"C" Player uses "Feel" to beat the ghost 9-1

Sounds like you are left eye dominant like me. From watching video of Landon play, I'd guess that he is as well. Maybe Stan or Landon can verify.

Yes, Landon is extremely left eye dominant and it is from that focal point that Landon sees his visuals. His left and right movements to CCB stem from his focal point at ball address. His movements to CCB are always equal to a 1/2 tip pivot....although his movements are sweeps.

I will elaborate on this more on DVD2.

Stan Shuffett
 
Yes, Landon is extremely left eye dominant and it is from that focal point that Landon sees his visuals. His left and right movements to CCB stem from his focal point at ball address. His movements to CCB are always equal to a 1/2 tip pivot....although his movements are sweeps.

I will elaborate on this more on DVD2.

Stan Shuffett

And he uses his left shoulder a lot in order to keep this head position? I have to use my left shoulder in two ways in order to achieve proper alignment. If my shoulder is off, the shot will not go !!! So, I guess I am extremely left eye dominant! And some tests show that I am right eye dominant!!! Now I am sure that I am extremely left eye dominant !!! Thanks !!!
 
:) You say your method of aim is "feel". I noticed in a few of your posts, you say it like its a badge of honor and your not the only one I get that impression from also. I am not picking on you personally but just posting an observation. I am not going to critic your level of play because if I did the next poster can critic mine and so on and so on until SVB comes on here and trashes everyone's game :)

We should decide exactly when the aiming process starts and what is involved in the aiming process. I think most on here just consider the visual from the cue ball to the contact point on the object ball aiming and all the lead up to that is meaningless.

Guys that use systems have become aware of the entire process of aiming step by step, similar to how snooker is taught. (Just yourube some snooker teachers and you will see that this is how they do it)

Now, I also see most on here do not understand that when they are criticizing a system they are showing great amounts of ignorance because they are always criticizing the learning process/steps/the foundations and not the actual system that may take years to evolve into the finished product.

If you have seen stan shuffett's dvd he talks about asking a pro what he see''s when he is in position just before he gets down on the ball. What Stan did is make the pro aware of consistent systematic references he was not aware of and that all great shot making is systematic and most are just not aware of it.

In your video you have figured out a way to be systematic whether you believe it or not. If you dissect every step of your method of aim from the start and try to become aware of repeatable references in your personal aiming method you will become a better shot maker and have an understanding of systems.

Does a pro need to know or care if he shoots systematically? I don't think so and this is why it gets brushed aside by them.

This is all of the top of my head after reading your post, I could probably add stuff or take away the more I think about it and I am open to discussion on this :)

I really could care less who you are (a reference to anyone), to be consistent you must have a pre-shot routine no matter how long or short your particular routine is. A pre-shot routine is not an aiming system and that same consistency being systematic has nothing to do with seeing the cue ball or the object ball. Humans are creatures of habit and when we embrace our habits we are comfortable. I am a proponent of all "aiming systems" but not as a religion to be preached to every living soul like you know something that someone else doesn't.

To the OP, thanks for the video and believe it or not if you keep adding balls eventually there will be nine or ten balls on that table. Hopefully you'll be beating the ghost then to so they can go find somewhere else to stick their noses.

How preposterous it is that someone would claim to play by feel alone and then dare put their post in the aiming section. ROFLMFA
 
I really could care less who you are (a reference to anyone), to be consistent you must have a pre-shot routine no matter how long or short your particular routine is. A pre-shot routine is not an aiming system and that same consistency being systematic has nothing to do with seeing the cue ball or the object ball. Humans are creatures of habit and when we embrace our habits we are comfortable. I am a proponent of all "aiming systems" but not as a religion to be preached to every living soul like you know something that someone else doesn't.

To the OP, thanks for the video and believe it or not if you keep adding balls eventually there will be nine or ten balls on that table. Hopefully you'll be beating the ghost then to so they can go find somewhere else to stick their noses.

How preposterous it is that someone would claim to play by feel alone and then dare put their post in the aiming section. ROFLMFA

I dont mind if someone says they aim by feel. I just mind when they use that to denigrate using objective methods.

I think people should be entirely free to learn as they wish without being told they are idiots if they try to use a sytematic method.

Feel is the most basic level of approach to any activity. It is refined through effort and repetition AND deliberate thought. It is simply an if-then process. And as we know the more indormation we feed into any decision the more accurate the outcome if the information is valid and the program is sound.

