Eye problems and pool

[Bluewolf]

I read what Larry said about someone born with 20-10 vision and how it is helpful in pool. That was me when I was young. Too bad I did not take up pool then.

I have this thing with the jerky eye muscles. It is not a factor on short shots as long as it is lined up correctly. It is a big problem on long shots and has caused me to miss some crucial shots. I have considered just doing the preshot getting down, closing my eyes and shoot.For what it is worth, seems like my % of long pots is better with my eyes closed.

I have sort of accepted the fact that i cant be good at pool this way (cant afford laser surgery either)so might as well just enjoy it and not worry about all those long cuts that miss the pocket.

Anybody know anything about this kind of stuff or how to get around it.

Laura

 

[jkraft]

I don't mean to be rude, but I've heard plenty of people tell me this exact same thing (even myself). It sounds more like an excuse on why you miss long shots then an actual eye problem. You said you couldn't afford "laser surgery" , well how about prisms in your glasses? I doubt either would make you actually make more long cuts. Sure short shots don't pose a problem compared to long shots - that's not because of your eyes, it's because of the difficulty of the shot. I've had a couple eye surgeries in my life and have been diagnosed with the same thing it sounds like you're talking about - I used to kid myself about the same thing, "It's my eye's! That's why I can't make that long cut!" Now-a-days I realize it's not my eyes, it's my ability to make those types of shots consistently. There are many great pool players with terrible eyes, one that comes to mind real quick is Danny DeLiberto. I'm sure his eyes are 1,000,000x worse than yours and he is 1,000,000x the player you probably are.

Enough of my ranting and raving though, but I think the solution to your problem is (A) more practice, and (B) admitting there is a limit to your physical ability and natural talent to play great pool.

You have to have a natural talent to be great at anything. But practice can get you close in most instances.

 

[Bluewolf]

I don't mean to be rude, but I've heard plenty of people tell me this exact same thing (even myself). It sounds more like an excuse on why you miss long shots then an actual eye problem.

Actually, I do not take your words as rude, but rather words of hope. Sometimes I miss a long one because i hit it too fat or too thin or lost mental focus thereby a misshit. Those things I can look at and practice that shot until i get it right.

This really is something else.My husband, prior to laser surgery had bad vision and the balls looked funny and fuzzy.He could still lock well though and he played well. What I think that happens sometimes is like a loss of 'lock', for lack of better words.

I have those little fast seizures too though so it is hard to tell. They are so fast, often do not know it happened. Groan.

Perhaps there is a way around this. I am hearing you say that there is. So that is good.

 

[fti]

Do you use your dominant eye enough?

Training to use your dominant eye might help focussing problems. If you're not sure which your dominant eye is do this:

Pick a spot on the wall which is several metres away. Using both your eyes point at the specific spot with your finger. Now close one eye. If the finger is still pointing at the spot, the eye you left open is your dominant eye. If not, then the eye you just closed is.

Your dominant eye is the eye you use to aim with; most people aren't even aware of it. I find that aiming with the finger at a specific spot on the wall, and repeating this several times over greatly helps my pool aim. Try it.

Furthermore, I've sworn off contact lenses. They just don't seem to help me focus after 8 hours of play. That's why I never really would get further than the quarter finals. The balls would get blurry and I wouldn;t focus right anymore.

I just bought myself a new set of rimless eye glasses and had the lens custom made to come up just below my eyebrow and it has done absolute wonders for my game.

Just my 2 cents I guess. Good luck.

fti

 

[E-Licious]

Pick a spot on the wall which is several metres away. Using both your eyes point at the specific spot with your finger. Now close one eye. If the finger is still pointing at the spot, the eye you left open is your dominant eye. If not, then the eye you just closed is.

I still don't understand this. When I pick a point on the wall and focus on that point, then hold my finger up, I see two fingers (naturally) so I put the point i am focusing on in between the two fingers that I see. This makes it so that the finger is not on the point no matter which eye I have open. I could make either of them point towards the point in the wall if I wanted, but this doesn't help me figure out which eye is the dominant one. What am I doing wrong?

Also, if i focus on my finger instead, then I see two objects on the wall. Also, I point to the middle of the two objects, so the same thing happens.

