trouble with long shots...

kaver22

Registered
I've been playing off and on few the past few years and really started to seriously get into the game a few months ago. I've been told I'm a decent player -- great bridge, good stance, good follow through. The house pro at the pool hall I frequent has been giving me some tips the past couple weeks and it's helped a lot! I was keeping my back hand too far back. It took a few days of awkward shooting but I've fixed that problem for the most part and am now working on keeping my wrist straight -- I have a habit of keeping it bent. My game has gotten much stronger and more consistent.

However, I still have a lot of trouble with long, straighter shots. I've been told this is a common problem and those types of shots, though in theory sound easy, are actually kind of tough. I consistently cut the object ball too far to the right on these shots. I've tried to keep this in mind when shooting and make adjustments even though I feel like I'm not aiming right. It works sometimes, sometimes I over-correct. Either way, it feels like I'm just guessing most of the time, even when I make the shot.

I've been practicing the long shots and the straighter shots are getting a little easier but I'm still having serious problems on long shots that need a bit more angle. I don't know if this is an eye problem or stroke problem or just psychological. :confused: Does anybody have any tips on how to fix this problem?

Not sure if this is relevant, but these types of shots are relatively easy when I'm shooting into the side pocket. It's the corner pockets that give me trouble. Of course, side-pocket shots aren't going to be as long so that might be why.

Any advice would be great! Thanks!
 

AtLarge

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
Welcome to AzB!

One of the forums here is called Ask The Instructor. You might post your question there and get some replies from pool instructors.

Your problem on long, straight shots could be a number of things, but one possibility is head position. If you consistently overcut the object ball to the right, then the cue ball is going to the left of where it should. This could be caused by a head position that is slightly to the right of where your true "vision center" is located. Potential fix -- move your head slightly to the left.

But see what the experts say in Ask The Instructor. Good luck.
 

miscrewed1989

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Stand higher...

I have found that standing up straighter seems to work for me. Keeps the shot more 3 dimensional. If you are way down, chin on your cue, the shot is very 2 dimensional and the target spot is in some way deceptive. I don't know the official theory behind it, if there is one, but I know I shoot straighter if I stand straighter. May just be a personal/psychological thing, but works for me....
 

Patrick Johnson

Fish of the Day
Silver Member
...If you consistently overcut the object ball to the right, then the cue ball is going to the left of where it should. This could be caused by a head position that is slightly to the right of where your true "vision center" is located. Potential fix -- move your head slightly to the left.
I think you got that backwards (it's easy to do). The rule of thumb is to move your head in the same direction you want to correct the CB. If you're overcutting to the right you want to correct the CB to the right, so move your head to the right.

pj
chgo
 

AtLarge

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
I think you got that backwards (it's easy to do). The rule of thumb is to move your head in the same direction you want to correct the CB. If you're overcutting to the right you want to correct the CB to the right, so move your head to the right.

pj
chgo

I don't think so, Pat. If your head is too far to the right, you tend to see a correctly positioned cue stick as angled to the right, so you compensate by incorrectly shifting the stick's aim a bit to the left -- resulting in overcutting the OB to the right.
 

Patrick Johnson

Fish of the Day
Silver Member
I don't think so, Pat. If your head is too far to the right, you tend to see a correctly positioned cue stick as angled to the right
You may be right for this poster - but I tend to see the tip position shifted, not the angle of the stick, so in my case it works the opposite way.

pj
chgo
 

rrick33

Rick
Silver Member
straight-in issues

Before you do anything, check the accuracy of your stroke. If you are right handed and your stroke is impure, there is a tendency to follow through slightly to the left which will cause the object ball to go to the right.

I would venture to say that most issues of this nature are caused by an impure stroke technique.

Put the cue ball on the head spot and run the cue ball straight up the middle of the table and allow it to come straight back to you.

