1 Stroke Practice: Aiming While "Up". No grinding!

JimS

JimS

Grandpa & his grand boys.
Silver Member
UnknownPro put up a post a while back that he thought one of the most effective practice methods was to aim while standing, get down on the shot, take one practice stroke with NO lateral or horizontal movement allowed, and shoot. If the shot didn't look right when you get down then you MUST get back up and go through the pre-shot routine again.

I decided to try that method of practice/aiming and I am amazed at the improvement in my play. Absolutely amazed. Learning to truly aim while standing is helping my accuracy tremendously!!!! It forces me to learn to really aim while up and I had not done that in the past. My aiming while up consisted of a cursery glance at the situation.

I'm shooting with much more confidence since when I get down on the shot I'm ready to pot the ball. No having to look for a contact point, raise and lower my head looking for the ghost ball or the right angle to the pocket.. it's all done and all I have to do is check my tip position on the cb, do a couple practice strokes to loosen the arm and go.

I used to do half an dozen or more very tentative practice strokes and stay down on the shot for 30 seconds or more "grinding" out the aim. (grinding is UnknownPro's term and it fits!) I'd often get so confused by looking for the ghost ball, the contact point, the angle, the line to the pocket, the overlap, the edge to center and all the other aiming stuff I had tried to do while down on the shot... that I'd get dizzy!

I'm making a much higher percentage of shots than I previously did and I'm easily drilling many shots that I used to agonize over. And, shooting them over and over, grinding them out, aiming while down on the shot until I'd get dizzy.

Perhaps even more inportant is that my stroke is now much more solid and firm with the hesitation coming from lack of confidence in the shot.. which would cause me to shoot weakly, not follow through completely or try to steer the shot.

So... this is not the answer to playing like a pool god but it sure has made my pool practice much .... I mean MUCH, more fun and MUCH more successful. Maybe it can help someone else enjoy the game a little more.

Best thing I"ve learned yet in 9 years of "grinding".

Thanks to Unknownpro... where ever you are... and who ever you are. Kind of like the Lone freakin Ranger... he's here, does his good deed, and he's off into the unknown to do more good work. "Who was that masked man?" :groucho:
 
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I didn't read that post, but that is the way many books I've read and videos I've watched have recommended and it is what I TRY to do. Decide while standing where you're going to hit the cueball, how hard you're going to hit it, and what line you need to be on; then when you get down the only thing you think about is execution of that plan, no aiming adjustments, no change of mind where to hit the cueball, nothing except execution. If you have doubts, get up and start over. I can't say I always follow that method, but I strive to. I'm more likely to get half-way up to adjust the position of my feet, it is kind of cheating on the technique but it is a habit I've developed.

BTW, did the "unknownpro" leave a silver bullet behind when he left? :smile:
 
Jim,
Mark Wilson has a similar drill that is in phase 2 of a 3 phase program; but he requires that you take NO practice strokes. You are allowed a very little minor adjustment when down; but if it is more than very minor, you must get back up and start over. It really was no fun to do the drill (somewhat tedious and uncomfortable); but it resulted in significant improvement. The pre-shot routine, aiming, and alignment all improve with this drill.
 
I too tried Unknown Pro's one stroke approach and I too found that it has significantly improved my game. It is a great idea for those who have sound mechanics.

UnknownPro also suggested that when playing the Ghost that he /she also re-racks after every miss. This too is a great idea. I did not like it at first but it is a great way to practice. After some thought on the matter here is what I concluded. Re-racking is a form of punishment for missing. This does not teach you anything. What it does is make you search for another way to run the rack. What I found is that it requires more focused concentration. When you run the rack (or pocket more balls than last time) this is the reward and whatever you did to get a higher run tends to stay with you.

Using one stroke and forced re-racking I have started to run multiple racks in one session so these are very powerful techniques.

UnknownPro also dropped a one liner, aim with the cue tip or something similar. This too is a helpful technique as I now find that I am much more concerned with what the CB will do and this has improved my game.

Indeed -- Who is that masked man or masked woman? :thumbup:
 
JimS said:
UnknownPro put up a post a while back that he thought one of the most effective practice methods was to aim while standing, get down on the shot, take one practice stroke with NO lateral or horizontal movement allowed, and shoot. If the shot didn't look right when you get down then you MUST get back up and go through the pre-shot routine again.

