You asked for it. What exactly is poolology and how do you put it to good practice use.
Ok BC 21
- Thread starter cookie man
- Start date
Poolology is book. It's a book that contains an aiming system that gives fractional aiming a roadmap. It takes advantage of a mathematical theorem involving circles, the Inscribed Angle Theorem. The object ball is given a position value in reference to the targeted pocket. This is similar, though admittedly more intricate, to pinpointing the yardline where a football player happens to be standing. I say more intricate because on a football field the yardlines are straight lines, and the Poolology system was derived using circular patterns, not straight lines. Realizing the difficulty of this, being able to recognize when a ball is on 30 or 32 or whatever on an arc path across the table, well....it had to be simplied so the process could be more user friendly. I did this by creating 3 different straight-line zones instead of using one large pattern of arcs spanning the table.
It's not complicated if you can split 2-digit numbers in half, then compare your center to center value with the split number. Example: OB on a value of 30. Half of 30 is 15. Half of 15 is 7.5. These are called basic quarter alignments. Now look at where the ob would hit the rail if shot straight-on, center to center full ball hit. This rail location also has a value. It's called the natural alignment value, where the ob would go if you shot it straight with no cut angle.
Now you just compare the alignment value from the rail to the basic quarter values you got from the ob position.
With the ob at 30, an alignment of 15 would indicate a halfball hit is needed to pocket the ball. Half the cb would need to be outside the edge of the ob. An alignment value of 7 or 8 would mean a quarter of the cb needs to be outside the edge of the ob, making the shot a 3/4 fractional hit. A value of 21 or 22 would need a 1/4 hit. A value of 18 or 19 would require an aim line dead between a halfball and a quarter ball hit. That's how it works. You use the numbers to find the aim line. The system does have its small quirks and limitations, which are explained in the book.
Last edited:
How about digging deep and paying a whole $5 to get the online copy and then you'll have a clue.
Mathematically what Brian discovered is ingenious. I don't know what possessed him to draw a circle around a corner pocket with the pocket at the center, but when you do that you find a direct relationship between the table rails, which are at right angles, and the position of the cue ball and object ball on the table.
By going through some geometry/trigonometry it turns out that the 2x1 surface of the table and the rails at right angles are objectively linked to a grid position of the object ball. Do some simple math and you'll find the ball overlap. For instance, if the math says "1/4" then your aim point is a 1/4 ball overlap. The beauty is that you don't have to use ghost ball or whatever method to try and make the cue ball contact that actual spot on the object ball. You only have to aim the cue ball at that fraction. In this case a 1/4 overlap is a 3/4 hit. So just aim at 3/4 ball and shoot. It works right out of the box, no months of hard work until it "clicks" like so many other methods. It does take some practice to get quick with the method, of course, but when we have these battles over what "objective" means, Poolology is what we are talking about. Follow the instructions 1,2,3, little to no estimation required, stroke straight and the ball will go in (assuming normal playing conditions).
Brian, feel free to correct me on anything I got wrong. I stlll marvel at how you came up with this. It seems you started with observing where on the table certain fractional aim shots worked and plotted them out. Then you somehow decided to link those results to the table and the rails. I don't know if you knew where you were going with this when you started in with the trig, but it ended up in what I guess mathematicians call an "elegant" solution. Well, as elegant as pool players can get i suppose... burp.
Thanks Dan. The original circle, however, does not have the center at the pocket. The pocket is a point on the circumference of the circle. I'll post a picture.
It took a while to get this idea in a workable form. And then I decided to put it in a book. It's still doing very well, by the way. And I'm excited to have over 2000 YouTube followers! I know that's not that many, lol, but it is to me. Anyway, most players benefit from the book, and it's priced for a pool player's budget!
So no it isn't free. It's a product that I designed and created with two goals -- to help pool players play better pool, and to also supplement my income a little bit. And I'm very grateful for the thousands of aspiring pool players out there that are helping me fulfill both of these goals.
Last edited:
Here is how the Inscribed Angle Theorem works for pocketing pool balls. If we don't move the end points of these two line segments (chords) that inscribe this 28° angle within this circle, but begin to move the black ob around the circumference of the circle, the inscribed angle will always be 28°. As long as the one line/chord always points to that 1st diamond, the other always leads to the pocket.
