Mizerak + Mosconi: Dominant left eye directly over shotline

arnaldo

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Dominant left eye kept directly over their shot line by both Mizerak and Mosconi. Also Willie’s stance advice.

Miz was of course a left-hander and Willie a righty, but both aligned their dominant left eye directly over the shot line, at least during the period of their career when the photos were taken. Interesting. Photo attached.

Also attached: photo of Willie’s stance in his 1965 “Winning Pocket Billiards”.
His text of advice within in the photo naturally was specific only to himself as a fairly diminutive player who built that stance having to sight shots and the layouts over the *5 by 10* tables of his early skills-acquisition and professional tournament years pre-WWII after which, (largely via his Brunswick promotional days) the present 9-footers came into prevalence.

Btw, the stance text reads: "With the feet in proper position, bend forward at the waist and bring your hand in line over the cue in the completed stance. Your feet should be no more than six inches apart." [To be taken as solely correct for him and his circumstances, of course.]

Arnaldo

Capture - Dominant eye - Mizerak ... Mosconi + Mosconi stance.JPG
 

trob

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
yeah...I'm right handed left eye dominant and with out putting that eye directly over the cue I'm not making a ball lol
 

Ty-Tanic

Ty-Tanic Makes U Panic
Silver Member
I have the same problem but I am right eye dominant and right handed. It has its challenges.
 

EL'nino

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I truly believe that being cross dominant makes pocketing balls at least 5 times harder.
 

sfleinen

14.1 & One Pocket Addict
Gold Member
Silver Member
I have the same problem but I am right eye dominant and right handed. It has its challenges.

Just like Earl Strickland and Niels Feijen (although Niels is clinically blind in the left eye).

-Sean
 

boogeyman

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I truly believe that being cross dominant makes pocketing balls at least 5 times harder.

So you see..if either The Miz or Mosconi didn't take into account their dominant eyes by lining up their heads
(their eye configurations) so as to obtain proper "vision center" dynamic (where to them, the cue tip looks center on the cue ball),
we would probably never have talked about these two players.

Remember, unlike some teachers on this forum who say dominant eye is not important
in pool, which is hogwash, one HAS to align visually-correct over the shot for their own dominant eye vision
or else one will not be consistent in aim—aim will be untrue. Period.

I feel some teachers don't give proper credit to dominant eye because they don't understand the concept
as it relates to (pool) aiming. It's the same concept as for rifle or pistol shooting. Ask JCIN!
If they DO understand the concept and they're not teaching it, they are cheating their students.


To El nino. Not sure why you think it's more difficult to make balls if one is cross dominant. Nonsense, friend!
 
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Johnnyt

Burn all jump cues
Silver Member
One size does not fit all in pool. Years ago you had to stand more straight up to be able to power the ball more often because of the slow cloth, rails, and balls that were not as lively as todays. Today IMO with the fast cloth, balls and rails, a modified snooker stance is the way to go if you health will allow you to play that way for hours. Probably 90% of the posting members on here never played on the old tables with nap cloth, so a lot of you figure us old farts don't know what we're talking about. :). :)Johnnyt
 

EL'nino

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
For a right handed player to put his left eye over the cue his body gets in the way of his stroke. Look at john Morra, he literally has to get out of his own way in the middle of his shot.
 

boogeyman

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
For a right handed player to put his left eye over the cue his body gets in the way of his stroke. Look at john Morra, he literally has to get out of his own way in the middle of his shot.

Are you implying that John moves to get out of the way during his shot?
Makes no sense, EL nino. Once John is set he stays put. Only his arm moves

There is nothing innately more difficult with being cross dominant, sir.
Sounds like you simply need to modify your stance a bit in order to "make room."
It's possible—just do it.:thumbup:

Look at Wujiaching. He is extreme cross dominant.
By the way, he won a world championship as a teenager.
 
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sfleinen

14.1 & One Pocket Addict
Gold Member
Silver Member
So you see..if either The Miz or Mosconi didn't take into account their dominant eyes by lining up their heads
(their eye configurations) so as to obtain proper "vision center" dynamic (where to them, the cue tip looks center on the cue ball),
we would probably never have talked about these two players.

