Getting better at Long, straight in shots.

Id didnt read all the post's so you might get a repeat, anyhow, long straight in's are some of the most difficult shots for some players, the reason being is that , you cant find center ball, the slightest amount of side can spoil your shot.

What do you do? I suggest aiming with a high tip, roll the cue ball, (in practice) see how far your off, (you will be surprised) if you miss lengthen your bridge, lower your head, (or raise it) to get a differnt perspective and try again, keep playing with bridge length and head height untill you percieve the object ball correctly, once youve done this try the shot with center ball, forget about the shot once youve lined up and in your stance, concentrate on a straight and smoothe followthrough, you should be able to pocket the object ball with your eyes closed because all that is nessasary is a straight followthrough. Trust thy self...

SPINDOKTOR
 
Very Light Grip.

Druid said:
If theres one thing about my pool game that keep haunting me, its the ability to consistently sink long, straight in shots. It seems that if I get an angle, Im pretty comfortable in my shot percentage. But something seems to play tricks with my eyes on long, straight in shots. Ive blown so many games when I end up straight-in on the 8 or 9, that whenever I end up in that position I dread it. Mental state aside, whats the best way to practice long, straight in shots? Is it something that others have had problems overcoming?

Things Ive tried during practice to improve stroke and aiming:
-staying down after the shot
-following thru
-comfortable stance
-lining up without twisting my body.
-closing my left and then right eye, making sure that both views look on
-imagining an aiming point beyond the object ball
-aiming with my chin over the cue, vs. dominate right eye over cue
-pause before pulling the trigger (dont normally like to try this)
-getting new contact lenses

The latest thing that seems to help is taking more time eyeing the cue ball while setting on the cue-contact point.

The image below is how I normally practice. I run this simple drill in sets of ten. On a good day I sink seven out of ten, on bad days I sink three out of ten. I want to get to the point where I can sink them 10 out of 10, with any miss being a rarity. Ive been playing for years and I never seem to get better on this shot. HELP!

Much appreciated


CueTable Help

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If you are only tryng to make the ball, pay MOST particular attention to having a VERY LIGHT GRIP on your cue every time you pull the trigger. This will help.
JoeyA
 
straight shots

A warm up drill I like to do is line up 9 balls from one side pocket to the other. Starting from either the left or right side, give yourself ball in hand from behind the headstring and line up a straight in shot. Repeat the sequence till you've cleared all 9 balls shooting them into either corner pocket. Then move the row of balls down further away one diamond. You can also start with the row of 9 balls 1 diamond distance from the headstring if you like. But I find side pocket to side pocket works just fine. I do this drill every time I practice and it helps me get myself relaxed and stroking 'straight' right away.
 
Druid said:
To answer some of your questions, I keep track of if I'm missing to the right or the left, but it's never always one side or the other.

I've actually got the Bert Kinister Tape "The Mighty X", but honestly I haven't practiced what it preaches yet :( That's probably a big mistake on my part, I need to go back and re-watch and try those practice drills and see if they help this problem. From what I remember, it involved a bunch of really long draw shots.

As for all of your other suggestions, I did some quick (15 minute) practice shots, and what seemed to help right-off-the-bat is SHORTENING MY BRIDGE. I was sinking them right away when I shortened it up. I tried some of the other suggestions and I will continue to try them but nothing had as much immediate impact as the shortened bridge. I should still be able to drop this shot ten out of ten with a long bridge, but it gives me a little more confidence to know that a shorter bridge will help keep my stroke a little tighter. At least.. that?s what it looks like so far.

Thanks!!!! I?ll report back with more testing, particularly about that aiming idea of pretending the cue ball isn't there.
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glad i can help... thats what a champion told me to do when your struggling, it leaves less margin for error in your stroke, and has always helped me to get in gear if im playing badly.
 
I find that the best way for me to improve in most areas are progressive drills. Set up a closer shot.. hit it in 10 in a row. Move back one diamond.. repeat.

To me, this allows me to gain confidence on each shot and also to learn about my personal 'comfort' zone. Now, I have expanded my comfort zone just by doing this.
 
Hey everyone, I wanted to resurrect this old post and give you a little update on my progress. I’ve spent the last four months working on improving my ability to complete this drill (10 long, straight on shots in a row). This month, everything has finally gelled and I can complete the drill regularly with success. I believe the #1 jump in skill has had to do with PRACTICE. However, out of the different aiming and mental tricks I experimented with, such as looking at the base of the object ball, looking “past” the object ball into the pocket, and other various modifications to fundamentals, if there was one “trick” that seemed to make a difference in aiming, it is to think “Have the Cue Ball replace the Object Ball”, a tip I got off of a Bert Kinister Tape. As soon as I started focusing on that idea, it seemed that aiming became a little easier.

Anyway, thanks a lot for the help. Four months ago, I was starting to fear that this goal wasn’t obtainable, but it was and I hope my game continues to improve this year.

Thanks,
Matt
 
thats 100% the easiest shot in pool, there is only one way to hit it straight, pure and simple, if you cant make it, you cant shoot straight.


that shot will keep you honest and true to your self. I have shot it 10's of thousands of times for over 20 years, I was told by a good player that is the shot that you must master before you move foward, so I did. The guy who told me that was a champion i was a C- player, best advice I ever got from anyone. He continued "If you cant shoot straight how do you expect to judge any of your ather shots?" tough advice but he is right. And no I still cant beat him,
 
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Snorks said:
I find that the best way for me to improve in most areas are progressive drills. Set up a closer shot.. hit it in 10 in a row. Move back one diamond.. repeat.

