What you aim at....

girlwon1 said:

Hi. I was giving a lesson the other day when I was talking to him about aiming. This person is not a rank beginner, so I wasnt trying to teach him basic beginning aiming, but just what he does versus what I do.

He said that he aimed by looking at the ghost ball, sometimes at the cloth in front of the ball, sometimes when the shot is really tough, the contact point on the ball.

I myself aim at the contact point on the object ball. I aim the center of the cue to the exact point of contact. Seems pretty simple, cut and dry for me.

I don't normally change things to line up with what I do per se, if there are a lot of generally acceptable ways to do something - such as aiming, holding the cue, how your stroke looks,etc. But, if someone doesn't have a set way, I will of course tell them my way, and why it works for me.

I encouraged him to look at the contact point instead of the gb or a point on the cloth. I told him that it is better to have something tangible to aim at, not something that is not there and is subjective. (ghost ball)

He told me that if you truly aim the center of the cue ball to the contact point that you will under hit it every time. Dan was in the room, so I called him over to help me understand exactly my student's concern. He told me that I naturally make the adjustment because of my good spacial relationship with the cue ball, that my mind knows the roundness of the two balls so what I truly do aim at is the contact point, yes, but I make adjustments that I am not aware of.

This makes this difficult to teach people to aim in the future! I only use the ghost ball method to teach with if they are a rank beginner, not if they are intermediate.

How do you aim, and what do you look at? Any comments please on what I have written?

Thank you in advance for your time...

girlwon1

Click to expand...

Hi girlwon1,

I'll give you the basic idea of how I teach aiming and see if this makes sense to you. I'm going to divide the shot categories into two types of shots. Keep in mind that this is basic aiming and does not bring in side spin, only the center axis of the cue ball.

Group 1: These shots are those that have an angle that is 30 degrees or less. This would be shots that are straight in and all the way up to a cut that is made by aiming the center of the cue ball to the outer edge of the object ball. The reason that these are in the first group is that they are shots that you can actually point the cue stick at a point of aim at the object ball.

In this group there are a few angles to learn. I'll start with the 30 degree angle. This is the easiest to see because your target point is the center of the cue ball to the outer edge of the object ball. You have a visual aiming point, no calculating needs to be made. This is referred to as a half ball hit.

The second would be a straight in shot. Self explanatory but it causes the student to learn what straight in looks like.

Third shot is the 14 degree angle. This is a three quarter object ball hit. Now you have to calculate where to hit the ball but it's basically the division between the straight in shot and the 30 degree shot.

After the student has a good idea of how these shots work then you can have them divide the object ball down even further as the angles vary between straight in, three quarter, and half ball hits.

Group 2: These are the shots beyond 30 degrees. Here there is no spot on the object ball that you can actually aim at. If you're aiming through the center of the cue ball then you are more or less aiming at a point past the object ball.

The first shot is a 49 degree cut, or a quarter ball hit. You make this aim by imagining a quarter ball past the outer edge of the object ball. This is very hard to do so a little trick that I do is to aim is to move my head over to the inside of the shot and double check my aim by lining up a quarter of the cue ball with the outer edge of the object ball.

The second shot is a 61 degree angle, or an eighth ball hit. This shot is basically an imaginary spot that is a half ball away from the outer edge of the object ball. Again I check my aim by moving my head to see that the outer edge of the cue ball is hitting the outer edge of the object ball. I feel that this is easier because you have definite aiming points, no calculations need to be made.

After these shots are consistent then you can go to managing the angles in between.

I know that may be a lot to take in and may be difficult to understand so if you need me to re-explain anything, please don't hesitate to ask.

One thing to make note of is that the pockets allow for a 4 to 6 degree margin of error, so you can still make the shots when the angles are a little off.

I have to plug Stan Shuffett for this. He showed me the basic aiming system. I mixed in the head shifting because I feel like I'm aiming into outer space when I can't see the target on the object ball.