Remember, unlike some teachers on this forum who say dominant eye is not important
in pool, which is hogwash, one HAS to align visually-correct over the shot for their own dominant eye vision
or else one will not be consistent in aim—aim will be untrue. Period.

I feel some teachers don't give proper credit to dominant eye because they don't understand the concept
as it relates to (pool) aiming. It's the same concept as for rifle or pistol shooting. Ask JCIN!
If they DO understand the concept and they're not teaching it, they are cheating their students.


To El nino. Not sure why you think it's more difficult to make balls if one is cross dominant. Nonsense, friend!

I think you're being a little unfair with your criticism of those who think "Have dominant eye? Must place cue directly under it" as being incorrect.

The issue is *how* dominant your dominant eye is. What is true, is that you should place the cue under your eyes in such a fashion as the cue appears to being coming up dead-center from the bottom of the field of view -- 6:00 o'clock. This is absolutely, 100% true.

What is *NOT* true, is that if you discover you have a dominant eye (no matter how slight), that you "must" place it directly over the cue. This is the wive's tale that critics of the dominant eye theory take issue with.

Taking myself for an example, I have near vision in my left eye, and I'm far-sighted in my right eye. I can actually reproduce this with any vision test. However, if I place the cue under my eyes and move it right or left, I do *NOT* get a centered cue (i.e. it's coming upwards into the field of view from bottom dead center -- 6:00 o'clock) unless the cue is under my nose. If I move the cue over to the left of my nose and more under my left eye, the cue appears to be coming into my field of view from 7:00 o'clock or 7:30. If I move the cue to the right of my nose, more under my right eye, the cue appears to be coming into the field of view at 5:00 o'clock or even 4:30.

So, for me, even though some folks would say that I should put the cue under my left eye because "I'm left-eye dominant because I can read fine print more clearly with my left eye," I tell those people they don't know what they are talking about.

The issue is *how* dominant your dominant eye is. For many people, that magic place to place the cue may be somewhere between your nose and the eye; not directly under that eye itself. Wherever you need to place the cue so that it appears to be coming upwards into your field of view from smack-dab bottom dead-center (i.e. 6:00 o'clock).

-Sean
 
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Ty-Tanic

Ty-Tanic Makes U Panic
Silver Member
What is interesting to me is I find the opposite to be true in my game. I am right eye dominate and right handed and I aim with my left eye over the cue and it has worked perfectly for me. I think everyone probably has their own way to deal with their vision because it is all very personal. Whatever feels comfortable and shows results is what you should be doing. Having someone give you different pointers to try out certainly couldn't hurt anything.
 

sfleinen

14.1 & One Pocket Addict
Gold Member
Silver Member
I'm also left eye dominant but put the cue under my right eye.

What is interesting to me is I find the opposite to be true in my game. I am right eye dominate and right handed and I aim with my left eye over the cue and it has worked perfectly for me. I think everyone probably has their own way to deal with their vision because it is all very personal. Whatever feels comfortable and shows results is what you should be doing. Having someone give you different pointers to try out certainly couldn't hurt anything.

EXACTLY! You put the cue under your eyes in such a way so as the cue comes up dead-center from the bottom of the field of view -- 6:00 o'clock. What I find mind-boggling are those people who say, "if you've been tested and found to be [left/right]-eye dominant, you should put the cue directly under that [left/right] eye." Horse puckey.

Definitely experiment, but come back to what works for you.
-Sean
 

boogeyman

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I think you're being a little unfair with your criticism of those who think "Have dominant eye? Must place cue directly under it" as being incorrect.

The issue is *how* dominant your dominant eye is. What is true, is that you should place the cue under your eyes in such a fashion as the cue appears to being coming up dead-center from the bottom of the field of view -- 6:00 o'clock. This is absolutely, 100% true.

What is *NOT* true, is that if you discover you have a dominant eye (no matter how slight), that you "must" place it directly over the cue. This is the wive's tale that critics of the dominant eye theory take issue with.