All of these systems came about through the process of discovery. To put them down and put the teachers down and put the users down is really not cool or useful.

People should not use "feel" to mock if they want to display skill using it. Instead discuss what it is that the see so others can find some benefit.

For example if someone were to say that they just start in the general direction of the shot and just get down where it seems right then that is a starting point for the readers. To me the reason for posting in this section should be with a goal to help people play better. And if someone's honest belief is that feel is the way to do that then show how that works for you instead of simply using it to tear down and mock.

Otherwise that is like anarchists who tear down all the buildings and then complain that they have no shelter from the storm.
 
Good post JB.

I gravitated to the equal & opposite overlap as a basis of 'aiming' but then that has a lot of 'feel' as to say when it is the correct amount of overlap.

If there is somthing objective that I could now use like CTE/Pro1 or CJ's TOI, then there is something objective to add to, support, & go along with the 'feel' that I have developed over the years. It would be a double check that would support each other.

There is no reason the two(2) can not go hand in hand & in fact anything that one uses, no matter how objective, will still be used with a certain amount of 'feel' because we are human beings & not robots.

The thing is that when an objective step by step method works, then there is less need for 'feel' for that parmeter which can then be devoted to other aspects such as speed for postion play, etc.

Again, good post.

Regards,
 
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Just skimmed a few posts and a quick note I want to add... I don't believe I mocked CTE or other system users anywhere. That is JB's interpretation of my posts.

Like I said before, if a system user puts up a video or says xyz method is great, a feel user is entitled to the exact same privilege.

JB in your YouTube text description of your video I feel you are putting words in my mouth.

For sure I don't believe in systems and that is crystal clear. But I'm not calling anyone an idiot for using them.

I feel if anything I am being called an idiot for using feel in this thread.
 
I think the worst I said was calling out the CTE guys who use busty as the poster boy example of the system, when he then stated on every single tar match he was on he plays by feel with no system.

Now, maybe he is not being asked the right questions in those interviews, I can definitely see that possibility. (This was debated and unresolved in other threads).

But my point is I've tried to remain respectful while still advocating feel.
 
And JB, if you look at the system user posts, many of them have language such as (paraphrasing): "why would anyone choose a method that you have to guess each time instead of know exactly where to hit?"

A phrase to that affect is basically calling the guy an idiot if you "interpret it" a certain way.

You see my point? I can say you are calling me an idiot, and you can say I am mocking system users. When the truth is more like we both disagree and feel strongly in our positions.
 
Just skimmed a few posts and a quick note I want to add... I don't believe I mocked CTE or other system users anywhere. That is JB's interpretation of my posts.

Like I said before, if a system user puts up a video or says xyz method is great, a feel user is entitled to the exact same privilege.

JB in your YouTube text description of your video I feel you are putting words in my mouth.

For sure I don't believe in systems and that is crystal clear. But I'm not calling anyone an idiot for using them.

I feel if anything I am being called an idiot for using feel in this thread.

Correct me if I am wrong but didn't you say just a day or so ago that the system users can go back to looking for their "magic bullet"? Or something like that?

Entitled is an interesting word choice. As if someone were segregating you somehow. Let's examine for a moment why this section exists if we are going to say who has the right to post here and what they should post.

Feel as a way to aim is the default position and has been for all humans since the beginning of humanity. Sorry to be so broad but we use our senses, mainly sight to align ourselves and our weapons towards the target. So being the default method that every human possesses innately from birth, barring defects that affect it like blindness, it's quite obvious that feel exists, is pervasive, and of course works. Otherwise we would not be here and discussing it.

However throughout history man has discovered methods that both enhance and supplant feel. And for those discoveries people have been alternately burned at the stake and celebrated. So too is the same cycle perpetuated on this forum in regards to aiming methods.

Sometimes throughout history those who had ideas about how to advance the knowledge of man had to hide or find protection in order to continue their research, to be free of persecution. This is why the aiming forum was created, to get it off the main forum and allow those who wish to discuss aiming methods thoroughly to do so without persecution and in peace.

That's my view of it at least. So now we come back to entitlement and what should be posted here.

Well I have no problem if you want to post a video of yourself running balls and talk about aiming by feel. But in my opinion you should describe what's going on in your mind for the viewers and readers so that they can understand what "feel" is to you. That is a discussion of AIMING which is the basis of this forum section.

