Easy Fractions

[Patrick Johnson]

(1 of 3)

There have been a few threads/posts about how to visualize fractional CB/OB alignments (Poolology comes to mind, for instance). This one is the most stripped-down version I know of.

It's based on the geometric principle that we can know the non-right angles of a right triangle by the "slope" of its hypotenuse (the ratio of the sides forming the right angle).


1-to-1 slope = 45-degree cut = 1/4 ball fraction

pj
chgo

View attachment 52041

 

[Patrick Johnson]

(2 of 3)

1-to-2 slope = ~30° cut = ~1/2 ball fraction

pj
chgo

[Actual: 1.15-to-2 slope = 30° cut]

View attachment 52098

 

[Patrick Johnson]

(3 of 3)

1-to-4 slope = ~15-degree cut = ~3/4 ball fraction

pj
chgo

[Actual: 1.07-to-4 slope = 15° cut]

View attachment 52155

 

[Ralph Kramden]

It would be hard to find those exact ball positions... but they are very good references.
Your diagrams are good PJ.. Red on a green background makes it hard to see clearly.

.

 

[Patrick Johnson]

It would be hard to find those exact ball positions... but they are very good references.

I chose those positions because the diamond lines are convenient illustrations of the distances - using them is a way to practice recognizing fractional cuts. But I also think with practice the right triangles and the common fractional ratios can be visualized from anywhere on the table.

Two of these three are approximate (1:1/45 degrees is accurate), but close enough to be useful, I think.

Your diagrams are good PJ.. Red on a green background makes it hard to see clearly.

Yeah, I see that. I'll try to fix it.

pj
chgo

 

[BilliardsAbout]

Very clever, Mister Bond. Love it!

 

[Patrick Johnson]

__________
View attachment 10330

 

[bobu5678]

Mark on the Cue

I have a mark on my cue. At that Mark if I spread my hand out, between the pocket line, and the shooting line. If the distance is 1 hand, I have a 1/2 ball shot. If it's half of my hand width it's a 3/4 ball shot.

 

[BC21]

I have a mark on my cue. At that Mark if I spread my hand out, between the pocket line, and the shooting line. If the distance is 1 hand, I have a 1/2 ball shot. If it's half of my hand width it's a 3/4 ball shot.

Great idea. Very creative!

 

[LAMas]

What do you aim at? Do you determine the angle and know where to aim at from past success?

 

[BC21]

What do you aim at? Do you determine the angle and know where to aim at from past success?

Here's an easy way to determine fractional aim points without the need for estimating triangles....

https://youtu.be/C_lxXEFzCG0

 

[Patrick Johnson]

I have a mark on my cue. At that Mark if I spread my hand out, between the pocket line, and the shooting line. If the distance is 1 hand, I have a 1/2 ball shot. If it's half of my hand width it's a 3/4 ball shot.

Great idea. Very creative!

I like it a lot too.

You could also do it "in reverse" by marking the three distances from the tip that correspond with 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 fractional cuts when the distance between the pocket line and shooting line is exactly one handspan.

If anybody wants to try that, here's a table of handspan sizes and the distances from the object ball that correspond to the major fractional cut angles. Just mark your shaft at the three distances from the tip shown for your handspan size and then:

to measure an actual cut angle: see how close to one of the marks your handspan is when it exactly fits between the lines
to create a fractional cut angle: adjust the cut angle until your handspan exactly fits between the lines at one of the marks

pj
chgo

View attachment 14123

 

[AtLarge]

I like it a lot too.

You could also do it "in reverse" by marking the three distances from the tip that correspond with 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 fractional cuts when the distance between the pocket line and shooting line is exactly one handspan.

If anybody wants to try that, here's a table of handspan sizes and the distances from the object ball that correspond to the major fractional cut angles. Just mark your shaft at the three distances from the tip shown for your handspan size and then:

to measure an actual cut angle: see how close to one of the marks your handspan is when it exactly fits between the lines
to create a fractional cut angle: adjust the cut angle until your handspan exactly fits between the lines at one of the marks

pj
chgo

View attachment 81837

Pat -- For the numbers in your table to work best, it looks to me like the tip of the shaft should be at the base of the ghost ball rather than the edge or base of the OB. And the handspan (as you correctly indicate by talking about the line from CB to OB) is to the base of the CB, not the CB edge.

