Eyes Closed

MattPoland

MattPoland

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Granted I play on a small bar box. But how many of you try shooting with your eyes closed. You can see while standing, getting down, and practice stroking but close your eyes before the final backstroke.

I’m not great at it but I did just run a rack of 9-ball and it really makes you feel your stroke.

(Just practice of course)
 
Pool is every bit as much visual as it is a tactile game.

Baseball batters don’t swing with their eyes closed in
the batting cage nor do golfers on the driving range.
Basketball players don’t shoot hoops with closed eyes.

Hand and eye coordination are inextricably connected
in games of physical dexterity. Your body adjusts to the
environment and your sensory awareness can sharpen.

It’s a kick in the pants to shoot with eyes closed. But it
is also enjoyable & informative to see the cue ball move
afterward to where you intended it to wind up. The thing
with shooting with your eyes closed is when you miss,
you can’t be sure what you did wrong unless your stroke
feels off, left a chalk mark on the CB or used a poor stroke.

Since I’m never going to play that way, aside from the sheer
novelty, I don’t see how it can help improve my overall skills.
Nonetheless, shooting no look pool like Vinny in COM is cool.
 
MattPoland said:
Granted I play on a small bar box. But how many of you try shooting with your eyes closed. You can see while standing, getting down, and practice stroking but close your eyes before the final backstroke.

I’m not great at it but I did just run a rack of 9-ball and it really makes you feel your stroke.

(Just practice of course)
Click to expand...
People who do that to demonstrate their fundemsntals get down on the ball, then close their eyes. Then thay raise the cue and swing it off to the side. Then bring it back to shoot. Is that what you do, or just close your eyes before pulling the trigger.
 
Bavafongoul said:
Pool is every bit as much visual as it is a tactile game.

Baseball batters don’t swing with their eyes closed in
the batting cage nor do golfers on the driving range.
Basketball players don’t shoot hoops with closed eyes.

Hand and eye coordination are inextricably connected
in games of physical dexterity. Your body adjusts to the
environment and your sensory awareness can sharpen.

It’s a kick in the pants to shoot with eyes closed. But it
is also enjoyable & informative to see the cue ball move
afterward to where you intended it to wind up. The thing
with shooting with your eyes closed is when you miss,
you can’t be sure what you did wrong unless your stroke
feels off, left a chalk mark on the CB or used a poor stroke.

Since I’m never going to play that way, aside from the sheer
novelty, I don’t see how it can help improve my overall skills.
Nonetheless, shooting no look pool like Vinny in COM is cool.
Click to expand...
middleofnowhere said:
People who do that to demonstrate their fundemsntals get down on the ball, then close their eyes. Then thay raise the cue and swing it off to the side. Then bring it back to shoot. Is that what you do, or just close your eyes before pulling the trigger.
Click to expand...
Anthony Beeler had me try this. It's to prove that your pre shot routine and your alignment is working, or needs work. Nothing more... nothing less.

Start you pre shot routine, get into position, do practice strokes, come to stop at the cue ball, close you eyes for a few seconds and make the shot. If your alignment and aim is good, the ball goes in.
 
Last edited:
MattPoland said:
Granted I play on a small bar box. But how many of you try shooting with your eyes closed. You can see while standing, getting down, and practice stroking but close your eyes before the final backstroke.

I’m not great at it but I did just run a rack of 9-ball and it really makes you feel your stroke.

(Just practice of course)
Click to expand...
Congrats! That's no easy feat.
 
Jack Cooney had a demonstration on this. He would line up a sraight in shot with the object ball about three feet from the top corner pocket and with the cue ball about a foot off the bottom rail. Then with a spectator standing next to him he would then drop down on the shot take a couple of practice strokes, drop his head down, then hand his cue to the gent next to him and then the cue was placed back in his hand, A couple of more practice strokes and then the object ball was delivered to the pocket on the other end of the table. When Earl first saw me do this, he thought it was where I was lining up from looking at the cloth below me some how,,but it's muscle memory and fundamental mechanics.
 

How straight is your backstroke?

I've been working on my accuracy, and of course, ensuring my stance and alignment are spot-on. I'm making progress, but it's painfully slow. I've been using the Mother Of All Drills (MOAD: the straight shot from the 2:1 diamond CB to the 2:1 diamond OB opposite), and the...
forums.azbilliards.com
 
MattPoland said:
Granted I play on a small bar box. But how many of you try shooting with your eyes closed. You can see while standing, getting down, and practice stroking but close your eyes before the final backstroke.

I’m not great at it but I did just run a rack of 9-ball and it really makes you feel your stroke.

(Just practice of course)
Click to expand...
Matt, this is a good thread and a good learning technique.

