I would like to find info on Hal's system. I searched many threads and nothing stating how it is done or what it is. Just that it works great.
Aiming
- Thread starter Jason Robichaud
- Start date
Jason Robichaud said:
Sorry, Jason, your picture didn't help at all. There is not enough screen resolution to tell what you're talking about. Is it possible for you to use some sort of graphics program to illustrate your idea?
I think your initial premise is flawed, but it's hard to say without more explanation. In the mean time, here are some general questions:
If you aim for a half-ball hit -- the cue stick is aiming through the center of the cue ball and pointing at the exact edge of the object ball -- what will the cut angle be?
How about for a 3/4-full hit? 1/4-full? How do you get to other cut angles?
Thanks, Ken. Even if you didn't list your occupation under your posts there would be no mistaking it.BRKNRUN said:
I did read Colin's thread and learned a few things (from your input included). That thread actually sounds more similar to what Nick Varner claims to be his aiming system; as per the article Bob Jewett has on his sfbilliards site.Anyways, eventually I'll just have to call the guy. Just like you said.
I will try to step through what I am aiming at…I will use the following for reference.
1.Starting position: This is a Full ball contact or pot. If you had ball in hand this is where you would place the cue ball for a straight in shot.
2.Cue ball contact point: This is what I aim at the object ball. It is not the cue stick that I aim. I get this point by aiming cue ball into middle of pocket.
3.Full, half and ¼ object ball: This is what I aim the cue ball contact point at.
If 12 oclock on the cue ball is making a starting position contact on object ball and 10 oclock is pointing at the middle of the pocket, this is what I do. I aim 10 oclock at Full, half or quarter ball on the object ball. 10 would prob be a half ball aim.
1.Starting position: This is a Full ball contact or pot. If you had ball in hand this is where you would place the cue ball for a straight in shot.
2.Cue ball contact point: This is what I aim at the object ball. It is not the cue stick that I aim. I get this point by aiming cue ball into middle of pocket.
3.Full, half and ¼ object ball: This is what I aim the cue ball contact point at.
If 12 oclock on the cue ball is making a starting position contact on object ball and 10 oclock is pointing at the middle of the pocket, this is what I do. I aim 10 oclock at Full, half or quarter ball on the object ball. 10 would prob be a half ball aim.
Jason, your aiming systems still is very unclear to me. Your description of your system isn't very coherent. I have no idea what #3 says, and how does anything relate to #2 and #3 relate to #1.Jason Robichaud said:
Well, considering you got a 915 on the Drivermaker Memorial, this aiming system of yours must be outstanding.
Crispy Fish said:Here we go again...
LMMFAO,
i will explain one of my three systems i use, the three BLINKS, have you ever tried it, you have to blink your eyes three times in a certain sequence
after i do this i stick out my tongue, close my right eye cause i am left eye dominant, after this if i feel the shot is going to go in if not then i stand back up and look over the shot look to the left and to the right, then get back down and the shot always goes in 
whew, lolI read all of these posts on aiming systems and I am glad I already know how to get the ball in the hole and the cue ball where I want it for the next shot because they confuse the hell out of me. I guess I do use a system, I take the center line to the part of the pocket that I want the object ball to go in,then compensate for speed and english for postion on my next shot then shoot. It seems pretty easy to me but when I read some of the posts it looks like rocket science. When I was growing up there was no one around to teach me so I had to learn from trial and error or watching the better players. But that still seems easier than trying to figure out some of these aiming systems.
TheConArtist said:LMMFAO,
i will explain one of my three systems i use, the three BLINKS, have you ever tried it, you have to blink your eyes three times in a certain sequence
Since the HH 3-line system is apparantly such a "joke" to you, I deleted the posts...
BRKNRUN said:
When did i say the Three Point System that Hal teaches is a joke to me, as a fact i use this system along with many others he teaches.
