Basic Aiming Methods Illustrated

What Pro Player uses the "ghost ball method?" I want to talk to them about something

Not Dead Ted said:
That is not a good way to estimate cut angle.
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The ghost ball method requires you to visualize the cue ball connected to the object ball....hmmm, this means that the "ghost ball" that you visualize will be slightly smaller as the object ball gets further away? And when the balls are closer you visualize the "ghost ball" as the same size as the cue ball, but since you are looking down at an angle it's what shape?

So the visualization is constantly changing depending on the distance from the object ball?

What could possible go wrong with that? When Shane Van Boening was ask what aiming system he used he simply said "I don't use the ghost ball," I wonder what he meant by that? One more question: What Pro Player uses the "ghost ball method?" I want to talk to them about something. ;)

2007MosconiCupLawrenceLustigMOSCONI-DY1-VAN%20BOENING7.jpg
 
I personally do not use any of the systems PJ posted, but they are nice diagrams and probably helpful to some posters. Thanks PJ

Even the older versions 1 and 2 of Virtual Pool make nice diagrams.
 
irock said:
I personally do not use any of the systems PJ posted, but they are nice diagrams and probably helpful to some posters. Thanks PJ
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Ditto. I don't use all of them either, but I still find all of them interesting.

Thanks,
Dave
 
I would like to say ghost ball and contact points can and should be thrown out the window, if you're trying to find the most efficient way to pocket balls. Cte pro one is always there no matter what day it is, winning or losing, how you feel etc. with a straight stroke (which the system and core drills in pro one manual teaches you) you will time and time again pocket balls. With the system, CCB is target. It is true, i will assure you! If you don't use the system you will be falling behind! :) :) :)
 
West Point 1987 said:
Double the Distance is probably the closest to what I have been doing (with success) for the past 20 years. I started with GB, like most folks, then realized that for me, it wasn't quite precise enough for visualizing the line. I personally have no problem finding center of CB and OB, I use the virtual vertical line going up from the resting point on the cloth of both balls, which runs through the center. I can also visualize the contact point very well. I measure success in the system by watching the contact point and verifying I'm hitting the OB exactly where I wanted. For this reason, I see no reason to look at some imaginary point on the rail or any where else along the CB's actual path; I'm lined up with the system but looking at the contact point on the OB so that on contact I can judge if my line was correct (which it usually is). Getting it in the pocket and getting the CB to react the way I want are a separate (and essential) part of the process, which requires a method of addressing the CB to get past the physics that make the perfect geometry not work. SIT and CIT are facts of life in any system, so we learn to adjust with the other variables like speed, adjusting the contact point for a thinner or thicker cut, spin, etc. In my case, I use the TOI/3 part pocket method in the Double the Distance system; no spin, aiming thicker (the contact point lined up with the inner third of the pocket) and use only top or bottom and speed to adjust the post collision angle of the CB for position.

All of the various systems end up in the same place...center CB lined up so that the CB strikes the OB on the desired contact point. Regardless of the way we get lined up, or what line we're looking at when we pull the trigger, we get to the same point and then use a "method" of addressing the CB to account for and overcome the variables that impact on perfect geometry.

Kudos to PJ for taking the time to sketch out the various systems visually. We should spend our time discussing the "method", assuming our systems all work (which they can and do). I suggest that we miss most shots because of how we execute the method more than how we aim.
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Maybe on paper they do but not on the table and for sure not during play.
Aiming has a moving line because of what we do with whitey and speed and distance also play in the line.No system will work correctly without addressing these issue's.The problem some systems they actually make the shot harder than what they are and start you off in the worst possible position to make the shot.But I do like systems and use them when needed.
 
CJ Wiley said:
... the "ghost ball" that you visualize ... is constantly changing depending on the distance from the object ball?
Click to expand...
It's always the same size as the object ball it's right next to. I think most people can handle the challenge.

"What Pro Player uses the "ghost ball method?"
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What pro player ridicules common methods used by many players for the purpose of selling his own competing products, which he already advertises and promotes non-stop on multiple forums here?

pj
chgo
 
STICK Aiming

STICK Aiming

This is not an "exact" system, so I'll add a little introduction:

Because of its fixed width, the edge of a centered shaft points directly at the OB contact point for only one cut angle. For a 12.7mm shaft like the one in the pictures below this "Stick Aiming cut angle" is 13 degrees. The "Stick Aiming cut angle" for smaller shafts is a smaller angle and for larger shafts it's a larger angle.

Stick Aiming is done by learning how the edge of your stick lines up compared to the OB contact point for different cut angles and recreating the correct alignment from memory for each shot that comes up. The edge of the stick almost never (except for the shaft's one Stick Aiming cut angle) lines up exactly with the OB contact point, but using it as a fixed comparison for any cut angle can be a helpful memory aid.

