This topic has pulled a lot of pontificators off the bench. It comes with mixed insights.
The first is that attempts to pass on knowledge fail unless the student is ready. It’s easy to want more for a student than they want for themselves.
I have developed a pool mind. You’re not born with one. You grow one at the table. It involves a lot of thought experiments. You need to learn to take a ride on the cue ball.
In 2005, David Foster Wallace addressed the graduating class at Kenyon College. He began with a parable:
There are these two young fish swimming along, and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, “Morning, boys. How’s the water?” And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, “What the hell is water?”
And, nearing the end of his speech:
The capital-T Truth is about life BEFORE death. It is about the real value of a real education, which has almost nothing to do with knowledge, and everything to do with simple awareness; awareness of what is so real and essential, so hidden in plain sight all around us, all the time, that we have to keep reminding ourselves over and over: This is water.
A pool mind sees the stuff others miss, right under their nose. For example, many will know about the spot on the wall concept of kicking. Then in frustration, they find the local venues never have a usable equivalent wall. While the spot on the wall may give them a target, the real path of the ball only travels along that line until it hits a cushion. Walking around to the wall and looking back at the cue ball we find the line crosses the rail at the same place no matter which end you look from. The “water” is to simply
become the spot on the wall. Stand where you wish there was a wall and look back to the known angle. Now pivot from the spot and look at the cue ball position. The line from you to the cue ball crosses the rail. Note where, go around to the cue ball, and aim through the crossing point.
The spot on the wall concept is usually introduced with a 3 to the corner stroke using running english. There is another companion concept called the magic spot. If you draw a line from the corner pocket to the long opposite rail second diamond past the side pocket with running follow, the 3 cushion shot, in theory should go 3 rails into the opposite corner pocket. If now you draw a line from the first diamond past the side pocket perpendicular to the mirror diamond beside the other side pocket, that line will cross the first line. Where they cross is the magic spot. What is magic about the spot is that a three cushion running follow shot over the magic spot ends up crossing the mirror image location of the original cue ball location. That concept can be combined with the spot on the wall to kick at many balls. But that is not the water. You can find that information online.
So what happens when the table doesn’t follow the formula. The magic spot shot ends up long or short of the mirror location. You now need to calibrate for the particular table. When I approach a new table I start by finding where I need to shoot at on the far side rail to go three to the corner starting at the corner. If the second diamond target with running follow ends up short of the pocket, you need to adjust, towards the corner. Figure out what line travels to the mirror at the corner. Now here is part of the water, the magic spot is on that line. Now pick another starting point like up along the long rail about two diamonds. Find out what line you need to shoot on there to end up at the mirror location. Wherever the two lines cross is the magic spot for that table. And remember that every rail could be different and that there are 4 magic spot locations on each table.
These are two examples of water. Becoming the spot on the wall and calibrating a table for 3 cushion kicking. Calibrate every table in your league and note them on your phone or in a notebook.
This applies to the mental side of the game as well. Much of pool is about perspective. I keep a journal of all things pool. In one entry after a snooker session I noted that it was like chasing a pea around on the freeway. On another I was amazed at how huge the balls and pockets looked that session. This was a water moment for me. My mind had generated both perspectives. The balls and pockets didn’t change size, only my perception of them. Size is relative to what things are being compared. A cue ball is huge next to lint or chalk or the weave in the cloth. It’s smaller when seen at a distance or compared to the table or the whole room. Watch a good player on a key shot. They stalk the shot line, picking up lint and flecks of chalk. They check the ball surfaces and get them cleaned, if needed. Taking the bigger ball picture back to be included in the entire shot, isn’t hard, it’s part time of what is available, under your nose.
https://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?496802&p=6439161#post6439161
Is another thread where original knowledge is shared that is not found in books. Enjoy.
Just a pool mind sharing.