Alignment

[JLD]

Before you read this post please keep in mind that I am not saying that this is the correct or only way to align your cue. I don't want to start any argument or controversy over what I am posting. I only present this in the hope that it might help someone futher their game as it has done for me and the other players I have shown it to. It may or may not work for you.

I have developed a system for aiming with the dominant eye that so far has proven very successful for myself and the few people that I have showed it to. I had for many years aimed with my chin centered over the cue paying careful attention to keep the tip of my nose pointed to the tip on the cue to maintain alignment. While this has worked well for me I more often than not had mild confidence problems with long distance cut shots. Even though I normally make these shots the mental struggle tended to mount over the course of a long tournament. I have tried finding different places to align my cue such as centered directly under my eye and various places between the center to my nose and even beyond. The results have been sporadic at best. In the end I have always returned to my cue centered under my chin for best results.

After a lot of less than productive alignment attempts it finally dawned on me that rather than one set position for the cue alignment in relation to the eye it might work better if the alignment changed with the angle and direction of the cut with the contact point on the cue ball as the determining factor. At first it was a difficult process because of the abstract factors required to determine the cue ball contact point then try to get the center of my eye aligned over that point while also trying to maintain the cue position required for the shot. It worked well but was more of a struggle than aligning under the chin. The method needed some kind of mechanical factor to simplify the process and make it stress free.

It took a couple hours for the light bulb to turn on but the results were well worth it. It occured to me that at least in my case as I am right eye dominant that a cue ball held at the center of my eye would cause the left edge to line up with the center of my nose and or chin and the right edge would line up with the outside corner of my eye. In other words the width of the cue ball was the perfect fit between the outside corner of my eye and the bridge of my nose. If I used those 3 points(nose,center of eye and outside corner) as a reference I would be able to quckily align the cue to position the center of my eye over the cue ball contact point for any cut angle from 0 to 90 degrees to the right or left.

If the cue was centered straight under the dominant eye and in the center of the cue ball it would line up perfect for a straight in shot as my eye would be over the contact point on the cue ball and object ball. This would be a zero angle cut. The diagram below shows eye placement of the dominant directly in line with the center of the cue, cue ball and object ball.

If I aligned the cue(Line AB) with the center of my chin (or nose) and through the center of the cue ball then the center of my eye(right eye in my case) would be aligned with the edge of the cue ball(right edge in my case as I am right eye dominant) and the left edge of the object ball (Line CD). This position would be perfect for a very thin cut to the right. The diagram below shows the cue centered over the nose(or chin) with the center of the dominant eye aligned with the right edge of the cue ball and left edge of the object ball.

If I aligned the cue halfway between my chin center or nose and the center of my eye it would be right for a 45 degree cut to the right. For any other angle to the right it is simply a matter of interpolation to come up with the correct placement of the cue from 0 to 90 degrees. The diagram below shows the cue about half way between the center of the eye and the center of the nose(or chin) while the center of the eye is aligned with the contact point on the cue ball and object ball. You might notice that this diagram is not lined up quite perfectly but that's because I'm not really proficient with using Paintbrush to draw diagrams.

For cuts to the left simply hold the cue at the center of the eye for a zero angle cut, halfway between the center and the outside corner for a 45 degree angle and at the outside corner of the eye for thin cuts to the left. Again interpolate for any angle between 0 to 45 and 45 to 90 degrees. The diagram below shows the cue centered over the outside of the eye with the center of the dominant eye aligned with the left edge of the cue ball and right edge of the object ball.

The beauty of the system is that I don't have to find the contact point on the cue ball as it will be automatically in place if I see the correct angle of the shot and align the cue to the right place between the bridge of my nose(or center of chin) and the outside corner of my eye.

For left eye dominant players all the positions would be reversed.

In practice:
1. I determine the cut angle of the shot
2. Align my body and eye for the shot
3. Determine the cue placement between the center of my eye and center of nose(chin) or outside corner of eye depending on cut direction
4. As you lean into the shot place cue at the proper position as determined in step 3 but also aligned with the center of the cue ball making adjustments for parallel english if used.
5. Shoot the shot as normal

For me this technique has not only improved my accuracy but has completely removed any confidence problems I had when shooting long cut shots. I no longer have to struggle mentally to determine the correct aim to complete the shot. Now I just line up the shot and shoot at the spot on the object ball that I determined before I lean into shooting position. It allows me to use a mechanical basis to eliminate the abstract components of my aim.