Like other "reference" systems, Stick Aiming can be used with varying degrees of awareness of how it functions:

- "consciously", with real time awareness of estimations being made

- "subconsciously", with abstract understanding that estimations are made

- "unconsciously", with no awareness that estimations are made (believing the method is "exact" for all shots)

pj
chgo

stick aiming.jpg
NOTE: Another version of Stick Aiming compares the stick's edges and center with the OB's edges and fractions.
 
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Shane, Johnny, Earl and I can't see the "ghost ball," but "most people can?"

Patrick Johnson said:
It's always the same size as the object ball it's right next to. I think most people can handle the challenge.


What pro player ridicules common methods used by many players for the purpose of selling his own competing products, which he already advertises and promotes non-stop on multiple forums here?

pj
chgo
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:outtahere:



You think most people can handle the challenge of visualizing a different size ghost ball on every shot they shoot? Do you really? I don't know anyone, including myself that can see a ghost ball.

Shane Van Boening was ask how he aims and he immediately said "I don't use a ghost ball." If Shane, and I can't see the "ghost ball," but "most people can?" Ok, my research and development is completed.

Beam me up Scotty. :dance:
beamtransporter.jpg


It's a cruel trick to insinuate that "anyone" can imagine a "ghost ball," every time they shoot when frankly it's impossible. I can only imagine being a beginner/intermediate player and read this and think there's something wrong with me because I can't see the imaginary "ghost ball" and leave the Game in despair. No wonder this game's struggling with this kind of mis-information being spewed out.
Reading-Strategies-Visualizing-Presentation-Transcript-18885.jpg
 
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See if this doesn't sound familiar with what I've been saying

duckie said:
Here's how a few pros aim. Seems there is one or two that do use ghost ball.

http://www.sfbilliards.com/PnB_aiming.pdf
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From this article, pay close attention to what Ray Martin says. You think he doesn't know the game? Certainly one of the all time greatest at ALL GAMES.

See if this doesn't sound familiar with what I've been saying:

Offering a more detailed explanation is
new P&B Mag instructional guru Ray
Martin, a BCA Hall of Fame player with
three world titles to his credit. According
to Ray, "I use parts of the cue ball. In
other words, if you were to have a
straight-in shot, you're aiming with the
middle of the cue ball to the middle of the
object ball. Now let's say the object ball
stays in the same place and you move the
cue ball six inches to the left. Now you're
aiming with only a part of the cue ball. If
you've got a real thin cut, now you're aiming with the edge of the cue ball. I'm not
going to stress 1/2 ball, 1/4 ball here,
because that's way too broad — the difference could be two degrees or a sixteenth of
an inch! The important thing to remember
is the spot on the object ball never
changes. It is a constant. http://www.sfbilliards.com/PnB_aiming.pdf
 
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CJ:
imagine a "ghost ball" ... frankly it's impossible.

No wonder this game's struggling with this kind of mis-information being spewed out.
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Thanks for the unintended truthiness...

pj
chgo
 
Patrick Johnson said:
STICK Aiming

This is not an "exact" system, so I'll add a little introduction:

Because of its fixed width, the edge of a centered shaft points directly at the OB contact point for only one cut angle. For a 12.7mm shaft like the one in the pictures below this "Stick Aiming cut angle" is 13 degrees. The "Stick Aiming cut angle" for smaller shafts is a smaller angle and for larger shafts it's a larger angle.

Stick Aiming is done by learning how the edge of your stick lines up compared to the OB contact point for different cut angles and recreating the correct alignment from memory for each shot that comes up. The edge of the stick almost never (except for the shaft's one Stick Aiming cut angle) lines up exactly with the OB contact point, but using it as a fixed comparison for any cut angle can be a helpful memory aid.

Like other "reference" systems, Stick Aiming can be used with varying degrees of awareness of how it functions:

- "consciously", with real time awareness of estimations being made

- "subconsciously", with abstract understanding that estimations are made

- "unconsciously", with no awareness that estimations are made (believing the method is "exact" for all shots)

pj
chgo

View attachment 256067
NOTE: Another version of Stick Aiming compares the stick's edges and center with the OB's edges and fractions.
Click to expand...

How do you aim for a 45 degree cut with the stick aiming system of your choice?

Best,
Mike
 
Stick Aiming is done by learning how the edge of your stick lines up compared to the OB contact point for different cut angles and recreating the correct alignment from memory for each shot that comes up. The edge of the stick almost never (except for the shaft's one Stick Aiming cut angle) lines up exactly with the OB contact point, but using it as a fixed comparison for any cut angle can be a helpful memory aid.

pj
chgo
Click to expand...
mikjary:
How do you aim for a 45 degree cut with the stick aiming system of your choice?
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Did the part I quoted above from my original post not explain it? Stick aiming gets you close(ish) - you finish the job by feel.

I don't have a stick aiming system of choice - I don't use a system.

pj
chgo
 
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