Why did I miss the ball? Did my aim fail, or was it my mechanics?

Members, I really appreciate all your replies. I have found they really help. I set up a bunch of long straight shots (again). I thought I had worked this out before. OB was going consistently a little bit to the right on the Mighty X long shot. Double checked alignment, put camera behind me, found the grip was just a little bit tight. Changed the grip to barely hold the cue without it falling or moving while stroking, and it looks like its straightening out. Now to test this on long difficult angle shots, but with known cut angles.
This reminds me of one of the older quotes. “ A good stroke is not owned. It’s rented, and rent is due every single day.”
 
heater451 said:
You could start with a stroke check, like the MOSFUDAT, but since you specifically mentioned "long, difficult cut shots"--and I'm assuming "difficult" mean thin--you need to set the shot up and repeat it. However, focus on hitting it as consistently the same way for several times--even if you miss, you want to miss it similarly each time. You can learn to adjust from that, and decide if it's your aim or mechanics/delivery then, but I would recommend going a step further.

If you also set the "mirror" version of the shot up, you may find that you make the ball more easily, or it's worse. This can point to a vision-center issue, or an alignment issue (could *maybe* call that 'mechanics', but repeating the shot to achieve consistent results is intended to average that out). The idea here is that you may find that you aim/align and/or stroke off-center--even if you don't think you are--and shooting both 'sides' is intended to show if you favor one side. Any 'favoritism' doesn't usually get noticed when playing a game, because it's not usual to compare all of the left cuts vs. right cuts in a game, to compare makes vs. misses.
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I'm not a fan of the MOSFUDAT drill, I can't remember where I learned this drill but I call it the "Whitey don't lie" drill, set the cueball on the foot spot and an object ball on the head spot, the objective is to shoot a stop shot on the object ball, drive it to the rail have it rebound back into the cueball and drive it back over the foot spot, it's a humbling drill, you will do well if the object ball even hits the cueball, your aim has to be perfect as well as your stroke, I have completed this drill perfectly only once in my life......
 
This practice routine unmasks everything period! Straight shooting,stance and stroke and will improve your game. You'll see automatically what you're doing wrong. Pot the ball with a stun, follow to make both balls and a draw shots. It'll show if you're putting any side on the ball and how good your stroke is.
 

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As a drill, 3 ball break 'em and kick them in was the one that honed my precision strike to the white.
The object ball on one spot and cueball on another was a drill I employed and enjoyed in my earliest training and it's a favorite as well.
Precision strike comes easier for me when I focus on the white at the strike. It gives immediate feed back as the ball leaves the cue tip.
 
jimstone said:
Members, I really appreciate all your replies. I have found they really help. I set up a bunch of long straight shots (again). I thought I had worked this out before. OB was going consistently a little bit to the right on the Mighty X long shot. Double checked alignment, put camera behind me, found the grip was just a little bit tight. Changed the grip to barely hold the cue without it falling or moving while stroking, and it looks like its straightening out. Now to test this on long difficult angle shots, but with known cut angles.
This reminds me of one of the older quotes. “ A good stroke is not owned. It’s rented, and rent is due every single day.”
Click to expand...
Speaking of troubleshoot, I have the habit of shaking my hand and flexing my arm when I'm off my game.
 
S
SSP said:
I'm not a fan of the MOSFUDAT drill, I can't remember where I learned this drill but I call it the "Whitey don't lie" drill, set the cueball on the foot spot and an object ball on the head spot, the objective is to shoot a stop shot on the object ball, drive it to the rail have it rebound back into the cueball and drive it back over the foot spot, it's a humbling drill, you will do well if the object ball even hits the cueball, your aim has to be perfect as well as your stroke, I have completed this drill perfectly only once in my life......
Click to expand...
sometimes if I'm off I'll take a stripe and place it with the stripe parallel with the table so you can see if it wobbles on its way back to the CB. Place OB (stripe,) and CB about a foot away from each other in a straight line downtable, then hit center ball and watch the stripe for wobble and the ob should come back and hit the CB solid after rebounding off the far rail. This one won't drive you batshit and you can tune up quick.
 
George the Greek said:
This practice routine unmasks everything period! Straight shooting,stance and stroke and will improve your game. You'll see automatically what you're doing wrong. Pot the ball with a stun, follow to make both balls and a draw shots. It'll show if you're putting any side on the ball and how good your stroke is.
Click to expand...
Where do you place your bridge hand for this shot?
 
George the Greek said:
It all depends. Sometimes about 8-12" from the pocket on the bed. I'll place my bridge hand on the pocket and if trying one-handed pocketing both balls the cue rests on the pocket.
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Thanks.
I have problems with bridging from the rails and placing it on the cloth makes short uncomfortable bridge. If that makes any sense at all
 
Blue said:
Thanks.
I have problems with bridging from the rails and placing it on the cloth makes short uncomfortable bridge. If that makes any sense at all
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Place the CB on the balk line aiming straight to the spot. Put your cues down beside you with the tip almost touching the the CB and the cue resting on the rail and a loose grip. Step in and put your bridge hand under the cue. There should be no weight(pressure) on your bridge hand and from that position you should be able to lift your hand and cue and stand up with no effort. It's about getting comfortable and not using your bridge hand to support your weight. The same applies to bridging on a rail and not using the rail to hold yourself up
 
George the Greek said:
Place the CB on the balk line aiming straight to the spot. Put your cues down beside you with the tip almost touching the the CB and the cue resting on the rail and a loose grip. Step in and put your bridge hand under the cue. There should be no weight(pressure) on your bridge hand and from that position you should be able to lift your hand and cue and stand up with no effort. It's about getting comfortable and not using your bridge hand to support your weight. The same applies to bridging on a rail and not using the rail to hold yourself up
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Thanks for the advice. Generally if bridge hand is level on the cloth i think its not an issue

It is during the bridge hand resting on the rail, hitting the cb downwards at an angle where i always fail the test as in the picture you shown earlier.

I ran out of pro taper even before cueball contact.
 
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