frustration with sighting/aiming

randyg said:
Another possibility is that you could be cross aimimg. Where is your tip at the end of every stroke????

Drop a chalk line down from the head string to the middle of the bottom corner pocket. Put hole re-enforcers on the kithen, one diamond and two diamond lines. Shoot several set-up stop shots from each distance. After every shot, where is my tip? It should be on the chalk line........SPF=randyg
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I have always like this drill, The SightRight website has a great tool with a line on a paper somewhat similiar here, so great Post Randy Tap Tap.

Another drill is set up a shot straight in to the side pocket and draw the cueball back to the other side pocket after pocketing, then do the same drill from corner to cross corner. This gets me back in the zone for dead center cueball. And yes Hals systems deal with aiming or addressing the side of the center of the cueball then pivoting back to center cueball, you always come back to the center of the cueball. Personally i find it easier to aim the center of the cueball by addressing the half of the cueball then pivot to it, idk why. But i do suggest one learn to aim through the center of the cueball.

Great Post from everyone here, Merrry Christmas to all, and Happy Holidays
 
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Thanks guys! Gotta go now, playing in the Sunday Million on Poker Stars. Think good thoughts.
 
Randy, what is cross-aiming? How is it corrected. As you know, I shoot leftie. My tip is almost always finishing a slight bit right of the shot line.
Thanks!
 
Are you absolutely sure that you are lined up straight in? I do that excercise and only just now have figured out that I was off absolute dead center much of the time. Also, make sure you know where in the pocket the cue ball should go. I have always found "dead in" deceptive and if it is off just a hair and you shoot dead in you will probably miss.
 
PKM, just thought of one other thing. Does your stance match your aiming needs?. Example, I stand taller because I feel confident that I'm seeing things correctly. Another players might feel more confident very low in their stance. You have to find what works for you by trial and error. Spend a day playing a little taller, an inch even, and it may help you in a big way.
 
The problem with all these "techniques" is that you can't do it for every shot and then do it for every shot consistently. I spent two years of my life as a C class player and working in my garage for a consistent aiming method, because unless you have a system that makes every shot easy, you will never be able to achieve even an A player status. Everyone says that professionals make it look easy. Well there is a very good reason for that. For them it is. Atleast the aiming part. What separates all the players that can pocket balls with ease is position. And let me tell you it usually isnt stroke. Thats the biggest bunch of nonsense ive ever heard. Yes of course you need a straight stroke. But after that relatively simple task you better aim right because I could have a straight stroke right into a rail, but the ball isnt going down. I see lots of guys in tourneys that I play in that have these beautiful long graceful strokes, but you know what? They don't cash. Because they miss too much. My aiming system? Well I dont want to waste trying to write it all out, but it makes every shot a straight in shot, yep every single shot is as if you are shooting straight in. If you want it message me and ill do my best to describe it!
 
Klopek Love your Avatar for this thread. Look how tall he's standing. Almost all the old great masters played this way.

But I think I need to investigate some of the benefits to getting lower for certain types of shots.

Thanks for the great insights.

Hate it when someone shows me I'm not always right.
 
3kushn said:
Klopek Love your Avatar for this thread. Look how tall he's standing. Almost all the old great masters played this way.

But I think I need to investigate some of the benefits to getting lower for certain types of shots.

Thanks for the great insights.

Hate it when someone shows me I'm not always right.
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Thanks. :) I shoot low when a shot is very long, other than that I adjust my height according to the shot. My chin never touches my cue though, I find it distracting and feel it inhibits my stroke. Most of the time I'm in the 1"- 10" range oabove the cue. There's nothing wrong with playing low, but it has to be the right way to play for the person.

I sometimes see beginners start playing like Johnny Archer because they worship the guy. They have no conceot of why they're doing it, only that it works for Johnny so it should work for them. It may be the worst thing that young player could do to their game, but they stick with it because that's the way Johnny plays. Guess I was encouraging OP to explore all his options and see if it might help.:)
 
acedotcom said:
Merry Xmas to you too. I'm in the same boat as you - someone who's continually working on their game and straight shots. When I'm off on the straight shots, I attribute it to alignment. What I use is an eye patch over my non-dominant eye. You can get one at Walgreens for about $5. It's difficult at first, but if you stick with it a while you'll find yourself in a groove. I might practice straight shots with it 3 or 4 days in a row, until I feel I'm back in line. I wouldn't use it practicing angle shots though - I think lining up those shots requires both eyes.
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This is an excellent technique. I takes a little time to adjust--but in the end , I think it is the only way to shoot. I never had consistency until I spent time trying to perfect this. For angle shots, it works just as good, if not better. If you want to know how to use it on angle shots--just PM me.
 