In pool there are three main variables on each shot: Aim, tip position, and swing speed. The problem many people have is that all three are bouncing around like the 7s on a slot machine. They feel their aim is right, then they wiggle their tip around, warm up their stroke, now their aim is off, etc. They are swaying around like they are on an ocean vessel, with the shot coming in and out of focus. Then when they feel everything is ok they hurry up and shoot before they lose the feeling. Not ideal.

Best is to break the shot down into two steps. 1) Lock in the aim and tip position, 2) Deliver the stroke. Once you are on step two you are no longer trying to pocket the ball. You are no longer trying to play position. The success of your pocketing or position was determined in the 'aim/tip' step. Now we are just delivering a good stroke to find out if we did step 1 correctly. If you didn't you can't make up for it by jerking or steering the stroke. Just deliver a smooth stroke and if it doesn't work then you learn for the future.

Incidentally the pause when your tip is at the cue ball BEFORE the final backswing is when we shift from 1 to 2. That is when we commit to feeling the shot and focusing on just delivering a swing.

So for people who are learning to smooth out their stroke delvier and segregate their shots in this way there is a lot of value in practicing eyes closed. It forces you to commit to the shot and aim. It forces you to stay smooth because you HAVE TO.

I think it's eye opening to realize you can run tables this way. I broke and ran a 10 ball rack to the 10 ball the other day and then dogged it. I played a student of mine a few racks like this. I'd never broken that way before. Both of my breaks my cue ball stuck perfectly, something I struggle to do with my eyes open. Hmmm. I learned something. Maybe I've been using too much force or too much body movement without knowing it? So yes, it is educational to discover how much feel and locking the image of the shot in your mind is essential. I have also learned how to tap the floor with my cue with my eyes closed, reset it on my bridge hand, and pocket the shot. Some of the time anyway, I'm about 50% and climbing on this one.

Now, once you learn this lesson I don't think you need to keep practicing this way. I played eyes closed for a week once about 10 years ago. When I opened my eyes again I thought I'd play great. Instead my eye patterns were all screwed up and it almost sharked me because I didn't know where to look. So I don't think it's a long term practice technique. But for people that want to do a periodic check to make sure they are locking in their aim and tip, then delivering a good stroke, this is the most effective test I've seen.
 
Tin Man said:
Matt, this is a good thread and a good learning technique.

In pool there are three main variables on each shot: Aim, tip position, and swing speed. The problem many people have is that all three are bouncing around like the 7s on a slot machine. They feel their aim is right, then they wiggle their tip around, warm up their stroke, now their aim is off, etc. They are swaying around like they are on an ocean vessel, with the shot coming in and out of focus. Then when they feel everything is ok they hurry up and shoot before they lose the feeling. Not ideal.

Best is to break the shot down into two steps. 1) Lock in the aim and tip position, 2) Deliver the stroke. Once you are on step two you are no longer trying to pocket the ball. You are no longer trying to play position. The success of your pocketing or position was determined in the 'aim/tip' step. Now we are just delivering a good stroke to find out if we did step 1 correctly. If you didn't you can't make up for it by jerking or steering the stroke. Just deliver a smooth stroke and if it doesn't work then you learn for the future.

Incidentally the pause when your tip is at the cue ball BEFORE the final backswing is when we shift from 1 to 2. That is when we commit to feeling the shot and focusing on just delivering a swing.

So for people who are learning to smooth out their stroke delvier and segregate their shots in this way there is a lot of value in practicing eyes closed. It forces you to commit to the shot and aim. It forces you to stay smooth because you HAVE TO.

I think it's eye opening to realize you can run tables this way. I broke and ran a 10 ball rack to the 10 ball the other day and then dogged it. I played a student of mine a few racks like this. I'd never broken that way before. Both of my breaks my cue ball stuck perfectly, something I struggle to do with my eyes open. Hmmm. I learned something. Maybe I've been using too much force or too much body movement without knowing it? So yes, it is educational to discover how much feel and locking the image of the shot in your mind is essential. I have also learned how to tap the floor with my cue with my eyes closed, reset it on my bridge hand, and pocket the shot. Some of the time anyway, I'm about 50% and climbing on this one.

Now, once you learn this lesson I don't think you need to keep practicing this way. I played eyes closed for a week once about 10 years ago. When I opened my eyes again I thought I'd play great. Instead my eye patterns were all screwed up and it almost sharked me because I didn't know where to look. So I don't think it's a long term practice technique. But for people that want to do a periodic check to make sure they are locking in their aim and tip, then delivering a good stroke, this is the most effective test I've seen.
Click to expand...
I hope folks don’t misconstrue what I wrote. Shooting at a pool ball with your eyes closed does measure your stroke.

