CutShots Training Ball for Beginners Experience?
- Thread starter mrpiper
- Start date
logical how? site: https://www.cutshots.com/ its just cp-2-cp aiming. imo the spots would be more confusing than helpful. then again i'm easily confused. 
whatever works for ya i guess.
whatever works for ya i guess.
Yikes. Can't you just set up one or two cut shots and tell them it takes practice? Maybe using a stripe or the # on the ball for reference. Just let them know to stay still and have patience.
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The parallel shift is the part that gives me a headache. I heard about it with spot on the wall, the problem is it doesnt make sense. And most of the time I cant tell if I am doing it the right way.
I loved the video and the idea of measuring from edge to center. Thats worth a few hundred aiming thread posts.
Its still too advanced for beginners, I think if the stroke is not there nothing beyond center ball shots should be introduced. I am a 14.1 head.
I loved the video and the idea of measuring from edge to center. Thats worth a few hundred aiming thread posts.
Its still too advanced for beginners, I think if the stroke is not there nothing beyond center ball shots should be introduced. I am a 14.1 head.
Thank you all for your input. I have a simple set of old trainers by "Elephant" that work really nicely, but I thought these might be helpful for choosing the OB spot with ease from behind. From there, I don't know how valuable their Cue Ball is, but finding the aim spot on the OB looks like it would be very easy. Not sure whether to pull the trigger, but always looking for something to interest family and friends in learning to play, or play better.
If I decide to give these a try, I will give them a fair try and write a review. While these will not be the worlds greatest, be all, end all, or they would have already been wildly popular for years as it seems they have been out for quite a while (since 2015), they may still be a good aid for brand new players to spot the contact point.
I was just hoping someone here had already tried them and had some feedback one way or the other.
If I decide to give these a try, I will give them a fair try and write a review. While these will not be the worlds greatest, be all, end all, or they would have already been wildly popular for years as it seems they have been out for quite a while (since 2015), they may still be a good aid for brand new players to spot the contact point.
I was just hoping someone here had already tried them and had some feedback one way or the other.
So I bought a couple of these to get a feel for how they may help teach younger or newer players to evaluate and spot the contact point on cut shots. These are very good for exactly that. I find they almost make it TOO EASY to make what are normally quite challenging cut shots. The best part is that you can find the spot, then walk quite a way back and never lose that spot on the ball. This is much more challenging on standard balls.
All that said, after I got these, I threw a few of my Aramith "Camo" balls on the table with them and the pattern on those balls works just about the same way. If you have a set of Aramith Camo, you don't need these. I like the idea a lot, but to teach with, I think a buyer might find a full set of Camo's to be the best of both worlds because you can train for cut shots and train for patterns and strategy at the same time. Just add a Measles cue ball.
All that said, after I got these, I threw a few of my Aramith "Camo" balls on the table with them and the pattern on those balls works just about the same way. If you have a set of Aramith Camo, you don't need these. I like the idea a lot, but to teach with, I think a buyer might find a full set of Camo's to be the best of both worlds because you can train for cut shots and train for patterns and strategy at the same time. Just add a Measles cue ball.
I use P2P aiming to which Jimmy Reid's (seen it first on his video) Equal Angle Opposites is fundamental. Properly implemented P2P is as precise as it gets, no guess work. The balls are gimmicky but if the student understands that the benefit is connecting specific sections, transitioning to regular balls should be a painless adjustment. That said, P2P geometry works on regular balls just fine. There will always be references on a pool ball that can help distinguish a hit from a miss. It even works on games like billiards and snooker where the balls are blank. The problem is not making a cut but _taking a cut_.
There is an issue with using systems or these marked things to learn. You don't know WHY you are aiming there. And once the crutch is removed you will be lost to adjust for aim to any new angle or shot on your own. It's better to just learn by seeing the ghost ball contact point and seeing how the cueball looks to that point lined up. It's like those overseas helpdesks that go off a script when you call, they know to ask you questions someone wrote up for them, but they have no idea if or why those questions are relevant to the issue you are having which is why they get stuck very quickly on anything not exactly what they were taught and have no creative troubleshooting or thinking ability.
GentlemanJames
Well-known member
RIP Jimmy Reid. "Almost All I Know" and "No Time For The Negative", awesome video instruction memories. - GJ
The issue with the Elephant balls and other training cue balls is I guarantee you don't set them up right.
You'd have to be an incredibly talented player already to know how to actually set the balls up correctly, to adjust for throw and spin, and friction, and ball cleanliness, distance, speed, etc...
Best thing is set up a simple shot and shoot it over and over until you figure out where to hit it, then do the same shot with every position on the cue ball until they feel right.. Then do it again with all cue ball postions at different speeds..
Did I mention changing distance and doing all of those a million times.
Good thing is there are really only a handful of basic shots in pool... The rest are derivatives of those initial shots you learned.
You'd have to be an incredibly talented player already to know how to actually set the balls up correctly, to adjust for throw and spin, and friction, and ball cleanliness, distance, speed, etc...
Best thing is set up a simple shot and shoot it over and over until you figure out where to hit it, then do the same shot with every position on the cue ball until they feel right.. Then do it again with all cue ball postions at different speeds..
Did I mention changing distance and doing all of those a million times.
Good thing is there are really only a handful of basic shots in pool... The rest are derivatives of those initial shots you learned.