Louis, when I tried to use the 3 cut aiming system you mentioned, I had trouble determining the angles when the object ball is far away. Like my perception of angles can be deceived somehow when I stare at it from long range as compare to short range. Is there a method to identify the the exact angles somehow?

housecue said:

Louis, when I tried to use the 3 cut aiming system you mentioned, I had trouble determining the angles when the object ball is far away. Like my perception of angles can be deceived somehow when I stare at it from long range as compare to short range. Is there a method to identify the the exact angles somehow?

Click to expand...

If you go to the Billiard Aim Trainer's website, they have a good diagram that shows the positions for these angles.

Keep in mind that with any aiming system you will have to learn to micro manage your aiming for shots that fall in between the angles. The system is best used as a guideline for getting the general idea of where to aim. After you get used to seeing the angles over and over again you will start to see them come up everywhere on the table.

no contact point, no point on cloth, no ghost ball,

call me at 484 623 4144 and i will tell you all you want to know.

Pool

halhoule said:

call me at 484 623 4144 and i will tell you all you want to know.

Click to expand...

including all pro aiming systems.

Pool

girlwon1 said:

Hi. I was giving a lesson the other day when I was talking to him about aiming. This person is not a rank beginner, so I wasnt trying to teach him basic beginning aiming, but just what he does versus what I do.

He said that he aimed by looking at the ghost ball, sometimes at the cloth in front of the ball, sometimes when the shot is really tough, the contact point on the ball.

I myself aim at the contact point on the object ball. I aim the center of the cue to the exact point of contact. Seems pretty simple, cut and dry for me.

I don't normally change things to line up with what I do per se, if there are a lot of generally acceptable ways to do something - such as aiming, holding the cue, how your stroke looks,etc. But, if someone doesn't have a set way, I will of course tell them my way, and why it works for me.

I encouraged him to look at the contact point instead of the gb or a point on the cloth. I told him that it is better to have something tangible to aim at, not something that is not there and is subjective. (ghost ball)

He told me that if you truly aim the center of the cue ball to the contact point that you will under hit it every time. Dan was in the room, so I called him over to help me understand exactly my student's concern. He told me that I naturally make the adjustment because of my good spacial relationship with the cue ball, that my mind knows the roundness of the two balls so what I truly do aim at is the contact point, yes, but I make adjustments that I am not aware of.

This makes this difficult to teach people to aim in the future! I only use the ghost ball method to teach with if they are a rank beginner, not if they are intermediate.

How do you aim, and what do you look at? Any comments please on what I have written?

Thank you in advance for your time...

girlwon1

Click to expand...

call me at 484 623 4144 hal houle, i will tell you all you want to know about professional aiming systems. we do not use ghost ball, or contact points,

I simply look at the shot picture. I see the path I want the object ball to travel, extend the line of travel through the OB, decide where I want the CB to go after impact, and fall down into the shot. If it looks good I'll practice stroke to be sure I am going to strike the CB in the correct spot. I look down the CB shot line and pull the trigger.
I don't know if I am employing a "method", I am not imagining a ghost ball, though I do, like everyone must, decide where the CB must strike the OB to put it in the pocket and send the CB in the desired direction. If it's a shot I have done before (same cut angle) I just unconsiously drop into the shot and if the picture looks right, pull the trigger.
Ghost ball or contact point are just methods to describe the thought process that goes into a shot in a way that someone with less experience can understand.

B

girlwon1 said:

Hi. I was giving a lesson the other day when I was talking to him about aiming. This person is not a rank beginner, so I wasnt trying to teach him basic beginning aiming, but just what he does versus what I do.

He said that he aimed by looking at the ghost ball, sometimes at the cloth in front of the ball, sometimes when the shot is really tough, the contact point on the ball.

I myself aim at the contact point on the object ball. I aim the center of the cue to the exact point of contact. Seems pretty simple, cut and dry for me.

I don't normally change things to line up with what I do per se, if there are a lot of generally acceptable ways to do something - such as aiming, holding the cue, how your stroke looks,etc. But, if someone doesn't have a set way, I will of course tell them my way, and why it works for me.

I encouraged him to look at the contact point instead of the gb or a point on the cloth. I told him that it is better to have something tangible to aim at, not something that is not there and is subjective. (ghost ball)

He told me that if you truly aim the center of the cue ball to the contact point that you will under hit it every time. Dan was in the room, so I called him over to help me understand exactly my student's concern. He told me that I naturally make the adjustment because of my good spacial relationship with the cue ball, that my mind knows the roundness of the two balls so what I truly do aim at is the contact point, yes, but I make adjustments that I am not aware of.