Now if we give the circumference of this circle a value and the 1st diamond its own value. Any ob positioned anywhere on the circumference is going to have the position value we assign to the circle. The straight line from the cb through the ob to the rail, leading to that 1st diamond, is called the natural alignment value. These two values/numbers determine the fractional aim point for the shot. This example shows a 1/2 ball shot. We could move the ob anywhere along the circumference and it will always be a 1/2 ball shot (as long as the cb is in line with that segment toward the 1st diamond. Keep in mind that a few other factors had to be considered and incorporated into the mix before I was able to get this method working in a user-friendly way from anywhere on the table.
Now if we give the circumference of this circle a value and the 1st diamond its own value. Any ob positioned anywhere on the circumference is going to have the position value we assign to the circle. The straight line from the cb through the ob to the rail, leading to that 1st diamond, is called the natural alignment value. These two values/numbers determine the fractional aim point for the shot. This example shows a 1/2 ball shot. We could move the ob anywhere along the circumference and it will always be a 1/2 ball shot (as long as the cb is in line with that segment toward the 1st diamond. Keep in mind that a few other factors had to be considered and incorporated into the mix before I was able to get this method working in a user-friendly way from anywhere on the table.
Last edited:
How about you keep your advice to yourself. Brian asked me to start another thread if i wanted to know more.
Also why don't you go back and finish Brian's book, last i heard you only read a few pages, Then maybe you might decide to use his system on all shots
Where have i heard about right angles connecting to a 2x1 surface,hmmmmmmmmm.
See Dan, you should have at least read the book before becoming a cheerleader.
Is it available on kindle/kindle unlimited? I would not mind checking it out.
Here is how the Inscribed Angle Theorem works for pocketing pool balls. If we don't move the end points of these two line segments (chords) that inscribe this 28° angle within this circle, but begin to move the black ob around the circumference of the circle, the inscribed angle will always be 28°. As long as the one line/chord always points to that 1st diamond, the other always leads to the pocket.
Now if we give the circumference of this circle a value and the 1st diamond its own value. Any ob positioned anywhere on the circumference is going to have the position value we assign to the circle. The straight line from the cb through the ob to the rail, leading to that 1st diamond, is called the natural alignment value. These two values/numbers determine the fractional aim point for the shot. This example shows a 1/2 ball shot. We could move the ob anywhere along the circumference and it will always be a 1/2 ball shot (as long as the cb is in line with that segment toward the 1st diamond. Keep in mind that a few other factors had to be considered and incorporated into the mix before I was able to get this method working in a user-friendly way from anywhere on the table.
Interesting. Can you post a 42
degree circle for comparison and discussion purposes.
Yes. Thanks.
Do you mean a 42° inscribed angle within a circle?
If so, we could use this same circle and the line segment leading to the rail would be hitting at about 1.5 diamonds. This would indicate a shot angle near 47 or 48 degrees, or a 1/4 ball shot. We could aim for a 1/4 hit and pocket the ball.
The reason why the 42° angle becomes a 47° shot is because the shot angle is about 5° more than the inscribed angle. The inscribed line segment is from center ob, where the shot angle is derived from center ghostball.
Last edited:
Seriously, none of this angle theorem info is needed. All a player has to do is memorize simple position zones in order to determine ob position values. Then it's just a matter of looking where the straight on cb to ob line leads. Compare this value to the ob position value and you have your solution. By using the 1/2 ball alignment as a starting reference it really speeds up the process.
For example, you look at an ob and see it is positioned almost dead between 30 and 40, closer to a 36 than a 35, so you call it a 36. Using a 1/2 ball shot as a starting reference, you automatically figure half of 36 is 18. One step further (dividing 18 in half to get 9) gives us our quarter values for this particular ob. So if the straight line from cb center through ob center leads to 18 on the rail, you immediately know it's a halfball shot. If not, the shot is either thinner or thicker than a halfball. We know our basic quarter aim points are in increments of 9. So it's not difficult to look exactly where this straight on alignment line falls in reference to our basic quarter aim point values, or anywhere in between for that matter. If the line points to 15 you know the shot is a little thicker than a 1/2 ball hit. A value of 9 would be a 3/4 shot, 18 is a halfball shot, so dead between 9 and 18 (at a value of 13 to 14) would be a 5/8 shot (5/8 is dead between a 3/4 ball aim and a 1/2 ball aim). With a value of 15, a 5/8 aim would be a touch thick for this shot, but it can be adjusted with a little outside spin to throw the ball or simply aim a touch thinner than 5/8, like dead between a 1/2 ball aim and a 5/8 aim. The more you work with fractional aim points the easier it becomes to create any cb-ob relationship/overlap you need in order to pocket the ball.
