Shot Line Walk Up

Island Drive

Island Drive

Otto/Dads College Roommate/Cleveland Browns
Silver Member
Once determined what's next?

Walk up and along the shot line with your intention, setting your right heal on that line.
Left foot kick forward/outward/11 o'clock ish.
Place bridge hand & shaft on table to address whitey.
Your weight is now distributed equally between both feet and torso.
This will allow your swing to become natural, like a wall clock, in balance.
My 3 legged chair concept, on ANY flat ground it's always stable.
Meaning each leg of ones body weight is always in 3 parts when balanced properly.
Left foot set/right foot, forward kick out/when down, torso on play surface ass stickin out.... teeter totter effect to be balanced.
Take practice swings at that cue ball tip contact spot on the cue ball, that you've chosen.
Then.
Look up at your object ball.
Couple swings/pull the trigger.

When you look up and feel your off ''just a little left'' or right.
Then rotate your entire ''setup'' l/r slightly to keep your stance in balance.

bm
 
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I never walk up to a shot on the table clockwise since I am right handed. If I walked around the table clockwise to it then I over walk it and approach it again.
If I am down on a ball and I feel I am just a little off I never twist or just turn a little. I stand up take a step or two away and approach it again to reset myself.
 
ive played enough that i just walk up to the shot from any angle and get down and shoot. i can instantly see if i am off or not in the right alignment for the shot but that rarely happens from enough playing.

those that fiddle with getting in line are always going to have doubts about something and that will weigh on them during their stroke.

to each his own though. but i dont look for solutions to problems that dont exist or affect me.
 
maha said:
ive played enough that i just walk up to the shot from any angle and get down and shoot. i can instantly see if i am off or not in the right alignment for the shot but that rarely happens from enough playing.

those that fiddle with getting in line are always going to have doubts about something and that will weigh on them during their stroke.

to each his own though. but i dont look for solutions to problems that dont exist or affect me.
Click to expand...

Like you, the more dogmatic I try to be about my set-up, the more it interferes. Once down on my first shot of an inning I move from shot to shot often not even straightening up completely. Might be part of my all shots in an inning are all one action thing.

Hu
 
maha said:
ive played enough that i just walk up to the shot from any angle and get down and shoot. i can instantly see if i am off or not in the right alignment for the shot but that rarely happens from enough playing.

those that fiddle with getting in line are always going to have doubts about something and that will weigh on them during their stroke.

to each his own though. but i dont look for solutions to problems that dont exist or affect me.
Click to expand...
I am much the same. Most top players and instructors say to look at the shot from both sides. That’s never worked for me. I seem to make sense of the shot from the shooting position. Sure I will miss some, but looking from the object ball back to the cue ball never made sense or helped.
 
Next is warmup strokes, and then smoothly deliver the cue through the ball.
Only focus on stuff like this in practice. If you do it during a match it's not good. I'm never fully in stroke if I'm focused on this kind of thing.
 
Cuebuddy said:
I am much the same. Most top players and instructors say to look at the shot from both sides. That’s never worked for me. I seem to make sense of the shot from the shooting position. Sure I will miss some, but looking from the object ball back to the cue ball never made sense or helped.
Click to expand...

On reverse cuts I go look at my contact point. Lock my eyes on it until I am getting down on the shot. Other than that I try to minimize walking. These days I even play shape to minimize walking.

Exercise is overrated!

Hu
 
yes and when gambling big and knowing the game is going to last many hours i play position to not have to move much from my last shot.

this way my opponent gets worn out before me.
plus it looks like i am not playing the table properly. which i am of course not as i want to win and keep him playing thinking i play badly.
 
maha said:
yes and when gambling big and knowing the game is going to last many hours i play position to not have to move much from my last shot.

this way my opponent gets worn out before me.
plus it looks like i am not playing the table properly. which i am of course not as i want to win and keep him playing thinking i play badly.
Click to expand...

It is all in the luck! Tom Ferry watched me for three nights. When I tried to tell him it was luck he wasn't buying. One of the very few who realized my luck was skill. He watched me for fourteen hours or so without ever seeing me really lose control of the cue ball although I faked it many a time.

One of my favorite sayings that I never repeated for others to hear, "Luck at a certain level becomes a skill."

Hu
 
I can roll off the back of a truck and find the shot line but follow a routine.
I step in, right foot on line , left foot left of line. I spread my feet to support
my body gaite and ape index for balance and comfort. No thought it just happens.
If I feel a hairline off I shimmy my feet like dancing in place, it could be a micrometer, I don't know.
What I do know it's nearly undetectable to someone who is not familiar with the adjustment.

