Casting 9s
Member
So yesterday, I watched the first several videos of Stan Shuffett's CTE Pro-1 series. I then listened to them for several more hours while on my route as a mailman today so I could really let it sink into my subconscious. Then after I got home from work it was straight to the practice table. All I can really say is WOW. I've been a pretty good shot maker for awhile now (I have to credit CJ Wiley and his videos for that.) But this was another level I've never gotten to up until now. I worked on this for about 3 hours, and by the end, I was just a total sniper. The shots that have always given me the most problems are the side-pocket shots at those tough angles where you really have a tiny window. But with this, I was making them at nearly a 100% clip with ease. I was pretty skeptical about all of this, but decided to give those videos my full attention and give it a chance, and I really am glad I did now. My only minor gripe is that Stan is a bit off-center himself, so the delivery of his information is a bit awkward at times, and the cadence at which he speaks throws me off from time to time as well. However, I guess he did just fine because I remembered everything he talked about once I got on the table and I had no problems putting it all into practice. I think he is genuinely passionate about this stuff.
So I combined everything CJ taught me through his videos as far as stance and that pop-stroke and being consistent in everything I do, with this CTE Pro-1 to aim. I only missed a few balls in that whole 3 hours, and each time, the reason for the miss was easily identifiable. With that said, I do have a few questions for seasoned CTE users:
- Almost all of, if not all of the few shots I did miss were because I picked the wrong reference point (A when I should have used B, and vice versa. Or maybe using B when I should have used C). Is there a way to tell which one has to be used or does that just come through experience? It didn't happen often, but there were a few tricky angles that were kind of "tweeners" and I picked the wrong one.
- Once you get your aiming line with your head tilted using parallax vision, are you then focusing your vision straight down the center of that line with your head still tilted, or are you turning your head back straight ahead and aiming straight down the aiming line? I was doing the latter, and that felt correct.
- Is it necessary to pivot at all, or is that an entirely different, more advanced way of doing this? I was doing no pivoting whatsoever. I was finding my aiming line using the parallax vision, stepping into that line, and delivering the shot. That's it. And like I was saying, I was making literally 98% of my shots no matter the distance from the CB to OB, or length of the shot. Everything was just... automatic. I felt how Larry Bird must have felt like in all those 3-point contests. Is it ok just to stick with this, or do you recommend learning all the pivoting as well?
- I was doing this practice on a bar table. How much more fickle is this on a 9-footer? I play most of my matches on the 9-footers and I wonder how much different it will be when I take it onto those. If I can snipe like this on a 9-footer, I'll be sold for life.
Color me intrigued! I'm definitely going to be spending more time on this. It was kind of mind-blowing how well it worked, and it was really fun to use. By the end, I really had a lot of confidence in every shot I took. I knew I was going to make it before I even got down on the ball. It really just clicks.
So I combined everything CJ taught me through his videos as far as stance and that pop-stroke and being consistent in everything I do, with this CTE Pro-1 to aim. I only missed a few balls in that whole 3 hours, and each time, the reason for the miss was easily identifiable. With that said, I do have a few questions for seasoned CTE users:
- Almost all of, if not all of the few shots I did miss were because I picked the wrong reference point (A when I should have used B, and vice versa. Or maybe using B when I should have used C). Is there a way to tell which one has to be used or does that just come through experience? It didn't happen often, but there were a few tricky angles that were kind of "tweeners" and I picked the wrong one.
- Once you get your aiming line with your head tilted using parallax vision, are you then focusing your vision straight down the center of that line with your head still tilted, or are you turning your head back straight ahead and aiming straight down the aiming line? I was doing the latter, and that felt correct.
- Is it necessary to pivot at all, or is that an entirely different, more advanced way of doing this? I was doing no pivoting whatsoever. I was finding my aiming line using the parallax vision, stepping into that line, and delivering the shot. That's it. And like I was saying, I was making literally 98% of my shots no matter the distance from the CB to OB, or length of the shot. Everything was just... automatic. I felt how Larry Bird must have felt like in all those 3-point contests. Is it ok just to stick with this, or do you recommend learning all the pivoting as well?
- I was doing this practice on a bar table. How much more fickle is this on a 9-footer? I play most of my matches on the 9-footers and I wonder how much different it will be when I take it onto those. If I can snipe like this on a 9-footer, I'll be sold for life.
Color me intrigued! I'm definitely going to be spending more time on this. It was kind of mind-blowing how well it worked, and it was really fun to use. By the end, I really had a lot of confidence in every shot I took. I knew I was going to make it before I even got down on the ball. It really just clicks.
