Aiming - Not Everyone Sees The Same Thing

[JoeyInCali]

Aiming is overrated if your stroke is bad, crooked and your mechanics are fkk'd up.
I have never seen a player who shot really straight and was a bad ball pocketer .
Whatever aiming system you have, it'd be close to worthless if you can't shoot straight consistently.

 

[bbb]

I'm totally befuddled. You're a fine poster. So is BBB. I simply don't believe you when you say straight in shots are the easiest of all shots. Please don't feel slighted. These forums are filled with fine posters who believe as you do. I rarely tell posters such as you I don't believe something they state. It's just that there is something very odd that goes on around here when the subject of straight - in shots comes up.

I have zero problems recognizing shot lines. I don't think about my dominant eye or non - dominant eye or any of that stuff. A while back C J Wiley recommended to me an exercise where I only look at the OB while shooting. When I do that, the CB is basically invisible to me. I only know where it is and hit it by feel.

Not only do I hit it by feel, but I use T.O.I while only hitting it only by feel. I'll say I make 75 to 80% of the shots I would make if I was looking at the CB.

When I shoot straight in shots, I know if I made them the instant the ball leaves the tip. I can tell if I came back perfectly straight with the cue and came forward perfectly straight also. If I come back straight and come forward straight I make the shot EVERY TIME! If there's the slightest "swoop" in my stroke I miss the shot EVERY TIME!

So after you guys have figured out your issues with dominant eye and shot lines, etc., which is something that I very fortunately don't have to deal with, you're still in the same boat I am. You still have to come back perfectly straight with the cue and come forward perfectly straight with the cue.

You say this shot is easy for you. I say anyone who finds this shot easy must shoot at a pro level; for the simple reason that I find it to be the ULTIMATE TESTER. If you don't shoot a the pro level, I don't believe you. Once again, please don't feel slighted. There are many other fine posters who claim they find this shot easy and I don't believe them either. I hope I'm not offending you or them; rather, I think there's just something funny going on with the straight - in shot and all discussions of it around here. Maybe we'll discover where that "Funniness lies."

.......And hey.....I've been wrong before!

i never said the shot was easy
my comment was even with a perfectly straight stroke you could miss a straight in because of vision problems
for you with no vision issues it came down to straightness of stroke to make or miss
for me ive had to master both
................
the long straight in is a tester and tough shot because so much has to be correct to make it
we do agree on that....:smile:

 

[His Boy Elroy]

Aiming is overrated if your stroke is bad, crooked and your mechanics are fkk'd up.
I have never seen a player who shot really straight and was a bad ball pocketer .
Whatever aiming system you have, it'd be close to worthless if you can't shoot straight consistently.

OK. We're on a nine foot table. The CB is exactly 6 - 1/2 " from the lip. ( I know...first I said 5", then I said 10" in a p.m to someone. This time I have it right at 6 - 1/2) The OB is exactly two inches past that diamond.

Now Joey...Neither BBB nor I stated we were bad ball pocketers. Neither one of us stated that we do not have success with this shot. We did both; however, state our opinion that this shot is a tough tester. I'll go even further and opine that no one can possibly find this shot to be easy who does not have the ball pocketing skill of a pro.

I'm even reluctant to believe that any of them find the shot to be easy. I, as many posters have, have watched many a professional pool match. Whenever this shot comes up and is pocketed, the analyst "oohs"and "ahhs. There would be no reason to do that if the shot was easy.

Absolute perfectly straight stroking is required. While a bad, crooked, and mechanically fkked up stroke is obviously not absolute perfection, less than absolutely perfectly straight stroking does not render one's stroke to be appropriately described as bad, crooked, and mechanically fkked up.

 

[His Boy Elroy]

I finally figured out why I occasionally accidentally post the same thing twice!

 

[Neil]

with all due respect you can have a perfectly straight stroke and miss this shot ....
because of your vision center
http://www.billiards.colostate.edu/threads/eyes.html#vision_center
icbw

That is very true. Also, many people have trouble finding center ball when aiming. The "trick" to actually aiming straight in shots is not to aim for the center of the ob, but to aim for the very top of the ob. The very top is the dead center vertical line of the ob and cb.

