I've tried that before and I have two questions.
Where do you line up on the pocket, the middle of the opening of the pocket or the imaginary diamond behind the pocket?
Maybe I'm just uncoordinated, but I have trouble keeping the cue exactly parallel. Is there an easy way to do that or is it just by feel?
Thanks
I line up directly through the center of the pocket, though I suppose you could use another variation if you adjusted your stroke accordingly.
I find in just about ANY rail system there has to be some adjustment for your stroke (you either have to adjust the system aiming point, or adjust your stroke to the system). Usually you set up an ideal or reference shot and fine tune your stroke and cue tip placement untill you get a reference the reference points to match up (meaning your stroke AND the systems aiming point to get in tune for consistant repeatable results). Usually it is a very minimal adjustment, but it is good to really know what kind of cueball hit and speed combonation will get the system to work reliably.
This is true of ALL rail systems. Even a simple one rail kick from a side to a corner pocket needs this to be done. You can hit one of many different points on the rail to get the same end result, depending on what speed and cueball combination you use. That is why a sysytem would be called a running english sytem, etc.
As far as the parallel shift, I just use my cue to help visualize it. Yes it is prob a feel thing. It may take a little bit of practice. Often, I won't even really take my cue and physically move it to the exact line from the cueball. If I am standing mostly upright, I hold my cue above the table on my midpoint line and can kind of just do a lot of the shifting in my head. It helps to make sure you are seeing the whole table as a backdrop and mentally put your lines on the table, instead of focusing solely on your lines you are drawing. I like being able to hold my cue in my field of vision and use it to draw a mental line where I need it.
I think all systems can be helpful, but in the end it all has to come down to a feel thing. I think systems are a great thing to learn, and can help you understand how things relate to one another and to illustrate concepts. They take the guesswork out of a lot of it and makes it much easier to quantify and explain it to someone else. But no matter how accurate a system may be, you MUST have a repeatable stroke, and be able to adjust for different conditions and situations. There is no getting out of that.
I mean somewhere along the line you prob learned some sort of aiming system. Maybe it was a ghost ball, etc. You may have had to actually go up and physically sight up the ob with your cue on almost every shot. Then at some point, you found you could trust your judgement better and did not feel the need to do this on every shot anymore. The system is still valid, but your need to rely on it will dimish.
Pocketing balls straight to the hole is usually a much higher priority and more common than kicking at a target off 2 rails. Therfore, it will take a bit more time to really become an important factor for most people. You will not practice this as often.
Just my opinion
Jw
