Center table shots - Easily recognize how to aim them

Excellent post. I loved reading "Poology. Maps are the perfect means by which to communicate data, and "Poolology" presents you with a logical map of the table and it's relationship to the balls.

Enjoyed the video
Thanks for taking the time
I always learn something new
:thumbup:

BC21 said:

Thanks a bunch! Maps are handy when you need them. And after a while you learn certain routes by heart, no map needed. But if you find yourself unsure at one point or another, it's nice to have a map handy.

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Maps are useful when you know how to use them. Fix that for you.

BC21 said:

Thanks a bunch! Maps are handy when you need them. And after a while you learn certain routes by heart, no map needed. But if you find yourself unsure at one point or another, it's nice to have a map handy.

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I watched the video and fell asleep. (just wanted to get your attention and yank the chain as always)

But here's something where I just don't know where you're coming from about not needing a map.

I watched your eyes, focus, number of strokes from the time you got down on the ball to the final stroke for impact and you were definitely homed in to the visuals between the two balls and did it with a high success rate. There were a couple of misses but no big deal. You certainly didn't want to look like some kind of dolt by missing balls all over the place so you paid attention to the accurate 1/2 ball alignment target between both balls.

But you dismiss all of the alignment and carefulness as if it's automatic and never needed once internalized.

If you were playing a match to 11 for a large sum of money, enough money that would hurt like hell to lose, and the score was 10-10 and you were shooting at the last ball on the table for either the win or the loss because if you missed the other player was good enough to certainly win the match...would you freewheel it without much thought or go through the visual focusing to insure success as much as you could? How does NOT focusing and taking the extra second or two make it better and more accurate?

That having been said, why wouldn't all balls be played that way? What is the benefit of NOT focusing and free wheeling? Does it produce greater success for you or is it just "cool" to move fast and loose. Loose becomes tight after missing some shots and going down in the match. I don't care who it is.

Snipers have some of the most advanced scopes available on their rifles because each shot has to be a "kill" shot. They don't use the built in rear sight and front sight because it's just not as accurate as the scope. They can't afford to miss.

When you don't focus on use of the CB to OB visuals of the method each time, you aren't using the high power accurate scope that will increase the likelihood of success. And if you AREN'T consciously using the fractional alignment, what the hell ARE you seeing and using that makes it better? THAT should be the one in book form and sold.

Use the roadmap to get you back to the base to swill down a six pack after the mission is accomplished.

(Damn, I just realized a Brian Crist novel was written along with some squirrelly analogies...OH LORD, HELP ME) LMAO

BC21 said:

I'm sure you've found yourself playing "in the zone" from time to time. It's fast and loose and seems automatic, not something controlled through 100% deliberate conscious effort.

Of course I have. You think you've reached a level that will take you to the top of the world because you can't miss a shot. EVERYTHING goes in, game after game and sometimes days or even a week or two at a time.

Then one day you start playing and it's like you have Parkinson's and Ray Charles syndrome.

In this video, instead of just stepping up and shooting the shots fast and loose, I actually tried to focus on the exact aim point for each shot, trying hard to ensure I was not using any experience or judgment to make the shots.

I know, it was obvious from watching every part of you from the eyes to the stroke to the hit.

I didn't practice any of the shots before hand. I took the picture that morning before work. Someone on Facebook asked if I could show it on video. So when I got home, around 8pm, I went to the table where the balls were still lying there from that morning pic, and I took my cue from its case and shot them into the pockets.

A half ball aim and hit shouldn't be something that requires a bunch or any practice for a player of your caliber.

I'm sure if I'd have shot fast and loose, without first hitting a few balls, I would've missed a few more. But eventually, after hitting a few, I would've been in stroke, relying more on intuition/experience rather than 100% conscious/deliberate effort.

That's fine. What are you seeing the same or differently from one state of mind and play than another. How do you see a half ball hit when not looking for a half ball hit?

I think a lot players, including myself, make more mistakes when we are trying too hard, not allowing our acquired knowledge and skills to just work at more of a subconscious level.

Again, if a shot is a dead 1/2 ball hit to go in, what is seen differently to impact the CB on the OB at 1/2 ball?

In bold.... many call it "feel". It's developed through years of playing, not something that can be taught in a book.

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I know what "feel" is. I've been playing for almost 30 years. You do know that PGA tour players look at the golf ball when they're hitting shots with any and all of their clubs. The body motion, type of shot being played, how hard or easy to swing is all about feel. But they line up and aim carefully...with their eyes to align their body and the club face.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1d-JrOa-NBY (Hank Haney - taught Tiger Woods for years)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgNeFTuX9Do

BC21 said:

They align solely based on where they think the ball is going to go. This relies heavily on experience, not a one-size-fits-all visual alignment system.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90mvceUsiTs

THEY ALIGN BASED ON WHERE THEY WANT the golf ball to go. THEY control the golf ball, the golf ball doesn't have a mind of it's own to control them.
If an errant shot occurs, it's OPERATOR ERROR!

Watch them on TV or at a tournament and they ALL aim and align close to identically!

BACK TO POOL:

A half ball aim and hit shouldn't be something that requires a bunch or any practice for a player of your caliber.

What are you seeing the same or differently from one state of mind and play than another. How do you see a half ball hit when not looking for a half ball hit?

Again, if a shot is a dead 1/2 ball hit to go in, what is seen differently to impact the CB on the OB at 1/2 ball while consciously aiming or playing by "feel"?

BC21 said:

Yes, just like what pool players do with the cb, golfers line up to put the golf ball where it needs to be based on their experience.

In blue bold.....I don't know, that's why I didn't write a book on it. Lol.

My book is about using deliberate fractional aiming to eventually reach a level of play that doesn't require such a deliberate effort on every shot.