Typo -- It looks like the entry for a quarter-ball aim and a 9" handspan should be just 8" rather than 8¾".

 

[SpiderWebComm]

When and where do the "feel" adjustments take place along with the lizard head move to verify the alignments? Are you saying if you visualize and set up exactly as the diagrams are laid out those shots will go in 100% of the time (good stroke included) without "feel"?

If I missed something or you left it out, please explain the part where "feel" comes in for the adjustments.

 

[Low500]

When and where do the "feel" adjustments take place along with the lizard head move to verify the alignments? Are you saying if you visualize and set up exactly as the diagrams are laid out those shots will go in 100% of the time (good stroke included) without "feel"?
If I missed something or you left it out, please explain the part where "feel" comes in for the adjustments.

#1 I thought it was chiseled in stone from the mountain top in St. Louis ===> "Just see the shot and shoot it in", like mosconi, caras, and greenleaf did. No diagrams, analysis, or anything else required.
How did that fall by the wayside? (us hillbillys is a little slow, you know)

#2 What the dickens is a "lizard head move"...? Sounds like some kind of porn.

 

[croscoe]

#1 I thought it was chiseled in stone from the mountain top in St. Louis ===> "Just see the shot and shoot it in", like mosconi, caras, and greenleaf did. No diagrams, analysis, or anything else required.
How did that fall by the wayside? (us hillbillys is a little slow, you know)

#2 What the dickens is a "lizard head move"...? Sounds like some kind of porn.

How does this put positive input into the thread ? Or even a real question?
Several continue to complain about bashing and useless post might this be one.

 

[croscoe]

When and where do the "feel" adjustments take place along with the lizard head move to verify the alignments? Are you saying if you visualize and set up exactly as the diagrams are laid out those shots will go in 100% of the time (good stroke included) without "feel"?

If I missed something or you left it out, please explain the part where "feel" comes in for the adjustments.

A little prodding this appears to be. Was OP edited? I see no mention of FEEL.

 

[SpiderWebComm]

A little prodding this appears to be. Was OP edited? I see no mention of FEEL.

There was no mention of FEEL but he and the "others" are always mentioning it as a needed and integral part of every other aiming system as well as what they do and use as the finishing touch.

I have to assume it's somehow required here also.

 

[BC21]

When and where do the "feel" adjustments take place along with the lizard head move to verify the alignments? Are you saying if you visualize and set up exactly as the diagrams are laid out those shots will go in 100% of the time (good stroke included) without "feel"?

If I missed something or you left it out, please explain the part where "feel" comes in for the adjustments.

I'd say feel is the same in all aiming methods. Here is an example of what I call "feel". Stan says his mind was telling him something. In other words, he had a "feeling" about the shot. He felt it was almost a 45.

https://youtu.be/4iuvQT7dwfs?t=662s

This feel was based on what he saw compared to what he knows, his experience. That's what we mean by "feel". It's not a physical sensation...it's a mental awareness. Like aiming a gun at a target very far away. You have the target locked dead in the sights, but you know you have to aim a little higher to account for trajectory. How high do you adjust? Whatever feels right based on your experience. The same feel is used when we align for a pool shot. When locking into a 1/2 tip offset from a particular perception (a perception in which the visuals felt right), or locking into a fractional aim or CP-to-CP with parallel shift, or whatever....we must decide if what we are seeing feels right based on our own experience.

 

[SpiderWebComm]

I'd say feel is the same in all aiming methods.

Please explain in detail how and where it applies to PJ's diagrams, your Poolology, and/or Joe Tucker's Contact point aiming system.

Are there any shots on the table that DO NOT require adjustments? Anything that can be seen and determined immediately by past experience and repetition?

Stick to your OWN system for explanations. You do have one, you know. And nobody should understand and execute it better.