A few months ago, Robin sent me a copy of his book and asked me to write a review. I always try to be open to new ideas and eager to learn someone's information when it comes to pool.
There are obviously two camps when it comes aiming: pivoters (CTE/Pro1/90-90/Shishkebob, etc) and natural players (everyone else). Although I'm a pivot guy, I read the book as if I were not-- trying to be unbiased in my technique and approach to the table. Pivot aiming isn't a fit for 100% of the people out there; therefore, I'm always interested in how others prefer to aim - and why (I like Robin's recent thread on this -- it's interesting).
The book itself is a nicely bound paperback:
I read through the book completely in a few hours and spent a considerable amount of time at the table-- just to make sure I didn't jump to any conclusions and to make sure I understood the content completely.
I don't think this book is another "Aiming system book," per se. Rather, it contains a set of visualizations that each build on top of each other. These visualizations, called RAMs (Robin's Aiming Methods), are designed to be used as a collection --- the final set to be used all at the same time, concurrently.
Before I get any further into my thoughts, I'll come out and say that the diagrams and illustrations in Robin's book are hand-drawn. For some, this might be annoying. For me, however, I always look at the content versus how pretty they are. Nevertheless, it'd be nice if Robin hired someone to create computer-made illustrations if for no other reason than "presentation."
The last thing that got on my nerves with Robin's book was his allusion to creating this shot-making monster (you) called Shotenstein. Cute, but not my cup of tea.
On to the actual content...
That said, his RAM methods work. I've always been inconsistent with contact point to contact point aiming as well as ghost ball. Robin's RAM methods add different references to "triangulate" your final aim position. This allows the shooter to double and triple check his/her position and supplement the feel aspect of pool.
After reading the book, I tried to use his information exclusively while playing (which, since I'm so used to pivoting-- felt "weird" at first). For me, the methods I found to be the most helpful were the following methods used at the same time:
- Pocket point to edge
- Pocket point to center
- Pocket channel
- Reverse ghost ball
Sounds like a lot, but with some practice you can pick up on these fairly quickly.
Robin also has a collection of road stories throughout the book. To be completely honest, I forget most of them because I chose to skim through them quickly and just get to the next RAM segment. (sorry Robin) The one story that made me laugh, however, was the "Playing the gas game" story. You know, the move where you're on "E" and you blow by the gas station thinking you have "pretty good odds" on making the next one (not a lock, however). I know I've done that plenty of times, so that made me smile.
Some of Robin's RAM methods were completely new to me, others reminded me of stuff I used to use (but haven't for years) - so it was a good refresher. I think the book is a good fit for a player who is struggling with the aiming part of their game and is not interested in pivoting or pivot systems in general. I'm not saying any of this is inferior to pivoting because everyone sees / learns differently.
The reader who benefits the most from this book is the type who will grind it out on a table and experiment with the different RAM methods and find the combination that fits your game. I called Robin a few times to discuss the content and he's always made himself available to answer questions. In my humble opinion, that's worth the price of admission.
Summary:
Dislikes:
- Hand drawn diagrams (not REALLY a big deal for me, but it might be for others)
- Any mention of Shotenstein (I know he did this for entertainment purposes, but I was more interested in learning)
- The "eye of the ball" RAM method. Just my humble opinion, but his latter RAM methods are far superior (I know this was just an early building block, though)
Likes:
- Using a concurrent visualization approach to natural aiming. I think using multiple reference points at the same time helps the shooter find the spot more accurately, more often.
- The RAM methods I mentioned above work for me. Although Robin has a final method he likes the most, the reader can really use whichever RAMs best fit his/her game.
- Robin makes himself available to answer questions.
Anyways, I hope this serves as a thorough review. Overall, I liked the book, I learned new things and found a few visualizations that can serve as a double-check for me during the course of play. It'd be interesting to teach Robin the ins/outs of CTE to get his feedback on that--- since that's visual as well.
P.S.
On an unrelated topic, Robin and I each enjoy bank pool so somewhere in our conversation he mentioned he has a good move for cross over banks. I asked him if he would email some info and to my surprise--- he took his time to sketch-out a diagram, scan it in and email me two pages of notes that go along with it. I think he's a very passionate guy who has fun helping another people (just like guys like Gene, Stan, RonV, RandyG, Scott, Blackjack, etc, etc). I think he's a great addition to our community.
Dave