I can now fire shots into pockets(when not using english) to force the cue ball around the table whereas before there would be a good chance that it would jaw in the pocket if I risked shooting at that speed.

This system completely gets rid on any parallax problems but does have a couple caveats. For one being able to aim better doesn't do much to help other flaws you might have with your aim such as alignment, stroke errors or shooting too hard. You still have to make aim adjustments for speed and english. It also wouldn't help anyone who doesn't have a dominant eye and would require and adjustment for some one who had an unusually large or small face where the cue ball width didn't fit properly between the nose and outside corner of the eye. Additionally it might also be difficult to learn to get your cue aligned from the center to the outside of the eye.

 

[FranCrimi]

Thanks for taking the time to share your system and I am in favor of dominant eye aiming. However, when you initially tried shooting with your cue placed in various places under your dominant eye with inconsistent results ---- If I were you, I would consider revisiting that again.

Here's why: All of those years you were centering your cue under your chin, you have trained yourself to step into your shots a certain way.

When you make a major change like cue placement, you may not be adapting your approach and stance as accurately as you think you are. A major change like that takes a whole lot of time.

So while you think that placing your cue under the same part of your dominant eye for every shot gives you inconsistent results, it's possible that what's inconsistent is really your approach (how you step into the shot) to certain angles and not what your dominant eye is seeing.

My point is that maybe you don't have to move your cue around for different angles. Maybe there really is one optimal place under your dominant eye that will do the trick. Maybe you just have to work on your stance a bit more for different angles.

Just something to think about.

 

[JE54]

subscribing to the thread

 

[One Pocket John]

WOW JLD.

Just when I was getting the Shuffle Board Stroke down you throw this out there.

I guess we all are and always will be students of the game. I dont think there is "one way" for everyone. I do think there is a "best practice" that should be closely followed.

More power to ya on your exploration into just another way of looking at lining up and aiming.

I had to change a bunch of things in my approach to a shot. The things I changed were difficult but needed to be done. I always give myself a year to learn major changes in the fundementals. They have to be driven into the sub-conscious so that my conscious mind doesnt have to think ablot them anymore.

So give it a year.........see what happens. If its working for you......great. If not, you can always throw it away.

Keep Strok'in (my I-spell isnt working right now so there may be some spelling errors)

John

 

[Mikjary]

JLD,

On the thin cuts to the left...could you check on that and tell me what you see? After you line up, close one eye at a time and look at the shot. What line is each eye seeing? I am also right eye dominant.

Best,
Mike

 

[JLD]

Thanks for taking the time to share your system and I am in favor of dominant eye aiming. However, when you initially tried shooting with your cue placed in various places under your dominant eye with inconsistent results ---- If I were you, I would consider revisiting that again.

Here's why: All of those years you were centering your cue under your chin, you have trained yourself to step into your shots a certain way.

Fran thanks for your input. I think though that you misunderstand the reason that I initially had inconsistent results. That was before I figured out this new system. I originally tried different positions as a set position for all shots without adjusting for different cut angles. These positions all had the same built in flaw as my chin centered alignment in that the eye was not in direct alignment with the path of cue ball travel requiring a parallax adjustment by eyes. As parallax is based on an angular measurement it changes with the distance from the eye to the object ball which means you brain has to relearn aim points as the distance grows. With this new system there is no need for the eye to make a parallax adjustment as it is aligned with the true path the cue ball takes to the object ball. You are quite right about stepping into the shot as it is different in that I now step into the shot with my dominant eye aligned with the line of the cue ball contact point and object ball contact point. With my old method I stepped into the shot with my chin centered on the line of the cue ball center and a point 1/2 ball off the contact point of the object ball.

One Pocket thanks again for your kind comments. We never progress unless we learn new things and I totally agree with you that if they don't work consistently just throw them out.

On the thin cuts to the left...could you check on that and tell me what you see? After you line up, close one eye at a time and look at the shot. What line is each eye seeing? I am also right eye dominant.

Mikjary learning to shoot thin cuts to the left was the hardest part of learning this system as it was difficult for me to move the cue to the outside corner of my right eye and keep my nose aligned parallel to the cue. As you step into the shot align your dominant eye with the left edge of the cue ball and right edge of the object ball. It helps if you can see the imaginary line running through these 2 points. Your bridge hand as you set it down will be appx 1/2 ball to the right of this line(without adjustments for english) however if you focus on the tip contact point on the cue ball while keeping your eye aligned cue ball-object ball contact point it should be automatic. What I see on a thin cut to the left if I close my left eye my right eye aligned with the contact point on the object ball and the cue pointing to completely miss the object ball just over 1/2 ball with. If I close my right eye I am looking quite a bit more to the right of the object ball.