Dropping the cue down on the line is a must in my book. If I whip it in from the
side I get dizzy, my head hits the rail and knock myself out. My eyes are looking down the line and the
cue coming sideways is like rubbing my stomach and patting my head.
I have video of me unconscious on the floor.
1729994322641.png
 
If you can see the whole rock at a reasonable shooting level, there might be some precognitive properties to the PRS. IOW as you approach the shot you can "know" yourself shooting it and simply snuggle/scooch into position.
If the shot puts the rock close to a cushion, then a longer walk up always helps. In all cases though, I apply contact geometry before getting down.
 
maha said:
ive played enough that i just walk up to the shot from any angle and get down and shoot. i can instantly see if i am off or not in the right alignment for the shot but that rarely happens from enough playing.

those that fiddle with getting in line are always going to have doubts about something and that will weigh on them during their stroke.

to each his own though. but i dont look for solutions to problems that dont exist or affect me.
Click to expand...
True, especially those that have a lifetime of play like yourself/it becomes second nature.
But you and I KNOW... the second nature guy often goes, the wrong direction. :)

When you watch the Best in the World, they ''will'' sometimes.................................get up off the shot, walk back, redo their final walk up.
This is because of their feel', they know it's not Right.
Making sure they are locked in'.
 
Island Drive said:
When you look up and feel your off ''just a little left'' or right.
Then rotate your entire ''setup'' l/r slightly to keep your stance in balance.
Click to expand...
I've learned through the endless babble on this forum that the above is BS. Every poster here lands perfectly on their shot line every time, and if they/you don't you're doing it wrong unless you start all over from a standing position.

Of course I do literally everything you posted. However, I'm one of those fools that also didn't bother with professional instruction. Didn't adopt aiming systems. Used the same playing cue for decades, and can't tell you the weight, length, balance point of that cue or the manufacturer of the tip he uses.

If all the readers followed the steps as you have laid them out. The average playing ability of this forum would skyrocket.
 
This match....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztB1aSQBfsk

At the 17:18 mark Shanes pre shot routine...... once bridge hand on table he took 2 swings looking at the cue ball, then he looked up at the object ball to be pocketed with a one two, and strike on the 3rd swing.
 
The walk up? Well it starts when I get out of my seat. Survey starts as I approach the table. First the plan that considers all the balls on the table. Once the plan is made and a target ball is selected, I focus on the contact point and line through it back to the white. I use that line and the balanced cue in my hand to establish where I stand at address. Two different coachings to start. One was put my belly button on the line. The other is chin on the line. So I start with the bellybutton using my cue to measure the distance back from the white to establish the final survey stance at attention and square to the shot.The one two step into the shooting stance leaves me with chin on the line. My 3 step dance goes back foot, front foot, bridge. Should be the same every shot. Walking to the stance and overlooking the address is not optimal IMHO. 🤷‍♂️
 
The_JV said:
Amazing how human beings always try to make the simply things so complicated/
Click to expand...

After a few decades of rarely playing I found AZB and decided to learn how to play "right" for my return. I do believe that is the worst mistake I ever made. When somebody has a Masters degree and decides to take a new path they don't go back to kindergarten.

Hu
 
For me , a righty, the front of my right foot and not my right foot heel is on the edge of the shot line so that I create clearance for the right stroking arm. So I am keeping my body AWAY from interfering with a straight full follow thru stroke.
For many years I had my right foot heel on my shot line and it was incorrect for me as My stroking arm did not have clearance from my body.
Mark Wilson states that this is the most common alignment fault causing many many other cue delivery issues.
 
Island Drive said:
Once determined what's next?

Walk up and along the shot line with your intention, setting your right heal on that line.
Left foot kick forward/outward/11 o'clock ish.
Place bridge hand & shaft on table to address whitey.
Your weight is now distributed equally between both feet and torso.
This will allow your swing to become natural, like a balance wall clock, in balance.
My 3 legged chair concept, on ANY flat ground it's always stable.
Meaning each leg of ones body weight is always in 3 parts when balanced properly.
Left foot set/right foot, forward kick out/when down, torso on play surface ass stickin out.... teeter totter effect to be balanced.
Take practice swings at that cue ball tip contact spot on the cue ball, that you've chosen.
Then.
Look up at your object ball.
Couple swings/pull the trigger.

When you look up and feel your off ''just a little left'' or right.
Then rotate your entire ''setup'' l/r slightly to keep your stance in balance.

bm
Click to expand...
Apologize to all those letters.
 
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