Let me start by saying I have never been around a player of CJ's caliber. I did meet Wade Crane (Billy Johnson) 40 years ago but did not have the privilege of seeing him play. CJ ran racks so simply and rapidly it was incredible. He would run a rack of 10 ball or 8 ball while we talked and he never seemed to slow down. I saw him miss 2 or 3 shots but that was over the entire 12 hours of training and 14 games he played in a tournament. Contrary to what you may have heard, he is still very active in play and teaching. He says he wins about 200 local tournaments a year. He is barred from many local events and is heavily handicapped in the others but he wins in spite of the handicap against some very talented local players.
Secondly I want to be clear this posting is not to disagree with anyone about anything or start an argument as to what is the correct way to play. I have three purposes:
I was shocked to learn CJ does almost nothing the way I have always been taught and I mean NOTHING. In fact it is as though he set out to do everything the opposite of what I had considered conventional teaching. Here are some of the examples:
He said my cue was too level, my grip not firm enough and I followed through too far. This to a guy who did the Tor Lowry 3000 stroke drill learning to force my cue to the cloth each time. Sighhhhhh
I'm not saying CJ has a corner on pool knowledge but he does prove there are many paths. One thing he did which was pretty amazing: He put the cue ball 1 inch from the object ball and hit straight into it drawing the cue ball 3 rails without a double hit. I watched Neils Feijen mis hit the cue ball and had it roll 2 inches at the Mosconi cup trying to avoid the push or double hit foul. CJ develops incredible force in one inch. He doesn't do it with stroke, he does it with a wrist cock and release. It's complicated and I won't go into that but pro golfers do it in golf.
CJ's approach to 8 ball is also unique. He doesn't plan out the whole game in advance and does not look 3 balls ahead, both of which I thought were about the only ways to approach the game. CJ says it is his strongest game and, after watching him run several racks in a row, I believe it. He does identify the best group to choose and deals with problems early, the rest I will leave for those who want to take lessons or inquire from him as I don't want to give away his knowledge without his permission.
What I did want to cover is TOI as I understood it and as I now see it. I think CJ actually mentions all this on his CDs but I did not get it until he demonstrated it. CJ is totally a feel player. He has a way of "feeling with his eyes" as he calls it and it goes something like this:
All his aiming is done standing over the ball. Siting the cue ball a partial tip over from center to center or center to edge creates the angle. On his CD he says you can then hit it that way but I learned he doesn't. He says "you can do that but it puts spin on the ball". That is what took me time to understand. I was aiming through the cue ball with up to 1 full tip offset. I could make the shots but had to deal with a lot of inside spin I didn't always want. He said "I just come down on the ball and move back to the center with just a TOI". If you do that then look back center to center you see you are not lined up that way and if you adjust center to center from there you miss the shot and hit straight into it, of course. What CJ refers to as "an optical allusion" is the idea that you are hitting it center to center when you are actually not. You line up with the partial tip inside, come straight down and move to just a TOI but do not really worry about the object ball anymore. You will not be looking directly at the center of that ball but you don't focus on that, you just "feel" that you are aimed right and shoot. CJ plays very quickly, never doubts himself and just goes. He told me "I don't think you have ever seen me come up out of a shot." and he was right, I never did .
I said sometimes I just feel like I am not cutting the ball enough or too much. He said "if you think you are going to over cut the ball you will". It really is all about getting lined up correctly, getting down on the shot precisely, creating the angle then trusting your aim and shooting. Do not be result oriented. sighhhhh CJ programs his sub conscious to make the shot then trusts it. That is hard for a practical guy like me to do but I am working on it.
Of it all here was the greatest piece of information to me. TOI isn't about always using inside English. It is about slightly favoring the inside or outside of the cue ball all the time and learning one shot you get really good at. You then pick your preferred shot, in this case low, inside. If that won't get position for you move to your second choice high inside and if that won't work go to use center inside. If none of those will work and you have to change direction after contact with a rail (like running English), forget TOI or maybe use Touch of Outside, and shoot whatever you have to get the shape. I watched him run rack after rack and use TOI about 75% of the shots. Also, in fairness, the shots he got the worst position on were spin shots where he didn't use TOI. He still got shape but not great shape, and had to shoot his way back.
I don't know if I can give up the follow through but now I don't even think about it. I do or don't but I don't try to or try not to. I will also be working on a preferred shot, low inside. I want to become great with that shot and use it every time I can. I will still slow roll or spin when it is the better way but will always look fist to my preferred shot.
In playing the practice game where you roll balls out on the table then shoot them in sequence I asked CJ which pocket would you shoot the 7 ball in (after shooting the 6). he replied "don't look at it that way. Think about where your favorite shot would take you and see if you can make that work and that will pick the pocket for you."
Taking the number of possible decisions out of the equation should help me struggle less with the mental part of the game and that is a big deal.
