Willie Mosconi's aiming system

K

Kdogster

Registered
Patrick Johnson said:
OK, so I guess "align it to the contact point" means "align it to a point that's a learned distance from the contact point" (not "align it directly at the contact point")...?

pj
chgo
Click to expand...

Yes, that's a good distinction. I don't try to see the contact point. I keep two things in my mind-- 1) the path to send the OB towards the target and 2) the outside edge of CB. And I rely on the memory from practicing to use that CB reference edge to make the OB go down that path. It takes some practice for sure. But, once it gets locked in, you just
know that's the aiming line, when you start looking at the CB edge relative to the OB, when you're down on the shot.

I drew up a little drill diagram (below) that could be used to practice this concept. I call it "Edge Love". :canoodle:

The goal is to make the one ball hit the 1st diamond on end rail from each of the CB positions. Maybe shoot 10 shots per CB position and try to get 8+ out of 10 per position to make sure your brain has locked in the memory of that CB reference edge relative to OB path. Then, do same drill with mirror image to practice right-hand cuts. What I like about using a diamond target instead of the pocket is that it is more precise, since pockets can be 2x the width of ball.
 

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Patrick Johnson

Patrick Johnson

Fish of the Day
Silver Member
Kdogster said:
Yes, that's a good distinction. I don't try to see the contact point. I keep two things in my mind-- 1) the path to send the OB towards the target and 2) the outside edge of CB. And I rely on the memory from practicing to use that CB reference edge to make the OB go down that path. It takes some practice for sure. But, once it gets locked in, you just
know that's the aiming line, when you start looking at the CB edge relative to the OB, when you're down on the shot.

I drew up a little drill diagram (below) that could be used to practice this concept. I call it "Edge Love". :canoodle:

The goal is to make the one ball hit the 1st diamond on end rail from each of the CB positions. Maybe shoot 10 shots per CB position and try to get 8+ out of 10 per position to make sure your brain has locked in the memory of that CB reference edge relative to OB path. Then, do same drill with mirror image to practice right-hand cuts. What I like about using a diamond target instead of the pocket is that it is more precise, since pockets can be 2x the width of ball.
Click to expand...
Got it - thanks for the explanation.

pj
chgo
 
Vorpal Cue

Vorpal Cue

Just galumping back
Silver Member
You could be overlooking the vertical orientation of the balls. I think you're looking at the pic in a strictly overhead view. If you make 'paper dolls' out of the balls and stand them up I believe you'll see the technique better.
 
Vorpal Cue

Vorpal Cue

Just galumping back
Silver Member
Hope you can see it better using your pic.

It's a real pain trying to show a 3D view using paint.

________ov2cp.png
 
K

Kdogster

Registered
Vorpal Cue said:
Here's a pic to show the technique I used.

View attachment 554001
Click to expand...

It appears I'm doing something slightly different. Looking at your blue aiming line, it doesn't look like the line goes through the extreme edge of the CB, where the max radius is.

It may not work for everyone, but my method is minimizing the moving parts. I am boiling everything down to the CB edge and OB path to target for cut shots of 15 degrees and greater. This makes it practical to apply in real games. My goal is to memorize what the shots look like for various combinations of these two variables. Then, I can extrapolate between combinations I practiced as necessary, so I don't have to learn an infinite set of combinations. I still have some work to do, but I can attest to the fact that one can perceive these shots and relate them to memory of the correct shot view. My shot making skills are significantly better, since I've been working on it.

This is very similar to how expert chess players compete. They memorize the next best move to make for certain board configurations. If they see a configuration they have memorized, they don't need to run through a series of possible moves to determine the best one at game time. Instead, they just make the move based on memory. I learned this watching a video of Magnus Carlsen, when he played for the world title. His whole goal was to cause his opponent to think for himself and not rely on memory. He had to purposely play in a way that would be slightly unconventional, so that his opponent could not relate to his catalog of memorized configurations.
 
Patrick Johnson

Patrick Johnson

Fish of the Day
Silver Member
Kdogster said:
I am boiling everything down to the CB edge and OB path to target for cut shots of 15 degrees and greater. ... My goal is to memorize what the shots look like for various combinations of these two variables.
Click to expand...
I think that's a pretty good description of how aiming works generally, with different "variables" for different players.

The important thing is to use CB/OB features (edges, fractions, contact points, etc.) that can be accurately seen or visualized, to make the "measurement" as clear as possible.

Then it's just a matter of learning which measurements = what cut angles. Easy peasy.

pj
chgo
 
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