eye patterns

quiet eyes

Member
I recently started experimenting with the following eye pattern: on the final back swing I look at the shaft concentrating on moving it in a perfect straight line. At the end of my backswing I move the eyes to OB ball, refocus and then shoot. This naturally creates longer pause between back and forward swings. Would be great to hear what Fran, Scott, Randy and other instructors think about that.

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This is what I do as well and with great results. I used to do it like randyg, Scott Lee and the other instructors here teach until Nic Barrow told me that probably most snooker pro's switch DURING backswing and not before for very good reasons. His reasoning was the same as yours: 1. confirmation of straight backswing (very valuable information) and 2. zeroing in on backswing pause that is naturally longer this way.
 

straightline

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
After looking back and forth, I prefer to switch my vision to the object ball for the last time, just before I start my final backstroke. Then I keep my eyes locked on the object ball from that point on. I don't like moving my eyes at any time during that final back and forth motion. This frees my mind up to concentrate on executing the shot, which is what I want at that point.

Shotmaking, (speed and CB direction included) is indeed a leap of faith; why it's possible to look away and still shoot the intended shot. You do whatever you do, set, and forget. After years of intermittently wondering about it, I come to the conclusion that the reason for looking at the object ball is to judge the CB; the hit, the exit direction, the landing. The exception being, jacked up where you stare down the CB to avoid masse-ing it. Obviously if you use rifle aim, the CB is in your sights regardless.

As to the relevance of actual vs non actual instuctors discussed elsewhere, only a handful are able to perform at today's standards; (actual pool ? lol) some by diligent work with a handful of gurus, some by simply doing it.

The rest, by definition, are dogs. So much for one's personal impact on the genre.
 
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