Jason Robichaud said:
Here are a couple links to Hal's Aiming systems, if you like to read and if you haven't already ran across these.
http://www.usenetsports.com/archive/topic.php/t-847238.html
http://www.usenetsports.com/archive/topic.php/t-845232.html
Last edited:
Housestick
Registered
man..just hit the ball in the hole and get all that nonsense out of your head. Your brain is more powerful than you realize, you just have to get out of its way and let it happen. Think about the best pool you ever played...were you thinking about all of that stuff?...no...were you thinking about anything?....no
The key to this game my friend is the still mind. Pick up the book "The Inner Game of Tennis" to understand this concept a little better. Watch as many good players as you can and eventually your brain will know every shot there is. Whether you can actually realize all of those shots is a question of talent sometimes, but knowing this now will save you years of frustration. The sooner you learn this fact the sooner you'll progress in your game. Concsiously thinking about aiming and other mechanics while trying to play will do nothing but cause you to miss. Just watch competant players as much as possible and your brain will automatically take it from there if you let it. The best players in the world weren't taught a damn thing and I can promise you that they didn't waste there time with this junk. Get with the program or get busted. It's up to you.
The key to this game my friend is the still mind. Pick up the book "The Inner Game of Tennis" to understand this concept a little better. Watch as many good players as you can and eventually your brain will know every shot there is. Whether you can actually realize all of those shots is a question of talent sometimes, but knowing this now will save you years of frustration. The sooner you learn this fact the sooner you'll progress in your game. Concsiously thinking about aiming and other mechanics while trying to play will do nothing but cause you to miss. Just watch competant players as much as possible and your brain will automatically take it from there if you let it. The best players in the world weren't taught a damn thing and I can promise you that they didn't waste there time with this junk. Get with the program or get busted. It's up to you.
Many people on here ask, how to aim. I love the response, just take a line to pocket and hit it. Another great post, watch good players and do the same thing. Or if you can’t put a ball in the hole quit playing.
Many people in the world, except for those exceptionally gifted posters that like to discover everything on their own. Had mothers, fathers or other parental figures and schools teaching them for 18 years. I am sure they learn many different ways of doing the same thing and picked which one works for them.
The comments that they just do it, when it comes to potting balls is bull$h1t. Pro-players aim. Do they all use the same system? My guess would be no. They find what works.
Players that are playing good pick out the potting lines, contact points, or angles quickly, and yes just do it. When we are battling a bad day something to aim at is good. In the zone is good, but sometimes that zone hides really well on that small 4 ¼ by 9 table. I don’t like taking the whole match looking for the zone. I like having a reset point an aiming system.
Many people in the world, except for those exceptionally gifted posters that like to discover everything on their own. Had mothers, fathers or other parental figures and schools teaching them for 18 years. I am sure they learn many different ways of doing the same thing and picked which one works for them.
The comments that they just do it, when it comes to potting balls is bull$h1t. Pro-players aim. Do they all use the same system? My guess would be no. They find what works.
Players that are playing good pick out the potting lines, contact points, or angles quickly, and yes just do it. When we are battling a bad day something to aim at is good. In the zone is good, but sometimes that zone hides really well on that small 4 ¼ by 9 table. I don’t like taking the whole match looking for the zone. I like having a reset point an aiming system.
Jason Robichaud said:
This is like blasphemy....saying the "pros" use aiming systems, as if you speak for all of them. Not many of them do, and the ones that do, use aiming systems for tough shots. Everything else, they don't need aiming systems, because they arent newbies that arent sure where to aim like you.
I think that people saying that you can make any shot with three angles are not crazy or idiots or players who sink a ball every hour.
I never use systems when I play though, I think that you have to go by feel to be a good shotmaker.
Yesterday I watched a Bert Kinister tape, called "Making Long Hard Shots". In it, he said that if you take a straight-in shot (has to be a rather long one), you have to aim straight at the ob to make it, we all know that.
Now, you can move the cb to the side of it's current position up to three ball sizes right or left and you can still make the shot by aiming straight at the ob. He admits that it doesn't make any sense, but it works.