You say that it's not productive to compare players but then you apparently have now adopted Bustamante as the poster player for feel now that he has said he uses feel to shoot. But what Busty didn't say was how he got to the point where he just sees it. You have no idea what, if any, methods he used to bring himself to the point he is at. As with Shane and Efren, all players make their own discoveries of helpful and objective methods through a HUGE amount of table time and experience.

So you post a video with the title "C" Player uses "Feel" to beat the ghost 9-1" and then pretend that it's not meant to be provocative. You say you are entitled to post such videos and show that "feel" works as well to aim with. Ok, we all know that feel works, we simply don't agree that it works well, nor do we agree that it's particularly easy to replicate from player to player. What feel is to you may be totally different to the next person, and by that I mean TOTALLY different.

But what is your video supposed to prove? That all it takes to be able to run four balls is feel and time? That's a given. In fact all it takes to run nine balls consistently is feel and time, assuming that all the other components are also there. But at what level of consistency? Missing a ball out of every 30? Missing a ball out of every 50?

This is the crux of the debate. Do aiming systems help players to improve their consistency? By putting up a video with a mocking title, and it is mocking the way you wrote it, you seem to say no, doesn't help, see I got there without a system.

But you actually didn't get anywhere yet because running four balls isn't honestly an accomplishment worth using as a comparison against anything unless you honestly believe that it's a major benchmark. And if you do then honestly it's easy to blow it away by posting a video that shows "C-player beats the ghost using CTE/SEE/ULTIMATE AIMING/DTD/GHOST BALL, etc...." Then where do you go?

You want to use pros and what they say? Ok a while back I came across a post by Rodney Morris on Facebook beaming because he beat the 12 ball ghost. A bit under that post he explained that he was using CTE and that he credited that for helping him to better see the shots. I reposted that information on here to give an example of a pro who testified that, as good as he already was, he felt that now he is even better because of learning another way to aim. Many aiming system opponents ridiculed it. But my question to you is why is Bustamante's statement or John Schmidt's valid to you and Morris, Moore, Appleton, Van Boeing, Shuffett, Wiley, and Burford's statements not valid?

They are both right. All roads lead to Rome. But your video and the way you titled it for this forum is the equivalent of saying look guys I am on the way to Rome as well and without a map when you are in fact only a short distance into the journey. In effect look at me I don't need a map or guidance I will get there on my own. And you very well might but it's not good advice to tell people to just start walking when in fact things like maps are easily available.

Generally people who want to say they did something and by what method have done something worthwhile enough that people are genuinely interested in learning the process behind the accomplishment. So when you say you are entitled to post your videos here about feel aiming then may I suggest you use it to actually post videos about the process rather than running out four balls which just about any half-decent player with an aiming system can duplicate or surpass with ease in a far shorter time than it took you to achieve it.
 
And JB, if you look at the system user posts, many of them have language such as (paraphrasing): "why would anyone choose a method that you have to guess each time instead of know exactly where to hit?"

A phrase to that affect is basically calling the guy an idiot if you "interpret it" a certain way.

You see my point? I can say you are calling me an idiot, and you can say I am mocking system users. When the truth is more like we both disagree and feel strongly in our positions.

I agree to a degree. The question by itself is valid, why would anyone choose to guess every time when there are methods to accurately bring the shooter to the line every time?

If you want to take it as an implication that choosing to guess each time is idiotic then that is of course your right to infer that. I would like to hear the reason why you think that guessing the shot line is preferable to measuring for it?
 
Just skimmed a few posts and a quick note I want to add... I don't believe I mocked CTE or other system users anywhere. That is JB's interpretation of my posts.

Like I said before, if a system user puts up a video or says xyz method is great, a feel user is entitled to the exact same privilege.

JB in your YouTube text description of your video I feel you are putting words in my mouth.

For sure I don't believe in systems and that is crystal clear. But I'm not calling anyone an idiot for using them.

I feel if anything I am being called an idiot for using feel in this thread.

Comments are on for my videos so you can certainly present your side of it to the viewers. I encourage debate on my videos and only moderate when someone is way out of line.

I think we are walking a fine line here in this repartee. I am not the only one who feels that you are mocking the fine accomplishments of Gerry, Duke and Stan with the way you titled the thread.

Imagine for a moment the converse. What if I, or any system advocate had posted a thread titled, "C-player beats the ghost using CTE"?

I think you know full well that the answer would have been to rip that person to shreds once the video was opened and the anti-aiming system crowd saw it was jsut running four balls.

The reason they have essentially shut up is because posting videos of beating the 9 and 10 ball ghost, videos of long runs in 14.1, videos of banking ten balls in a row under a curtain, of making 15 balls in a row the length of the table blind, and so on are actually TOUGH accomplishments and everyone knows it.