I decided to try that method of practice/aiming and I am amazed at the improvement in my play. Absolutely amazed. Learning to truly aim while standing is helping my accuracy tremendously!!!! It forces me to learn to really aim while up and I had not done that in the past. My aiming while up consisted of a cursery glance at the situation.

I'm shooting with much more confidence since when I get down on the shot I'm ready to pot the ball. No having to look for a contact point, raise and lower my head looking for the ghost ball or the right angle to the pocket.. it's all done and all I have to do is check my tip position on the cb, do a couple practice strokes to loosen the arm and go.

I used to do half an dozen or more very tentative practice strokes and stay down on the shot for 30 seconds or more "grinding" out the aim. (grinding is UnknownPro's term and it fits!) I'd often get so confused by looking for the ghost ball, the contact point, the angle, the line to the pocket, the overlap, the edge to center and all the other aiming stuff I had tried to do while down on the shot... that I'd get dizzy!

I'm making a much higher percentage of shots than I previously did and I'm easily drilling many shots that I used to agonize over. And, shooting them over and over, grinding them out, aiming while down on the shot until I'd get dizzy.

Perhaps even more inportant is that my stroke is now much more solid and firm with the hesitation coming from lack of confidence in the shot.. which would cause me to shoot weakly, not follow through completely or try to steer the shot.

So... this is not the answer to playing like a pool god but it sure has made my pool practice much .... I mean MUCH, more fun and MUCH more successful. Maybe it can help someone else enjoy the game a little more.

Best thing I"ve learned yet in 9 years of "grinding".

Thanks to Unknownpro... where ever you are... and who ever you are. Kind of like the Lone freakin Ranger... he's here, does his good deed, and he's off into the unknown to do more good work. "Who was that masked man?" :groucho:
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing your experience; based on this glowing recommendation I'm going to try this now. I didn't see unknownpro's post where he recommended this, but it's a cool idea. Now that I think about it, I think many of my misses are due to getting down out of line and then trying to "grind" my way to the right line. I've often heard and repeated that all the decisions should be made while standing, but I never really thought to extend that to the aim itself. I've always tried to approach the shot on line, but I never thought about training myself to do it with no adjustments so I can be more accurate about it in game situations.

-Andrew
 
:eek: Somtimes I'd get down so far out of line that while "grinding" and trying to find the right angle I'd get so far off balance that I'd dammed near fall over. :yikes:

I'd have to support my body with my bridge hand and that just is not cool. It's just not cool. :thud: :nono:
 
JoeW said:
aim with the cue tip

Indeed -- Who is that masked man or masked woman? :thumbup:
Click to expand...

I've been trying to figure out exactly what that means.. aiming with the cue tip. How do I aim w/the cue tip when shooting w/low left.. for instance?

It just hasn't yet computed for me. I'm stuck, can't move the cursor and need to reboot on this idea. :groucho: (the :groucho: icon/smilie just "FITS" for everything. ... imo )

And!!!!! Has it computed for anybody how he, or as JoeW has noted, maybe she, has really threw in a little prodding statment that got me really interested in practicing this method by saying: "I try to never allow time for it when practicing. Probably only really possible for some pro level players." My inner response was an egoistic "oh yeah! Well we'lll just see who's pro level here! By golly!! Hurrrmmph! Pro level huh? Well watch this Mr. un-freakin-knownproski!" Pure genius Mr/Ms unknownpro!! Pure genius!! Beyond the normal amount of knowledge of the working of the human psyche and what it takes to motivate.

So thanks again to the Lone Freakin UnknownPro for the little electric prod! :groucho:
 
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Here is what works for me Jim.
After the aim line has been established I place my right foot beside the line with my shoulder over the line. After bending over, any required movement is with my butt (my ass). If I feel off balance because too much movement is required then I have to stand up and start over.

My stance is similar to a snooker player so for some people it might be placing the foot (or toe) on the line. In whatever way is used, the shoulder on the line is of primary importance for a good stroke.
 
It has taken me a few weeks to figure this out Jim and my take may not be right. I am sure that it we could get UnknownPro to elaborate it would help.