 

[Bluewolf]

Do you use your dominant eye enough?

Training to use your dominant eye might help focussing problems. If you're not sure which your dominant eye is do this:

fti

iIshoot both handed. Mostly right and have the cue under my right eye. When i switch, the cue is under my left. I am not very dominant, practically non dominant. People have said not to shoot with both, but it is natural and do about the same with either hand.

 

[LAMas]

When I point my right finger at a point on the wall I prefer to aim with my right eye for that's the one that is pointed at the spot. The left eye is several inches to the right. Too bad that my right eye dominance is the eye with astigmatism and the balls look like eggs and not round - so I miss aim.

 

[DoomCue]

I've got fairly bad vision myself, and I've tried a couple of different things to overcome it. At first, I wore contacts. I really hated them, but I wore them for two years, trying to get used to them. The problem was that I have very dry eyes, so I would have to constantly re-wet them. They would stick to my eyes and I would have to constantly blink to get them re-aligned properly. Not good when you play for 6-8 hours at a time. After two years, I finally gave up. Anybody who plays with glasses knows that the top of the frame gets in your line of vision, especially on long shots. In order to alleviate this problem, I had my optometrist make a special pair of glasses for me. I ordered some big lens frames, and had him adjust the angle of the lenses so that they're perpendicular to the floor when I'm over the shot. I had the frames adjusted so that the lenses are high enough on my face to keep the frame out of my line of vision. Finally, I had the optometrist move the focal center of the glasses to the top part of the lens instead of in the middle, since the top part is what I'm looking through when I shoot. This minimizes distortion. I've had these glasses now for about 3 months, and I feel more confident, especially on those long shots. I'm able to pick out my aiming and contact points better, and I'm running out much more consistently than I was with the contacts.

As for the dominant eye theory, I don't believe in it. Watch Neils Feijen. He shoots with the cue under his right ear! I think it's whatever you get used to. I play with the cue centered between both eyes, with my chin on the stick, even though I know that I'm right eye dominant. I tried changing positions so my stick was under my right eye for a few months, but I just couldn't play like that - everything was off and felt awkward. I've played so long with the center position that any changes now will cause me to relearn the way I play. Unless you're a beginning player, I would suggest not changing head position to suit a dominant eye, and even then I think I would still go with keeping the cue centered. I've watched many a snooker player, and I think everyone will agree that snooker requires incredible accuracy. Most of the snooker players shoot with the stick centered between their eyes. Since snooker requires such accuracy, if the centered cue technique works for them, then it's good enough for me.

 

[E-Licious]

Most of the snooker players shoot with the stick centered between their eyes. Since snooker requires such accuracy, if the centered cue technique works for them, then it's good enough for me.

I'm glad to hear that. I use the same technique, but then found out that a couple of my friends (who I believe have superior long shot ability) put the cue under their dominant eye. I thought maybe this is what was hindering my ability to hit the ball where I wanted on the long shots. But then I saw Jeanette Lee put the cue right under her chin to aim, and thought I can't be doing it wrong if she does that, right? And you come and tell me the snooker players do the same. I'm feeling better already.

 

[jkurjan]

I do believe much of the dominant eye theory is correct, but I also think your everyday life and pool style automaticlly account for the dominant eye without requiring you to overfocus on it. I have read studies both for and against working on the dominant eye.

I guess in the end..I believe most shooters experience mis-coordination between what their eye/brain tells them and what their body/stroke style will allow them to do. The kewy is to match thing up better.

I used to practise straight pool with a gentlman aged 75... at the time he could still run 100+ balls quite frequently. His eyes had started failing him 10 years before... so he drew a line on his ferrule which he then used to match up to the point on the object ball that he knew he had to contact after having studied the shot. He then proceeded to trust his stance and stroke (which were still quite pure) and played the shot. He seldom missed... it was awesome to watch and he remained extremely tough to beat.