This makes this difficult to teach people to aim in the future! I only use the ghost ball method to teach with if they are a rank beginner, not if they are intermediate.

How do you aim, and what do you look at? Any comments please on what I have written?

Thank you in advance for your time...

girlwon1

Click to expand...

Girlwon1,

I think what you are doing is using the contact point as a reference point, and subconsciously adjusting the cue line through the CB to a point that feels right.

This system can work well. I believe it is what most of the professional snooker players do, even if they aren't completely aware about what they are doing.

The problem with the contact point as a reference is that it is hard to see. Hard to see an exact point or line. So using edge of object ball or top of object ball as references, from which you intuitively adjust thicker or thinner to can work quite well. The OB edge is probably the clearest single point / line reference that can be seen.

Colin

Louis Ulrich said:

The second shot is a 61 degree angle, or an eighth ball hit. This shot is basically an imaginary spot that is a half ball away from the outer edge of the object ball. Again I check my aim by moving my head to see that the outer edge of the cue ball is hitting the outer edge of the object ball.

Click to expand...

I think this one isn't quite right Louis. Edge CB to Edge OB would be a 90 degree cut. Perhaps edge CB to halfway between edge OB and center OB?

Colin

Colin Colenso said:

I think this one isn't quite right Louis. Edge CB to Edge OB would be a 90 degree cut. Perhaps edge CB to halfway between edge OB and center OB?

Colin

Click to expand...

Yes, I misworded this. According to what I understand from this system, the edge to egde hit would be for the 75 degree angle from the center of the object ball. This results in the thinnest cut possible. From what I understand, the angle starts off as a 75 degree from the CENTER of the object ball, but when you change your line of aim to the edge of the object ball, it results in the 90 degree cut.

For the 61 degree cut I would use the edge of the cueball to about 1/8th of the object ball.

As far as the aiming systems are concerned, I think they are great for starting off with aiming, but after awhile you start to just see the way the balls will cut and use your own judgment. You can't exactly break out the protractor to check the angles during a game

Let me know if I threw that way off into left field. I checked the angles off of this system and they seemed to be correct.

hey hal this is probably where i need the most improvement. when are you available to call? please pm me
thanks.

Hal Houle 484 623 4144

girlwon1 said:

Hi. I was giving a lesson the other day when I was talking to him about aiming. This person is not a rank beginner, so I wasnt trying to teach him basic beginning aiming, but just what he does versus what I do.

He said that he aimed by looking at the ghost ball, sometimes at the cloth in front of the ball, sometimes when the shot is really tough, the contact point on the ball.

I myself aim at the contact point on the object ball. I aim the center of the cue to the exact point of contact. Seems pretty simple, cut and dry for me.

I don't normally change things to line up with what I do per se, if there are a lot of generally acceptable ways to do something - such as aiming, holding the cue, how your stroke looks,etc. But, if someone doesn't have a set way, I will of course tell them my way, and why it works for me.

I encouraged him to look at the contact point instead of the gb or a point on the cloth. I told him that it is better to have something tangible to aim at, not something that is not there and is subjective. (ghost ball)

He told me that if you truly aim the center of the cue ball to the contact point that you will under hit it every time. Dan was in the room, so I called him over to help me understand exactly my student's concern. He told me that I naturally make the adjustment because of my good spacial relationship with the cue ball, that my mind knows the roundness of the two balls so what I truly do aim at is the contact point, yes, but I make adjustments that I am not aware of.

This makes this difficult to teach people to aim in the future! I only use the ghost ball method to teach with if they are a rank beginner, not if they are intermediate.

How do you aim, and what do you look at? Any comments please on what I have written? WE DO NOT LOOK AT CONTACT POINTS AND WE HAVE NO NEED TO LOOK AT GHOST BALLS, WE LOOK ONLY AT THE CUE BALL. WE HAVE AN AIMING SYSTEM FOR THAT.

.

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