errors on straight-in shots

PKM

PKM

OB-1 Kenobi
Silver Member
When shooting straight-in shots into the corner pockets along the diagonal, when I miss I tend to miss to the left on one side (shooting from the right side of table from my perspective) and to the right on the other. I'm not sure how to explain it, since if I was either hitting the CB slightly off-center (on one side), or aiming to one side of the object ball, you would expect the same error, right?

It's not that I'm particularly bad at straight-in shots, I think my stroke is pretty decent (thanks to some instruction), and when I make it, it's not that the shot really looks off to me. Although sometimes I will anticipate this bias and make a very small correction. Is this just some quirk in my perception?
 
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Hi PKM

There is only two ways to miss a shot. Check were your tip is on every shot. It should still be pointing at the pocket.

1.Alignment
2.Delivery

Another tidbit is, "aim at the base of the object ball"..,..randyg
 
randyg said:
Hi PKM

Another tidbit is, "aim at the base of the object ball"..,..randyg
Click to expand...

interesting...........VERY interesting....in my best Artie Johnson voice

Gerry<<<showing my age!
 
Thanks!

Hmmmm, in another sport we say, aim small miss small. Sounds like much the same thing. One more valuable freebee from Randy!

Hu



randyg said:
Hi PKM

There is only two ways to miss a shot. Check were your tip is on every shot. It should still be pointing at the pocket.

1.Alignment
2.Delivery

Another tidbit is, "aim at the base of the object ball"..,..randyg
Click to expand...
 
Laugh-in?

Gerry said:
interesting...........VERY interesting....in my best Artie Johnson voice

Gerry<<<showing my age!
Click to expand...

Was that the guy on "Laugh-In" ?
 

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I would venture to say that since you miss to the left when shooting left and vice versa, your subconscious is thinking left or right instead of straight and making your body conform to that. Try thinking straight in and see what happens.
 
PKM said:
It's not that I'm particularly bad at straight-in shots, I think my stroke is pretty decent (thanks to some instruction), and when I make it, it's not that the shot really looks off to me. Although sometimes I will anticipate this bias and make a very small correction. Is this just some quirk in my perception?
Click to expand...

So why the bias if it's a straight shot? One all too common misconception is that straight ins are the hardest shot when in fact they are the easiest. No angle to misjudge. Just cue straight and nothing can go wrong.

One tip I give people struggling with straight shots is to ignore the object ball and aim to put the cue ball into the back of the pocket. It's like driving a car into the far distance. Look far ahead and you keep dead centre of the lane. But look at the road immediately in front of your bumper and you're all over the place.

Boro Nut
 
i love straight in shots unless i need to play shape, because making them is easy there is only one way to hit them straight, dosent get any simpler than that, Roy Futternick (who i nee to call-he was a mentor to me) taught me how to make them and I still shoot 30 of them EVERY time i shoot practice drills, and think of him every time I shoot them.
 
Boro Nut said:
So why the bias if it's a straight shot? One all too common misconception is that straight ins are the hardest shot when in fact they are the easiest. No angle to misjudge. Just cue straight and nothing can go wrong.
Click to expand...

If I remember correctly, Joe Tucker in one of his videos talks about how he had to correct his perception slightly on straight-in shots, so I'm not completely crazy. It could be a perception problem rather than a crooked stroke, I might think I'm straight-in and deliver a straight stroke. I have the 3rd-eye trainer, although I don't use it as much as maybe I should. I don't have too much of a problem finding center cue ball. But I'll give that a try too.

I agree that straight-in shots are easier than cut shots, although with enough distance most people would agree they are not so easy (just easier than cut shots from the same distance).
 
align both shots with a cue on the table under the area you bridge for a ref point checking straight cueing and body position. Check to see if you are aligned during cueing and after shot. Easiest way to see what the problem is.
 
Straight in shots have a tendancy to draw your eye to the pocket thus taking your eye off the object ball. Keep you eye on the prize :)
 
PKM said:
When shooting straight-in shots into the corner pockets along the diagonal, when I miss I tend to miss to the left on one side (shooting from the right side of table from my perspective) and to the right on the other. I'm not sure how to explain it, since if I was either hitting the CB slightly off-center (on one side), or aiming to one side of the object ball, you would expect the same error, right?

It's not that I'm particularly bad at straight-in shots, I think my stroke is pretty decent (thanks to some instruction), and when I make it, it's not that the shot really looks off to me. Although sometimes I will anticipate this bias and make a very small correction. Is this just some quirk in my perception?
Click to expand...
Some people have a problem with corner pockets in that they tend to shoot the object ball to the back of the pocket rather than to the center of the opening of the pocket. That is, when shooting the object ball along the rail, they will usually contact the rail before they get to the pocket. That's a very bad habit to have.

The first part of the problem is to know where your real target in the pocket is. That's covered in the 1997-04 article at http://www.sfbilliards.com/articles/BD_articles.html

Get some notebook paper reinforcements (white donuts) and mark the center of each pocket as shown in that article. For an hour of practice, do your best to drive the object balls directly over the reinforcements. I think you will find that your side pocket percentages from tough angles will also be improved.

Finally, you may have a problem not hitting the cue ball in the center. Use a striped ball as your cue ball. Put the stripe vertical so it will roll like a tire. If you apply unintended english, the stripe will wobble or worse.
 
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off center

have someone stand behind you to see if you are hitting center ball. What you think is center probably isn't. I had the same problem, made the adjustment. What I thought was center was actually a little to the right.
 
never mind the object ball..i'm sure 10 out of ten you can always pocket the cue ball straight-in right?
 
Straight in Shots

I went for years with out hardly ever missing a straight in shot. I didn't care how long it was or if I was on a rail.
A couple years ago I couldn't make them. I am 64 years old and I figured it was old age. I was making 1 out of 2 or 3. I couldn't figure it out. Somebody told me I wasn't hitting the cue ball in the center and I wasn't hitting center ball. I straightened that out and still had a hard time making them. I figured it out finally, that you can hit the center of the cue ball but still have have incorrect alignment. I mean you aren't going through the cue ball in a straight line. Now I aim through the center of the cue ball to the center spot on the object ball. I try to point the tip of my cue at that spot I am aiming for and follow through to the object ball. Of course you can't go further than 4-5 inches past the object ball, but this technique sure helped me.
JPA
 
Alignment and delivery are crucial...

to making any shot. Should you miss, you can always freeze at the end of your stroke at check your tip and grip hand position. I'm just emphasizing what RandyG mentioned earlier. There are a few drills that can help you identify alignment and delivery errors. One drill is setting up a ball on the end rail and shooting it into the corner pocket. This may seem easy, but the purpose is to purify your stroke with different speeds while looking at your target and with your eyes closed. Bob J mentioned shooting a striped ball on its axis. This is good to see if your are actually hitting the center of the ball. It should not rotate when it leaves the tip and when it returns it should contact your tip, or at least your bridge hand. Once you have those down, try setting up straight in shots down the rail with a slight angle starting off one diamond apart and then progressing to 2,3,4,5.
 
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