Choosing a Sysytem

Kdogster

Registered
What are some examples of your "structured aiming drills"?
I am lucky to have a video projector/raspberry pi system for pool drills, which has a module called structured aiming. https://www.icatraining.com/product-page/comprehensive-aiming. It's a bit expensive, there are cheaper systems if you research. You could also design your own routine with good 'ol donut reinforcement stickers.

Here's an idea of how comprehensive it is... see pictures below for one OB position. You can also do a horizontal mirror image of all the shots, so it's really 12 different configurations. Then, you move the OB to new position and shoot another set of configurations. The OB positions are in a grid of one half of the table at half diamond intervals in both directions. Some OB positions won't work for all pockets.

It's a lot of work and can be frustrating, but you'll start to develop your own "aiming system" and you'll start to "see" the shots. You'll also get good at seeing the CB and OB meeting at contact in your mind. In the process of doing these drills, you'll discover all sorts of flaws with your stroke, vision, grip, shot routine and so on. You'll end up fixing those along the way, because to be consistent making shots demands strong mechanics. I've just started a 3rd pass through the entire set of drills. The first two times took me 3 months apiece. This pass, I'll be changing the distances between CB and OB, adding some position play, applying side spin, etc.

Image links... couldn't make them show image using img tag, so just giving you the links.

https://ibb.co/jGfQfBt

https://ibb.co/DYpMFSs

https://ibb.co/6JFQrny

https://ibb.co/7jpBQkG

https://ibb.co/1LqHvdS

https://ibb.co/CVxFyTX
 
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BilliardsAbout

BondFanEvents.com
Silver Member
Let's assume for the moment that you are right, that it's an aiming problem. Focus is vital, but assume it's not that. Then it's likely that your head/eye alignment/height over the ball is off. The suggestions of Bob and Matt and others about preshot routine should help. Give special focus to head/eye alignment, tilt and height. A key check is if you can focus on the hit, on shots you are missing [but a good habit all the time]. Are you hitting where you are aiming? Even with no conscious aiming system, you must have something you use as reference to tell if the cue ball is going to where you intended. If you are hitting where you are 'aiming' when you miss, then we're confirming focus and an aiming problem.

You should also pay some attention to your eye patterns. Perhaps you are inconsistent and do a poor pattern on days you are distracted. Eye patterns have to do with where you look as you do warmup strokes and on the final shot. There are a few recommended variations.

And I hope you aren't jumping up or otherwise moving during or in the first second after the shot. Small changes here are disastrous for consistency.

I can suggest my aiming video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCvaLS37FDo) as a way to give you some insights about the tradeoffs of the most common aiming systems. That theory as well as trying them out -- especially on shots that are their weak areas that I point out, should help you choose. I generally align when standing, based on my estimation of the ghost ball position, but I strongly agree with Matt that you need some exact aim point on the object ball for precision when you are down on the shot.

But I also firmly believe that learning aiming requires good fundamentals and the overall learning process involves both. And it's best to practice known shots with known aims. Inconsistency in that case means a mechanics problem. My AimRight product gives a good way to setup known shots and in the video I recommend a way to aim during that 'mechanics' training that aims at an exact spot on the OB, as Matt advises. If you want to evaluate an aiming system, I strongly recommend you test it out rigorously with a full range of cut angles and at various distances. People can be fooled by intermittent/short-term success that they've found something that will solve all their problems.

But what if it's not aiming? Certainly focus and preshot routines and mental attitude are critical. But I don't know if you are a pure shotmaker or play a strong all-around game. If you are a pure shotmaker, perhaps you need to learn better position play and/or pattern play to not have to frequently shoot difficult shots. If you play a strong all around game, then your failure to run many balls points to problems with fundamentals and maybe aiming.

One final thought. If you aren't 'into playing' because other things are important/distracting, maybe you shouldn't play that day. Playing then reinforces bad habits and just isn't fun. Or practice something different like learning a kick shot method or safety play. Something new will grab your attention in a way unlike 'regular play'. And if you must play (league, for example), try playing more conservatively, like much more safety play.

Great points. Tom Simpson noticed that many amateurs move their head laterally as they move it vertically (a natural outcome of standing angled toward a target with one foot ahead of the other). So vertical head placement, if it changes day-to-day, can throw off aim.

Make your best head height part of your PSR.
 

Kdogster

Registered
Great points. Tom Simpson noticed that many amateurs move their head laterally as they move it vertically (a natural outcome of standing angled toward a target with one foot ahead of the other). So vertical head placement, if it changes day-to-day, can throw off aim.

Make your best head height part of your PSR.

Good advice, Matt. A while back, I made changes to head height based on this Tom Simpson article, which discusses the vertical axis perception error. https://www.pooldawg.com/article/pooldawg-library/how-to-shoot-straighter

It helped me a lot, because I just was not seeing things properly with my chin directly on top of the cue. Now, I keep my chin a couple inches above the cue and my perception is so much better. Having my chin a couple inches above the cue on jacked up shots is also very effective.

Another thing I applied is the Dr. Dave article on finding vision center to know where to align my chin relative to the cue. https://billiards.colostate.edu/faq/eyes/vision-center/. In my case, I keep my chin center slightly to the left of the cue center line (and a couple inches above the cue).
 
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