Check out Ronnie O'Sullivan's eyes in this clip.
This clip is from 2007 and is well worth watching from the beginning.
This clip is from 2007 and is well worth watching from the beginning.
Check out Ronnie O'Sullivan's eyes in this clip.
This clip is from 2007 and is well worth watching from the beginning.
I know this is 3 1/2 years later but............John Schmidt was in our area a few weeks ago and gave lessons to several people. A couple of weeks ago my wife told me that her girl friend took a lesson and John taught cue ball last. Well since this was hearsay and there is always a large factor for misunderstanding given there were 3 exchanges before it got to my ears, I did not think it proof of anything. Perhaps he just stressed the importance of aiming at the cue ball. Perhaps she misunderstood him. Perhaps my wife misunderstood her.
Last night we were at our weekly $5 eight ball tournament, when my wife drug me over to another that had taken a lesson. She says to him, "Tell him what John says." He replied, "Cue ball." I said, "Huh? You mean cue ball last?" He replied, "Oh yea".
This player had been playing cue ball last before the lesson. Last night he was shooting better than I have ever seen. He plays as a B player in BCAPL. Last night he beat a couple of higher rated players to bring down 4th place in a very strong field. I got lucky:wink: to knock him out at 4th. This speaks to the value of lessons as much as or more than the value of cue ball last though.
This really hits home for me.:thumbup:About a month ago I took a lesson from one of my favorite pool players, Oscar Dominguez, one of the nicest guys in pool and doesn't mind giving mediocre players like me lessons. He taught me an awesome aiming system, and helped me to let my stroke out more, Ron Rosas had me doing tons of these short punch strokes. Anyway, toward the end of the lesson Oscar asks me which ball I look at when I hit and I said the OB, I had never heard anything about hitting the CB first. At first it felt very awkward. Oscar told me I get down on my line correct, just lock that in ad concentrate on the CB. My stroke has definitely improved. As well as my CB position, it seems like I have more feel too. Although I must say on some long shots I tend to rattle the ball, but these are on Hard Times Bellflower tight pockets. And his aiming system works best when looking at the cue ball, its basically the ghost ball point, but if he is cutting the ball to the left, he lines up the left side of his tip to that GB mark and then moves his tip to just about anywhere on the Cue ball to get the needed English. It works amazing for me anyways, also looking at the cue ball last has cured some bad habits, like rushing shots or popping up, or using body English to steer the ball in...
I am much more consistent and as my stroke improves I think those long shots will come, also to follow through a little more I just do not choke up so far on my cue, its a little back from 90 degrees when I strike the ball.
My friends all said, "Oscar is goofing you dude! Nobody shoots like that!" The I asked my friend Santos who also plays at Hard Times and he told me that he also looks at the CB last. so that's good enough for me! Still I am happy to find this thread here! Thanks Greg!
As I said, Oscar Dominguez, Rodney Morris, Santos, John Schmidt, Mexican Ron Rosas...
Next time I see Efren or Alex P. I will ask them..
Just watched some of OD's MC match against Soquet. On a straight-in 9ball its clear he's looking at OB last. Lot of back-n-forth in his pre-shot but he looks at OB last. O'sullivan looks at OB last also. Same deal, eyes go back-n-forth but on final stroke he's looking at OB. I still think its like golfers telling you what they do vs. what they actually do. If you watch the Players Champ. final with RO and Murphy they both look at OB last. Plenty of head-on shots that are pretty obvious. Shot RO takes at the 28min mark he goes to-n-fro and then OB when he pulls the trigger. I'm not trying to fight ya Greg but i've watched a LOT of RO and he looks at OB last. Watch the ChineseOpen final w/ Hawkins-Selby. Again, back-n-forth and OB last.My wife and I got to watch some of the U.S. Open One Pocket.
My wife saw Oscar Dominguez hitting balls between matches. She made a bee line to him and states, "I hear you look at the cue ball last." His reply was, "Absolutely!" followed by something to the effect of, "why would I look anywhere else?"
I just watched Ronnie's most recent 147. https://youtu.be/l72omICs2jcI think a lot can be learned from studying his set up and delivery. There are some very good shots of his eyes as he is shooting. I could not guess the exact pattern but did notice they were steely cold like the predator that he is.
I saw an instructional clip he had done more recently than his previous quotes. He indicates cue ball last.
Here is a link to Stewart Bingham's 147 to tie Ronnie for the prize money.https://youtu.be/At8APJslf2o
I like to compare the similarities in the set up and delivery..
It doesn't matter what you look at when you deliver the stroke!
Just ran severa racks of 9/8 ball with my eyes shut on the final backswing AND the delivery forward stroke. I've been doing this as a fundamentals check and do so regularly. I have a bit of trouble with the max power break, but the 80% power ones go well, mostly. Normal shots are the same, more or less. It does help to have the eyes open, as long as you keep them focused somewhere, but generally this is just for the times when you have made a mistake in your setup and it slipped through your preshot check, or on the break, which is a lot more complex and coordinated.
All the hard work is done before the delivery. If your fundamentals are good you can even turn your head away, and the ball will go anyway. This is more advanced than merely shutting your eyes, and is more for showing off, as there is little benefit to it. You can pull your cue out of the bridgehand as well and put it back while your head is still turned away and shoot, but this definitely has little value.
My process is as follows:
Decide tip/power/aim while standing up. Go down on the correct line,then fine tune tip position on cueball, lookin at it. One practise stroke. Stare down the aimpoint on object ball/fine tune very minutely, by that I mean very minutely adjusting the cue so it points at the aim you decided while standing up, and NOT second guessing the aimpoint! The adjustments are so small, you probably couldn't tell on camera even if you stared it down. Anything more than this, and you have to get up and start over. Final backswing and delivery, looking at object ball/aim or eyes shut. It doesn't matter a whole lot. If you can't shoot with your eyes shut, your fundamentals are S H I T. Not just shooting and making shots, but getting position as well. Some of you are probably in for a surprise if you try it.
--------------It doesn't matter what you look at when you deliver the stroke!
All the hard work is done before the delivery. If your fundamentals are good you can even turn your head away, and the ball will go anyway. This is more advanced than merely shutting your eyes, and is more for showing off, as there is little benefit to it. You can pull your cue out of the bridgehand as well and put it back while your head is still turned away and shoot, but this definitely has little value.
You had me all the way until the area marked in blue by me. I want to see that done.
Shutting the eyes here and there is an excellent drill for building confidence in the fundamentals that have been honed. No doubt about it.
Looking away by moving the head has a tendency to move the shoulder or the upper body slightly which can throw the shot off line. That doesn't mean you can't do it over and over and over.....I'd just like to see your video of it being done. (as well as the cue being pulled out of the bridgehand and replaced while the head is turned away).
I'm just a little bit skeptical...and no I don't want to "bet a zillion bucks" (before anyone asks) and I'm not looking for trouble. :smile::smile:
:thumbup: