light", you need a smooth backswing, and a smooth, efficient transition to the forward stroke. Far too many players go ahead and shoot, even though their subconscious mind is telling them not to.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

BRussell said:
In his videos, Tor Lowry recommends a drill where you take no practice strokes at all. Just line up while standing, get down, and shoot. I love that drill. It forces you to align properly before getting down into th shot.
Click to expand...
 
BRussell said:
I think the key is to visualize the line while standing, and don't take your eyes off it while you're getting down.

In his videos, Tor Lowry recommends a drill where you take no practice strokes at all. Just line up while standing, get down, and shoot. I love that drill. It forces you to align properly before getting down into th shot.
Click to expand...

Be careful when you use this drill. It has made me want to snap my cue in half before.

Whenever i'm working on my stroke or pre-shot routine my conscious mind is very active and overrides my stroke and I start missing balls. To get out of the funk I do this and make 10-15 balls in a row and get so frustrated and wonder why i'm 'trying' to improve.

That's what makes improving your fundamentals so difficult and frustrating - you really have to redefine success to something other than pocketing the ball.

To the OP - this link helped me think about somethings to do to help hitting your spot every time you get down on a shot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0rMSZfg0Tw

Thanks -
 
The only player I've ever seen getting "in line" from stance without any further adjustments is 3 cushion world champion Torbjörn Blomdahl....
Petros
 
3RAILKICK said:
Not sure how to pose this question, or observation.


What % of the time do you get down on the shot and you are in perfect alignment. No further minor adjustment needed for aiming, shot line adjusted for english, etc? Particularly the long shots.

How do you do that? How did you learn to do that?

Do you lay the stick down on the line and then get down on that line? Do you see the shot and the alignment from standing up, and step into the perfect bridged position?

Do you always bridge the same distance from the ball, and so are seeing the shot from the same perspective each time for added consistency?

Do we even know? Do you care? Can you teach your alignment consistency to someone else? Can you describe what you see and feel? Or can you only show what you do, without the ability to communicate the process?

Is it a function of relative spatial awareness....where am I in relation to my surroundings(the table, the cb and the ob, and/or other balls to be avoided or purposely run into?

I don't think about this stuff...if I had to explain, I don't know that I could. How do you explain maintaining balance riding a bike or walking?

I'm guessing it is some form of unconscious failure/success feedback system of the brain and body...scrape enough knees and you get better at riding a bike.

...recovering from a surgery..with attendant pain medication:wink:
Click to expand...

Last time i checked, it is hard to get a good answer via AZB on this topic, it is wide and broad, need good instructor to show you and watch you. For pool it is not critical, i can stand a foot away from the shot and still make balls, look for other things. For snooker it matters on long sharp angles shots. Thanks.
 
I always have some fiddling type adjustment after I'm over the shot. I call these micro-adjustments and they're for getting the cue in perfect alignment with the aim line.
 
Players let their brains just kind of sort this out.........

3RAILKICK said:
Not sure how to pose this question, or observation.


What % of the time do you get down on the shot and you are in perfect alignment. No further minor adjustment needed for aiming, shot line adjusted for english, etc? Particularly the long shots.

How do you do that? How did you learn to do that?

Do you lay the stick down on the line and then get down on that line? Do you see the shot and the alignment from standing up, and step into the perfect bridged position?

Do you always bridge the same distance from the ball, and so are seeing the shot from the same perspective each time for added consistency?

Do we even know? Do you care? Can you teach your alignment consistency to someone else? Can you describe what you see and feel? Or can you only show what you do, without the ability to communicate the process?

Is it a function of relative spatial awareness....where am I in relation to my surroundings(the table, the cb and the ob, and/or other balls to be avoided or purposely run into?

I don't think about this stuff...if I had to explain, I don't know that I could. How do you explain maintaining balance riding a bike or walking?

I'm guessing it is some form of unconscious failure/success feedback system of the brain and body...scrape enough knees and you get better at riding a bike.

...recovering from a surgery..with attendant pain medication:wink:
Click to expand...

If you know how to do it manually it takes allot of the guess work out of the equation.

This is what I teach and it is the dead nutz.......Great results with everyone.
 
I'd need to add the fact that there is more than one cue alignment that will successfully pocket the ball. Maybe due to the fact that the pocket is bigger than the ball.,
 
Mitchxout said:
I always have some fiddling type adjustment after I'm over the shot. I call these micro-adjustments and they're for getting the cue in perfect alignment with the aim line.
Click to expand...

