Shane uses the mirror system for one rail kicks a lot. He also aims with his shaft sides. It is one reason he is so accurate. The use of an objective guide really helps to be sure and confident in your aim.
Ultimate Aiming - Finding the Line
- Thread starter HawaiianEye
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Shane uses the mirror system for one rail kicks a lot. He also aims with his shaft sides. It is one reason he is so accurate. The use of an objective guide really helps to be sure and confident in your aim.
That's more of an execution question. Executing is mostly about having a feel for what the shot requires. Of course there are some instructors who try to quantify the shot in terms of speed, as in use a 5 speed hit for this one with low left.
Sure, it's execution.
Then when you have to shoot with side spin, you'll have to have a feel for the squirt and throw .
When you play then it suddenly rains outside, what now? What objective do you have that the cloth will play slower and the balls will throw differently?
Feel is a huge part of this game.
Some can't even play with soft tips or leather wrap.
All that is factored in by any good player.
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So does Shane sight down the edge of his ferrule or does he sight down the middle? I've watched the podcast and can't remember him talking about it. When I sight over the cue I sight down the middle of it and from there it looks to be pointing at a certain part of the object ball. If I keep the cue still and then move my head to look down the inside of the ferrule the place it is pointing to is different. I get an obscure view when looking down the center of the shaft at where the inside of it is pointing. It's not a huge difference on close distances, but on half table or longer distances it can be as much as a quarter of a ball out to what I think.
This is almost exactly how I aim most shots. It's all about seeing the angles to me. If I'm not seeing the correct angles I struggle mightily, but once they start "jumping out at me", aiming suddenly seems ridiculously easy. At that point, however, I still have to deal with the problem of delivering the CB along that line so that it ends up in the ghost ball position.
I find it is easiest to shoot directly at a fine point rather than trying to stroke perfectly along a line, or to aim a whole ball at another ball. So, once I see the correct shot line, I look at the OB for any reference marks that the shot line goes right through. The easiest ones to find are the reflections of the table lights on the OB.
For example, on a given shot I might notice that the shot line I am seeing goes through the space between the two reflections on the right side, but a little off center (maybe a bit closer to the inner one). I fix my gaze on that spot and aim directly at it like I am aiming a rifle at it. The cut now feels like a straight in shot to me directly to that point, which it is in essence. To me, this takes the guesswork out of aiming and it becomes purely objective.
Here's a crude diagram I made showing how I use various reference lines to see the angle and aim the shot, in this case cheating the pocket to the right. Once I can clearly see the shot line (line #4), I just find the spot on the OB that is on that line (the little green asterisk), fire directly at it, and the OB slices into the pocket. If the shot is a half ball hit, I just shoot directly at the edge of the OB. If it's a cut over 30º, I will look at how far away the shot line is from the edge of the OB and shoot at that point, or maybe at a point on the rail or in the room behind it if the angle is more extreme.
This may sound complicated, but it is not at all. I see the angle, sight along the leg of the angle that is the shot line, pick out a spot that the line goes through and fire right at that spot like it was straight in. Of course, I still have to deliver a straight stroke, allow for CIT, deflection, and all that jazz, so there is still feel involved, but the actual sighting of the shot seems about as objective as it gets.
Now, a certain somebody will surely come along in a minute or so and tell me I don't understand the meaning of the word "objective", and will provide a definition straight out of Webster, but I won't be reading it because I will be downstairs objectively shooting balls into holes.
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I think he was pulling people's legs.
Good Lord. Side of the ferrule then side of the shaft at different locations. Then he says each shaft is different .
Your eyes cannot line up the side of the shaft that has a taper. Give me a break. If he can, he's a freaking savant that is out of this world . Why can't he just site down the middle of the tip ?
Now, by experience, our peripheral vision can actually tell of the shaft is on the right angle . That's why in PULLING the shaft, you should pull slowly.
He wasn't kidding. It's on the instructional DVD that Shane did for TAR. Shaft aiming has been around for a long time.
I was taught a version by an old road player. I still use part of what he taught me after I am down on the shot.
I actually have the instructional video. If I remember to do so I will write it out.
I think it's left cuts the left edge of the shaft/ferrule and reverse with a few other adjustments for various angles.
