Aiming is something all humans do whether it's throwing a wad of paper in a trash can, driving a car, pouring a drink etc.... the paradigm for a long time has been that you either have it or you don't and if you don't then your ability to succeed will be limited. The common thought is that if you don't already possess "talent" in the form of superior visual acuity plus a superior textbook stroke and fundamentals then practice can only take you so far.
But in just about every human endeavor humans push the envelope of what they can do through the way they practice, the way they collaborate, the technology they invent and the mental techniques they discover or create. That's why we can do a lot of things better now than at any time in the past. It was thought to be beyond the physical abilities of a human being to run a mile in under four minutes. Now high school teeangers regularly do it. Dick Fosbury created another way to high jump and shattered world records.
There are insanely skilled humans who often say that they just see it or just know it when asked HOW they achieved the level of skill that they have. But the very best often have a far more mundane explanation, a serious drive to try everything and keep what works and hone their skills with what was kept by practicing deeply. The very best often simply KNOW more than those below them and they have mastered what they know to the point that most of what they do is as normal as breathing. They incorporate techniques that aren't always easy to see or recognize. Unless you understood springboard diving techniques you wouldn't understand the aiming methods that divers learn to keep them oriented when doing things like double twisting two and a halfs. But they exist and they work and those that do not know them often fail at their dives, sometimes causing serious injury when they get "lost" midair.
So this thread is dedicated to finding the various aiming systems, either purely visual techniques, combinations of visual and physical techniques, and technological methods designed to train visual acuity.
This is not intended to say that any aiming system in pool is therefore effective or "objective". It is merely to give some perspective from other areas in life where accurate aiming is essential to the task. And to show that brute force trial and error IS NOT the only way that people improve their aiming skills in those other activities.
Feel free to post what you find and include whatever criticisms you find. I think we will see that that in some areas similar debates are had over efficacy. Teachers and inventors of "aiming methods" are praised by some and ridiculed by others. Which goes back to the whatever works for you adage. The bottom line is that when it is you and a pool table you can put as much or as little effort as you want to into improving your ability. You can totally go full brute force no instruction hit a million balls trial and error muscle memory building or you can adopt a strict regimen of technique and drills to measure your progress and anything in between. And the top line is that in order to succeed at the activity you must develop and maintain your skills to the point that you can remain at the level you are happy with. That's it.
As this quote explains it perfectly I will let it stand for my feelings on the matter.
"Donaldson explains it by saying a robot with a perfect stroke will hole nothing if it aims in the wrong place. Whereas, give the robot a stroke that is variable and it will sometimes be successful whether it aims in the right place or not. And many golfers, being perfectionists, do hate leaving matters to chance."
From this page on the Aim Point system for reading the green in golf.
But in just about every human endeavor humans push the envelope of what they can do through the way they practice, the way they collaborate, the technology they invent and the mental techniques they discover or create. That's why we can do a lot of things better now than at any time in the past. It was thought to be beyond the physical abilities of a human being to run a mile in under four minutes. Now high school teeangers regularly do it. Dick Fosbury created another way to high jump and shattered world records.
There are insanely skilled humans who often say that they just see it or just know it when asked HOW they achieved the level of skill that they have. But the very best often have a far more mundane explanation, a serious drive to try everything and keep what works and hone their skills with what was kept by practicing deeply. The very best often simply KNOW more than those below them and they have mastered what they know to the point that most of what they do is as normal as breathing. They incorporate techniques that aren't always easy to see or recognize. Unless you understood springboard diving techniques you wouldn't understand the aiming methods that divers learn to keep them oriented when doing things like double twisting two and a halfs. But they exist and they work and those that do not know them often fail at their dives, sometimes causing serious injury when they get "lost" midair.
So this thread is dedicated to finding the various aiming systems, either purely visual techniques, combinations of visual and physical techniques, and technological methods designed to train visual acuity.
This is not intended to say that any aiming system in pool is therefore effective or "objective". It is merely to give some perspective from other areas in life where accurate aiming is essential to the task. And to show that brute force trial and error IS NOT the only way that people improve their aiming skills in those other activities.
Feel free to post what you find and include whatever criticisms you find. I think we will see that that in some areas similar debates are had over efficacy. Teachers and inventors of "aiming methods" are praised by some and ridiculed by others. Which goes back to the whatever works for you adage. The bottom line is that when it is you and a pool table you can put as much or as little effort as you want to into improving your ability. You can totally go full brute force no instruction hit a million balls trial and error muscle memory building or you can adopt a strict regimen of technique and drills to measure your progress and anything in between. And the top line is that in order to succeed at the activity you must develop and maintain your skills to the point that you can remain at the level you are happy with. That's it.
As this quote explains it perfectly I will let it stand for my feelings on the matter.
"Donaldson explains it by saying a robot with a perfect stroke will hole nothing if it aims in the wrong place. Whereas, give the robot a stroke that is variable and it will sometimes be successful whether it aims in the right place or not. And many golfers, being perfectionists, do hate leaving matters to chance."
From this page on the Aim Point system for reading the green in golf.
