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3kushn

3kushn

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I'm getting ready for a full weekend of training:smile: with a fellow 3Cushion buddy. This never happens.

Anyway I'm doing the drill CB on the spot, hit the short center Diamond and back to my cue tip. Well I was missing at first by a couple of inches so adjusted my tip placement till I made it. Great, but the view I had looked like I'm hitting "off center" so it dawned on me that its possible to cheat the drill. After all whose to say I'm hitting Exactly in the center of the diamond and adding just a hair of spin brings the ball back properly.

My questions are how do I know I'm not cheating and how do I correct for the proper view? In other words how do you use this drill to correct fundamental errors? Is there a way to test that I'm hitting my point of aim on this drill other than purchasing that laser tool that sits on the rail?
 
im not an instructor but use a stripe pool ball
put the stripe vertical and do the drill
if done correctly the stripe will go up and down the table and look like a tire with no "wobble"
 
bbb said:
im not an instructor but use a stripe pool ball
put the stripe vertical and do the drill
if done correctly the stripe will go up and down the table and look like a tire with no "wobble"
Click to expand...
Duh. Forgot about that. Guess because I don't own any of those stripey things.
Maybe I can figure out how to mark one.
 
Line up 2 balls perfectly (this is harder than it seems) 1 diamond away try to send ball #2 up and make contact with ball #1 a second time. You will figure out what you are doing wrong real fast.
 
PGHteacher said:
Line up 2 balls perfectly (this is harder than it seems) 1 diamond away try to send ball #2 up and make contact with ball #1 a second time. You will figure out what you are doing wrong real fast.
Click to expand...

yes that one is tough
another thought for the op without having to resort to one of those "stripey things":D
is do the drill with draw
 
3kushn said:
Duh. Forgot about that. Guess because I don't own any of those stripey things.
Maybe I can figure out how to mark one.
Click to expand...

Use an old carom ball and draw a stripe around it.

Alternatively, you can put two balls on the far cushion in exactly the right spots to give yourself 1/8th inch margin on each side. You'll soon tire of putting the balls back, though.

The stripe is better because it gives you immediate feedback about being off-center. Some other suggestions about the drill are in this collection of articles: http://www.sfbilliards.com/articles/cols2010r.pdf -- see March.
 
fathomblue said:
Crazy question, but are you sure the table is dead level?
Click to expand...
There is also the chance that the ball is off-center. I was trying this drill once and depending on where the heavy half of the cue ball was sitting, the ball would roll off six inches to the left or right for shots that just got back to the tip.
 
3kushn said:
... My questions are how do I know I'm not cheating and how do I correct for the proper view? ...
Click to expand...

Joe Tucker's 3rd Eye Stroke Trainer might be helpful to you in sorting that out: http://www.joetucker.net/store/stroke_trainer.htm

The prongs are a little over 2 1/2" apart, so it'll be even more challenging with a billiard ball than with a pool ball. [Of course, you could just use the latter to help train yourself to see and hit center.]
 
Tom...I thought I showed you that test, with Mother Drill 4. If you use a stripe (like bbb said...and I showed you! LOL), missing the vertical axis, by even a millimeter, will result in applying a significant enough amount of sidespin, to cause the CB to come back offline up to two diamonds away from perfect, with a lag stroke...far more with a high speed stroke.

Bottomline, my friend, is that if the CB is coming back anywhere close to your tip (2" off is plenty acceptable in this drill...especially since the CB is traveling 14-18 feet AND you're learning to do it at different speeds), then pat yourself on the back, and get up and PLAY...cause there isn't anything wrong with your stroke. :grin: We should probably get together for a followup. It's been long enough. How's a week from Friday for you? :grin:

Scott Lee
3kushn said:
I'm getting ready for a full weekend of training:smile: with a fellow 3Cushion buddy. This never happens.

Anyway I'm doing the drill CB on the spot, hit the short center Diamond and back to my cue tip. Well I was missing at first by a couple of inches so adjusted my tip placement till I made it. Great, but the view I had looked like I'm hitting "off center" so it dawned on me that its possible to cheat the drill. After all whose to say I'm hitting Exactly in the center of the diamond and adding just a hair of spin brings the ball back properly.

