A few years ago I was practicing and a friend was watching and giving me some advice. I was having trouble with a shot in particular, and my friend noticed that I was putting a little bit of right english on the cueball. He asked me why I was using right instead of centerball, and I told him that I was using center. He told me that by standing behind me, he could see clear as day that I thought centerball was a little to the right. After he told me this, I actually noticed that my tip was off to the right. I moved it slightly to the left and that immediately felt correct. For some reason my perception of centerball before I made that correction was off. After I made that correction my game improved quite a bit. I play pool right handed and am extremely right eye dominant, but I am ambidextrous. I eat and write left handed, bat left and right handed equally as good, and I cant play a lick of pool left handed (although I'm sure if I practiced playing left handed it would help). Every once in a while my perception of centerball goes slightly to the right and I have to make that same correction again. It's not that far to the right, just slightly enough so that I will add just a hair of right spin when trying to hit centerball. Whenever I make the correction, it feels right, but for some reason my perception changes every so often. Does anyone else have this occurance?
Center Ball Perception
- Thread starter LastTwo
- Start date
LastTwo said:
I don't have that exact same problem, but a similar one that may be contributing to what you are doing.
I'm also a righty and when I am not playing much, or fall into bad errors it is almost always because I drift to the right in alignment.
I found two reasons for this:
1. I have become more left eye dominant, and if I don't concentrate and get my left more over the cue I will align the cue right of where I think I am pointing.
2. As a rightly, it is also a natural tendency for the body to shift to the left (fall away) during the shot. I realised this when I used to practice with a laser a lot. As I got tired, I would fall away to the left. This makes the cue drift to the right slightly. The best cure is trying to improve the balance of the stance, and also playing a lot so your muscles get better endurance and can remain stable during the shot.
Yes Colin I agree, the less I play the less balanced and relaxed my stance is, probably because the muscles are not used to it. When I was playing at least 4-5 hours per day, I remember my stance feeling very comfortable and stable. I wonder if stretching before playing might be able to counter muscle tension in the stance?
Helps me..
If I don't feel right in my stance, it is usually because
some part of my body doesn't feel right. By doing a few
stretching exercises (no matter how silly it might look
like in the Pool room) it seems to help me. I was playing
in a tournament a couple of weeks ago, and my back had
felt wierd for about 4 or 5 days, and I hadn't been sleeping
too good, so I was trying to loosen up my back and shoulders
and a good friend of mine asked me if I needed my back popped.
I said yes, and he cracked my back for me, and immediately
I felt relief and it felt okay after that.
I have lifted weights for years and years, not heavily, but just
to keep strong and toned, and I have noticed periods where
I lift quite a bit, and my muscles get built up, that it affects
my stroke in Pool. I have always been an athlete most of my
life and exercised to keep in shape, but when I lift more than
normal, I start jumping the table more on the break, and little
things that just affect my game in a negative way.
Stretching is good though, but don't stretch real real hard, because
your muscles will end up tightening up where you feel it, and
could affect your game in a way not so good.
If I don't feel right in my stance, it is usually because
some part of my body doesn't feel right. By doing a few
stretching exercises (no matter how silly it might look
like in the Pool room) it seems to help me. I was playing
in a tournament a couple of weeks ago, and my back had
felt wierd for about 4 or 5 days, and I hadn't been sleeping
too good, so I was trying to loosen up my back and shoulders
and a good friend of mine asked me if I needed my back popped.
I said yes, and he cracked my back for me, and immediately
I felt relief and it felt okay after that.
I have lifted weights for years and years, not heavily, but just
to keep strong and toned, and I have noticed periods where
I lift quite a bit, and my muscles get built up, that it affects
my stroke in Pool. I have always been an athlete most of my
life and exercised to keep in shape, but when I lift more than
normal, I start jumping the table more on the break, and little
things that just affect my game in a negative way.
Stretching is good though, but don't stretch real real hard, because
your muscles will end up tightening up where you feel it, and
could affect your game in a way not so good.
F
Fred Agnir
Guest
LastTwo said:
Everyone probably does to a degree. I suggest to take BCA Instruction with the Pool School or their affiliates to learn what RandyG calls "centergistics." I won't disclose his methods here, as it's the school's intellectual property. I think Tim White (the Australian Oyster) teaches it on his DVD's as well.
Fred
Joe T
New member
This common problem was the main reason for me coming up with the 3rd Eye Stroke Trainer. I would say a good 80% of all the players I looked at were unknowingly favoring one side of the cue ball and then what was worse is they all made stroke corrections in the opposite (needed) direction. Which caused a lot of unpredictable outcomes and unintentional side spin.