So to me it is MOCKING when you post this video titled this way. And the point of mocking is to essentially lable the target as an idiot. To me you are saying that the accomplishments of the folks who are putting up the videos are meaningless.

And if you aren't saying that then admit it and explain why you think a video of you running four balls helps your position as an advocate of "feel" aiming?
 
I agree we are walking a fine line. But you put words in my mouth on something I can't control (your YouTube posting). I'm not going to comment there mostly cause I don't want to really participate in YouTube comments (any of them, not just yours). That's a privacy thing nothing else. That's why I have comments disabled on mine.

I'm not mocking Gerry's videos. He did great. I think even posted in one of his nice shooting and asked a camera question. You did great in your video. I said nice shooting to you and meant it.

My video is titled appropriately. I'm a C player, and out of 10 attempts I won 9 of the 4 ball ghost. I play by feel. Hence the title is precise.

To me that was a great accomplishment. Best i ever did on that particular drill, and i have data for 75 trials of it. Why should I name it something it is not?
 
I agree we are walking a fine line. But you put words in my mouth on something I can't control (your YouTube posting). I'm not going to comment there mostly cause I don't want to really participate in YouTube comments (any of them, not just yours). That's a privacy thing nothing else. That's why I have comments disabled on mine.

I'm not mocking Gerry's videos. He did great. I think even posted in one of his nice shooting and asked a camera question. You did great in your video. I said nice shooting to you and meant it.

My video is titled appropriately. I'm a C player, and out of 10 attempts I won 9 of the 4 ball ghost. I play by feel. Hence the title is precise.

To me that was a great accomplishment. Best i ever did on that particular drill, and i have data for 75 trials of it. Why should I name it something it is not?

Fair enough. I will take you at your word then and leave your motivation alone at this point. I edited my description on the video to reflect my interpretation.

In case you were wondering I tried this for about 90 minutes on my tight table at work and the best I got to was 7 before I had to leave. I took the camera with me to the pool room and the pockets were a little less intimidating but for some reason, showboating mostly, it took me about an hour or so to nail it with several fives, sixes, one seven and one eight. After the eight I decided to stop making it a point of counting in front of the camera after each rack and just focus on the game. I didn't count how many unsuccessful attempts were made but maybe 30-40 on the high side. For what it's worth I do actually like it as a drill to get focused and in stroke. So although I said this is easy for a good player and I still feel that way I do agree that it's not something a low level player should find to be too easy. It shows clearly that sometimes even an inch difference in position can make an easy shot into a hard one.

Now, what is feel aiming?
 
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For what it's worth I do actually like it as a drill to get focused and in stroke. So although I said this is easy for a good player and I still feel that way I do agree that it's not something a low level player should find to be too easy. It shows clearly that sometimes even an inch difference in position can make an easy shot into a hard one.

I would suggest trying 15 ball rotation instead.

I'm lucky if I can get through a full rack without taking more than one BIH (usually takes 2 to 3), but 9 ball is a hell of a lot easier afterwards.
 
I would suggest trying 15 ball rotation instead.

I'm lucky if I can get through a full rack without taking more than one BIH (usually takes 2 to 3), but 9 ball is a hell of a lot easier afterwards.

I play all the rotation games and practice them. I also do a drill where I start off with 4 balls and if I run them I go to 5 then go to 6 and so on. If I miss then I go back a ball. I like this because it builds patterns without clusters and gets progressively harder. It also tunes you in to playing the 3-4 ball patterns and breaking up the game into familiar and repeatable actions.

You want to do something hard?

Play 8 ball and run out your balls in rotation. I try that sometimes to.
 
I play all the rotation games and practice them. I also do a drill where I start off with 4 balls and if I run them I go to 5 then go to 6 and so on. If I miss then I go back a ball. I like this because it builds patterns without clusters and gets progressively harder. It also tunes you in to playing the 3-4 ball patterns and breaking up the game into familiar and repeatable actions.

You want to do something hard?

Play 8 ball and run out your balls in rotation. I try that sometimes to.

Progressive 9 ball is great. After about 10 racks, you can get a good bearing on what x-ball ghost you should be practicing against.

It's also a great 2 person game if you and a friend aren't full on run out players yet. You each start at 4 or 5 balls and see who can get further after x # of attempts. You could even make a spot where the weaker player doesn't have to go back after any failed attempts.
 