After I saw the tape I went to the pool hall and set up some of the shots he showed and shot them by aiming straight at the ob. I made most of them, and the shots were not easy, they were rather long close-to-straight-in shots. Of course I was aiming straight at the ob, but I wasn't acutally hitting straight at the ob, otherwise I would miss, as the shot was not straight in.
To me this experiment shows how our brain plays games on us and how we can be led to believe that we can make all shots with three angles (or four or five or ten) and be perfectly sure that we're aiming and sinking balls that way.
I never use systems when I play though, I think that you have to go by feel to be a good shotmaker.
Yesterday I watched a Bert Kinister tape, called "Making Long Hard Shots". In it, he said that if you take a straight-in shot (has to be a rather long one), you have to aim straight at the ob to make it, we all know that.
Now, you can move the cb to the side of it's current position up to three ball sizes right or left and you can still make the shot by aiming straight at the ob. He admits that it doesn't make any sense, but it works.
After I saw the tape I went to the pool hall and set up some of the shots he showed and shot them by aiming straight at the ob. I made most of them, and the shots were not easy, they were rather long close-to-straight-in shots. Of course I was aiming straight at the ob, but I wasn't acutally hitting straight at the ob, otherwise I would miss, as the shot was not straight in.
To me this experiment shows how our brain plays games on us and how we can be led to believe that we can make all shots with three angles (or four or five or ten) and be perfectly sure that we're aiming and sinking balls that way.
etimmons said:
I was going to stay out of this, but just can't help myself. OK, lets say you have a player who makes 75%, or less, of his shots. Now, I'll grant that with years of trial and error he will be able to eventually elevate that percentage, BUT, why wait so long.
Now, I teach systems, cutting, banking, kicking, etc., but I don't USE them when I'm playing... too much thinking involved. Retraction: I do use them on extremely difficult shots, but not on 90% of the shots that I shoot. I don't "USE" them, because I've practiced them to a point that they just happen.
My point. If someone could teach you a system, or set of systems, whether it's Hal's, CJ's, Bert's, JoeT's, RandyG's or whoever, and you could go from 75% to 90% in a short time, then why not do it? (etimmons, I'm not directing this at you, just at poolplayers in general) Now, eventually, you have to quit "thinking" about every shot and just let your game happen, but if you can reduce the learning curve for pocketing balls from "years of trial and error" to a "few weeks (or months) of concentrated work with aiming systems" then why not just give it a roll.
BTW, the Fractional thing that everyone seems to think is Hal's sole aiming method is the big myth. It's nothing more than a baseline to teach aiming methods that are worlds beyond fractional aiming. I know players who have talked to him ONE TIME and say this is BS and will never work. Well, if they'll talk to him several times, then he will work the player into several systems, one of which is going to work, all of which are very precise. The trick is to learn these systems and to learn them to the point that you can just pocket balls without thinking about what line of aim to use.
POOLPLAYERS HAVE TO LEARN TO POCKET BALLS AND PLAY POSITION. You can do it two ways. 1. Spend years with the rote system and memorize all the millions of angles or 2. Spend a few weeks or months working on an aiming system that's suited to your style of play and get it so engrained that you don't have to think about it.
In the end, you have to just play pool. When you're playing high level one pocket, 9-Ball, Banks, 8-Ball, or whatever, you can't think about aim lines, target lines, etc, on every shot. If you did, you'd be mentally exhausted after a few sets. Use systems or don't use systems, doesn't matter to me, but if you aren't pocketing at least 75 to 85% of your shots, then you'd better do something different.
For those of you that have been playing for years and can make balls at an extremely high percentage, forget the systems... use what works for you, but for those that are not pocketing at a high percentage (I'm not talking about easy shots, I'm talking about everything from straight ins, to banks, to 80° cuts) then you might think about seeking out someone to teach you how to get there. Not me, though... trout fishing is just getting good this time of year, and when I'm not playing, I'll be on the river freezing my a$$ off with a flyrod somewhere!
Later,
Bob