The system is geared toward helping players develop the ability to simply recognize shots. With this recognition comes the knowing of exactly how to pocket balls without relying on anything other than vision and experience. But this doesn't mean a system can't be brought out of your tool bag and used when needed. You'll just find yourself needing the tool less often, that's all.
For example, you look at an ob and see it is positioned almost dead between 30 and 40, closer to a 36 than a 35, so you call it a 36. Using a 1/2 ball shot as a starting reference, you automatically figure half of 36 is 18. One step further (dividing 18 in half to get 9) gives us our quarter values for this particular ob. So if the straight line from cb center through ob center leads to 18 on the rail, you immediately know it's a halfball shot. If not, the shot is either thinner or thicker than a halfball. We know our basic quarter aim points are in increments of 9. So it's not difficult to look exactly where this straight on alignment line falls in reference to our basic quarter aim point values, or anywhere in between for that matter. If the line points to 15 you know the shot is a little thicker than a 1/2 ball hit. A value of 9 would be a 3/4 shot, 18 is a halfball shot, so dead between 9 and 18 (at a value of 13 to 14) would be a 5/8 shot (5/8 is dead between a 3/4 ball aim and a 1/2 ball aim). With a value of 15, a 5/8 aim would be a touch thick for this shot, but it can be adjusted with a little outside spin to throw the ball or simply aim a touch thinner than 5/8, like dead between a 1/2 ball aim and a 5/8 aim. The more you work with fractional aim points the easier it becomes to create any cb-ob relationship/overlap you need in order to pocket the ball.
The system is geared toward helping players develop the ability to simply recognize shots. With this recognition comes the knowing of exactly how to pocket balls without relying on anything other than vision and experience. But this doesn't mean a system can't be brought out of your tool bag and used when needed. You'll just find yourself needing the tool less often, that's all.
Sounds like some real effort on your part was put into developing this.
Is there a certain degree of angle where it breaks down and doesn't work? Such as 45, 55, 65 ?
Is there a formula for banking?
The system begins breaking down and needs tweaked whenever the cb is closer than about 8" from the object ball. It's because cut shots dramatically become thinner, approaching 90°, the closer the cb is to the ob. Just have to aim thinner than the system indicates whenever the cb it too close to the ob. There are also couple of positions where the aim needs tweaked an eight left or right. The straightlining of the original arc position lines, which was done to make the system more user friendly, is the reason for these small glitches. But it's all covered in the book. Regardless, 99% of the table is glitch-free, so it's not a major problem.
The system provides aim points up to a 1/8 fractional aim, a little more than a 60° cut. Of course a 1/8 aim can be thinned quite a bit more with spin. I suggest players work on super thin cut shots in order to get a good feel for them, because the difference between a 70° cut and an 80° cut is so fine that it's challenging to accurately know how thin you're really cutting the ball. More often than not it's smarter to play a safety. Or you could use another system or method to help wiz those super thin shots in.
It's very rare to find yourself shooting thin shots in the first place. Players could raise their game a few balls by simply focusing on the shots that appear 90% of the time or more, shots that fall between straight in and about 50°, which is a little thinner than a quarter ball shot. Thinner cut shots are about as limiting as straight-in shots when it comes to moving that cb around for shape, so we try to avoid those shots. I'm not saying never practice shots thinner 60°....I'm just saying it's more beneficial to focus more on typical shots that come up again and again and again.
There is a way to use this method for banking, but it's primarily a system for pocketing cut shots.
Last edited:
Hi. Bought your book yesterday, I really enjoyed the material. Looking forward to reading it a few times. The videos on your YouTube page helped as well. The information on the zones that are outside of the systems parameters was invaluable. It’s an area on the table that I struggle with. I’ve been practicing and see some improvements on my accuracy. More than worth the price admission IMHO. Thanks.
Thank you. Please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions, complaints, suggestions, etc...
This is a pretty hilarious post given that anyone who has any skepticism towards CTE is ordered to watch 100 hours of video and read hundreds of pages of information before offering an opinion.
It was also a very respectful post and actually helped Brian sell a few books.
It's pretty sad that you felt the need to chime in though.