Use of Half Ball hit for Aiming

mr5994

mr5994

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I've been watching the Mike Page Half Ball Hit videos on youtube (excellent material) and am wondering if it makes sense to use the half ball hit as a point of reference for aiming.

In other words, look at the cut angle, if it is 30 deg....take the half ball shot, if slightly greater than 30 deg....aim a little thinner than half ball, if it is slightly less than 30 deg....aim a little thicker. It seems like a lot of my shots are right around 30 degrees and this would be a useful reference for determining the point of aim.

Or are there any other simple aiming methods that would be worth a try?....without getting into CTE or comparable. I've always kind of used a "point and shoot" aiming system without any real focus on a point on the object ball.....in fact I don't even think I can describe how I aim. I think my game can benefit from a more methodical system.
 
pooltchr

pooltchr

Prof. Billiard Instructor
Silver Member
It is one component of the SAM aiming method several of us have been teaching for years. Knowing the aim point for a 30 degree cut, along with 0, 15 and 45 degree cuts will set you up for probably 80% of the shots you encounter in a typical game.

Steve
 
D

Donovan_45

Registered
Awesome thread!!!!!

I have been doing this recently with near straight-in shots. I start out aiming straight through the object ball then "kinda pivot" with a little fudge factor depending how far off from straight-in the shot is. This depends on being able to shoot a straight-in ball accurately (I practice shooting diagonally across the table, I put the cue ball near one corner and the object ball in the center).

I have thought about doing this for 30 degree angle shots using a half-ball hit as a reference and adjusting from there, but I have a difficult time accurately identifying 30 degree angles. What methods are there for estimating angles?

Thanks,

Corey
 
pooltchr

pooltchr

Prof. Billiard Instructor
Silver Member
If you think of the face of a clock, 30 degrees would be 5 minutes before or after 12.

Steve
 
mr5994

mr5994

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
pooltchr said:
It is one component of the SAM aiming method several of us have been teaching for years. Knowing the aim point for a 30 degree cut, along with 0, 15 and 45 degree cuts will set you up for probably 80% of the shots you encounter in a typical game.

Steve
Click to expand...

Excellent, I hope to learn more about it at pool school this summer.
 
mr5994

mr5994

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Donovan_45 said:
I have thought about doing this for 30 degree angle shots using a half-ball hit as a reference and adjusting from there, but I have a difficult time accurately identifying 30 degree angles. What methods are there for estimating angles?

Thanks,

Corey
Click to expand...


For me 30 degrees is automatic. I have the image of the 30-60-90 triangle pretty much burned into my memory from math and science courses taken over the years.
 
randyg

randyg

www.randygpool.com
Silver Member
Great thread.

Mike, I will have a copy of S.A.M (Fractional aiming) ready for you.

The half ball aim is about 70% of our shot making.

Remember this, there is a huge difference between a:
1/2 ball aim.....30 degrees
1/2 ball hit......45 degrees

I used Fractional aiming for about 30 years.

randyg
 
Bob Jewett

Bob Jewett

AZB Osmium Member
Staff member
Gold Member
Silver Member
randyg said:
...
Remember this, there is a huge difference between a:
1/2 ball aim.....30 degrees
1/2 ball hit......45 degrees
...
Click to expand...
I think it's important to note that no authors refer to the hit for about a 45-degree cut as "half ball". A quarter-ball hit gives a cut of about 45 degrees. (Actually closer to 48 degrees, ideally.)
 
pooltchr

pooltchr

Prof. Billiard Instructor
Silver Member
If the hit for a 45 degree cut is a quarter ball hit, wouldn't a half ball hit actually be a straight, zero degree, hit? I'm thinking calling a quarter ball (half way between center and edge) would suggest that a half ball hit would be half way between the two edges.

I'm not questioning what you are saying, just suggesting that the terminology might be a bit confusing.

Steve
 
Bob Jewett

Bob Jewett

AZB Osmium Member
Staff member
Gold Member
Silver Member
pooltchr said:
If the hit for a 45 degree cut is a quarter ball hit, wouldn't a half ball hit actually be a straight, zero degree, hit? I'm thinking calling a quarter ball (half way between center and edge) would suggest that a half ball hit would be half way between the two edges.

I'm not questioning what you are saying, just suggesting that the terminology might be a bit confusing.

Steve
Click to expand...
Actually, people have been describing fractional aiming for a long, long time. They have never, ever called a hit that gives about a 45-degree cut in any way "half-ball". If you are interested in the history of the naming of such shots, I urge you to get some books about English Billiards -- books from the 1950s can be had for $10 or so -- or even Willie Hoppe's "Billiards As It Should Be Played."

The naming of fractional ball aiming is well entrenched and changing the names is what would be confusing. It would be a mistake to try.
 
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