curlyscues said:
and for those looking to correct their vison without surgery nasa has an answer.
http://www.nasa.gov/missions/science/contacts.html
M.C.
Thank you very much. I sent this link to two of my daughters who could derive much benefit from this idea.
It seems to me that eye training for playing pool would be best accomplished by training for the skill that is needed. In this context I placed a red dot cue ball as the Object Ball and cut a sheet of 8.5 X 11 inch paper down to a one inch strip. See Photo below
Jeanette Lee has said that one should try to see the smallest dot possible on the OB. Using the red Dot as the OB allows one to have a specified contact point to aim as needed. ( I am aware of the idea that aim point and contact point are not the same). The strip of paper shows the general line down which the OB is to travel. I left it one inch wide to allow the eye to learn the width of the line for "cheating" the pocket.
Playing this shot from several positions and distances on the table should help the eye to learn what is required.
This type of training should also help the mind to form an image of what is desired.
The astute player can now look at the smallest possible dot, the line of travel, and adjust the shot making for contact point while reviewing tip placement and it effect. I think that using this training mechanism might also help the player learn to stay down and watch the hit.
Speed reading, focusing on distant objects, and learning to track an object in flight are all of course good exercises. None-the-less, one of the best exercises has to be looking at the actual visual techniques that are used with training aids such as the red dot and the paper strip.
When I made this mechanism and tried it with a few shots I was surprised to note that the contact point and line of travel for the OB were not always what I at first thought it would be. In addition there is more room for error than is realized. Apparently the player does indeed learn to compensate physical reality for the eye's abilities and for perceptual shifts.
One of the things I have learned, after someone brought up the idea, is that players often stand behind the OB and view its line to the pocket. I think that this often (not always) provides a better localization of the contact point by establishing a reference point relative to some other aspect of the OB such as a stripe or number and its relative location to the contact point. This point does not change but is seen differently from behind the CB. Thus, the mind is naturally compensating for perceptual differences based upon relative location to the contact point. Any methods which help the eye and the mind to better coordinate physical reality must be useful.
It just occurred to me that placing the OB ball on a dot located 2 1/4 inches down the sheet of paper towards the pocket would be an even better method as the front of the paper would show the location of the center of the CB on contact. Thus it is also a ghost ball trainer (with its limited usefulness) and provides a realistic target and aim line for training the eye and mind to cooridinate the "real" world.
). BTW, how much did you lay out for your golf clubs? 