 

[One Pocket John]

JLD

I'd like to throw this out there.

14 years ago my instructor said "you shoot pool with your hand" and I said "what do you mean" he relpied "its like you are putting the OB in the pocket with your hand".

Fast forward 14 years. Since then I have heard statements by Buddy Hall saying "trust your arm". Then I run across this article by Matt Sherman stating the same thing that Buddy stated and further adding that the cue just goes along for the ride and to not watch where you are pointing the tip of the stick. To me that would indicate that you must pick a point on your grip hand as an aiming device.

To top all of this off I have seen close up facials of Efren Reyes when he is getting ready to pull the trigger, he never takes his eyes off the object ball, except maybe once to see where he is striking the cue ball. Which would indicate that Efran trusts his arm.

So, while you are working on your aiming system, I'll be trying to trust my arm to deliver a straight stroke at the spot on the ball.

So far, its been pretty interesting. (my spill chicker is styl not wrking):grin:

John

 

[FranCrimi]

Fran thanks for your input. I think though that you misunderstand the reason that I initially had inconsistent results. That was before I figured out this new system. I originally tried different positions as a set position for all shots without adjusting for different cut angles. These positions all had the same built in flaw as my chin centered alignment in that the eye was not in direct alignment with the path of cue ball travel requiring a parallax adjustment by eyes. As parallax is based on an angular measurement it changes with the distance from the eye to the object ball which means you brain has to relearn aim points as the distance grows. With this new system there is no need for the eye to make a parallax adjustment as it is aligned with the true path the cue ball takes to the object ball. You are quite right about stepping into the shot as it is different in that I now step into the shot with my dominant eye aligned with the line of the cue ball contact point and object ball contact point. With my old method I stepped into the shot with my chin centered on the line of the cue ball center and a point 1/2 ball off the contact point of the object ball.

.

Well, if I misunderstood something, this certainly wouldn't be the first time.

But I think I got what you meant about the inconsistencies. But I still think that while your are placing the blame on not adjusting your vision for the angle of the shot, I'm suggesting that you might have had some problems stepping into certain angles as opposed to other angles.

The reason I'm suggesting this is from personal experience. I've experimented with my approach into certain angles of shots that I would miss often, and found that my approach was wrong on certain angles, which lead to a bad stance, and improper alignment. When I pay attention to my approach on those angles, all goes well. The cue stays in the same place under my dominant eye.

But of course, that's just me.

 

[tattoosbyjay]

JLD

I'd like to throw this out there.

14 years ago my instructor said "you shoot pool with your hand" and I said "what do you mean" he relpied "its like you are putting the OB in the pocket with your hand".

Fast forward 14 years. Since then I have heard statements by Buddy Hall saying "trust your arm". Then I run across this article by Matt Sherman stating the same thing that Buddy stated and further adding that the cue just goes along for the ride and to not watch where you are pointing the tip of the stick. To me that would indicate that you must pick a point on your grip hand as an aiming device.

To top all of this off I have seen close up facials of Efren Reyes when he is getting ready to pull the trigger, he never takes his eyes off the object ball, except maybe once to see where he is striking the cue ball. Which would indicate that Efran trusts his arm.

So, while you are working on your aiming system, I'll be trying to trust my arm to deliver a straight stroke at the spot on the ball.

So far, its been pretty interesting. (my spill chicker is styl not wrking):grin:

John

this is very interesting i have never hear this but i think ill have to try this

 

[Ratta]

Well, if I misunderstood something, this certainly wouldn't be the first time.

But I think I got what you meant about the inconsistencies. But I still think that while your are placing the blame on not adjusting your vision for the angle of the shot, I'm suggesting that you might have had some problems stepping into certain angles as opposed to other angles.

The reason I'm suggesting this is from personal experience. I've experimented with my approach into certain angles of shots that I would miss often, and found that my approach was wrong on certain angles, which lead to a bad stance, and improper alignment. When I pay attention to my approach on those angles, all goes well. The cue stays in the same place under my dominant eye.

But of course, that's just me.

