if you have a fairly straight stroke that isn't perfect,won't you start aiming slightly incorrectly to compensate?Everyone can have a straight stroke, yes, I've watched players run tables with one arm/prosthetics/bizarre grips and angles or done similar in a clinic. The issues that affect our perception of good play include:
1) The stroke can be fairly straight or even laser straight, but balls are missed because of faulty aim/aiming to the wrong portion of a pocket/not compensating for throw
2) The player's head position varies between shots, so their anatomy/mechanics work, but their aim is parallax/faulty on certain shots, causing frustrating inconsistency
3) The player has a straight stroke, but bangs the balls to hard, exacerbating multiple issues with squirt/deflection, etc.
4) The player has hampered their natural loop stroke because someone told them to practice using a Coke bottle and their timing is faulty
5) The player is doing something else funky, like jacking their stroke arm high in the air unconsciously on practice strokes, creating micro-jumps and excessive spin/curve on otherwise straight final strokes
The winning combination--a fairly straight stroke (need not be perfect) with consistent stance, knowledge of aim and spin, and the line of sight, aka vision center--the place where straight shots LOOK straight--centered over the shot line. Pool is a 3D game and a straight stroke has to come through an effective vertical plane . . .
i imagine that the only way you would not start to compensate is if you pull back slightly offline and then always bring the cue back perfectly on the stroking line , but i think if you stroke forward even slightly offline on practice strokes/delivery i think you will start to compensate by aiming incorrectly.