Another way to help settle into the cue ball without overthinking the eye issue is to study the shot... pick your point of contact and settle in behind the cue ball. Then check your stance with a small look behind at your feet, cue position, bridge position and right arm (a couple seconds of time). Refocus on the cue ball and tip or ferrule and softly move your head to the left and right so that you see the cue ball from a wide perspective (1 second)... then settle in with your nose/chin in alignment with the cue and begin your stroke. I believe you will find that long shots (even off the rail long shots) will become much more successful.

In my experience I find most average to good players miss these shots becuase of bad fundamentals and nerves. You need a pre-shot routine that you are comfortable with. Once you realize that a miss is a miss and you might as well take the consequences... you will free your nervouse system up to really take a hit at the tough shots. You will end up making more of them and becoming more consistent... especially on days when your game is not at top level.

Jonathan

 

[Bluewolf]

As for the dominant eye theory, I don't believe in it. Watch Neils Feijen. He shoots with the cue under his right ear! I think it's whatever you get used to. I play with the cue centered between both eyes, with my chin on the stick, even though I know that I'm right eye dominant. I tried changing positions so my stick was under my right eye for a few months, but I just couldn't play like that - everything was off and felt awkward. I've played so long with the center position that any changes now will cause me to relearn the way I play. Unless you're a beginning player, I would suggest not changing head position to suit a dominant eye, and even then I think I would still go with keeping the cue centered. I've watched many a snooker player, and I think everyone will agree that snooker requires incredible accuracy. Most of the snooker players shoot with the stick centered between their eyes. Since snooker requires such accuracy, if the centered cue technique works for them, then it's good enough for me.

I have heard this dominance thing discussed by many people. i honestly do not even know if it is a factor in pool. i worked as a school psychologist with yound learning disabled kids, most of which were boys. There were some interesting stats but dont know if they had anything to do with vision. the main thing noted was that a certain % of young boys do not get ocular fusion (the two eyes working well together) until the age of 7 and we send them to school at age 5. This presumably may have contributed to some problems in some young boys in handwriting.

About pool, if I am dominant at all, it is probably left, born left and switched. I do shoot better with my right but can do easy shots reasonably well with my left, which means I usually do not have to use a mechanical bridge. My husband says my cue is under my right eye when shooting but when i get real low, i think it is more in the middle. When i shoot left, the cue is under the left eye, for what that is worth.

I dont think about it too much maybe I should. Just get down real low, stroke follow freeze and dont pop up. I have found that I really like staying down a lot and sometimes have to be careful that my stick does not get hit by a ball.

About the eyes,not sure anymore but hope it is a good topic for some people.

Sometimes I say dumb stuff, well I am pretty much a beginner, guess it is beginner stuff.

Laura

 

[LAMas]

There is a very good player named Andy Scott that closes his subordinate eye while aiming/stroking. There is another very good player that I know who is blind in one eye - works for him.

 

[Snapshot9]

Bad eyes, I don't need no stinkin bad eyes ...

My name is Scott 'The Shot' Fraser and I have very bad eyes. MY vision is
-10/670 in each eye. (700 is legally blind). I have astigmatism in the front and back of my eyes, and I have scarred
corneas. I wear hard Polycon 2 contacts, and have since I was 17, except for 3 years after my corneas got damaged.
They got damaged from a pair of contacts that warped on me and took off layers of my corneas.

My best vision with contacts is 20/40.
But the funny thing is, the best I see is when I am shooting Pool. I have even talked to my eye doctor about this, and
he said that my brain is making up for what my eyes can't see. I am also a senior software engineer by profession, as if I needed more strain on my eyes..

You can do it. You have to have a very ability to 'focus' and you have to get your aiming down to the size of a flea on the ball when you shoot. Most players miss for 2 reasons: they do not have the proper form, and their bad form limits them, or they do not have the mental ability to stay focused enough to complete the shot with a nice smooth follow through.

By the way, I placed 9th at Valley Internationals in Vegas 1 year in 8 ball singles (1,000 entries), and I am the 2003 Kansas State BCA Champion.

I have played for 40 years with bad eyes, sometimes a problem, but you can overcome it if you want to bad enough.

 

[fti]

Lovely game 'aint it! There are just so many factors that play a role in getting your best game, that it makes it extremely hard to find the exact cause to the problem.

great and informative discussion.

fti