**ATTENTION: Do not read this if you are playing good and not having any trouble with your aim, or if you are 'seeing' the balls well. This can screw you up. If it ain't broken, don't try to fix it** 
Sometimes when I was having a bad day, I used to feel like I was shooting blindly. No matter how much I tried to focus on the shot, it felt like I was guessing. When I'm in stroke, everything feels right, there is no guessing, and I'm hitting everything with confidence, and most of the time, making the shot and getting position. What boggled my mind was how I could play so good one day, and play so bad the next. What was I doing differently? Why couldn't I see the shots well? I tried working on everything, from alignment, to making sure my dominant eye is over the shaft, but I could never find a way to change the way I looked at the balls, and just accepted that 'A bad day is a bad day' in pool. I figured out something so simple a long time ago, and I have never had a problem 'seeing' the shots ever since. When I play bad, it's always because of my mechanics. How do I know this? Because I can feel it. I feel a twist when I twist, I feel my body moving when I move, and I can feel it in the cue when I don't strike the cueball with the type of stroke I intended.
What I learned about aiming, is no matter what type of system you use, nothing will work if your eyes are not doing the right thing. I'm not talking about eye movement patterns or anything like that, I'm talking about what you are looking at as you get down into your shooting position. A person with good alignment and a straight stroke, should be able to get down on a shot, close his/her eyes, and fire it in every time. Think about it, if you line up wrong on a shot, and make an adjustment while you are down, everything is going to be out of line. You're not going to be able to deliver the cue on the path you intended. Many people twist or shift their body weight to compensate, and most of them miss because of that. In my opinion, this all stems from looking at the wrong place as you get down in your stance. In other words, people line up wrong because they look at the wrong thing as they fall into their stance.
What I do, is I put my shaft on the line of the shot while I'm standing up. Here is the key: As I'm getting down into my shooting position, I completely ignore EVERYTHING else except for the cueball and object ball. My cue is already in the right place, and all I am simply doing is aiming my body at the shot, conforming to the cue. I don't think it is good to line up your body first, and then the cue. Most of the time your body will be in the way, and you will be stroking around your body without even noticing it (it's hard to tell if your stroke is crooked when you are down on the shot). Place your cue in the right place, and mold your body to it. This will allow you to have complete focus on only the cueball and object ball, and you should be able to 'see' the balls alot better. Another key element that I think is important, is while you are taking your practice strokes, try to avoid looking at your shaft. Once you are down, make sure your tip is aimed at the intended spot on the cueball, and try to block it out. Teach yourself to "feel" if your stroke is crooked, rather than trying to see it. Correcting flaws in your stroke with feel instead of visualization is the fastest way to develop a good stroke. I'm sure that most of you know what I'm talking about, that when you are in dead punch, you feel your cue moving back and forth perfectly. It's kind of like your stroke hit the "sweet spot". This is muscle memory at it's finest.
Now when I am in a slump, or having a bad day, I know it's my mechanics, and it allows me to focus on something in particular, instead of being confused and wondering whether it's my aim or my mechanics. I know when I'm aiming correctly, but executing the shot correctly is totally different
If this helps anyone, let me know.
Sometimes when I was having a bad day, I used to feel like I was shooting blindly. No matter how much I tried to focus on the shot, it felt like I was guessing. When I'm in stroke, everything feels right, there is no guessing, and I'm hitting everything with confidence, and most of the time, making the shot and getting position. What boggled my mind was how I could play so good one day, and play so bad the next. What was I doing differently? Why couldn't I see the shots well? I tried working on everything, from alignment, to making sure my dominant eye is over the shaft, but I could never find a way to change the way I looked at the balls, and just accepted that 'A bad day is a bad day' in pool. I figured out something so simple a long time ago, and I have never had a problem 'seeing' the shots ever since. When I play bad, it's always because of my mechanics. How do I know this? Because I can feel it. I feel a twist when I twist, I feel my body moving when I move, and I can feel it in the cue when I don't strike the cueball with the type of stroke I intended.
What I learned about aiming, is no matter what type of system you use, nothing will work if your eyes are not doing the right thing. I'm not talking about eye movement patterns or anything like that, I'm talking about what you are looking at as you get down into your shooting position. A person with good alignment and a straight stroke, should be able to get down on a shot, close his/her eyes, and fire it in every time. Think about it, if you line up wrong on a shot, and make an adjustment while you are down, everything is going to be out of line. You're not going to be able to deliver the cue on the path you intended. Many people twist or shift their body weight to compensate, and most of them miss because of that. In my opinion, this all stems from looking at the wrong place as you get down in your stance. In other words, people line up wrong because they look at the wrong thing as they fall into their stance.
What I do, is I put my shaft on the line of the shot while I'm standing up. Here is the key: As I'm getting down into my shooting position, I completely ignore EVERYTHING else except for the cueball and object ball. My cue is already in the right place, and all I am simply doing is aiming my body at the shot, conforming to the cue. I don't think it is good to line up your body first, and then the cue. Most of the time your body will be in the way, and you will be stroking around your body without even noticing it (it's hard to tell if your stroke is crooked when you are down on the shot). Place your cue in the right place, and mold your body to it. This will allow you to have complete focus on only the cueball and object ball, and you should be able to 'see' the balls alot better. Another key element that I think is important, is while you are taking your practice strokes, try to avoid looking at your shaft. Once you are down, make sure your tip is aimed at the intended spot on the cueball, and try to block it out. Teach yourself to "feel" if your stroke is crooked, rather than trying to see it. Correcting flaws in your stroke with feel instead of visualization is the fastest way to develop a good stroke. I'm sure that most of you know what I'm talking about, that when you are in dead punch, you feel your cue moving back and forth perfectly. It's kind of like your stroke hit the "sweet spot". This is muscle memory at it's finest.
Now when I am in a slump, or having a bad day, I know it's my mechanics, and it allows me to focus on something in particular, instead of being confused and wondering whether it's my aim or my mechanics. I know when I'm aiming correctly, but executing the shot correctly is totally different
If this helps anyone, let me know.