Thanks CJ,
Secondly I want to be clear this posting is not to disagree with anyone about anything or start an argument as to what is the correct way to play. I have three purposes:
- To share my experience with people who can understand what I am talking about
- To illustrate there is more than one way to reach a high level in pool
- To help people who have tried TOI and struggled with exactly what it is all about
I was shocked to learn CJ does almost nothing the way I have always been taught and I mean NOTHING. In fact it is as though he set out to do everything the opposite of what I had considered conventional teaching. Here are some of the examples:
- Grip - Soft or loose - CJ Firm
- Cue level as possible - CJ Raise the Butt
- Follow through around 6 inches - CJ no follow through
- To adjust for high and low spin raise and lower the bridge hand -CJ raise and lower the butt
- And the big one, no pendulum stroke. No real piston stroke either, more of a wrist snap
He said my cue was too level, my grip not firm enough and I followed through too far. This to a guy who did the Tor Lowry 3000 stroke drill learning to force my cue to the cloth each time. Sighhhhhh
I'm not saying CJ has a corner on pool knowledge but he does prove there are many paths. One thing he did which was pretty amazing: He put the cue ball 1 inch from the object ball and hit straight into it drawing the cue ball 3 rails without a double hit. I watched Neils Feijen mis hit the cue ball and had it roll 2 inches at the Mosconi cup trying to avoid the push or double hit foul. CJ develops incredible force in one inch. He doesn't do it with stroke, he does it with a wrist cock and release. It's complicated and I won't go into that but pro golfers do it in golf.
CJ's approach to 8 ball is also unique. He doesn't plan out the whole game in advance and does not look 3 balls ahead, both of which I thought were about the only ways to approach the game. CJ says it is his strongest game and, after watching him run several racks in a row, I believe it. He does identify the best group to choose and deals with problems early, the rest I will leave for those who want to take lessons or inquire from him as I don't want to give away his knowledge without his permission.
What I did want to cover is TOI as I understood it and as I now see it. I think CJ actually mentions all this on his CDs but I did not get it until he demonstrated it. CJ is totally a feel player. He has a way of "feeling with his eyes" as he calls it and it goes something like this:
All his aiming is done standing over the ball. Siting the cue ball a partial tip over from center to center or center to edge creates the angle. On his CD he says you can then hit it that way but I learned he doesn't. He says "you can do that but it puts spin on the ball". That is what took me time to understand. I was aiming through the cue ball with up to 1 full tip offset. I could make the shots but had to deal with a lot of inside spin I didn't always want. He said "I just come down on the ball and move back to the center with just a TOI". If you do that then look back center to center you see you are not lined up that way and if you adjust center to center from there you miss the shot and hit straight into it, of course. What CJ refers to as "an optical allusion" is the idea that you are hitting it center to center when you are actually not. You line up with the partial tip inside, come straight down and move to just a TOI but do not really worry about the object ball anymore. You will not be looking directly at the center of that ball but you don't focus on that, you just "feel" that you are aimed right and shoot. CJ plays very quickly, never doubts himself and just goes. He told me "I don't think you have ever seen me come up out of a shot." and he was right, I never did .
I said sometimes I just feel like I am not cutting the ball enough or too much. He said "if you think you are going to over cut the ball you will". It really is all about getting lined up correctly, getting down on the shot precisely, creating the angle then trusting your aim and shooting. Do not be result oriented. sighhhhh CJ programs his sub conscious to make the shot then trusts it. That is hard for a practical guy like me to do but I am working on it.
Of it all here was the greatest piece of information to me. TOI isn't about always using inside English. It is about slightly favoring the inside or outside of the cue ball all the time and learning one shot you get really good at. You then pick your preferred shot, in this case low, inside. If that won't get position for you move to your second choice high inside and if that won't work go to use center inside. If none of those will work and you have to change direction after contact with a rail (like running English), forget TOI or maybe use Touch of Outside, and shoot whatever you have to get the shape. I watched him run rack after rack and use TOI about 75% of the shots. Also, in fairness, the shots he got the worst position on were spin shots where he didn't use TOI. He still got shape but not great shape, and had to shoot his way back.
I don't know if I can give up the follow through but now I don't even think about it. I do or don't but I don't try to or try not to. I will also be working on a preferred shot, low inside. I want to become great with that shot and use it every time I can. I will still slow roll or spin when it is the better way but will always look fist to my preferred shot.
In playing the practice game where you roll balls out on the table then shoot them in sequence I asked CJ which pocket would you shoot the 7 ball in (after shooting the 6). he replied "don't look at it that way. Think about where your favorite shot would take you and see if you can make that work and that will pick the pocket for you."
Taking the number of possible decisions out of the equation should help me struggle less with the mental part of the game and that is a big deal.
Thanks CJ,
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