Agree. 100%. How HIGH or LOW you wish to stand doesn't matter (to me)...but fundamentally everything you listed happens.
Basic Aiming - My thoughts and approach
- Thread starter Matt_24
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Agree. 100%. How HIGH or LOW you wish to stand doesn't matter (to me)...but fundamentally everything you listed happens.
Makes sense to me. Yes, finding a way to orient yourself on each shot is great. I'll be honest. Sometimes I get down on a full ball hit on most shots...and then PIVOT my cue while in stance to adjust for the needed cut. Does that make sense? It works pretty good. It's all fascinating. There are so many different ways to do it...I always say everyone should experiment and play a ton of pool!
As important and often overlooked--how you stand before you get down to the shot must likewise be consistent.
When I walk toward a destination, my head and eyes are level and my nose/body center line is "on target". But in their rush to shoot the next shot, many players eye the shot with a foot forward instead of both feet together, their head cocked and their alignment off, so that they don't see the shot crisply/accurately before assuming the stance.
Most pros eye shots with a foot forward, but amateurs would do better to stand feet together on the full line (or cb to ob edge line as suggested) and then move to where they think they saw the target spot from above.
And as you wrote, you can get down on the full line as a handy reference aid for a repeating stance, than pivot (or even practice stroke on the full line then divert on the final stroke to cut the ball in).
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Nice graphic Matt_24...
I always look at the 1/2 ball hit to see if the angle is more, or less, than 30 degrees.
If I aim at the blue square (as in your graphic) I know the OB will travel 30 degrees.
If I aim at the black dot as in your graphic I know my object ball travels 15 degrees,
& travels 7 1/2 degrees aimed 1/2 way inside the dot & 22 between the dot & edge.
.
I always look at the 1/2 ball hit to see if the angle is more, or less, than 30 degrees.
If I aim at the blue square (as in your graphic) I know the OB will travel 30 degrees.
If I aim at the black dot as in your graphic I know my object ball travels 15 degrees,
& travels 7 1/2 degrees aimed 1/2 way inside the dot & 22 between the dot & edge.
.
I use the JR "equal angle opposites" method on short shots where the cue will bridge both balls. It's very precise and all but eliminates user error that ghost ball and other techniques have built in. Longer shots require more time for the image to settle in but other contact systems can help to zero in the shot. For instance if you draw a vertical line through the contact point in the image below (or above), you have two reciprocal sections which can be spotted from anywhere. Simply shoot parallel.
There are other contact/geometric sighting systems I find accurate, the most valuable of which I found here when CueTable was still in use. I haven't been able to locate the original posts - probably buried by commercial concerns - but it involved using the stick to sight the contact point from the mid point of the shot. (middle of the line between cue and object ball centers) and then rolling the stick parallel until it crosses the vertical axis of the cueball. This one works like carpentry.
There are other contact/geometric sighting systems I find accurate, the most valuable of which I found here when CueTable was still in use. I haven't been able to locate the original posts - probably buried by commercial concerns - but it involved using the stick to sight the contact point from the mid point of the shot. (middle of the line between cue and object ball centers) and then rolling the stick parallel until it crosses the vertical axis of the cueball. This one works like carpentry.
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can you elaborate on this. i am trying to visualize, but i am missing something...
Probably the only geometrically correct aiming system.
Marvin Chin wrote a book about it.
Dechaine says he uses that system but imagines vertical lines.
Overlap systems are essentially the same system.
Tried this method out on the table and it works quite well. Thanks for the info and a new tool in the toolbox. Have a 'greenie'.
I use a similar technique for shots when the balls are less than 6" apart. I aim thru center ob to the pocket and parallel shift to center cb to find a cp on it's circumference. Aiming this cp at the midpoint between the balls makes the shot. I find it easier than strict cp2cp at close distances. It's the 'inverse' of the technique you describe.
There are others - some are described/diagrammed in this old thread:
Basic Aiming Methods Illustrated
pj
chgo
What's puzzling you?
If the above is what you're asking about, I think he's talking about this:
Draw a line between the CB and OB centers (like a straight shot), and another line crossing it exactly halfway between the balls. If you know where the OB contact point is and pivot the crossing line to point at it, the other end of the crossing line will point at the corresponding CB contact point and the line will be angled in the exact direction you have to shoot the CB to bring them together.
This is one of the "geometrically correct" visualization methods, a relative of other methods like "double offset" and "equal opposite". Of course, you have to practice and develop a "feel" for even geometrically correct methods.
pj
chgo
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Exactly. Notice you not only have JR's Equal Angle Opposites but the contact line intersects the ball to ball line dead center.
Nice rendering too.
Nice rendering too.
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Cool. The thing I like about this genre of aiming is once you have the details of stance and stroke worked out, the shots tend to go just about where you aim 'em. Cheating the pocket for instance becomes a matter of selecting that particular line. Still risky but so much more reliable than just guesstimating.
It's official. You are an aiming system junky .
My aiming system can be described in 6 words: see where your cue is pointed.
pj
chgo
How do you delete stuff here?
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Works great. And when using english you can use the same system, only it takes a while before you recognize where your cue is pointed in relation to the shot if you were using no english.
I played a little challenge race to 5 with James Aranas last night (Dodong Diamond). They stopped by on their way to the derby. Anyway, he uses quite a bit of spin and finesse on almost every shot. His cue is seldom pointed to where the cb is going to end up.
Who won? Exactly who was supposed to win. lol. I got out the 1st rack, but made 3 mistakes in the next few games -- rattled a bridge shot on the 2 in one game, missed the 1 in another game, messed up a safety opportunity on the 1 in another game. He ran out everytime. An easy 5-1 for him. It was all caught on Roy's Basement live stream. Thanks Roy.
A funny thing....I was a substitute player for an 8ball league last night. It was my turn to play, but James had just broke dry. I asked the guy I was supposed to play 8ball with if he minded me finishing up my 9ball set first. He said it'd be fine, of course, as most everyone in the place was enjoying watching this super pro player. So James broke, then I rushed in and missed the 1 ball! While he was running out on me, I broke and ran my game of 8ball for the league. I finished up just before James sank the 9, and then I watched him snap off another couple of racks.
It's not very often that such a great player comes through town. It was a very humbling experience. He's a fantastic player, a quiet and friendly guy too. Thumbs up to Roy's Basement (Ariel Roy Francisco) for stopping by. They are good people.
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Backhand english works for the majority of stuff. Of course learning the full range of ball control is not such a simple proposition. People like DD get amazing results because they do the perspiration part.
Yup, with lots of practice. It would be more accurate to say "see where your stroke is pointed".
pj
chgo
I would also add.....after you've determined where the cb needs to go in order to pocket the ob (whatever method you choose to use), focus on where your aim line is headed in reference to the ob itself. These two diagrams illustrate the difference between making aiming complicated and making it simple. By seeing/focusing on simple circles, simple spatial recognition, the ability to just recognize shots as soon as you see them becomes much easier.
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