If it doesn't come straight back along your stroke line, then you are not connecting with the cue ball properly or your stroke is impure and this is likely causing you to miss those straight-in shots.
 

kaver22

Registered
Rick: I occasionally try that, just to see how I'm doing with my aim. Across the short axis of the table I can get the cue ball to come back to the tip of my cue about 80% of the time. On the long axis of the table maybe 20%. Next time I go play I'll have a friend watch and see if I'm off center, making last second adjustments I shouldn't be, etc.
 

rrick33

Rick
Silver Member
kaver22 if you are only getting a 20% return rate on the full length of the table, then your stroke is most likely the core of the problem. Iron out your issues in this area and those straight-in shots will become much easier.
 

lstevedus

One of the 47%
Silver Member
Also Gene's Perfect Aim. I have The Secret Art of Pool and Perfect Aim, and they both helped me a bunch. The rest is practice and play as much as you can.
 

dr_dave

Instructional Author
Gold Member
Silver Member
If your head is too far to the right, you tend to see a correctly positioned cue stick as angled to the right, so you compensate by incorrectly shifting the stick's aim a bit to the left -- resulting in overcutting the OB to the right.
I think this is the case for most people, but not all (e.g., PJ). Also, I've seen some people that seem to perceive the shot line accurately regardless of their head position, but this can't be common.

FYI, here's a video describing the typical effects visual alignment error:
and more info (including well-illustrated instructional articles on this topic), can be found here:

Regards,
Dave
 

kaver22

Registered
I think this is the case for most people, but not all (e.g., PJ). Also, I've seen some people that seem to perceive the shot line accurately regardless of their head position, but this can't be common.

FYI, here's a video describing the typical effects visual alignment error:
and more info (including well-illustrated instructional articles on this topic), can be found here:

Regards,
Dave

Thanks Dave! Great video! I haven't had time to get to the pool hall lately but I'm excited to try this out and see if it works.
 

Mitchxout

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Don't forget where the pocket opening is in relation to the OB position on the table. When the OB ball is closer to a rail, you obviously can't shoot towards the center of the pocket. It's a common error that I see alot.
 

Patrick Johnson

Fish of the Day
Silver Member
Don't forget where the pocket opening is in relation to the OB position on the table. When the OB ball is closer to a rail, you obviously can't shoot towards the center of the pocket. It's a common error that I see alot.
I define "center of the pocket" as the point midway between the pocket points. That works for all OB positions.

pj
chgo
 

dr_dave

Instructional Author
Gold Member
Silver Member
I define "center of the pocket" as the point midway between the pocket points. That works for all OB positions.
The "effective center of the pocket" can be off from the geometric center quite a bit, especially with forgiving corner pockets at slow speeds and shallow angles relative to the rail, and especially with new cloth and dry conditions. FYI, I have some good illustrations of the shifting-pocket-center effect in the articles here:

Regards,
Dave
 

americanfighter

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
All I can say is learn the CTE pro1 aiming system. I had real trouble with long cut shots too be the CTE pro1 system gave me some distict aiming points and pivots that helped a great deal and I can cut really long shots and make most of the 7 or 8 times out of 10. I imagin with more practice I will get to 9 or 10 out of 10 soon.
 

kaver22

Registered
I think this is the case for most people, but not all (e.g., PJ). Also, I've seen some people that seem to perceive the shot line accurately regardless of their head position, but this can't be common.

FYI, here's a video describing the typical effects visual alignment error:
and more info (including well-illustrated instructional articles on this topic), can be found here:

Regards,
Dave


Dave: I tried this out today and it worked! I have to shift my head to the left so my right eye is more centered on the cue. I still have abit of fine-tuning to figure out exactly where the correct "center" is but by the end of my practice session there was a definite improvement. I was making about twice as many long shot as I was last week. There was a bit of an awkward feeling at first, as there always is when you make adjustments, but I think after a few days this should work itself out.

Thanks for the tip!
 

dr_dave

Instructional Author
Gold Member
Silver Member
Dave: I tried this out today and it worked! I have to shift my head to the left so my right eye is more centered on the cue. I still have abit of fine-tuning to figure out exactly where the correct "center" is but by the end of my practice session there was a definite improvement. I was making about twice as many long shot as I was last week. There was a bit of an awkward feeling at first, as there always is when you make adjustments, but I think after a few days this should work itself out.

Thanks for the tip!
I'm glad my stuff helped.

Getting your head in the right place (in your personal "vision center" position), both accurately and consistently, is a critically important fundamental of pool.

Regards,
Dave
 
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