 

[ENGLISH!]

Tim,

What bridge are you using for that shot? Take the shot & pivot it at the pocket over to the left & get away from the pocket by the CB & the shot becomes 'easy'.

A few years back I started having some trouble with your shot, but with the CB more in the pocket, when trying to stop or draw the CB & noticed that when I missed it, it was generally to the same side.

I found that rotating my body a bit clockwise freed up my stroke & solved the issue.

Best Wishes.

 

[Cameron Smith]

I'm totally befuddled. You're a fine poster. So is BBB. I simply don't believe you when you say straight in shots are the easiest of all shots. Please don't feel slighted. These forums are filled with fine posters who believe as you do. I rarely tell posters such as you I don't believe something they state. It's just that there is something very odd that goes on around here when the subject of straight - in shots comes up.

I have zero problems recognizing shot lines. I don't think about my dominant eye or non - dominant eye or any of that stuff. A while back C J Wiley recommended to me an exercise where I only look at the OB while shooting. When I do that, the CB is basically invisible to me. I only know where it is and hit it by feel.

Not only do I hit it by feel, but I use T.O.I while only hitting it only by feel. I'll say I make 75 to 80% of the shots I would make if I was looking at the CB.

When I shoot straight in shots, I know if I made them the instant the ball leaves the tip. I can tell if I came back perfectly straight with the cue and came forward perfectly straight also. If I come back straight and come forward straight I make the shot EVERY TIME! If there's the slightest "swoop" in my stroke I miss the shot EVERY TIME!

So after you guys have figured out your issues with dominant eye and shot lines, etc., which is something that I very fortunately don't have to deal with, you're still in the same boat I am. You still have to come back perfectly straight with the cue and come forward perfectly straight with the cue.

You say this shot is easy for you. I say anyone who finds this shot easy must shoot at a pro level; for the simple reason that I find it to be the ULTIMATE TESTER. If you don't shoot a the pro level, I don't believe you. Once again, please don't feel slighted. There are many other fine posters who claim they find this shot easy and I don't believe them either. I hope I'm not offending you or them; rather, I think there's just something funny going on with the straight - in shot and all discussions of it around here. Maybe we'll discover where that "Funniness lies."

.......And hey.....I've been wrong before!

Ultimately it's an alignment problem. What causes that may be vision issues, could be an issue with your stance or the way you set up. Regardless, if you hit the ball perfectly and miss, you were misaligned. The closer you are to the shot, the less impact alignment mistakes will have, which I think is why some players may not consider alignment as a problem for them.

I think with cut shots, players with stroke or alignment issues adjust either intentionally or unintentionally until they make the ball consistently. But with straight in shots, there isn't much guess work with regards to identifying the angle so they don't make those subconscious adjustments. That's my theory anyway.

But the fix would be working on your alignment and continuing to improve the delivery of your stroke. Getting your eyes in the right place and approaching the shot correctly is a huge step. You can't align yourself properly unless you are seeing the shot correctly.

 

[Pidge]

I'm totally befuddled. You're a fine poster. So is BBB. I simply don't believe you when you say straight in shots are the easiest of all shots. Please don't feel slighted. These forums are filled with fine posters who believe as you do. I rarely tell posters such as you I don't believe something they state. It's just that there is something very odd that goes on around here when the subject of straight - in shots comes up.

I have zero problems recognizing shot lines. I don't think about my dominant eye or non - dominant eye or any of that stuff. A while back C J Wiley recommended to me an exercise where I only look at the OB while shooting. When I do that, the CB is basically invisible to me. I only know where it is and hit it by feel.

Not only do I hit it by feel, but I use T.O.I while only hitting it only by feel. I'll say I make 75 to 80% of the shots I would make if I was looking at the CB.

When I shoot straight in shots, I know if I made them the instant the ball leaves the tip. I can tell if I came back perfectly straight with the cue and came forward perfectly straight also. If I come back straight and come forward straight I make the shot EVERY TIME! If there's the slightest "swoop" in my stroke I miss the shot EVERY TIME!

So after you guys have figured out your issues with dominant eye and shot lines, etc., which is something that I very fortunately don't have to deal with, you're still in the same boat I am. You still have to come back perfectly straight with the cue and come forward perfectly straight with the cue.

