You Do Not Have To Look For Any Lines To A Pocket. Lines Are Invisible. You Do Not Have To Cheat Pockets. You Do Not Have To Decide How Thick Or Thin To Cut Balls. There Is A Simple Method Preventing You From Scratching Any Cue Ball Shot. You Do Not Have To Decide Whether Your Long Straight Shot Is Really Exactly Straight. There Is One Aim For Any And All Shots. Period.
Dominant Eye same side as grip hand?
- Thread starter will14.1
- Start date
Patrick Johnson said:
Huh?? I've never seen anyone aim a rifle with their eyes or either eye BELOW it.
I don't pretend to any vast scientific knowledge of the subject but in my day I was quite a competitive skeet shooter (personal best 150 straight and 174 out of 175) and have a son who is cross-eye dominant so I obtained considerable knowledge on the subject.
First, eye dominance has nothing to do with the eyes themselves but rather who the hemispheres of brain process visual cues.
The dominant eye is referred to as such because the brain takes its PRIMARY information from it...such as target perception while the non-dominant eye tends to process what is called "obstructors" which, in pool, would be the other balls on the table...the motion of your cue when you stroke it etc.
I won't (because I can't) get into details of binocular, parallax and stereoscopic vision which contribute in various ways to such important things as depth perception but the need to know stuff includes...
1. If you are not cross eye dominant, it really doesn't matter where you position the cue. It is largely personal preference and what you have become used to over time.
The feijen approach is radical but again, if you have gotten USED to how that looks then it really doesn't matter.
Cross eye dominant pool players have an issue because without serious physical contortions, their dominant eye is a greater distance from the shaft which increases parallax view and generally causes the brain a lot of grief. Most such players cock their heads...sometimes at a 45 degree angle to get the dominant eye closer to the cue but that messes with the non-dominant eye's role in obstructor processing.
BUT the brain is a wild and wonderful thing and it can adapt AMAZINGLY if forced to.
I once brought my COMPUTER glasses to the pool hall and desperate to play, I used them anyway and the balls looked OBLONG...like eggs laying on their sides.
But I thought to hell with it...I'll just shoot at the damn eggs!
Well, guess what? In about an hour I realized that the balls LOOKED ROUND AGAIN...HONEST.
My brain just finally said.."This is Bull$hit...the damn balls are NOT oblong they are ROUND and POOF...they were round! (gradually...but I didn't notice it gradually...I just REALIZED they were round again).
Bottom line...use under the chin positioning as a baseline but if you feel like it..experiment with A) moving the cue out a little so it's under your dominant eye and shoot HUNDREDS of shots that way for DAYS at a time.
Nothing less will be anything but a waste of time. Then just decide if it LOOKS better that way....or if you're making more thin cuts etc.
I tried it last year and it just FLAT gave me a headache so that answered that question.
I would avoid at all costs going outside the dominant eye.
If you are cross eye dominant you have a problem and cocking the head...and using a higher chin height is about all you can do that I know of.
Sorry if this is more than anyone wanted to know.
Regards,
Jim
This isn't a difficult question at all. We use both eyes when shooting pool. Two eyes give us the depth perception we need. The proper head position over the cue is where your perception of your aim line is the same as the reality of your aim line. If you think you are aiming one way, but are actually aiming off line, it just won't work. Students I have worked with that have a problem aiming usually find that centering their head over the cue does wonders.
Steve
Steve
I"m right eye dominant and play pool left handed. I tried to get my right eye over the cue but that was too clumsy. I then worked hard to play with the cue directly under my chin but my accuracy was poor. Lately I tried moving the cue outside my chin, under my left eye and my accuracy has improved. Go figure.
3andstop said:
Here I go again citing Willie Mosconi. Willie was strongly cross dominant.
Look at any photo of him in his stance - the shaft is directly under his
left eye. His feet are angled to the line of aim - this enables him to
sort of tuck his arm in against his body, which naturally aids in shoving
the stick in a straight line.
For all the people who think you have to contort your body if you
are cross dominant - find anybody who was more balanced and
graceful than Willie. Fred Astaire only wished he was as smooth as Mosconi.
Many of the Brit Snooker whizes are same side dominant - they stand
with their feet on a line perpendicular to the line of aim and just bend
forward - still, it is not all that hard if you are cross dominant to get
that eye over the shaft - we are only talking a couple of inches here.