Why do you consider that a bad thing?

Eventually, regardless of whatever it is you're learning how to do, successful repetitions build synaptic pathways within the brain. These pathways are what makes it possible for us to simply see and do things automatically without really trying. It's more about real time visuals coordinating with stored visual and muscle memory.

It can't be taught by anyone. There are no instructions to give, no description one can read that will magically create the synaptic pathways needed for performing complex skills. It's a developmental process that requires experience and practice.

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I don't care what the shot angle is. Straight in, 1/4 ball aim/hit, 1/2 ball aim/hit, 3/4 ball aim hit, edge to edge which is the ONLY way or place for the OB to go in...
How is the VISUAL way of aligning to get it there different from the synaptic pathways to get it there?

You give the impression that the synaptic pathway is superior and more reliable than the conscious visual method.

And I say BULLSHIT! Not for consistency day in and day out especially with the changes we go through physically, mentally, emotionally, tired/strong, etc.

8pack said:

Maps are useful when you know how to use them. Fix that for you.

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Maps are a pain in the neck to unfold, fold back up, see while driving without out wrecking, having to stop to figure things out, reaching way over to pull it out of the glove box.

They have this new (not so new) thing out now called GPS. It actually talks to you and says where to turn, how far, and all kinds of good things.

Kind of like Alexa telling you exactly where to aim for any given shot on the table.

BC21 said:

You can call it bullshit all you want, but it doesn't change the fact that when a player is "in the zone" they are performing from more of a subconscious automatic level than they are a deliberate conscious level.

Once a complex skill is learned and mastered, it is best performed without physically trying to perform it. It's a performance where your eyes act as a conductor leading an incredibly talented orchestra of musicians, each already knowing what needs to occur and how to make it happen. The only conscious process involved is the input provided by the conductor.

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It just occurred to me that there are a couple of people here who have repeatedly, over a very long time, expressed a curious ignorance, almost defiance, of the concept that the subconscious is the real driving force behind pocketing balls. These people are also CTE players who do not believe they need to do anything to pocket balls other than follow steps 1,2,3 and aim at the same spots over and over again. That explains why they keep asking you why you don't keep using Poolology all the time even after you have mastered pocketing balls.

Not sure exactly what to conclude from that. I am thinking that these people are genuine in their confusion and are not simply trying to knock ghost ball or Poolology type aiming. Lou posted a link the other day where there was a discussion about our "inner voice" and that some people do not have one. They don't hear their own voice in their head, hard as that is to figure. Maybe it isn't all that different a concept here.

My understanding is that most of them have me on ignore now, which will be a nice change of pace.

BC21 said:

You can call it bullshit all you want, but it doesn't change the fact that when a player is "in the zone" they are performing from more of a subconscious automatic level than they are a deliberate conscious level.

I'm not disagreeing with the "zone" and how it's performed when in it. Amateur players don't get into the "zone" as often or for long lengths of time like the best professional players in the world. You aren't one of the best professional players in the world as evidenced by your performance against one of the pro players who is, James Aranis. You missed a few shots that were gimmes due to nothing more than a lack of focus and aiming. You weren't in any kind of zone but you were trying to play like you were. It was more like a deer looking into the headlights.

There are a number of pro players who do use an aiming system ALWAYS when they play. That was pointed out years ago in a pool magazine when many of them were asked.

Once a complex skill is learned and mastered, it is best performed without physically trying to perform it.

Parts of it are. A player should NEVER be thinking about his stroke or controlling positive and negative positions during the stroke, his bridge, feet, etc.

But seeing and aligning with the EYES aren't the same thing. Once the eyes have a player dialed in and confident for the shot, everything else is on auto pilot.

It's a performance where your eyes act as a conductor leading an incredibly talented orchestra of musicians, each already knowing what needs to occur and how to make it happen. The only conscious process involved is the input provided by the conductor.

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And the musicians EYES are AIMED and LOCKED on the conductor the entire time for their que to stroke or in our case the cue.

If I had a violin and knew how to play it (which I don't) I'd get it out and squeak out an appropriate piece while reading your next post and all the ones thereafter. It would be boring, morose, verbose and repetitive to match.

SpiderWebComm said:

And the musicians EYES are AIMED and LOCKED on the conductor the entire time for their que to stroke or in our case the cue.
If I had a violin and knew how to play it (which I don't) I'd get it out and squeak out an appropriate piece while reading your next post and all the ones thereafter. It would be boring, morose, verbose and repetitive to match.

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Way to hit 'em SpiderMan.
Some of those guys are so full of themselves with ego it is almost nauseous.
One of them actually posted in here once (typical lying know-it-all) that he'd been a "former center fielder" in baseball.:lmao:
A shrimp like him in the outfield would be comparable to a runt like me racing high speed motorcycles for the Ca$h around an oval track.
Didn't happen and never will happen.
Concerning your words "boring, morose, verbose and repetitive", I will go there and babble again about "IGNORE THESE LOONEY-TUNES"
Drop 'em like the proverbial used condom.
Drop 'em
Drop 'em….send them to ignore city.
Then we can discuss intelligent, professional ways here to play pool and progress at our chosen game. And lift a cheerful glass of Crown Royal with H2O.:thumbup2:
Ohhhhhhh looky, looky, I used a binary compound name. I am now a "scientist". Oh goody for me. Now I can blow off at the jaws and tell everyone how to play pool. Wheeeeeeee...I am so wonderful and compassionate and inclusive and insightful. Maybe I should wear a pink ribbon to show "how much I care about issues" and join up with that weasel Nancy Pelosi.
:rotflmao1::rotflmao1::rotflmao1::rotflmao1:
Regards,
P.L.