You say this shot is easy for you. I say anyone who finds this shot easy must shoot at a pro level; for the simple reason that I find it to be the ULTIMATE TESTER. If you don't shoot a the pro level, I don't believe you. Once again, please don't feel slighted. There are many other fine posters who claim they find this shot easy and I don't believe them either. I hope I'm not offending you or them; rather, I think there's just something funny going on with the straight - in shot and all discussions of it around here. Maybe we'll discover where that "Funniness lies."

.......And hey.....I've been wrong before!

I shoot snooker at just below pro level I would say and I pot in any game at around a pro level. And I've spent god knows how long hitting a blue off the spot from the baulk line into the corner pocket and drawing the cue ball back into the opposite corner pocket or following the blue in with follow. It is the ultimate cue action tester. You have to hit it perfectly and I've been hooked as a child to get the perfect stroke do I've hit maybe thousands of these shots. Every day I hit hundreds of straight in shots on my pool table because they tell me exactly how I'm cueing.

The reason I feel they are easy is because I've practices them so much and. It takes the aiming aspect out of the equation. I also find half ball, quarter ball and three quarter ball pots the easiest too because again they're very easy to aim. All you have to do is rely on curing accurately.

You mention about CJ saying to focus just on the object ball. I do exactly the same thing. As I get down my eyes are on where my stick will be pointing at the object ball or if it's a thing shot they will be on the rail past the object ball. My eyes don't switch to the cue ball until my bridge is planted. Once its on the table I look to see if I'm aimed at the cue ball correctly which takes a second then all throughout in looking at the object ball.

A llittle tip I once got was not to look at the object ball as a whole but zone in to a specific part where your cue is pointing. Your alignment needs to be spot on because you will draw the cue back on a slight arc if you aren't aligned properly. The hands will do what the eyes tell them in pool.

 

[duckie]

To really test your accuracy, move the 15 ball in the drawing back to being 2 inches from the CB and hit center pocket in the opposite corner pocket...not just in the pocket, but center pocket.

Because of the distance from the pocket the OB is, the hit on it must be precise to hit center pocket. You can be off and still make it. But not as off if the OB was in if original location. This is margin of error stuff about how the farther the distance from the pocket the OB is, makes the margin of error smaller.

To me, all shots are straight in in that the CB must go straight to where I want it. Being a straight in or high degree cut shot makes no difference.....the CB must go straight to where I want it.

 

[Ralph Kramden]

To really test your accuracy, move the 15 ball in the drawing back to being 2 inches from the CB and hit center pocket in the opposite corner pocket...not just in the pocket, but center pocket.

Because of the distance from the pocket the OB is, the hit on it must be precise to hit center pocket. You can be off and still make it. But not as off if the OB was in if original location. This is margin of error stuff about how the farther the distance from the pocket the OB is, makes the margin of error smaller. I

To me, all shots are straight in in that the CB must go straight to where I want it. Being a straight in or high degree cut shot makes no difference.....the CB must go straight to where I want it.

Move the 15 ball in the drawing back to being 2 inches from the CB... To me, all shots are straight in...
All you have to do is stand on your tip toes to see the contact patch. That will make the CB go straight.
.

 

[duckie]

I do that shot alot......if you can't, well then that is your problem.

You do not always get the best layout for shots and this is the biggest problem with these how to threads.....they never take into account real world shots. They all are from idea shooting positions and never about shooting positions that appear in the rear world. I never said it was easy and its a real tester that appears to scare you.

I can post pics of shots that disprove 90 percent of things mentioned in how to threads, but it gets old because no one wants to learn something new, something from a different view point.

Its always the same ole shit, just repeated by a different person.

Like having your eyes over the cue........do this when using the bridge or shooting one handed or even behind your back. I got pics that you can set up and you can not get your head over the cue, yet this type of shots appear in the real world of pool, yet seldom are they used as examples on how to do things.

Most the bullshit discussed on here is purely theory with little real world application.

 

[Pidge]

You keep them pictures to yourself duckie. Im sure SVB will be thankful that he won't have to compete against guys you've shared your deepest secrets with.