You pull the trigger on that shot line and the 9 is gonna hit half a diamond above pocket!!
Cue alignment???
- Thread starter HelpMeScrubs0013
- Start date
Cocked in. Upper arm alignment needs to move out.
When you draw back to pull the trigger your back hand is pulling the cue and upper arm in slightly. Not much but enuf to see it's causing probs. You might try standing next to a wall on your right side and doing your stroke motion against the wall. This will straighten it out and allow you to get a good read on how the straight motion feels. Bend down, get in position and move the cue as you would if lining up on a shot, utilizing the wall as a straight edge.
I hope this is understandable. Probably clear as mud, but we try. Lol.
Good luck dude!!
You're Close!!
I am very familiar about your problem. It is often caused by many small flaws that adds up to line up shot.
Vision center, bridge hand placement are 2 biggest reasons(IMHO) why you(probably) end up lining up your shot to left.
Then you subconscious make needed correction to make a ball. That comes when people practice and think success is a making ball.
Instead it should be ladder like.
1. try shoot straight in shots and goal is just to not have side spin. In your case i would line up(when looking line from up) half tip left english. I think that is proper bridge hand placement for you. Then go down and you maybe see "change" where you are actually not hitting left english and your bridge is on proper place. Aim no more left english(down on shot) and shoot repeats and observe spin you get. Maybe look your cue, cueball or line between cueball and object ball while doing it. Focus straight cueing and don´t be afraid to miss shots.
Success is not having spin even if you miss shot. The purpose of this is to get rid of subconscious stroke corrections.
After you get rid of sidespin try then vision center stuff and test how you should be to actually make ball.
There is a lot more tricks and tips about this topic but I hope you get some help and ideas for your practice from this short post.
Edit: short video of me doing "no look" straight ins where i actually watch down to my cue and see is it going straight. Kinda advanced stuff but you could try that too.
video desctription. (This was filmed 2021)
Me practicing long straight in shots. More dropping into shot line practice than aiming. Notice how i am not in shot line while standing up to see shot. I still watch the aiming line but i get into it when i drop on the shot. I normally be on line when my chin us about 1foot(30cm) above the cue. That way i get more relaxed stance because i don´t need to twist my body out and back in.
Vision center, bridge hand placement are 2 biggest reasons(IMHO) why you(probably) end up lining up your shot to left.
Then you subconscious make needed correction to make a ball. That comes when people practice and think success is a making ball.
Instead it should be ladder like.
1. try shoot straight in shots and goal is just to not have side spin. In your case i would line up(when looking line from up) half tip left english. I think that is proper bridge hand placement for you. Then go down and you maybe see "change" where you are actually not hitting left english and your bridge is on proper place. Aim no more left english(down on shot) and shoot repeats and observe spin you get. Maybe look your cue, cueball or line between cueball and object ball while doing it. Focus straight cueing and don´t be afraid to miss shots.
Success is not having spin even if you miss shot. The purpose of this is to get rid of subconscious stroke corrections.
After you get rid of sidespin try then vision center stuff and test how you should be to actually make ball.
There is a lot more tricks and tips about this topic but I hope you get some help and ideas for your practice from this short post.
Edit: short video of me doing "no look" straight ins where i actually watch down to my cue and see is it going straight. Kinda advanced stuff but you could try that too.
video desctription. (This was filmed 2021)
Me practicing long straight in shots. More dropping into shot line practice than aiming. Notice how i am not in shot line while standing up to see shot. I still watch the aiming line but i get into it when i drop on the shot. I normally be on line when my chin us about 1foot(30cm) above the cue. That way i get more relaxed stance because i don´t need to twist my body out and back in.
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I've been struggling with alignment issues myself and tried videoing. I wasn't happy with this method as it didn't give me the instantious feedback I desired. So I designed a mirror so I can visually see how bad my alignment was off. It was eye opening. I learned two things immediately.
1. I do not perceive the vertical center of the ball correctly and the mirror helped me get back on center.
2. My peripheral vision told my brain I was on line, but the mirror showed me my cue was always off angle by a couple degrees.
