For most shots the contact point needs to be slightly on the "far" side of the ball which would be too much cut if there were no friction between the balls. That's the reality.
The perception can be very different. You have to adjust your aiming method to whatever gets the ball into the pocket.
Agree completely. My experience is that players think they are hitting the contact point but are actually hitting on the nearer side. Often it doesn’t matter. The way I teach parallel aiming is to first introduce the player to hitting an actual point. To do that I put a paper match at 90 degrees to the cushion with the point ,at the edge of the rail. I then have the player try to contact the cue ball contact point with the end. If a true hit is made the paper match is driven at the 90 degrees, off the cushion. This isn’t about an aiming system. It’s about making the cue ball an extension of the cue. It’s about controlling the interactions. Good players do just that. Hitting the ball where it needs to be hit to pocket it is the central point of every system, whether that is where their focus is or not. A system is just a language description of what they are doing to try to achieve that.
Physics has its place in that process. Dr. Dave tells us about throw, spin or cut induced. He also, teaches about gearing effects. Plus of course, the variables of speed and amount of intentionally applied spin.
My methods involve an adjustment depending upon fullness of hit. If possible on near half ball hits, especially between ⅓ and ⅔ contacts, I use a touch of outside side. This uses the gearing effect and throw to counter any cut induced throw. On very fine cuts I apply outside English to counter cut induced side.
On the extreme cuts, if outside spin creates bad angles off subsequent rail contacts, I will make adjustments to the contact point, aiming for the overcut pocket point. The rail side side imparted on the object ball creates a path curving towards the rail. If you have learned to contact a target point on the ball surface the shot is just about execution.
I also adjust most times when shooting a combination into a corner that requires a cut. Cut induced throw seems more pronounced when the balls start from a stationary state and travel very short distances before contacting the second ball. My success rate went way up once I immersed myself in the control of the cue ball plus the pot. The cue ball often needs a particular stroke. Cut induced throw is considered but so is spin transfer and subsequent throw actions down the chain reaction. Most of these combos are undercut, by even better players.
These cuts and some extreme cuts tend to be the sole times I consciously adjust my aim point. The other times where outside English is used to counter induced throw, I do not adjust the object ball contact point.
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