Taking myself for an example, I have near vision in my left eye, and I'm far-sighted in my right eye. I can actually reproduce this with any vision test. However, if I place the cue under my eyes and move it right or left, I do *NOT* get a centered cue (i.e. it's coming upwards into the field of view from bottom dead center -- 6:00 o'clock) unless the cue is under my nose. If I move the cue over to the left of my nose and more under my left eye, the cue appears to be coming into my field of view from 7:00 o'clock or 7:30. If I move the cue to the right of my nose, more under my right eye, the cue appears to be coming into the field of view at 5:00 o'clock or even 4:30.

So, for me, even though some folks would say that I should put the cue under my left eye because "I'm left-eye dominant because I can read fine print more clearly with my left eye," I tell those people they don't know what they are talking about.

The issue is *how* dominant your dominant eye is. For many people, that magic place to place the cue may be somewhere between your nose and the eye; not directly under that eye itself. Wherever you need to place the cue so that it appears to be coming upwards into your field of view from smack-dab bottom dead-center (i.e. 6:00 o'clock).

-Sean

Dear Sean. I'm NOT being unfair.
I never claimed that the stick needs to be directly UNDER the dominant eye. NO.
That's not what dominant eye means. We seem to agree on that single point.
Again, most people don't understand ocular dominance as it relates to the human eye.

It's amazing how many times I have written about this on here to no avail. Let me explain differently.

Dominant eye is NOT one eye being the eye to aim with, no.
Dominant eye in and of itself is one eye providing more "information" in the front field of view.
How much more information the dominant eye takes in will determine how far away from directly
UNDER the dominant eye the stick should be in relation to it.
Again, dominant eye is NOT simply a matter of placing the cue stick directly UNDER this eye.
That makes no sense.
If one thinks thats what the dominate eye concept is, then they don't understand it. Period.

Unless someone say, literally had only one eye...in other words one of the eyes was simply NOT there,
THEN AND ONLY THEN would this remaining eye take in ALL information, thereby the stick would
automatically be directly UNDER the eye as ALL information would be dictated by this one eye.

Do I make myself clear on this to everyone??? Jiminy Xmas!
 
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one stroke

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I thought I shot with the cue in the middle until I was video taped hitting straight shots and it was clear I was shooting left eye over stick ,, and I am right eye dominant and it made zero impact on me hitting the target ,,




1
 

prewarhero

guess my avatar
Silver Member
So you see..if either The Miz or Mosconi didn't take into account their dominant eyes by lining up their heads
(their eye configurations) so as to obtain proper "vision center" dynamic (where to them, the cue tip looks center on the cue ball),
we would probably never have talked about these two players.

Remember, unlike some teachers on this forum who say dominant eye is not important
in pool, which is hogwash, one HAS to align visually-correct over the shot for their own dominant eye vision
or else one will not be consistent in aim—aim will be untrue. Period.

I feel some teachers don't give proper credit to dominant eye because they don't understand the concept
as it relates to (pool) aiming. It's the same concept as for rifle or pistol shooting. Ask JCIN!
If they DO understand the concept and they're not teaching it, they are cheating their students.


To El nino. Not sure why you think it's more difficult to make balls if one is cross dominant. Nonsense, friend!

It is a dominant eye right? Meaning what? That one eye is more dominant than the other. So together the dominant eye and the non-dominant eye work together to present a complete equal image.

You will also notice from Steve's picture that he needs the cue that far out to get the clearance around his girth and probably has nothing to do with eye dominance. If you look at Willie, he may not really be shooting a shot but moreso posing for a picture. Look how close the cue his to his body. There isn't a change in hell he normally shoot like that.

What happens more times then not, is that a poor relationship between striking the cue in straight line and developing a tendency to shoot to one side slightly off the center has now dictated an overcompensation of sighting to rectify it.

I struggled with trying to figure this thing out for a long time. Took a lesson from Gene even. I was over-cutting thin cuts to the right consistently. assumed it was the eye thing. Nothing worked, gave up.

Now, I do this (or at least strive to more consistently then the day before):
1) I stand behind the shot line centered.
2) See the shot line under the chin
3) get down in shot line straight
4) hit center ball
5) stroke straight

guess what, ball goes in.Sounds elementary but it isn't. If it was we would have a million efens in the world. If I miss it is either poor stroke or something was off line or my aim was slightly off. I will now which one it was with certitude. It was never my dominant eye's fault (or the weaker eye).
 
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