Does this mean to switch eyes from the cue ball to the object ball and refocus while the cue ball is on its way?
Discussion: Focusing on the cue ball compared to other sports
- Thread starter Jesse Cool
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The dynamics have been learned and all you actually know is the feel of the stick in action anyway. Like I previously mentioned, learn pool first. This would include testing a table.
Table tennis seems to be missing from the "other sports" comparisons. 
I have documented my transition from object ball last to cueball at contact in this thread.
I have found success using both object ball and cueball as my final focus.
When object ball last shot making was my strength. When cueball last my position play is better. Precision strike to whitey leads to Precision cueball resting point at the completion of the shot. My shot making has not diminished either. Well my shot making was on the decline when I made the choice to try cueball last. Perhaps age related eyesight changes is a factor in the results I experience.
I have documented my transition from object ball last to cueball at contact in this thread.
I have found success using both object ball and cueball as my final focus.
When object ball last shot making was my strength. When cueball last my position play is better. Precision strike to whitey leads to Precision cueball resting point at the completion of the shot. My shot making has not diminished either.
Well my shot making was on the decline when I made the choice to try cueball last. Perhaps age related eyesight changes is a factor in the results I experience.
My eyes follow the cueball as it leaves the tip of the cue. There's no switch. I imagine (the big eye) the shot. Then I imagine a pea sized core in the middle of the cueball. My cue tip passing through that core of the cueball is critical for my method. Cueball last is ineffective if I only focus on the impact. My focus is on the cue tip passing through the cueball. As the ball leaves the tip I can see if I have applied any specific rotation to whitey. That is generally when I know if I have hit it good. "How Ya hittin' 'em?" Is a common greating between pool playing friends.
If you have lined up properly, are over the table, and see that you have the cue ball and object ball target in alignment, your target becomes the cue ball and ensuring it travels the LINE.
I am sure most people who are looking at the cue ball last are also seeing the object ball in the distance.
Bowlers do not look at the pins for the most part...they look at the target they are aiming at...a spot on the lane.
I think most good players do a little of each.
I am sure most people who are looking at the cue ball last are also seeing the object ball in the distance.
Bowlers do not look at the pins for the most part...they look at the target they are aiming at...a spot on the lane.
I think most good players do a little of each.
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Mark Williams has been known to look away when the frame is won and balls remain to be potted. Eyes closed or looking away.....it's already locked in. Generally speakin' , Normally (well hard to use normal with him) his eyes are down when striking the white. I try to monitor the eye patterns at every opportunity.
Generally speakin' , Normally (well hard to use normal with him) his eyes are down when striking the white. I try to monitor the eye patterns at every opportunity.
Well I am not most but that's a big Negatory here.
Well it's there in the field of view. My tight focus on the target (pea in center ball) makes the object ball a blur at best. The aim line establishment requires the change of focus from one to the other. Something that these old eyes get tired of.
Once that line is established the path of the tip Through whitey is job 1.
Job 2 is uh headscratch, don't move until the ball drops. Shaun Murphy is a good study in that technique.
I imagine that on the majority of such shots the eyes follow the cue ball (or catch up to it) to the object ball and beyond.
InsertCleverNameHere
Well-known member
I'm an OBL player. Exceptions being when I can't naturally see both at the same time. Like Jump shots and other highly elevated shots, those I look at the cueball last mostly because staring at the cloth wouldn't make any damn sense.
I'd like to add that I BELIEVE that looking at the cueball last would encourage poor mechanics due to your focus being solely on striking the cueball only, so as soon as you "hit" it you're done. We all know subconscious plays an enormous role in our game, CBL, to me, would make it easy to give up early or "let up on it" as Jeremy Jones poignantly says. What we do between address and contact determines everything and anything that gunks that up so to speak has to be a negative addition.
Add to that I think depth perception and speed control would also suffer greatly looking at the cueball last. That was my first observation when I tried it for a month one time. Maybe that's just something in my physical or mental makeup but that's my personal experience.
