Do you play to your faults?

H

HomerJay20

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Beginner level player here. I noticed last night that if I hit a shot with dead straight aim, the object ball will go slightly to the left. I played to that fault the rest of the night with confidence, cheating a bit to the right to see the ball go a little left as expected. My question is, should I play to that fault or try to fix it. If my golf game has taught me anything, it's that I would rather know that my shot is going to shape a consistent way rather than aim it straight and not know which direction it might go.

Anyone else play to a fault?
 
HomerJay20 said:
Beginner level player here. I noticed last night that if I hit a shot with dead straight aim, the object ball will go slightly to the left. I played to that fault the rest of the night with confidence, cheating a bit to the right to see the ball go a little left as expected. My question is, should I play to that fault or try to fix it. If my golf game has taught me anything, it's that I would rather know that my shot is going to shape a consistent way rather than aim it straight and not know which direction it might go.

Anyone else play to a fault?
Click to expand...


Fix your set up, it'll pay off.

Lou Figueroa
 
While Lou probably has the best solution, we want to be sure you have some holes in your game:eek::wink:. We learned that from the Beard.

When I shoot jacked-up, I aim a bit to the left of where I want the shot to go. I guess there is an alignment/ aim error for which I compensate. Works OK, I end up with about a 50% success rate, as opposed to the 20% when I don't compensate.
 
When I some cut shots over the rail (cue ball froze/very close to rail) I need to adjust my aim a bit. For some reason, only on those shots, my alignment is about a 1/2 ball off.

All in all though, the cue ball should go exactly where you aim it.

Odds are, your cue and sight path are not lined up. Assuming you are right handed, you could try moving only the cue to your left to line up more with your dominant eye (right eye). Don't adjust your stroke or stance or anything else. Just have the cue more directly under your dominant eye when stroking.
 
If you're a beginning player, seek the services of a qualified instructor. We have many here: Scott, Randy, Roger, Lutz, not to mention Dave, Geno, Bob, and many more. They're good and good for you. :smile:
 
That's one of the best questions I have seen on here. I think Lou is right in that you should try to fix it ( unless your good),however through out all my years of playing with and watching alot of world beaters ( the best in the last 30 years) I think "most" of them play around or with some kind of quirk or flaw ( how they aim or stroke or how they line up).They know it works so they just play with it. It would be nice if we could just flick on our robot switch,but we aint going to.

To the op...I used to play alot of golf, and yes it helps to know where your misses are going. To me, pool and golf are alot alike in that respect.It's all about you and knowing your own stroke or swing and how "you aim". The pool balls will not know or care.
John B.
 
If you truly have a fault, you need to find out what it is & fix it. While pool is similar to golf in some aspects it is certainly not the same in others.

That being said, I have played to what I have perceived has the object ball not throwing enough or too much when I play with english, but to me that is not a flaw but could be conditions or it could be my stroke is not just pttuing the spin on the ball that I think it should.

I think playing with what you have today is different than playing to a fault.

If you play golf, I would suggest that you check out CJ Wiley's TOI playing system.

It could be the best thing you ever do for your pool game.

If I had met TOI before I met my wife, I might have wound up going pro, but...maybe not.

Regards & best Wishes,
Rick
 
I have double vision, however the center of the out of alignment eye is shut down, so I don't need a patch all the time. When shooting at a ball on the other side of the table, I learned to aim for the middle one.

I have recently started to wear a patch while shooting, and don't want to have both eyes open anymore while playing pool.
 
HomerJay20 said:
Beginner level player here. I noticed last night that if I hit a shot with dead straight aim, the object ball will go slightly to the left. I played to that fault the rest of the night with confidence, cheating a bit to the right to see the ball go a little left as expected. My question is, should I play to that fault or try to fix it. If my golf game has taught me anything, it's that I would rather know that my shot is going to shape a consistent way rather than aim it straight and not know which direction it might go.

Anyone else play to a fault?
Click to expand...

Beginner level player obviously not hitting ball with "dead straight aim". Snatch the pebbles.
 
i think it depends on whats causing it. If its truly a form flaw i would try to fix it, but sometimes its a vision thing and you have to just play around it.
 
Don't play to faults, it's one of the biggest things that hold pool players back.

Another form of "playing to your faults" is when you know you suck at certain moves or strokes or tactics,
so you just avoid them. Like you refuse to jump (not on moral grounds) even though you have a jump cue,
because you suck at it. Or you try to ram a ball with follow because you can't draw a ball 5 feet.

Whatever the situation is... don't be afraid to admit you've got a problem, and don't be afraid to experiment
to fix it. Admitting the problem is the first step as they say. Not avoiding it.
 
Fix it. Not that hard, you can do any one of several drills that will show you what's causing it (I'm guessing your stance has a lot to do with it)...or you can hire an instructor to show you where this is happening...and how to fix it. If you play on with this quirk, you might work around it, but it will let you down time and time again.
 
Sounds to me like you may have the same problem I have, which is that center of the cue ball for me is an allusion. I have to place my tip looking like I'm going to put right english one the ball. Took me years to figure this one out.
 
Yes !
I also had a rock in my left shoe one time , it made me favor that foot when I walked.
So, I put a rock in my right shoe to even it out, and have not noticed that problem for 50 years. :embarrassed2:
Good luck !
 
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