I've been reading/watching a lot of information since I started playing pool. I watched videos, I bought DVDs, I read books and they almost always mention aiming systems.
I tried most of them, maybe I didn't spend enough time using them, but I can't seem to end up liking them more than going by feel. Going by feel seems to work just fine for me and I can only guess it will get even better with time, while I feel aiming systems are a bit unnatural and takes from your concentration.
What do you guys do? Aiming systems or feel? A bit of both?
Oh boy, this type of question always recharges a heated debate that goes on and on.
That being said, I will start by telling you that there probably is not one correct answer that is true for every person. People have different strengths in their approach and even have differences in their dominant eye. There are many things that can influence what works best for each person, so to some extent, you will have try and see what works for you.
I will also tell you that it it highly unlikely that any aiming system you use will just "click" for you to the point that you will love it right away. Like everything else in pool, it will take time to implement correctly, and even more before it becomes a seamless part of your game. So to say that you tried some and just don't like them that much when you haven't given what you are using a legitimate amount of time to properly learn, probably isn't a fair test as to what will work for you.
Personally, I use CTE. While it took me a fair amount of time to get good at it, it has vastly improved my ball pocketing abilities. I now approach shots with confidence that I would previously have thought about playing safe on, or been nervous to shoot at. I don't really care about the great debate between the aiming systems and feel, I just want to make more balls. For me, there were plenty of shots where aiming was an issue, so I tried different methods to see if my ball pocketing would improve. Since I have used CTE it has gotten much better, and their are just too many shots that I make now where I really can't see the pocket enough to induce feel into the system, that I find it hard to believe that the system does not work as advertised as suggested by some.
Either way, it will be something you will have to try to figure out what is best for you. You will get some good info in a thread like this, but you will get a lot more highly bias info that you will have to sift through. Good luck in your pursuit of an always improving game of pool.
I'm just a low B player, but I feel the exact way you do. And your simple shot scenario above of the high left hit on the CB is a perfect example of what really happens during an actual shot.