Progressive 9 ball is great. After about 10 racks, you can get a good bearing on what x-ball ghost you should be practicing against.

It's also a great 2 person game if you and a friend aren't full on run out players yet. You each start at 4 or 5 balls and see who can get further after x # of attempts. You could even make a spot where the weaker player doesn't have to go back after any failed attempts.

These are very good practice games but i think they have to do with cb position and shape for the next shot. I believe that a player has to know how to aim for every angle at any cb-ob distance. I am still working on this. I think shape comes next. I know a lot of good players in my area who play great but they know how to move the cb and they play some shots exclusively with sidespin. If you ask them, they will tell you that they can't make them without sidespin. This is a problem in my opinion. I want to have the knowledge on how to aim every shot at any angle and distance. This knowledge gives confidence and the player is able to leave a tough shot (which is only a shot in his mind) and play shape on the next one. If you watch Gerry and Landon practice, you will see what I mean. They have the knowledge to aim every shot at the table. And that is the most important in my opinion.
 
These are very good practice games but i think they have to do with cb position and shape for the next shot. I believe that a player has to know how to aim for every angle at any cb-ob distance. I am still working on this. I think shape comes next. I know a lot of good players in my area who play great but they know how to move the cb and they play some shots exclusively with sidespin. If you ask them, they will tell you that they can't make them without sidespin. This is a problem in my opinion. I want to have the knowledge on how to aim every shot at any angle and distance. This knowledge gives confidence and the player is able to leave a tough shot (which is only a shot in his mind) and play shape on the next one. If you watch Gerry and Landon practice, you will see what I mean. They have the knowledge to aim every shot at the table. And that is the most important in my opinion.

I'll agree, but disagree at the same time. For a person that does not use something like Pro One, it's entirely possible to make any make-able shot they come across.

This isn't because they've practiced every single shot. Rather, it's because they've practiced a lot of shots, and on ones they haven't practiced, the subconscious fills in the blanks.

The first step though is to perfect your fundamentals. Any system, GB, Pro One/CTE, SEE, DTD, CP, "feel", etc. will never fully be mastered until proper fundamentals are in place.
 
I'll agree, but disagree at the same time. For a person that does not use something like Pro One, it's entirely possible to make any make-able shot they come across.

This isn't because they've practiced every single shot. Rather, it's because they've practiced a lot of shots, and on ones they haven't practiced, the subconscious fills in the blanks.

The first step though is to perfect your fundamentals. Any system, GB, Pro One/CTE, SEE, DTD, CP, "feel", etc. will never fully be mastered until proper fundamentals are in place.

Honestly with few exceptions - i.e. proposition shots it's possible for anyone with a cue in their hands to make any shot where the object ball goes directly to a pocket. But it's not probable if their skill and knowledge level is low.

I don't believe in the magic subconscious and in fact this has been the bone of contention between Pat Johnson and the folks like him and the folks like me for years. Pat's claim is that all aiming systems get you close and the subconscious fills in the rest. I don't agree.

I think that the subconscious is trained by the conscious. Just today I heard a show detailing new research that proves that fetuses learn in the womb. They come out not as blank slates but instead as fully formed humans who already have preferences based on what they learned during pregnancy.

You don't subconsciously do any task other than react to stimulus in a fight or flight manner until you have been trained to do specific tasks or display specific reactions. With enough repetition what you do becomes automatic but that doesn't mean that you can just immediately develop a new skill on the fly or be able to perform shots you have never done before just because you have done similar shots in the past. Not without a conscious adjustment in my opinion.

To put this more concretely I don't believe, using the trial and error method, you can practice 45 degree cuts to perfection and then be equally proficient at 60 degree cuts in game situations just because your subconscious is making a 25 degree adjustment.

However I do believe that you chances of making any given 60 degree shot are certainly better if you have practiced any cut shots diligently but I believe that this is because you are better able to make a conscious adjustment to the thinner hit required.

We can absolutely agree on fundamentals though. If you can't bring that cue through on a straight line to the right spot on the cue ball then you will be inconsistent no matter how you aim.

But there is a certain type of touch that is hard to explain and can't really be developed by anything other than a huge amount of table time, some players have it and most don't. This an elusive thing and it's physical and mental at the same time. You know it when you see it, you know it when you develop it, you know it when you've lost it. This is the thing that ties it all together, the aiming, the stroking, the patterns all of it. Without that a player will struggle no matter how many stroke drills he has done and no matter how well he aims, by feel or otherwise.
 
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