But it only works with straight in shots where your cue should travel straight and perpendicular to the pool table. A
steady straight straight is required and pocketing the ball makes your feel good. Your stroke has to be true to pocket
the OB. It is like a golfer practicing a straight putt closing their eyes on the putting green. It offers feedback. But when
you miss, and everyone does, you don’t know what actually happened aside from deducing it afterward. It is useful to
make you feel better bu5 it does not improve your stroke. It gives you feedback about your stroke. The only way your
stroke gets better is by practice that requires open eyes. Your stroke is a combination of your aim, stroke delivery that
involves energy and cue tip contact. To master it, or at least try, needs your full attention and concentration. Shooting
at OB with your eyes closed teaches you nothing. It only offers feedback and I submit that it is incomplete at its best.

My point is there are much more useful, helpful drills, or practice approaches, that will improve your stroke whereas
shooting with your eyes closed does not. It looks good, even feels good but it does not help improve your pool stroke.
Just my opinion, and I even do this occasionally but it’s more for my ego, or self satisfaction. As a practice tool, I think
it is a waste of a player’s time because you don’t learn how to improve shooting with your eyes closed at object balls.
Everyone chooses how to practice & so by all means, stick with what you thinks works best. Open eyes usually helps.
 
middleofnowhere said:
People who do that to demonstrate their fundemsntals get down on the ball, then close their eyes. Then thay raise the cue and swing it off to the side. Then bring it back to shoot. Is that what you do, or just close your eyes before pulling the trigger.
Click to expand...

I’ve done that with spot shots before. The experience said a lot to me in terms of locking in an alignment with a stable frame. I can say it’s a higher difficulty version of what I was doing in practice.

What I was doing was simplified down more to trust my alignment but really feel my stroke since it really makes you feel your stroke and speed. I was thinking it’s a good way to combat any tendencies to rush your back swing and rubber band your stroke.
 
Bavafongoul said:
I hope folks don’t misconstrue what I wrote. Shooting at a pool ball with your eyes closed does measure your stroke.

But it only works with straight in shots where your cue should travel straight and perpendicular to the pool table. A
steady straight straight is required and pocketing the ball makes your feel good. Your stroke has to be true to pocket
the OB. It is like a golfer practicing a straight putt closing their eyes on the putting green. It offers feedback. But when
you miss, and everyone does, you don’t know what actually happened aside from deducing it afterward. It is useful to
make you feel better bu5 it does not improve your stroke. It gives you feedback about your stroke. The only way your
stroke gets better is by practice that requires open eyes. Your stroke is a combination of your aim, stroke delivery that
involves energy and cue tip contact. To master it, or at least try, needs your full attention and concentration. Shooting
at OB with your eyes closed teaches you nothing. It only offers feedback and I submit that it is incomplete at its best.

My point is there are much more useful, helpful drills, or practice approaches, that will improve your stroke whereas
shooting with your eyes closed does not. It looks good, even feels good but it does not help improve your pool stroke.
Just my opinion, and I even do this occasionally but it’s more for my ego, or self satisfaction. As a practice tool, I think
it is a waste of a player’s time because you don’t learn how to improve shooting with your eyes closed at object balls.
Everyone chooses how to practice & so by all means, stick with what you thinks works best. Open eyes usually helps.
Click to expand...

I probably shoot 5 blindfolded shots a month, usually to demo for a student.

For my students I have them shoot about 5 this way. It is done for the specific reason of making sure they are locked on their aim and tip, to break them of the habit of waiting for a moment they feel good and then rushing the shot before they 'lose the feel'.

This would be similar to if I was working on someone's pre-shot routine. Suppose someone didn't have any consistent transition between when they were thinking and when they were shooting. Most players have a 'trigger', something they do that helps rhythmically and mentally to shut down their mind so they go into shooting mode. I might have that player pick a deliberate trigger and have them do that each time they committed to a shot and were ready to drop into stance. Now, if this player were struggling to remember I might exaggerate it and have them actually say the word "Trigger" out loud, just so they could verify to themselves they were doing it. (By the way, I've never done this, but I could if it was necessary). The goal wouldn't be to build that into their game long term. I also don't think this is a super practice technique for most people in most situations. But in this exact situation it might be a good way to set the right habits.

So with shooting blindfolded this is not something I do as part of my standard practice, nor as a blanket recommendation to all players everywhere to improve their game overall. I use this in a very specific situation to accomplish a very specific goal. And I warned that it can be overdone.

Bottom line, it's a good learning aid for those who haven't learned the lessons it can teach, and it can be a good check in now and again to ensure those lessons weren't forgotten. That is my opinion of course. If other people want to use it more, less, not at all, each to their own.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top