Hey Bob Jewett, is Progressive Practice what I need?

Saturated Fats

Saturated Fats

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
My biggest problem is that I lose the ability to aim accurately as the distance between the CB and the OB lengthens. I'm sure that almost everyone may have this problem to one degree or another, but for me this is a BIG PROBLEM!

When the distance is about 2/3 of a table or less, I can hold my own with many players, but as it goes beyond that distance, I'm really just guessing. I can no longer see the difference between say a 1/4 ball hit and a 1/8 ball hit. I don't have a vision problem so I'm wondering if progressive practice might be the answer to teaching me to aim better.
 
Saturated Fats said:
My biggest problem is that I lose the ability to aim accurately as the distance between the CB and the OB lengthens. I'm sure that almost everyone may have this problem to one degree or another, but for me this is a BIG PROBLEM!

When the distance is about 2/3 of a table or less, I can hold my own with many players, but as it goes beyond that distance, I'm really just guessing. I can no longer see the difference between say a 1/4 ball hit and a 1/8 ball hit. I don't have a vision problem so I'm wondering if progressive practice might be the answer to teaching me to aim better.
Click to expand...
Progressive practice might help but also look into “quiet eyes” - you can search for it on AZB. As we age it takes our eyes longer to focus. You might benefit from giving your eyes an extra second or two to focus on the shot before you pull the trigger.
 
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Progressive practice can help you expand your comfort zone because it puts you at the edge for most of your shots.

Have your vision checked if you haven't recently.

It's pretty simple to turn most kinds of shots into a progressive practice by having a way to make the general type of shot harder, and length of shot is a good handle on that. Start with a shot that you have real trouble with but a length that you make most of the time.
 
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Saturated Fats said:
My biggest problem is that I lose the ability to aim accurately as the distance between the CB and the OB lengthens. I'm sure that almost everyone may have this problem to one degree or another, but for me this is a BIG PROBLEM!

When the distance is about 2/3 of a table or less, I can hold my own with many players, but as it goes beyond that distance, I'm really just guessing. I can no longer see the difference between say a 1/4 ball hit and a 1/8 ball hit. I don't have a vision problem so I'm wondering if progressive practice might be the answer to teaching me to aim better.
Click to expand...
Curious, as to what your "vision problem" is?
 
Do you play from a high stance? Seeing the angles gets a bit harder as distance increases. Even back in the day when most players played with their heads much higher off the cue, many of them got into lower stances as shots got long. Worth a try to get a bit lower if comfortable. I have a bit of experience with this as well as one of the adjustments to a sore back I tried was playing in a higher stance. Unfortunately, my inability to see shots correctly as balls got farther apart made that a short lived trial.
 
sixpack said:
Progressive practice might help but also look into “quiet eyes” - you can search for it on AZB. As we age it takes our eyes longer to focus. You might benefit from giving your eyes an extra second or two to focus on the shot before you pull the trigger.
Click to expand...
That's worth a try. Thanks.
 
Bob Jewett said:
Progressive practice can help you expand your comfort zone because it puts you at the edge for most of your shots.

Have your vision checked if you haven't recently.

It's pretty simple to turn most kinds of shots into a progressive practice by having a way to make the general type of shot harder, and length of shot is a good handle on that. Start with a shot that you have real trouble with but a length that you make most of the time.
Click to expand...
Okay, I'm on it. Thanks.
 
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WobblyStroke said:
Do you play from a high stance? Seeing the angles gets a bit harder as distance increases. Even back in the day when most players played with their heads much higher off the cue, many of them got into lower stances as shots got long. Worth a try to get a bit lower if comfortable. I have a bit of experience with this as well as one of the adjustments to a sore back I tried was playing in a higher stance. Unfortunately, my inability to see shots correctly as balls got farther apart made that a short lived trial.
Click to expand...
I'll try it. Thanks.
 
Likely a placebo result that's actually driven by increased focus.

However if the results are real, then who cares. :)
 
Saturated Fats said:
My biggest problem is that I lose the ability to aim accurately as the distance between the CB and the OB lengthens. I'm sure that almost everyone may have this problem to one degree or another, but for me this is a BIG PROBLEM!

When the distance is about 2/3 of a table or less, I can hold my own with many players, but as it goes beyond that distance, I'm really just guessing. I can no longer see the difference between say a 1/4 ball hit and a 1/8 ball hit. I don't have a vision problem so I'm wondering if progressive practice might be the answer to teaching me to aim better.
Click to expand...

The the margin for error is based on the distance from OB to pocket not CB to OB.
So, at increasing CB-OB lengths the OB to pocket length is decreasing, largely compensating the former.

In a realistic sense, the aim point is that same 0.5mm spot on OB no mater the distance.
 
MitchAlsup said:
The the margin for error is based on the distance from OB to pocket not CB to OB.
So, at increasing CB-OB lengths the OB to pocket length is decreasing, largely compensating the former.

In a realistic sense, the aim point is that same 0.5mm spot on OB no mater the distance.
Click to expand...
Math is math, however the actual problem most have with "aiming" isn't aiming. It's actually an accurate stroke, and compensation for squirt/swerve over distance. The greater the CB-OB distance the more exacerbated the issue.
 
MitchAlsup said:
The the margin for error is based on the distance from OB to pocket not CB to OB.
So, at increasing CB-OB lengths the OB to pocket length is decreasing, largely compensating the former.

In a realistic sense, the aim point is that same 0.5mm spot on OB no mater the distance.
Click to expand...
The allowed margin of error, in terms of the error in the direction the cue stick is pointed, is related to the product of the two distances -- CB to OB and OB to pocket. If you take that product -- say with the distances measured in diamonds -- that gives you the difficulty of the shot.

Consider two shots: the cue ball is on the head string and the object ball is a diamond from a far corner pocket and straight in. The two distances are 5 (CB to OB) and 1 (OB to pocket) so multiply those two numbers together and the difficulty is 5. The second shot is with the CB in the same place but the OB only a diamond from the cue ball. The the two distances are 1 and 5 and the difficulty is the same, namely 5.

If you now move the OB so it is half way to the pocket, the two distances are both 3 and the difficulty is 9. A straight in shot is hardest (for a given cue ball position) when the object ball is half way to the pocket.

That's the simple geometry. In practice, players tend to have a harder time when the cue ball is close to the object ball. I think this comes from two causes: the shot is less common so the player has less experience with it, and the shot is affected more by the throw from unintended side spin.
 
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