I hear ya Fran
since a student finally understood how important this *Sighting+Seeing* from above really is, he improved dramatically. Together with his *new ligning up* he steps now perfectly into the shot-already aligned on *his baseline*.
This helped him a ton.
There are several ways to find out this *Baseline* for every single player. You have to find his vision center (if this is anyway a problem...) - but in most cases from my expirience it s a wrong alignment of the whole body that causes the most problems.

lg
Ingo

 

[mmasou]

may i suggest the mighty X exercise. It really improved my alignment, stance and back swing , in the last few weeks.

set up a long straight-in shot in both longest diagonal lines, each ball is 2 diamonds from bottom rail, one diamond from long rail.

make the straight-in follow shot, follow the ball you hit with to the pocket, basically making both balls in the same pocket.
no practice strokes, only one backswing. this allows to check if you are aligned, and if your backswing is straight.
it helped me especially on my alignment.

i am right-eye dominant but i found that im better aligned under my nose (or chin), or slightly to the right of my nose, but only like 3-4 mm off.
i discovered this by doing this exercise repeatedly for many hours and days... it kind of refined my alignment.

the most difficult is still the backswing and also stepping into the shot perfectly. on a long straight in shot you need to be aligned exactly on the perfect line, to make the shot and follow to the pocket...

that's just my experience.

 

[mmasou]

JLD

I'd like to throw this out there.

14 years ago my instructor said "you shoot pool with your hand" and I said "what do you mean" he relpied "its like you are putting the OB in the pocket with your hand".

Fast forward 14 years. Since then I have heard statements by Buddy Hall saying "trust your arm". Then I run across this article by Matt Sherman stating the same thing that Buddy stated and further adding that the cue just goes along for the ride and to not watch where you are pointing the tip of the stick. To me that would indicate that you must pick a point on your grip hand as an aiming device.

To top all of this off I have seen close up facials of Efren Reyes when he is getting ready to pull the trigger, he never takes his eyes off the object ball, except maybe once to see where he is striking the cue ball. Which would indicate that Efran trusts his arm.

So, while you are working on your aiming system, I'll be trying to trust my arm to deliver a straight stroke at the spot on the ball.

So far, its been pretty interesting. (my spill chicker is styl not wrking):grin:

John

I would also tend to agree about this... after long practice sessions and self-analysis i've come to similar conclusions. whenever i'm not sure what my arm is doing, i tend to miss the shot.. also the eyes must have some sort of communication with the object ball so that the arm (grip hand) can connect to it..

 

[Train1077]

I am also always struggling with my alignment and aim.

1. If your cue is not under your dominant eye, then when you aim up for a long straight shot, then try to look with one eye at a time, none of them makes up a straight line. How does this work out??

2. Even if your eye is not directly over the cue, how do you know that you are not looking straigth along the aiming line, you can look in different directions without turning your head...

3. Is it possible to "force" yourself to use your dominant eye or to use ONE certain way to aim, and not holding the cue fx under the nose? and is this recommended?

 

[JLD]

I am also always struggling with my alignment and aim.

1. If your cue is not under your dominant eye, then when you aim up for a long straight shot, then try to look with one eye at a time, none of them makes up a straight line. How does this work out??

If you are looking down your stick to use the aiming method I described your are not using the method correctly but the results you describe are. What you are trying trying to line up with the center of your dominant eye is the line formed by the contact point on the object ball and the contact point on the cue ball. Except for straight in shots this line will always be parallel to the cue on the same side as the cut and up to 1/2 cue ball width away from the cue on a very thin cut. For instance if you were cutting a thin cut to the right your dominant eye(if right dominant) would be centered very close to the right edge of the cue ball but your cue would appear to be pointing slightly more than 1/2 ball(because of parallax) to the left edge of the object ball. If you are right eye dominant and you close your left eye that is still what you should see. If you close your right eye you cue will appear to be pointing much closer to the object on a short very thin cut shot and pretty much at the edge of the object ball for a full table length shot. Just focus on the object ball contact point and place the stick in the right place with your nose parallel to the cue and the alignment is pretty much automatic.

2. Even if your eye is not directly over the cue, how do you know that you are not looking straigth along the aiming line, you can look in different directions without turning your head...

If you have placed the cue correctly with your nose parallel with the cue it will automatically be directly over the contact point on the cue ball. All you have to do is make sure you are looking at the contact point on the object ball and the alignment will be correct. Make sure you stroke straight as this method doesn't correct for stroke errors.

3. Is it possible to "force" yourself to use your dominant eye or to use ONE certain way to aim, and not holding the cue fx under the nose? and is this recommended?

