No, not at all -- if you have a good PSR all you do is decide what you want to do with the OB and CB and then get into shooting position.
I'm just telling you what works for me.
You're the one who needs two DVDs, lessons, and a 6 lbs book to figure out the aiming part.
Lou Figueroa
Don't act like you are something special. You miss shots, easy ones. You make shots, sometimes "tough" ones. I don't NEED two DVDs and a book dedicated to one aiming system to figure out aiming. I bought the DVDs and the book to give support to an instructor who has specialized in one aiming system. I also own other books and media from other instructors who were thoughtful enough to produce that information about their aiming methods. I find aiming to be an interesting subject.
The PSR, good or not, doesn't do the aiming. Aiming might be a part of it but the actual act of aiming, the visual input used to make a decision on where to stand is either by pure feel or based on some other information. Your PSR might be textbook perfect and your stroke laser perfect but if you didn't aim right you will likely miss.
So, yes, always, you aim then you shoot. In that order, always. There is no person who plays pool who does not aim before they shoot. Not you, not anyone.
And your advice for aiming is "just do it". Which is what the advice is from a lot of people who think aiming is a byproduct of fundamentals. That's simply wrong. Aiming is a product of your eyes taking in the situation and bringing your focus to bear on a small sliver of space between the edges of the cueball. The accuracy of your aiming is a product of your experience and whatever methods you use to align with.
Some people say they just do it and they are accurate. Other people say they just do it and they are not consistently accurate. Some people use "branded" aiming systems such as ghost ball, CTE, 90/90, samba, poolology etc... and their accuracy can be very consistent or inconsistent. The difference between the "just do it" types and the aiming system types is that the aiming system types have concrete steps that they can follow and double check their aim.
A pre-shot routine IS NOT an aiming method. Having a good PSR does not mean that the shooter can aim well. Having a good PSR means that a shooter has a better chance to execute well. Once again I bring up the fact, and it is a fact, that a blind person can be taught to have a perfect stroke. A blind person can have the exact same form as you do. That person will not be able to aim on their own. Conversely a person who has never held a pool cue can learn to aim accurately. And maybe that is where we ought to be focusing more when we teach people to play. Teach them to aim accurately BEFORE teaching them to stroke so that when they do get to the fundamentals part they do have a great PSR to deliver the cue exactly where they accurately aimed it.
So, in conclusion, this is the aiming forum. Not the stroking forum, not the PSR forum. This forum is how do you aim. Telling people to develop a good PSR and aiming just happens is not true and is also not relevant to the act of actually aiming. It is secondary to aiming.
