Amazing Grip!!!

Patrick Johnson said:
If you're saying it's easier to aim it than to hit it ("easier said than done"), I couldn't agree more. But if you're saying a good half ball hit is different from a good half ball aim, then I don't understand what difference you're talking about.

If you aim the center of the CB exactly at the edge of the OB and move the CB exactly along that line until it touches the OB, you will get a perfect half ball hit: the CB/OB contact point will be exactly 30 degrees from the CB's path. That's the definition of a half ball hit.

pj
chgo
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Isn't a half-ball HIT, by definition, a 45 degree angle? Whereas a half-ball AIM is 30 degrees (or 27, depending on anal sphinstering capabilities:cool: ).

Not ready to argue these details, but if someone can clarify, that'd be great.

Jeff Livingston
 
chefjeff said:
Isn't a half-ball HIT, by definition, a 45 degree angle?
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No. A half-ball hit, by definition, is what you get when you shoot a shot with half-ball aim (i.e., a 30-degree cut). Half-ball, for aiming and shooting purposes, means "half-ball overlap", the CB/OB picture you see when you're aiming and shooting it.

The contact point for a 45-degree cut is halfway around the circumference from center to edge of the ball, so you can think of it as a kind of half-ball, but there's no easy automatic way to aim it like a 30-degree half-ball hit (it's between a half-ball hit and a 1/4-ball hit), so it doesn't get its own name.

Another reason for half-ball hit to mean a 30-degree cut is that it's the "golden angle" for cue ball predictability.

pj
chgo
 
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What is a half ball hit?

LOL....your guys eyes are good enough to do that? WOW....Jay H. could you please let me know how I can see a half ball hit? I just hit with instinct. Maybe that is why I miss too much!!!
Let me know how I can see half balls...quarter balls.....and full ball hits.
Thanks,
Sharknu
 
Do yall actually

decipher degrees of the ball hit on shots? Yall have better eyes then me. I would like to know how to see the degee angles on the object ball. If I start thinking about degrees...I think I may lose my concentration and miss more often.
Let me know how to see degrees on the ball. I have Joe Tuckers practice balls but haven't used them.
Thanks,
sharknu
 
Jay H.

I need to shoot with you so you can show me the degreeeee thingy. You are definitely the person I want to practice with. You could show me a thing or two or three!
SHARKNU
 
sharknu said:
Do you deciper degrees on the shots or do you just do it by instinct?
Thanks
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Decipher...sort of. I use my cue stick (pointing through the center of the cue ball) to aim at one of four particular points on the object ball. One of those is the edge of the ob, the half-ball aiming point.

Before this gets into a another crazy aiming thread, search this forum for such threads and come back here and ask away....there are plenty of players, better than I, who will tell you all about it.

Oh, I must say this: Instinct is the skills you're born with (suckling, fear of heights, maybe a few more). Aiming at balls to hit with a stick is NOT instinct, but learned....You've just either forgotten it or it was done below your conscious level, fwiw. Instinct gets too much credit, imho, when hard thought and hard work are the real culprits.

Jeff Livingston
 
chefjeff said:
Decipher...sort of. I use my cue stick (pointing through the center of the cue ball) to aim at one of four particular points on the object ball. One of those is the edge of the ob, the half-ball aiming point.
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Sounds like you are familiar with S.A.M.?

Sharknu, you should get with Randy G up there in Addison. He's a great teacher.
 
Big C said:
Sounds like you are familiar with S.A.M.?

Sharknu, you should get with Randy G up there in Addison. He's a great teacher.
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Familiar but not fully. I invented/discovered my own way and I'll leave it for another thread, more appropriate. I've posted it somewhere on AZ before if you wanna look for it.

Jeff Livingston
 
TheBook said:
I bought a Laser Stroke Training Aid a few days ago. I wanted to see if that half ball hit theory really work or if you subconsciously adjusted for it.

What I found out was that my stroke appeared to be straight but I was twisting my hand. This was caused by using a bad grip and and bad alignment. I found this out by the vertical line that the laser projects. It would start out vertical but at the finish it was at a angle.

I also found that the 1/2 hit theory does not work. You are subconsciously adjusting.

The Laser Stroke was worth the money for me as it has helped analyze my stroke and it is also fun to try different aiming systems or theories.
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Now I'm confused. Please, what is the 1/2 ball hit theory????SPF=randyg
 
randyg said:
Now I'm confused. Please, what is the 1/2 ball hit theory????
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Did you see this reply to me asking the same question?

What "half ball hit theory" are you talking about? The "fractional" aiming system that supposedly can make any shot using either a 1/4-ball, 1/2-ball or 3/4-ball hit?

pj
chgo


That is the one. Basically the Hal Houle theory.
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pj
chgo
 
It could be throw or the balls may cling and slide.
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BTW, these are essentially the same thing. "Cling and slide" is throw, but exaggerated by a chalk spot that happens to be right on the contact point of one the balls, making them "cling" together for an instant. Throw is the result of "cling" too (friction between the two balls), but much less because there's no chalk spot exaggerating it.

pj
chgo
 
TheBook said:
...I wanted to see if that half ball hit theory really work or if you subconsciously adjusted for it.

...the 1/2 hit theory does not work. You are subconsciously adjusting.
Click to expand...

It's true that "fractional aiming" doesn't work for all shots without (conscious or subconscious) aim adjustments. In fact you'll miss most shots if you really use only the 3/4, 1/2 and 1/4 ball alignments that are usually described for this system.

But that doesn't mean this system "doesn't work" - it doesn't make every shot without adjustment, but it does do something useful: it defines a few easily-repeated aiming alignments that are spread more or less evenly across the aiming field to form a "reference grid" that can be used to help simplify the "adjustments" (estimations) that are required with any aiming method.

The controversy that surrounds these systems comes from the fact that they're never described "honestly" as incomplete aiming systems that need constant conscious or unconscious adjustments to make the many shots that fall between the fractional cracks. This "dishonesty" may actually be an important part of the system for many players - those who are confused or overwhelmed by a blank field from which one of an infinite number of contact points must be found and hit. Believing that any shot can be made with one of these few easy-to-see alignments might give them the confidence they need to let their instinctive "adjusting" skills work.

I think these systems would work even better (for everybody) if they were described accurately as what they are and the adjustments were made knowingly (they could still be made "by feel" if that's the most comfortable way for the individual player). In fact, I might invent my own fractional aiming system like that. Look for it in colorful boxes at your local aiming system store.

pj
chgo
 
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