I know Jimmy personally and I can tell you with 100% FACT that Jimmy did NOT use this method to find the shot line. He taught it to beginners in his videos but he did not bother to teach it to intermediate players nor mention it EVER in personal lessons to intermediate players.
As for Mosconi his videos were geared towards beginners. As with Ghost Ball any simple method that can be easily diagrammed is what authors want to use in books and videos whenever possible. Those methods are safe and cannot be attacked as they work "on paper" every time.
Well, here you have it straight from the man himself. Mr. Jimmy Reid!
1./ Walk briskly study the table in this situation all the balls are on the table, look for problem balls before you do anything else make sure you know that all the pockets are open to all the balls or if they're not.
2./ Ask yourself the question. Where do I want to be on the two to get to the correct side of the three to get to the correct side of the four. Remember this is before you shoot the 1 ball.
3./ Place your hand on the table where you want to be on the 2 ball and if it's at the other end of the table and there are some balls you have to go past to get to it, check out what it looks like above it or past it.
4./ If it's a difficult shot and you're not exactly sure where to hit it, point at the 1 ball cp (contact point) and keeping your eye on that cp walk back to the cueball and let's say where you just pointed is 1/2 inch right of the left edge on the object ball.
Then address that cueball like you could see through it and line it up while still in the address position with 1/2 inch left of the right edge of the cueball meeting the 1 ball and they are both going straight in the pocket. EXACT EQUAL OPPOSITES.
5./ Play air pool stroking the cue in the air trying to get the feel for the speed necessary to execute this shot. VISUALIZE THE SHOT JUST AS IF IT WERE ALREADY AN ACCOMPLISHED FACT.
In this visualization I want you to see yourself keeping your head down to a count of one thousand two thousand three thousand after the shot is over.
In the event of a miss I want you to keep your head down until all the balls stop rolling.
Keeping your head down like that will change your balance after 3 weeks and you'll be going with the shot, miss will be a girl and you can always be proud of the way you played.
Not staying down tells me someone wants to get away from the table and doesn't want to keep it.
Mechanical vs. Fast and Loose;
All my life I've used 2 styles, the fast and loose is far more entertaining and fun, the slow and methodical (Mechanical) is for very tough tables and requires dead aim.
For this lesson we're going to pretend this table is a little forgiving and play fast and loose.
6./ Swing down on that cueball towards the object ball like a falcon on a squirrel, then talk to yourself while stroking fast and loose "okay Jimmy relax and get comfortable" (it's impossible for pressure situations to effect the outcome if your body is relaxed, so is your mind).
Take dead aim stopping once with the grip pressure you've decided to shoot with, then stroking fast and loose again stop twice asking yourself "okay is that where I want to hit it?" YES.
Then after stroking fast and loose with the same pressure in your grip hand that you intend to shoot with.
Then stop with the tip at the cueball, look at the object ball and deliver the shot without changing your grip pressure, keeping your head down to a 3 count.
After doing these steps for a few weeks your game will improve a ton.
Note:
After forcing myself to do these steps every shot pretty soon if I'm gambling or just playing a lot every day, after I swing down all I have to do is say to myself "OKAY JIMMY RELAX AND GET COMFORTABLE THEN STROKE IT UNTIL IT FEELS PERFECT."