I also found a couple bonus features of the mirror. It helps me to calibrate my shots on single rail banks and kicks. Aim at the reflected pocket or ball and that is the natural angle to the target. I've tried this on a couple different tables and the mirror confirms if a table is playing short or long.
I practice with my mirror daily and know its helped me get past a plateau I've been stuck on for a while.
The mirror is 3d printed with an acrylic mirror. Here are a couple pics of what it looks like. Feel free to PM me about the mirror.
1. I do not perceive the vertical center of the ball correctly and the mirror helped me get back on center.
2. My peripheral vision told my brain I was on line, but the mirror showed me my cue was always off angle by a couple degrees.
I also found a couple bonus features of the mirror. It helps me to calibrate my shots on single rail banks and kicks. Aim at the reflected pocket or ball and that is the natural angle to the target. I've tried this on a couple different tables and the mirror confirms if a table is playing short or long.
I practice with my mirror daily and know its helped me get past a plateau I've been stuck on for a while.
The mirror is 3d printed with an acrylic mirror. Here are a couple pics of what it looks like. Feel free to PM me about the mirror.
Attachments
I think the immediate feedback is very important.
When you got "back on center" did it require moving your head left or right so center looked like center?
Bob,
It took little more than just moving my head. I've been compensating for my gut being in the way and body shift along with head placement is what was needed. But it also allowed me to find a new comfortable position that raises my body a little so i am not trying to look through the top of my eye glass frame. Also allows me to work on jacked up positions such as shooting over a ball or jumping the cue.
Corey
Do you have to tilt the mirror to see your elevated positions? (I suppose the mirror could be designed to turn 90 degrees to "portrait" mode.)
snookered_again
Well-known member
I'm no pro so you may want others to advise. I just noted that in the video you are doing stop shots and wondered if maybe giving it some top and then you could see how well the cue ball follows in line. I think if your stroke is not quite right and you try to follow with the cueball ( don't worry about scratching) It becomes more obvious on a stopshot you are basically skidding the cueball across the table up to the object ball.. . I know you may want to do that in play sometimes for obvious reasons.
My suggestion is to try the very same shot only higher on the cueball and then watch, see how close you can get the cueball to follow rather than worrying about only the accuracy of the pocket.
although that is normally a "bad shot resulting in a scratch" It will also show how well you are able to keep the cueball tracking in the same trajectory.
I think your immediate inclination is to stop the cueball so that you do not scratch, but maybe try to put the cueball right on the pocket ledge just before it falls in. and that might help work on the weight ( speed) as well. you can experimant by trying to drive the cueball a specific distance past the point of contact.
I find when I try to do the reverse and draw the cue ball , it reduces my accuracy and some of that may be just a skill i need to work on more. Many times I try to create a draw and it results in more of a stopshot. I know it has lots to do with how low I'm hitting the Cueball and the follow through. I play more snooker where this is obvioulsly important but it is basically the same in other games I would think. You are still positioning with the next ball in mind.
part of it is definitley inthe ergonomics and arm movement, trying not to bump your body etc. part is about NOT applying spin.
My theory is that it's possible to be in the habit of hitting a tad to the right or left of center and compensating for that in your aim.
I think when you draw your attention to trying to make the cueball follow in line wiht the OB , then any spin will throw that off. Sure you do want to use spin on many shots, but maybe you also want to be able to NOT apply any spin.
I think it's easier to see that with the cueball following the OB, because if you hit the CB a tad off-center, althought he shot may be in line with the pocket, the two balls won't "chase each other". Instead they will both have a different trajectory.
It is not so easy as you first think to keep the CB on the same line as the OB. If you can do that consistently I think it also says that you are getting your stroke closer to being straight and true.
You might see what others comment about that. Those with more experience might chime in with other ideas.