I'd like to add that I BELIEVE that looking at the cueball last would encourage poor mechanics due to your focus being solely on striking the cueball only, so as soon as you "hit" it you're done. We all know subconscious plays an enormous role in our game, CBL, to me, would make it easy to give up early or "let up on it" as Jeremy Jones poignantly says. What we do between address and contact determines everything and anything that gunks that up so to speak has to be a negative addition.
Add to that I think depth perception and speed control would also suffer greatly looking at the cueball last. That was my first observation when I tried it for a month one time. Maybe that's just something in my physical or mental makeup but that's my personal experience.
CB last.
If you have good peripheral, you should be able to dial in on OB very fast after CB last, as they're on a predetermined shotline.
Shore duz.
With firearms, I look at the target last. Sights first along the line, squeeze. Being close, under 10 feet, sights last.To send an object to a distance with pinpoint accuracy we must focus on the target. in pool I think the target is the object ball. We can accurately strike a cue ball eyes closed if we line up on it eyes open. Not so when golfing or batting, you need pinpoint accuracy for the ball strike but are satisfied with a general area for the ball target. I guess you have to decide which is the target, tip to cue ball contact or object ball cue ball contact. I dunno, it just seems to me that your focus has to be on what is the key part of the activity, in pool for me the key part is the object ball contact, I think there is enough footage of the guys that earn a living at this game to conclude they do the same. For me and golf I am happy to put the ball somewhere green and in front of me.
Hu, where are you buddy??
Visual acuity may vary among people depending on how well they see peripheral and distance.Table tennis seems to be missing from the "other sports" comparisons.
I have documented my transition from object ball last to cueball at contact in this thread.
I have found success using both object ball and cueball as my final focus.
When object ball last shot making was my strength. When cueball last my position play is better. Precision strike to whitey leads to Precision cueball resting point at the completion of the shot. My shot making has not diminished either.
I follow the cueball of course. At the collision you are looking for the intended action as OBL ers would.CB last.
If you have good peripheral, you should be able to dial in on OB very fast after CB last, as they're on a predetermined shotline.
This triggers a memory of learning to shoot from the hip. Well with the bb gun rifle.(well no rifling in the barrel) It was amazingly easy to hit a small target tossed into the air with my left hand then barrel point the gun and hit it as it fell from a 8 to 10 foot high toss. Can't remember but bottle caps might have been the targets. Well easy after seeing it done and then a little Practice.
My weapon is the cue, the target is the cueball.
Sighting down the cue is basic.
Striking the cueball accurately is also basic.
Some can strike accurately without looking. It's easier to learn when I watch what's happening at impact.
Practice with a phenolic tip and no chalk. Works for me.
Sighting down the cue is basic.
Striking the cueball accurately is also basic.
Some can strike accurately without looking. It's easier to learn when I watch what's happening at impact.
Practice with a phenolic tip and no chalk. Works for me.
Gun not same as pool stick. Pool involves an articulated 3 segment shot system. Stick to ball, ball to ball, ball to wherever the actual target is. These segments are seldom in a straight line.
A gun is a self contained shooting system intended to damage a target, It must be pointed <at> the target.
stick to ball ...straight line
ball to ball ....straight line
ball to target ...straight line
Golf putting has two targets: the ball and the hole or imaginary spot on the green. Pool has three targets. It would be like if golf had some other ball that our ball had to hit to combo it into the hole. If that were the case, then golfers would have the same discussion of whether to look at which ball to look at last. If they currently look at their golf ball last in a normal set up, it would be interesting to find out if they would do something different in that imaginary situation with a second ball.
When I’m completely out of stroke, I have to look at the cueball last just to make shots because almost invariably I’m not hitting where I think I’m hitting when I get back to the table after a layoff (queue the helpful people who will start giving me online lessons without seeing me shoot in person). Once I can repeatably stroke it straight, which could take a couple of weeks to be honest, I fall back to looking at the object ball last, because this game isn’t about just pocketing balls. At higher levels, the “shot” encompasses a whole lot more than target practice.
That’s my input related to the original question as well, but the breakdown including golf inspired me to add my thoughts.