Anyone done this?

M

Miya Butreaks

Registered
So the story goes... I am right handed and have always played with my cue below my right eye. Well that was until somebody reputable told me "that's not good" and like an idiot I took it as sound advice. So I changed my cue alignment to being centered on my chin.

After about 6 months of this new alignment I began to notice that my hand pulled in towards my body on my backstroke, causing my cue tip to make an annoying sweeping side to side motion on my stroke. This problem proved damn near impossible to fix, moved my elbow in/out, moved hand in/out, used different muscles, you name it. When I managed to eliminate the swerve I felt just plain uncomfortable.

Well, tonight I was messing around and decided to try my right eye alignment out again, and low and behold my stroke was much, much straighter, smoother, and felt amazing. Just like it used to.

Sorry, this is kind of a rant. I'm just so pissed off at myself for ever messing with success, and not realizing I was retarded for so long. It feels like I've wasted a full 1.5 years not getting anywhere with my game because I'm so damn paranoid about the f-----d up swerve in my stroke.
 
Hi Miya,

sry for you-- don t be too angry. You tried to make increase your game but failed by a *wrong* advice. This happens for sure to many players who are getting help by wanna-be instructors. In your case i would really recommend to search an instructor who works with video. He will capture your mistakes etc- and then will help you to align correctly again-and how to control it yourself. I m sure it won t take that long.
You ll find enough qualified instructors here who are able to do something like this. Put away your frustration-go for more my friend:)

lg from overseas,

ingo
 
Miya Butreaks said:
It feels like I've wasted a full 1.5 years not getting anywhere with my game .
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Wrong mentality! You have learned a very great lesson that some players never learn. Well meaning friends can always tell you something that sounds good, but is absolutely wrong.
We call them "Murphys".
I encourage all of my students to question everything we teach in pool school. Go to the table and either prove or disprove everything.

Proper head alignment over the cue depends on how YOU see the line extending out from your cue. Some people need to have the cue directly under the chin. Others need to have it offset one way or the other. You will know when you are seeing the line. Your friends can't see what you see.

Ratta has the right idea. Find a qualified instructor before you decide to change things for change's sake. At least any changes you make will be an improvement.

Steve
 
I had the same prob. JoeT's 3rd eye "forced" me to use my left eye (even though I'm right eye dominant) in order to see center ball. When I was accepting visual input from a better place, my brain stopped trying to "last-second-correct" my stroke which resulted in a right to left dip and many missed shots.

Stroking crooked IS NOT ALWAYS mechanical. If your brain thinks it will miss, it will force you to make a last-second correction.

Find out how YOU see. I think that 3rd eye is a very good tool. Some people use that and say, "So what?" Otherwise us it and say, "Oh my God."

It's ALL in how you SEE as an individual. Anyone who says dominant eye talk is over-rated doesn't have a "strong" dominant eye like myself. It's easy to dismiss something when you don't/can't experience it. Sighting with your vision's center (for someone like me) will doom you to a life of shit play unless you want to stroke across your vision line slightly.

I've learned to use the eye in the direction of the cut as well as ideal head positions to perceive things correctly. I never accept input from "vision center". Keep in mind, my advice is bad for prob 75% of the people out there. But, if you're in the 25% who have a "dominating" dominant eye-- this info is a God-send.
 
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Thanks for the reply and advice Ratta, that helped me remember what my goal for the game is. I will definately look for some good instruction. It's hard to get it in person here in Utah, as instructors with more than black/white ideas are few and far between.

Pooltchr- My outlook is a lot better after a night's rest. I realized I learned a lot in the last couple years, I just have to implement it correctly. I know I play better than I used to, It's just hard to stay consistent when a small part of my attention is on my stroke all the time.

SpiderWebComm - I think this time I can safely say it's mechanical. I can focus on my stroke and ignore any shot and still have a wobbly stroke. Once I shift my cue alignment to my right eye everything just clicks, little if any wobble, and that's without modifying my backswing.
 
Been there, still suffering. On supposedly good advise, I changed my stance to one that was more correct. It seemed like it would help with an occasional swerve at the end of my stroke. (Occurred maybe once or twice in 100 strokes.) I never could adjust to the change, and it is taking me forever to change back. The problem turned out to be unconsciously over tightening my grip every so often. Now I am stuck relearning the stance I was comfortable and successful with.
 
Highmiles said:
Been there, still suffering. On supposedly good advise, I changed my stance to one that was more correct. It seemed like it would help with an occasional swerve at the end of my stroke. (Occurred maybe once or twice in 100 strokes.) I never could adjust to the change, and it is taking me forever to change back. The problem turned out to be unconsciously over tightening my grip every so often. Now I am stuck relearning the stance I was comfortable and successful with.
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Anytime I see someone with sideways movement in the cue, the first thing I look for is either a tightening of the grip, or movement in the upper arm. Stance can be an issue, depending on personal body type. A guy with a good sized mid section may be forced to swerve to get around the muffin top, but even that can often be addressed without changinng the stance. I do check to see if the stance allows for natural movement of the arm, but other than that, if it's comfortable and works, why change?

Steve
 
Excellent posting-
the part where you are talking about type of body and the question if natural /arm-/movement could work-- just great!!!

lg
Ingo
 
Thanks all for the advice! I also got some advice from a close friend and long time mentor. He said, "You've added to your arsenal of shots. If even if you don't use it often, when the situation demands, you'll have it".
 
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