acedotcom said:
Merry Xmas to you too. I'm in the same boat as you - someone who's continually working on their game and straight shots. When I'm off on the straight shots, I attribute it to alignment. What I use is an eye patch over my non-dominant eye. You can get one at Walgreens for about $5. It's difficult at first, but if you stick with it a while you'll find yourself in a groove. I might practice straight shots with it 3 or 4 days in a row, until I feel I'm back in line. I wouldn't use it practicing angle shots though - I think lining up those shots requires both eyes.
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I suppose I could try closing my non-dominant eye, I'm not sure I'm prepared to wear an eye-patch in a pool hall:) Joe Tucker made a comment in his video about some one-eyed players being good shots because they don't have the conflicting information from both eyes. But since you don't hear about anyone doing this deliberately as far as I know, it must not be worth losing your depth perception (I know you were just suggesting it as a drill)
 
Luv2RunOut1 said:
The problem with all these "techniques" is that you can't do it for every shot and then do it for every shot consistently. I spent two years of my life as a C class player and working in my garage for a consistent aiming method, because unless you have a system that makes every shot easy, you will never be able to achieve even an A player status. Everyone says that professionals make it look easy. Well there is a very good reason for that. For them it is. Atleast the aiming part. What separates all the players that can pocket balls with ease is position. And let me tell you it usually isnt stroke. Thats the biggest bunch of nonsense ive ever heard. Yes of course you need a straight stroke. But after that relatively simple task you better aim right because I could have a straight stroke right into a rail, but the ball isnt going down. I see lots of guys in tourneys that I play in that have these beautiful long graceful strokes, but you know what? They don't cash. Because they miss too much. My aiming system? Well I dont want to waste trying to write it all out, but it makes every shot a straight in shot, yep every single shot is as if you are shooting straight in. If you want it message me and ill do my best to describe it!
Click to expand...

Amen. PM'ing you on you best description of your system.
 
PKM said:
I suppose I could try closing my non-dominant eye, I'm not sure I'm prepared to wear an eye-patch in a pool hall:) Joe Tucker made a comment in his video about some one-eyed players being good shots because they don't have the conflicting information from both eyes. But since you don't hear about anyone doing this deliberately as far as I know, it must not be worth losing your depth perception (I know you were just suggesting it as a drill)
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No matter how dominant you think your eye is, you still rely heavily on the other eye for important info like depth perception (as you mentioned).

Practicing with one eye patched forces you to learn to compensate, then when you go back to both eyes you have to learn all over again. If you're going to shoot with both eyes, learn to aim with both eyes. Just my opinion, but the patch thing is a bad idea.
 
PKM said:
I suppose I could try closing my non-dominant eye, I'm not sure I'm prepared to wear an eye-patch in a pool hall:) Joe Tucker made a comment in his video about some one-eyed players being good shots because they don't have the conflicting information from both eyes. But since you don't hear about anyone doing this deliberately as far as I know, it must not be worth losing your depth perception (I know you were just suggesting it as a drill)
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LOL - that would take some balls. Fortunately, I have a place where I can practice in private. Folks wander in now and then, cast a pitying glance my way, then usually move off. If they stop to ask, I say "vision problems."
 
Klopek said:
No matter how dominant you think your eye is, you still rely heavily on the other eye for important info like depth perception (as you mentioned).

Practicing with one eye patched forces you to learn to compensate, then when you go back to both eyes you have to learn all over again. If you're going to shoot with both eyes, learn to aim with both eyes. Just my opinion, but the patch thing is a bad idea.
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Who said "Go back to two eyes"? Learning to shoot with one eye has distinct advantages---but as in most techniques, you have to perfect them before you can objectively judge its merit.
 
Tennesseejoe said:
Who said "Go back to two eyes"? Learning to shoot with one eye has distinct advantages---but as in most techniques, you have to perfect them before you can objectively judge its merit.
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I guess no one said "Go back to two eyes", but I haven't met too many players who play with an eye patch or close their non-dominant eye. Learning to shoot with one eye really only has an advantage if the shot is dead straight. Much like aiming a rifle, the information fed to your brain by one eye is only relevant in terms of a straight path. In order to judge depth and angle properly, the brain needs the information from two eyes.

If you were a cyclops I would agree that one eye is an advantage, but you have two eyes for a reason. Even if you keep both eyes open but think you're only using one, the other eye is working.

It's Christmas and there's no sense debating something so subjective. Merry Christmas.:)
 
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