Aiming at bottom of cue ball

Shermanscs

Shermanscs

Steve sherman
Silver Member
I notice that many pros aim at the bottom of the cue ball as if they are going to put draw on every shot. Yet, somehow they adjust to the relevant cue position (high, center, etc.) during the stroke. Is this a specific technique? I have always aligned at the specific position at the cue ball I intend to contact. It would seem to me that aligning at one position (say 6 o clock) , then contacting somewhere different during the stroke (say 12 o clock) could provide inconsistent results, yet it seems to work for some of the pros and better players I watch.

Thoughts?
steve
 
I only aim like this when I break.

Tried playing like this full-time, long story short, it's not for me.
 
It's called "grounding" your cue, and most pros do it on every shot, as a starting point, because it's the only way to see vertical center on the CB (where the CB touches the cloth).

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

Shermanscs said:
I notice that many pros aim at the bottom of the cue ball as if they are going to put draw on every shot. Yet, somehow they adjust to the relevant cue position (high, center, etc.) during the stroke. Is this a specific technique? I have always aligned at the specific position at the cue ball I intend to contact. It would seem to me that aligning at one position (say 6 o clock) , then contacting somewhere different during the stroke (say 12 o clock) could provide inconsistent results, yet it seems to work for some of the pros and better players I watch.

Thoughts?
steve
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What Scott said, plus you can see the reflection of the ferrule on the cue ball to make sure that your alignment is straight. If you are off the ferrule reflection will be slanted.
 
Shane Van Boening was asked why he aims low and his reply was that he copied his favorite player who is none other than Francico Bustamante. The mystery I want to know about is Bustamante's tip off set to the left side on certain shots. On his final stroke he hits center cue ball. Rob Saez is also a practitioner of this preshot/aiming routine. Does anybody have any clue as to why they do this?
 
Oliver Ortmann does it too. I think he said it was so he can see the shot better without the shaft in the way. I do it sometimes because for whatever reason it helps me get a feel for the shot and aim it. Not sure if it's visibility or what, and I never even really noticed I did it until someone pointed it out. Maybe it's just a quirk but I've done it so often that it's become like wagging a golf club: totally unnecessary and useless, but nonetheless you can't shoot without it.
 
Personally I have a preference for addressing the white low on most shots. As I am primarily a snooker player I use a lot more stun, screw and drag shots--all these shots are executed using below centre white. So in terms of shot versatility, you can't argue much against using below centre.

anbukev said:
The mystery I want to know about is Bustamante's tip off set to the left side on certain shots. On his final stroke he hits center cue ball. Does anybody have any clue as to why they do this?
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I suspect that this is due to a technical fault in Bustamante's alignment of which he is aware of, which causes him to swipe his cue to the right as he delivers his forward strike. As he cues up, he deliberately aims ACROSS the left side of the white to compensate his cueing arm swiping the cue to the right. This allows him to strike centre cue ball, or at least get close to it as much as possible.

An identical case can be seen for snooker's Judd Trump. As he is a left-hander, he is instead cueing across to the right side of the white at the address position.

You'd notice that for both players, the degree of their offset in the address position depends somewhat on the pace of their shot--vertical axis power shots would require a larger degree of offset from the centre of the white because such shots would cause more body movement and swipe. The opposite is true--softer shots do not need too much aiming compensation, if at all. Obviously, both of them must have gotten used to their technique to an extent that they can judge the correct offset for different pace of shots AND also different types of spin.

Players in which elbow drop is a part of their technique are more prone to this technical fault.
 
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I asked Robb Saez once why he did that, and said it's just the way he always has. Sorry, no pearls of wisdom there.
 
I do it too. It seems to help me keep my cue as flat or level as possible preshot. I use it as a way to set my cue. A few preshot strokes and release. I already knew where I wanted to impact the cue ball before I lean over the table so I just set my cue down as flat as possible and set my body in line with the shot. I've been doing it forever and honestly it's probably not a good way to learn. It's probably a stroke flaw but I've pretty much overcome it. I can stroke just about any shot I need by doing this. It works for me but I wouldn't try to teach a novice this way to aim.

Bustamante was the first person I ever saw doing this. I've also incorporated Efren's double pump and it has helped me too.

I think the main thing is, whatever your preshot routine, make darn sure you consistently do the same thing as it obviously removes a variable from your stroke.

Just my .02 :)
 
Saez

RichSchultz said:
I asked Robb Saez once why he did that, and said it's just the way he always has. Sorry, no pearls of wisdom there.
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I asked it one time on a stream through the chat and he and the announcer thought I was making fun of him. Either way, he really didn't have an answer at all. Like you said, it's always been that way....
 
Guilty lol! I line up my cue low on every shot. I didn't even know I was doing it until someone came up to me during a tournament and asked me about it lol. So I guess I can't give you an exact reason why I do it but I'll try to explain:

The practice strokes I take are not used to make sure I am hitting the correct spot on the cue ball. They are only used to assure myself that I am aiming down the correct line. So the height of the cue is not significant when choosing the correct line.

I position the cue low so that I don't accidentally tap the cue ball during the practice strokes. Otherwise it's hard to tell how close to the cue ball I actually am with my tip. I also like the option to be able to use the table surface as a crutch to steady the cue at the end of the practice stroke. So sometimes I even tap the table with my cue on my practice strokes.
 
I do it also. But I think i do it because I go (low left/low righr) to aim edge of shaft to edge of cue ball to edge of object ball. No matter the angle. And throw the ball into the hole. And use deflection/swerve. It's weird. By aiming low outside with edge shaft to edge cue ball to edge object ball. The o.b. just seems to go into the pocket.
 
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