Watch the free video on the preview page of my new site www.joetucker.net
(But if you or anyone else here decides to try one, please order from az's marketplace)
Colin I congratulate you. You are the first person I've ever read that states in print Using too much left eye can cause your tip to favor the right side of the cue ball and vice versa.
With LastTwo being righthanded and right eye dominant he could have been holding the cue stick out to the right side of his face causing the same effect of a left eye looking in. Almost like Earl or Neils (Who obviously don't have a problem with that)
LastTwo, was your cue stick directly under your right eye, to left of it or slightly to the right of it?
LastTwo said:
Lasttwo, didn't you tell us once that you have had lasik surgery? Maybe your astigmatism is acting up again? My lasiked eyes still see the stick as bent (right eye sees it bent to the right, left eye sees it bent to the left---try aiming techniques with that!
). Have you seen your eye doctor lately?Jeff Livingston
LastTwo said:
Change "Every so often" to "Quite regularly" and that's me. I have to practice shooting lag shots up and down the middle of the table for a while pretty much every session to keep it under control. With my off-center centerball shots the cue ball returns about 2-4 inches off center on my 8' table, to the right every time.
I'm paying close attention here, good thread Lasttwo.
Dave
I guess this is sort of related to what you're discussing. I've got a friend who shoots every shot with either center ball or a little draw. Even if he lines up to shoot with follow, after he take a few practice strokes, it ends up being shot with low. Then he doesn't understand why the cueball didn't go where he intended. What's funny is, he'll end up scratching on a lot of shots because of this. And he's always shocked when this happens. He'll think he's having bad luck that day. He'll also shoot a lot of shots with unintended left or right. And he has no idea he's doing either of these things. I try to tell him, but he doesn't believe me. That's why I always try to take a few moments (as part of my pre shot routine) before every shot to make sure I am hitting the cb exactly where I want.
daytonajoe
Deceased
easiest solution
The best fix for what you are suffering is by far Joe Tucker's 3rd eye!! Trust me and others that have posted about it ......
It Works, You can't go wrong for the price either!!!!!!!!!
Joe
The best fix for what you are suffering is by far Joe Tucker's 3rd eye!! Trust me and others that have posted about it ......
It Works, You can't go wrong for the price either!!!!!!!!!
Joe
LastTwo said:
I was a skeptic until I actually saw the product at the Joss Turning Stone event. --SWEET--
I am very impressed with Joe T's 3rd eye product. Yes you can probably make up your own, but you will be always fixing it or re-making the thing. The 3rd eye looks like a device that was well thought out and very reasonably priced. Better than stroking in a bottle or any of the other stuff players have tried because you can actually see what is going on in your stroke as you are stroking and, YES, playing.
If they have an award for best billiard instructional products, this one would clearly get my vote.
Last Two,LastTwo said:
I'm sure stretching a bit can help. I used to have to do it, as I adapted a very strict snooker stance in my early years. Chin on the cue, hips twisted out to the left so that elbow and shoulder and wrist were all in parallel alignment, which is quite hard for most, especially for someone with wide shoulders as I have.
This position allows very straight cueing as everything is moving on the same axis.
With a good warm up and lots of practice I could maintain this position stably. But it was hard not to feel some tension pulling the body left a fraction.
Even when playing well, for one in ten shots I'd drift a bit left and send the cue ball right of target. Most time it occured after I'd sit down for a few minutes between shots.
I ended up changing my stance to look more like the stance that I had mocked for years. Head above cue, standing closer in with back arm slightly chicken winged. Though this messed up my shoulder/elbow/wrist parallel alignment and made cueing 100% straight near impossible, I was more stable and could hold my eye in alignment better. And I could hit the CB more accurately.
My whole thinking changed to 'get comfortable' and learn how to deal with it. I should thank Dennis Paul (Digby) for pointing me in this direction. He is a legend of pool in Australia. He's made 143 in snooker and made a living playing pool for about 30 years. Craig Riley 'The One' has fought some tough battles with this dude.
Digby's advice to me, on discussing stance, was that the player should feel no tension at all whilst aligning. It was tremendous advice I believe.
chefjeff said:Lasttwo, didn't you tell us once that you have had lasik surgery? Maybe your astigmatism is acting up again? My lasiked eyes still see the stick as bent (right eye sees it bent to the right, left eye sees it bent to the left---try aiming techniques with that!
Jeff Livingston
No I've had 20/20 my entire life, I think you got me confused with someone else.
drivermaker
Banned
LastTwo said:
It seems to me the answer isn't on this forum...the answer is when you start reciting..."Now I lay me down to sleep..."