My post really answers to that troll in the other forum, but this is a good spot to do some anecdotes about me. And I think I represent a good amount of players out there. And you're absolutely correct: there are a host of other reasons for amateurs to miss shots. But, that's what the other post topics are for!!!
I've been a top amateur player in my area in Massachusetts for two decades. I've played and won tournaments in other states (Illinois, CA) as well. The players I beat I think anyone here would consider pretty strong players. Maybe not pros (though I have beat a couple of pros in short races).
And yet, it was never because of strong shot making. Yes, I could pocket balls, but it wasn't my strength. And it's relative, isn't it? My bad day of pocketing balls could be a C players dream all-time-high. My strength was position play and table management, which is enough to beat a lot of amateurs. But, without a total package, you're always vulnerable. So, that means working on the break, working on safety play, banks, combos, and ... shot making of course.
But was I ball pocketing at Pro Level prior to aiming systems? Absolutely not. I was pocketing balls at "pretty damned good amateur" level. After embracing Hal Houle systems, I am an even better ball pocketing. Am I at Pro level? Absolutely not. But I am better. And don't we all just want to get better?
If you are a hundred ball runner, maybe aiming systems don't matter. But, if anyone is my level or worse (which I suspect is true for 95% of the posters), I just have a hard time believing that everyone else is such a good shot maker that they pooh pooh the discussions and leave it to "aiming properly is so easy."
It sounds like we have had similar experiences, and I think that, like you said, it is a pretty common scenario. You are the exact type of player that I was describing - the one that I think benefits most from aiming systems. You had your stroke pretty much grooved, were playing at a high level already, and got an additional bump from an aiming system. The same is true for me. Because we had developed reliable strokes by paying our dues and logging the hours on the table, we could actually realize the benefits of turning an 80% shot into a 90% shot, or a 95% shot into a 98% shot.
I certainly wouldn't advise novice players to ignore aiming discussions, but I would advise them to not emphasize it as much as we do here on the forum, and also not to fret over the "this is better than that" or "aiming systems are a hoax" crap we see so often in these threads. I just feel, perhaps incorrectly, that it doesn't matter all that much whether a novice player aims by feel or by Hal's or any other popular system. The major advancements they will make in the early stages will come with tuning their stroke, and, like you said, working on other critical aspects of the game, and those aspects just take a lot of time and hard work to master. Speed control, for example, is one of those critical things that seems to just come with time. I think it may be folly for a novice player to get all bungled up with 4 different aiming systems they don't quite understand when they don't yet have the repeatable stroke required to even know why they are missing, or which aiming method may work best for them. They would probably be better served shooting Bert Kinister's straight-in half-ball follow drill for a few months straight.
Nothing about this game is easy, for sure, but I think if a player's biggest problem is getting balls to drop, they are in a pretty good place overall. If they already possess an accurate and repeatable stroke, defensive prowess, and excellent cueball control, it should be relatively easy to find a solution for their aiming woes. Such was not the case for me. I quickly got to the point where I usually lost control of the table due to a poor break, poor position play, poorly executed safety, or swinging at a flier when I should have ducked - missing shots I was supposed to make accounted for a relatively small percentage of my errors. I also found that, as those other areas improved, my shotmaking picked up as well, undoubtedly because my stroke had improved. Some people may find themselves in the exact opposite situation, with most of their turnovers due to missing higher percentage shots, in which case researching aiming systems may very well be the most productive thing they could do.
Thanks for the best discussion about aiming I've had on this forum to date.
Aaron