Well, except for the part in blue - you have to estimate what part of the CB to aim directly at it. That's always the challenge in aiming - and the reason for so many systems.
lol
I hope I was gentle. My point was really the second sentence.
pj
chgo
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I don't think he was kidding either, and it makes some sense to use the side of the ferrule/shaft - with a centerball hit it's a fixed aiming landmark just like the center of the cue but a little closer to the target. I like having my sightline on my cue's centerline, but I could imagine using the side of the ferrule as a secondary check.
pj
chgo
I dont think this is correct.
I know some good players just find the spot and then "aim" to hit it. They know that in reality they cant line up exactly center ball at contact point but they don't worry about it. The mind and repetition lines them up once they simply find the spot and consciously they just find the spot and then drop in and hit it.
Sure, side of the ferrule or tip.
But, side of the shaft at different locations ?
Let's say, he wasn't kidding.
Good luck in teaching that to someone else.
Sure, you can get very good at it, but whether you do it consciously or subconsciously it's still an estimation and no matter how good you get you'll make some mistakes. I don't make this point because I think this fact has any positive or negative value; it's just a fact that there's no point in not acknowledging.
pj
chgo
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My bad. I misunderstood what Sloppy pockets was saying and what you wrote in response.
I am not a big fan of aiming period. As in aiming being to consciously line up to certain points. I am much more the picture and shoot type of player. I focus on the contact point and drop in to hit it but I don't worry about lining up or finding a spot on the table or ball to line up to. Just finding the spot is enough. That is what I thought Sloppy pockets was saying too.
I don't think Shane is kidding either. In this video he and Johnny are discussing how they aim and Shane seems genuinely surprised to hear that Johnny does not focus on his shaft.
https://youtu.be/iUT7-RdKdeA?t=2559
https://youtu.be/iUT7-RdKdeA?t=2559
I can attest that Sean King, a very good local player, watched Shane's video on the shaft aiming and took it to the table and in two days was shooting better than he ever had before. His precision jumped a good ball or two. The first weekend he won a large bar table event at Jamacia Joes and then he followed it up by snapping off a big event in Shreveport, winning about $10,000.
But this didn't all come about purely from learning Shane's aiming method, Sean also dedicated himself to more practice and hard sparring which served to keep him sharp.
Regarding the aiming though, he reported the increase in confidence when he is down on the balls and not feeling any trepidation whatsoever on shots that had formerly given him the yips.
Sean is also an instructor who teaches the values of sound fundamentals. He makes students buy and study Jerry Briesath's dvd before taking them on. His logic is that they can spend $50 (or whatever it costs) to learn the basic material from Jerry or they can spend $400 with him to learn the same stuff before going to another level.
I say this because he is a very self-aware player when it comes to his game and what is working.
I took sloppy's post to mean he focuses on a spot that the stick is to aim at to pocket it, not the contact point. This is how I was taught as a kid. I was taught to recognize the angle and relate it to 1/4,1/2,3/4 ball contacts etc... Slightly more fractions but I won't go into that. From there you know a 3/4 ball contact for example, the tip should point at the outer quarter of the object ball. From there you recognize if it's thinner or thicker than a 3/4 ball contact and shift the point the cue is to aim at very slightly and get down with the eyes locked on this point. Through repetition and hitting balls when practicing various angles you learn to auto adjust as you walk in and get down. It is very much a method to get you in the ball park and let your subconscious take over but it was surprising how quickly I was looking directly at the part of the object ball... Or outside of it that the tip should be pointing at without having to go through all the fractions.
Now, I've hit far too many balls to give aiming a thought. I tend to just visualize the shot now a few times before stepping in.
I've given it a go on some advice I over heard Ronnie O'Sullivan giving a fan. .. Play quickly and don't give your self time to aim. It works for him brilliantly but for me I'm a slow player by nature and find my self making silly mistakes because I've thrown my tempo out the window.
Now, I've hit far too many balls to give aiming a thought. I tend to just visualize the shot now a few times before stepping in.
I've given it a go on some advice I over heard Ronnie O'Sullivan giving a fan. .. Play quickly and don't give your self time to aim. It works for him brilliantly but for me I'm a slow player by nature and find my self making silly mistakes because I've thrown my tempo out the window.