If you have a dominant eye which most of us do, you don't have to force yourself to use it as it works automatically. The problem is that if you look down your cue with your tip pointing through the center of the cue ball and point it to a spot in the distance until it looks right then move your head either slightly to the right or left it will be pointing at different spot. That means your head must be positioned exactly the same way over the cue each time to get a consistent sight picture. Otherwise it will look right when it's wrong. You could pretty much place your cue anywhere(within reason) in relation to your dominant eye and as long as you were consistent with the placement and over the course of time your brain would learn to adjust your aim. The key is be consistent with your head and eye alignment. With my method alignment is automatic as long as you place your cue in the right place depending on the cut angle, keep your focus on the contact point on the object ball and stroke straight. You would have to adjust your cue position if you use parallel english.

If you prefer to aim using your cue alignment as a reference I would suggest you try shooting with your dominant eye centered over the cue and use the tip to point at the center of the ghost ball. This of course brings an abstract component to aiming as you have to guess where the center of the ghost ball is which will look different as the angle of the cut and the distance between the cue ball and object changes. Additionally as your mind is focused on the cue ball when aiming you tend to substitute it's size for the size of the ghost ball to determine the point you are aiming. In reality balls actually appear to get smaller as the distance increases. This illusion makes the cue ball an over sized ball compared to the object ball as distance increases thus affecting your judgement where the 2 ball will contact each other. This in my opinion is one of the biggest reasons we tend to over cut balls at a distance.

 

[Ratta]

Well,

i really enjoy that people trying to help on forums with sharing knowledge. But for the case *Aiming+Aligning* if it s about bringing this together with the *Dominant Eye* some should be a bit careful.
Every human is different- also the vision center is different for almost everybody!
Here you have to really *find* out how to put your *body parts* and *head/eyes* together.
And if you were not able to find out yourself how it works best for you, you need professional help here!

Not a bad offense from my side to the helpful users- but some should really think first what they re talking about instead of shooting into the dark night and perhaps kill the mosquito with a head shot........

lg

Ingo

 

[One Pocket John]

I would also tend to agree about this... after long practice sessions and self-analysis i've come to similar conclusions. whenever i'm not sure what my arm is doing, i tend to miss the shot.. also the eyes must have some sort of communication with the object ball so that the arm (grip hand) can connect to it..

Thanks.

When you are doing this properly. Your shooting arm will feel as though its is disconnected from your body and has a mind of its own and your just standing there letting it do its job.

When down in the shooting position a point on my grip hand is lined up with the tip of the cue pointing straight down the shot line. With my grip hand I begin to feel the OB. You will notice that your warm up stroke length may change and that your stick is going through the cue ball more smoothly.

My right eye tells me where my chin has to be when lining up a shot, my right eye (vision centered and square to the shot) also tells me where the point on my grip hand needs to be on the shot line. Then when I bend over to the shooting position my bridge hand falls down into that line. Only very small adjustments have to be made to get the tip of the cue and the point on my grip hand in line with the shot.
Then I let my arm do its job.

A good analogy was brought up by JLD. If you have ever played shuffle board use the same stroke when playing pool. The cue ball is a puck in your hand and the OB is the other puck. In shuffle board you really have to have a feel for both pucks. How much force is really needed.....not much. Keeping this idea in mind will change a great deal in how you hold your cue, how you line up, how much force to use, it goes on and on.

I'm not an instructor. But I sure do enjoy sharing.

John

 

[FranCrimi]

I'm curious ---

Can anyone provide a list of players who shoot with their cue under their recessive eye? I've been trying to accumulate a list for years and can't seem to do it. Maybe someone here can help?

 

[BilliardsAbout]

What I call the hand slap method is one way of stroking. Here is that article:

http://billiards.about.com/od/stroketechniques/a/learnpool_5.htm

 

[BilliardsAbout]

One of the issues of dominant eye/recessive eye is simply explained this way:

A right-handed player is left-eyed dominant. He spends a few hours craning to place his left eye over the cue stick during play in a major tournament. The winner?

His chiropractor.

I mention eye dominance and "ambiocularity" in this article for one instance:

Dominant Eye Pool - Does It Work?

 

[randyg]

One of the issues of dominant eye/recessive eye is simply explained this way:

A right-handed player is left-eyed dominant. He spends a few hours craning to place his left eye over the cue stick during play in a major tournament. The winner?

His chiropractor.

I mention eye dominance and "ambiocularity" in this article for one instance:

Dominant Eye Pool - Does It Work?

Well stated Matt. SPF Instructors understand the same thing as in your articule.

Have a great day
randyg