Anyway, I have found that many pros from different countries begin their stroking with the cue tip on the cloth. This is not an affectation, it helps to establish vertical center. The problem becomes where to strike the CB and maintain the aim line seen with the tip on the cloth. This can be determined by tip placement to obtain a particular effect and the proper line of travel given swerve, deflection, etc.
 
JoeW...One of the things you'll learn at pool school is that we have 3 checklists to go through, before the shot is done...the first of which, is done in the standing position. It's called the Study Checklist. Then you go on to the 'standing checklist' and the 'shooting checklist'. These are all routines, that begin the thought process, and take you through delivering the cuestick accurately through the CB.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

JoeW said:
It has taken me a few weeks to figure this out Jim and my take may not be right. I am sure that it we could get UnknownPro to elaborate it would help.

Anyway, I have found that many pros from different countries begin their stroking with the cue tip on the cloth. This is not an affectation, it helps to establish vertical center. The problem becomes where to strike the CB and maintain the aim line seen with the tip on the cloth. This can be determined by tip placement to obtain a particular effect and the proper line of travel given swerve, deflection, etc.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks Scott. I am looking forward to the school in Frederick. I am still a little numb and never expected to win something like the school your folks run. We (Kay and I) very much enjoyed meeting you, Randy and all the other good people at the US Open.

One of the things I learned from the CCB tournament is that there are real differences between vigilance, concentration, and focused concentration. It has helped my game here at home.
 
This is a quote from the unknownpro posted in the thread that JoeW referenced/linked above.....

"Limiting yourself to one practice stroke and hit will limit your adjustment time and make you focus on getting in the right place the first time. But again, this is for very high level players that actually aim their tip on all shots, even when using english"

What is "aim their tip"? Does that mean, as Joe suggested, aiming with the tip at the base of the cb? Or????
 
This is also called stepping into the shot. I aim standing up and align my big toe with the aiming line. Then when I get down on the shot I am automatically lined up perfectly. With this method you can stand up, have a conversation, wave your arms, whatever as long as you don't move your back foot. Then you can step into the shot bend down and one stroke it with amazing accuracy.

A road player taught me this and he uses it when hustling. When he wants to miss he deliberately moves his foot a little so it doesn't look like he is trying to miss. He showed me this way to line up and that's what I use to this day.

Even when you use any backhand english aiming system you should be aiming standing up and be able to lay the cue down on the right line and step into it.
 
Pssst.. Keep it a secret but I am told that "unknownpro" is All$in on Ebay and the infamous Marty Herman from Boston! You did not hear it from me. ;)
 
JimS said:
This is a quote from the unknownpro posted in the thread that JoeW referenced/linked above.....

"Limiting yourself to one practice stroke and hit will limit your adjustment time and make you focus on getting in the right place the first time. But again, this is for very high level players that actually aim their tip on all shots, even when using english"

What is "aim their tip"? Does that mean, as Joe suggested, aiming with the tip at the base of the cb? Or????
Click to expand...

I don't know what unknownpro means by it, but I "aim my tip" by simply knowing where it's pointed in relation to the OB contact point.

Your tip is never aimed directly at the OB contact point even when you're hitting centerball on the CB (except for dead straight shots), so it doesn't really matter whether you're using sidespin or not. Just know where your tip is pointed ("that much to the side of the OB contact point") on each shot and your subconscious will collect a "picture library" of tip/contact point alignments for you that will eventually match all the shots that come up.

It's like the picture library of CB/OB overlaps that your mind collects, except it's more accurate because you're relating two "points" (tip and OB contact point) rather than two "discs" (CB and OB overlap).

pj
chgo
 
That makes sense Patrick. It seems sort of simple after he/she says that so few do it.

The tip doesn't play a role in my aim. I just put it where I want for the action I need and then aim the cb to the ob.
 
EXCELLENT thread....thanks for the new suggestions,I'll give the technique a go tomorrow.

I found my game went up,just from consciencely "stepping in" with alignment in mind.Something else I read here fwiw.

This new drill may help me hone that even farther.Very cool stuff.
 
Aim your tip at the contact point on the OB and simply shoot through the CB.

If your an intuitive player you'll know what adjustments are req'd for YOUR stroke...if not, have fun
 
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