Im with this. I'm not so sure even the pros get down on a shot perfectly every time. Large adjustments....stand up and redo the stance. I too feel some micro adjustments are usually necessary. I do, on occasion, get down perfectly on a shot. When I'm playing well, I do notice I'm getting down inline properly the first time more often. For those that say the stance is the first...most important ...part of your shot..... they are right. A whole lot of problems develop if the stance is wrong or off line.
 
Scott Lee said:
While this is just one way to practice (and not one I necessarily recommend), it would very likely be a poor way to play competitively. You see few, if any top pro players who do not have some sort of warmup cycle. Warm up swings are a deliberate movement of the cuestick (once aiming is complete), with a stop at the end (at the CB), where we determine whether we're "ready or not". I call it red light/green light. On a subconscious level the brain needs about a half second at the CB, with the tip close and still, to be able to make that decision. Once you get the "green light", you need a smooth backswing, and a smooth, efficient transition to the forward stroke. Far too many players go ahead and shoot, even though their subconscious mind is telling them not to.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
Click to expand...
I'm sure that's right.

Speaking just for myself, I personally had a problem where I didn't aim really at all while standing; I would regularly take up to 10 practice strokes. Doing this exercise (shooting without practice strokes) was a real eye-opener for me. I found that, after the initial weirdness of it, I could shoot probably 90% of my normal ability, whereas previously I was convinced that I needed to do all of my aiming while down on the shot. Obviously that was wrong.

Maybe calling it a drill or a practice routine is the wrong term, it was more of a demonstration that convinced me of the importance of aiming while standing.
 
I've spent countless hours working on getting the same alignment into my preshot routine in the past. It all starts at the feet. I step in with my right foot in relation to the shot line so that its the same each time. For me this is the ankle on the shot line, with my foot angled the same every time. Next its the left foots turn. This moves outwards, so the ankles form a 90 degree angle in relation to the line of the shot. Again, foot pointing slightly out. The rest comes naturally by bending in to the shot. My head, hips, shoulders, elbow, grip are all going to be the same in relation to the line of the shot just by simply having a footwork pattern I can consciously repeat.

For users of systems like CTE, you need slightly more footwork patterns based on the fact you don't see the shot line until the process has been complete. So for an A, B or C alignment, your feet should be in relation to specific points on the balls. Again, you get a repeatable method of this for CTE and the system will come easier for people.
 
Pidge said:
I've spent countless hours working on getting the same alignment into my preshot routine in the past. It all starts at the feet. I step in with my right foot in relation to the shot line so that its the same each time. For me this is the ankle on the shot line, with my foot angled the same every time. Next its the left foots turn. This moves outwards, so the ankles form a 90 degree angle in relation to the line of the shot. Again, foot pointing slightly out. The rest comes naturally by bending in to the shot. My head, hips, shoulders, elbow, grip are all going to be the same in relation to the line of the shot just by simply having a footwork pattern I can consciously repeat.

For users of systems like CTE, you need slightly more footwork patterns based on the fact you don't see the shot line until the process has been complete. So for an A, B or C alignment, your feet should be in relation to specific points on the balls. Again, you get a repeatable method of this for CTE and the system will come easier for people.
Click to expand...

It is kind of like a dance step after a while. Wow. That could be the name of a new movie. Dances with Diamonds.
 
For each and every shot, I place my back foot on the shot line as I perceive it. I figure I'll be more consistent if my foot and grip hand are the same spot for each and every shot.
 
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99% of the time..the other 1% I either cat step/shimmy adjust, or reset completely.
I use square up, center line alignment, step in and drop down the same way every time. I never think if I am in line, I just know when I am off.

I pay more attention to my tip accuracy, leveling out my bridge and grip hand, for as level a stroke as I could have, raising them or lowering them as if there was a level on my cue. I want to hit the ball clean and have the cue ball work with little effort

Do we even know? Do you care? Can you teach your alignment consistency to someone else? Can you describe what you see and feel?
Yes to all the above.

I teach it similiar to Tor, except I use 1,2 hesitate shoot. We do it fast and quick,about 5 seconds per ball.we may start with 100 balls. Before you know it the student is dropping in properly like they have been doing for a lifetime., takes 2 practices strokes, hesitates, pulls the trigger, at the same time training them for a hesitation, bow and arrow stroke..
 
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