Click moments

[RussPrince]

I was practicing some basic straight in shots last night and noticed how my aim can vary from shot to shot more than I felt it was. I realized i wasn't concentrating on the target ball as much as I was the shot as a whole. Sometimes when shooting I consider the entire shot including the destination path or pocket the ball is heading towards and I finally realized how bad that really can be.

Once you've determined what you need to aim at to get the target ball going in the direction you need it to go, there's nothing to be gained by paying attention to anything else as it can just be a distraction from your true goal. Hit the dam ball in the right spot.

Once I realized this I took everything else out of my mind but the actual ball I was hitting and I wasn't off my even a hair for the rest of the drill. Anyways interesting click moment for me. I've been playing for over 20 years, but these moments still happen from time to time.

Anyone else want to share some of their revelations?

 

[gerard soriano]

Perfect timing for this , I am completely a rhythm player and play a lot of 14.1 Today after work went to hit some. I couldn't run 5 balls my leg hurt back arms shoulder was chickin winging you name it ,after about a hour I said to myself just hit the FN ball Ran a 71 then a 67 I really think the less I think the better I play

 

[CreeDo]

My last click moment was something like this.
I "want" to hit certain types of cuts at certain speeds. Regardless of what I need to do for cue ball position,
I want to hit most shots at medium to soft speed and a few I always want to smack firmly.

It might have to do with picking the speed I think gives me the best chance to pocket the ball.
But maybe it's just habit.

Anyway, once I realized this, I found I could get better speed control by just thinking "ok, for this shot,
if I hit the speed I really want, it's gonna come short" so I make a point of hitting that ball
a couple of mph harder than the speed I want. It doesn't always feel comfortable, but I keep getting
much better shape on certain shots where in the past I'd usually underhit them.

I combine that with the usual concept of "what's safer? If I overhit this ball or underhit it?".
If I know I need to hit a little harder than my default to get perfect... but at the same time rolling a little past perfect
might cause me to get hooked... I just use my default speed.