BTW - to the poster that mentioned changing - you can't choose
which eye is dominant - and you can't change eyes under normal
circumstances
Dale<who wishes he were cross dominant>
dominant eye info and resources
FYI, some good "dominant eye" info and resources can be found here:
Regards,
Dave
FYI, some good "dominant eye" info and resources can be found here:
Regards,
Dave
will14.1 said:
A rifle is aimed with the eye on the same level as (behind) the sights. I would think a "competitive skeet shooter" like yourself would know that, even though shotguns are slightly different. In any event, I'm sure you know that above or below aren't the only possibilities, so why the dumb pose? Just trying to stir something up?
pj
chgo
Patrick Johnson said:
No, I was just pointing out that you used a poor analogy. You didn't refer to sights, you referred to rifles and pool cues. In both instances the eyes are above the barrel/shaft...not level or below.
In addition, all sights are above the barrel...sometimes substantially so in the case of scopes.
Jim
I referred to aiming rifles vs. pool cues - most people (but not, I guess, "competitive skeet shooters") know one is done with sights and the other isn't. My "poor analogy" was for those who don't need to have the obvious pointed out to them.
And they're all used by sighting along the sights, with the eye behind and in line with them, quite unlike sighting a cue stick with the eyes above it and no sights to get behind.
pj
chgo
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Whatever Patrick...
"Quote:
Unlike a rifle, you aim a cue stick with your eyes above it "
That was an incorrect statement. Too bad you took offense at being correct...but of course, you always do...and you retort that everyone knew what you REALLY meant!!!
Are you a politician there in Chicagah? Cook Countyr no doubt.
Slick! (-:
"Quote:
Unlike a rifle, you aim a cue stick with your eyes above it "
That was an incorrect statement. Too bad you took offense at being correct...but of course, you always do...and you retort that everyone knew what you REALLY meant!!!
Are you a politician there in Chicagah? Cook Countyr no doubt.
Slick! (-:
This is hilarious - you've painted yourself into a corner where you (the "competitive shooter") either have to appear not to get it or lose the argument that you made up. LOL.
Please continue.
pj
chgo
shouldn't mater
The only thing that will limit your ability is your stroke. You should be able to figure out what you are aiming at sooner or later regaurdless of your condition. You can prove this by playing or shooting shots with either hand.
I knew a great player that lost most of his vision as he aged. As his dominant eye lost most of it's sight he just adjusted. When he could barely still see the wall he remarked that he couldn't see the pockets but he knew where they were!
He didn't do alot of missing even old and blind in his good eye.
You just have to adjust to what works for you.
Nick
The only thing that will limit your ability is your stroke. You should be able to figure out what you are aiming at sooner or later regaurdless of your condition. You can prove this by playing or shooting shots with either hand.
I knew a great player that lost most of his vision as he aged. As his dominant eye lost most of it's sight he just adjusted. When he could barely still see the wall he remarked that he couldn't see the pockets but he knew where they were!
He didn't do alot of missing even old and blind in his good eye.
You just have to adjust to what works for you.
Nick
MT Pockets
Registered
Dominat Eye
Paralax! I know that you said that you would not get into the details but I believe that Paralax is the key not eye dominance . I have been experimenting with this with mixed results. What I did was to set a straight in shot when I aim like I normally do I would miss the shot but when I turned my just a little to the right I would pocket the ball every time. That told me that my perception of the center of the cue ball was not true reality. I thought I was on to something but the next day it did not work I had to either move my head more or not at all which makes it very difficult to know from day to day how much I had to move.
I have never heard the term stereoscopic vision before can you enlighten me on this term as I would like to learn more about this.
Tracy
av84fun said:
Paralax! I know that you said that you would not get into the details but I believe that Paralax is the key not eye dominance . I have been experimenting with this with mixed results. What I did was to set a straight in shot when I aim like I normally do I would miss the shot but when I turned my just a little to the right I would pocket the ball every time. That told me that my perception of the center of the cue ball was not true reality. I thought I was on to something but the next day it did not work I had to either move my head more or not at all which makes it very difficult to know from day to day how much I had to move.
I have never heard the term stereoscopic vision before can you enlighten me on this term as I would like to learn more about this.
Tracy