It's not my objective to throw you off with my somewhat inexperienced comments, nor to try to come off as a knowitall.. I'm learning too.
in the above shots showing stance and a few shots. also note where the "stopped" cueball goes. To me it looks like the CB is jumping over to the right hand side. Im not saying it was a "bad shot" but my point was ust that if the shot really was perfectly aligned the CB would not go to the right or left of the path of the balls trajectory. The energy to make it jump over by an inch or so to the right, upon impact, is coming from somewhere and of course it's not abnormal.. It is never a perfect world.
My suggestion is to try the very same shot only higher on the cueball and then watch, see how close you can get the cueball to follow rather than worrying about only the accuracy of the pocket.
although that is normally a "bad shot resulting in a scratch" It will also show how well you are able to keep the cueball tracking in the same trajectory.
I think your immediate inclination is to stop the cueball so that you do not scratch, but maybe try to put the cueball right on the pocket ledge just before it falls in. and that might help work on the weight ( speed) as well. you can experimant by trying to drive the cueball a specific distance past the point of contact.
I find when I try to do the reverse and draw the cue ball , it reduces my accuracy and some of that may be just a skill i need to work on more. Many times I try to create a draw and it results in more of a stopshot. I know it has lots to do with how low I'm hitting the Cueball and the follow through. I play more snooker where this is obvioulsly important but it is basically the same in other games I would think. You are still positioning with the next ball in mind.
part of it is definitley inthe ergonomics and arm movement, trying not to bump your body etc. part is about NOT applying spin.
My theory is that it's possible to be in the habit of hitting a tad to the right or left of center and compensating for that in your aim.
I think when you draw your attention to trying to make the cueball follow in line wiht the OB , then any spin will throw that off. Sure you do want to use spin on many shots, but maybe you also want to be able to NOT apply any spin.
I think it's easier to see that with the cueball following the OB, because if you hit the CB a tad off-center, althought he shot may be in line with the pocket, the two balls won't "chase each other". Instead they will both have a different trajectory.
It is not so easy as you first think to keep the CB on the same line as the OB. If you can do that consistently I think it also says that you are getting your stroke closer to being straight and true.
You might see what others comment about that. Those with more experience might chime in with other ideas.
It's not my objective to throw you off with my somewhat inexperienced comments, nor to try to come off as a knowitall.. I'm learning too.
in the above shots showing stance and a few shots. also note where the "stopped" cueball goes. To me it looks like the CB is jumping over to the right hand side. Im not saying it was a "bad shot" but my point was ust that if the shot really was perfectly aligned the CB would not go to the right or left of the path of the balls trajectory. The energy to make it jump over by an inch or so to the right, upon impact, is coming from somewhere and of course it's not abnormal.. It is never a perfect world.
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The frame allows the mirror to tilt and its rails are on a dovetail to allow you to adjust height and up-tilt/down-tilt. The feet can be installed with parallel or perpendicular to the mirror. The feet have a rounded contour to allow balls to roll over them without knocking the mirror over should you practice with the mirror on the cloth.
One of the first things I do when playing is set up a shot where the cue ball will follow the ob into the pocket for a scratch. Tells me if I'm stroking straight or not. Set up along the long tail and hit the shot w high or follow and watch where the cb goes after impact. If it hits the rail B4 the pocket adjust. Hits after pocket adjust until it rolls right in behind the object ball. Do this 3 straight and it'll help. I have a routine of several shots that fine tune my stroke that never fail me. Find yours.
HelpMeScrubs0013
Active member
Ive adjusted my feet several times. It's something with my upper body when getting down I can't figure it out. No matter how I position my feet an legs my cue still angles inwards. I can move my cue in but then my elbow an shoulder won't be inline. Idk what it is
Can you post some videos, showing your whole body, not just the table, and including your full pre-shot routine. We'll advise you accordingly.
HelpMeScrubs0013
Active member
i am not an instructor but you do something with you grip hand that seems unusual
HelpMeScrubs0013
Active member
.What's that line on the floor? Did you draw that as your shot line?
HelpMeScrubs0013
Active member
No that's a old line. I wasn't using that one in the video.
I appreciate the video, and there's a lot a I liked in your game there, but you're trying to correct a different issue, so a video from directly behind the shot line and a second directly in front of the shot line would be a bigger help.