My questions are how do I know I'm not cheating and how do I correct for the proper view? In other words how do you use this drill to correct fundamental errors? Is there a way to test that I'm hitting my point of aim on this drill other than purchasing that laser tool that sits on the rail?
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Scott Lee said:
Tom...I thought I showed you that test, with Mother Drill 4. If you use a stripe (like bbb said...and I showed you! LOL), missing the vertical axis, by even a millimeter, will result in applying a significant enough amount of sidespin, to cause the CB to come back offline up to two diamonds away from perfect, with a lag stroke...far more with a high speed stroke.

Bottomline, my friend, is that if the CB is coming back anywhere close to your tip (2" off is plenty acceptable in this drill...especially since the CB is traveling 14-18 feet AND you're learning to do it at different speeds), then pat yourself on the back, and get up and PLAY...cause there isn't anything wrong with your stroke. :grin: We should probably get together for a followup. It's been long enough. How's a week from Friday for you? :grin:

Scott Lee
Click to expand...
Thanks for all the responses. Totally forgot the stripe ball gig. I just don't do stripes much.
Scott sounds like a plan but need to check my home schedule. If it works we can do this on my table. No pockets no stripes, one solid.
 
Another great one is to shoot straight into a ball frozen on the head rail and see how straight you can get it to kick the cue ball back.
 
3kushn said:
I'm getting ready for a full weekend of training:smile: with a fellow 3Cushion buddy. This never happens.

Anyway I'm doing the drill CB on the spot, hit the short center Diamond and back to my cue tip. Well I was missing at first by a couple of inches so adjusted my tip placement till I made it. Great, but the view I had looked like I'm hitting "off center" so it dawned on me that its possible to cheat the drill. After all whose to say I'm hitting Exactly in the center of the diamond and adding just a hair of spin brings the ball back properly.

My questions are how do I know I'm not cheating and how do I correct for the proper view? In other words how do you use this drill to correct fundamental errors? Is there a way to test that I'm hitting my point of aim on this drill other than purchasing that laser tool that sits on the rail?
Click to expand...

I have shot this drill many times with the same results.

It looks to me like I'm going to hit the QB in the center, but for some reason the QB always goes a little to the right (I'm a right handed player)

So, I thought, if thats the case then I need to adjust the hit spot on the QB a little to the left. Sure enough this worked for me. Now I can have the QB come straight back and hit the tip of the cue.

Now that I know this I can make adjustments. :wink:

I wonder if left handed players have the QB go a little to the left?

Nice post

John
 
One Pocket John said:
I have shot this drill many times with the same results.

It looks to me like I'm going to hit the QB in the center, but for some reason the QB always goes a little to the right (I'm a right handed player)

So, I thought, if thats the case then I need to adjust the hit spot on the QB a little to the left. Sure enough this worked for me. Now I can have the QB come straight back and hit the tip of the cue.

Now that I know this I can make adjustments. :wink:

I wonder if left handed players have the QB go a little to the left?

Nice post

John
Click to expand...

No, not necessarily, John. It depends on what the player is doing wrong. Sometimes it's a wrist twist thing, sometimes it's a setup issue. I know lots of right-handed players who tend to hit the cb on the left side.

But here's the rub: If you only make the adjustment when you're shooting this drill, what good does it do you? (Not you personally, anyone in general). How many players actually adjust their aim point when they are lining up a shot in an actual game based on what they learned from this drill? Very few, I bet.
 
It's almost always a perceptual problem for most players. I've been teaching students to make those small adjustments, at the set position, for decades. The ones that do, learn quickly that their "vision center" was slightly off, and can learn to 'dial in' the correct aim, after making the adjustment on purpose, while they play.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

FranCrimi said:
How many players actually adjust their aim point when they are lining up a shot in an actual game based on what they learned from this drill? Very few, I bet.
Click to expand...
 
Bob Jewett said:
Use an old carom ball and draw a stripe around it.

Alternatively, you can put two balls on the far cushion in exactly the right spots to give yourself 1/8th inch margin on each side. You'll soon tire of putting the balls back, though.

The stripe is better because it gives you immediate feedback about being off-center. Some other suggestions about the drill are in this collection of articles: http://www.sfbilliards.com/articles/cols2010r.pdf -- see March.
Click to expand...

Another test of cueing accuracy, down the center axis of the cue ball, is this drill (first 20 seconds of this video):

http://youtube.com/watch?v=RULYFvCQgfs

3kushn, I'm not sure if you have access to a "spider rest" like this, but if you do, you're in luck. Just shoot the cue ball under its legs, and have the cue ball rebound back under those legs, returning to your cue tip.

Now *that* is straight cueing!
-Sean
 
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