To me, this allows me to gain confidence on each shot and also to learn about my personal 'comfort' zone. Now, I have expanded my comfort zone just by doing this.
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thats the correct way to learn it,
 
Druid said:
Hey everyone, I wanted to resurrect this old post and give you a little update on my progress. I?ve spent the last four months working on improving my ability to complete this drill (10 long, straight on shots in a row). This month, everything has finally gelled and I can complete the drill regularly with success. I believe the #1 jump in skill has had to do with PRACTICE. However, out of the different aiming and mental tricks I experimented with, such as looking at the base of the object ball, looking ?past? the object ball into the pocket, and other various modifications to fundamentals, if there was one ?trick? that seemed to make a difference in aiming, it is to think ?Have the Cue Ball replace the Object Ball?, a tip I got off of a Bert Kinister Tape. As soon as I started focusing on that idea, it seemed that aiming became a little easier.

Anyway, thanks a lot for the help. Four months ago, I was starting to fear that this goal wasn?t obtainable, but it was and I hope my game continues to improve this year.

Thanks,
Matt
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Nice update, Matt. And thanks for the BK TIP.
JoeyA
 
TWOFORPOOL said:
LISTEN VERY CAREFULLY! Bill Cress showed me something about straight in shots I didn't realize after 30 years of playing although it was right in front of me. Don't get me wrong I'm an "A" or "Open" player and can run a few racks now and then.

On straight in shots the line of aim goes thru:

The center of the cue ball
The center of the object ball
The center of the pocket

When you get down on a straight in shot your tip should:

Be pointing at the center of the cue ball
Be pointing at the center of the object ball
Be pointing at the center of the pocket

When your stroking the shot pretend the cue ball isn't there and your practice stroke is aiming at the center of the object ball. On you final stroke you should be pushing your tip thru the center of the object ball as if you were going to hit the object ball with your tip (although you will be hitting the cue ball first).

This does one thing very important:

Your stroke is being sent straight down the line of aim. Your not just pushing the cue in front of you.

I practice shooting with this technique to insure that I have a perfectly straight stroke (required for all shots). You will be amazed how much easier you can shoot off a rail also with this technique. This is the first thing I do when I start practicing. Just one rack of balls is all that is needed each time you practice to insure your stroke is straight.

If you like this technique let me know since there's one more thing about this that I don't want to discuss until after you have tried this technique and like it.
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Beer in a six pack? Brilliant! After reading that post it is as plain as the nose on my face. I plan to incorporate this into my brain. Thank you,
 
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I've tried many techniques, and this one is the only one that helps me consistantly make those straight-in balls.

1) Hold your cue more forward.
2) Get in position for a shot. Like you always do.
3) Do some practice stroke.
4) Get up and see if your alignment is 100% correct.
5) If your alignment is correct, get down again.
6) Focus on the placement of the tip on the center of the cueball
7) Do some practice stroking. But this time you need to stroke different. Let me explain. When you do some practice stroke, it's usually shorter than when you pull the trigger. Your cue will go a little further to the back, when you pull the trigger. When you do the practicing stroke, every stroke need to look like, when you pull that trigger, but stops before hitting the cueball. You need to continue this practicing shot and don't stop.
8) Look at the CB, look at the OB, look at the pocket. Just look as much as you want. See if everything is 100% correct.
9) Search for the center of the OB and focus on this point.
10) Your arm is still doing the long practising stroke. When you are right, you just let your cue go through the CB. Usually, when someone wants to pull that trigger, you can see them doing it. Because they slowdown there stroke, the hand go further behind, mayb wait a sec, and than they will shoot. When you are following my advice, they can't see when you are pulling that trigger. Every stroke is the same.

Just try this. It improved my game. When I'm playing bad, I always go back to this technique to help me game up again.

There are 2 advantages of this. The first thing is, you will have a good alignment, if not you will notice it. The second, you will not let your final stroke to go wrong. You will not choke, because you don't know exactly when you are applying the final stroke. When you think it's alright, you just let your stroke move a little more forward.
 
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A good way to practice is to "exaggerate it"...

If you have your own table, get one of those construction "chalk lines" from the hardware store. (This is a string on a reel with powdered chalk on it. Pull out the line and snap it to mark the table. Vacuum up the excess chalk on the table.) Make a line on the table from one corner pocket to the opposite diagonal corner pocket. This is the longest distance on the table.

Now you can place balls on this line. Place the cue ball and an object ball on this line and you can be sure the balls are exactly straight in.

One ball slightly off the line like 1mm is NOT straight in!

So pay close attention that the balls are exactly on the line.

When practice stroking, the tip of your cue should go over this line. After shooting and following through, then staying down on your shot, the tip of your cue should be exactly over the center of the line.

Move the object ball further and further away from the far pocket (progressive practice).

Now the "exaggerate it" part...
Practice difficult straight in combo shots. Place an object ball 2 diamonds out from the corner pocket. Place another object ball 2 diamonds back from that ball. Then the cue ball 2 or 3 diamonds back from that ball. All 3 exactly on the line. Now shoot the cue ball to hit the first ball so it hits the second ball and the second ball goes in the pocket.

This is *very* difficult and takes EXTREME aiming accuracy. Do this every day for a few months. It will be frustrating. But you will develop your sight so you can tell when the balls are exactly straight in or slightly off. And you will get to where you can make very small adjustments to your straight in aiming.

If you have trouble with any of the above, find out which is your dominant eye and try placing that eye over your cue. This can make a big difference in being able to see the shot correctly. Read more about that here...
http://www.billiardsforum.info/pool-playing-tips/finding-your-dominant-eye.asp
 
try doing table length straight in shots on a 12 foot snooker table. Ive done these before on a bet. Those will drive u insane.
 
TXsouthpaw said:
try doing table length straight in shots on a 12 foot snooker table. Ive done these before on a bet. Those will drive u insane.
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Not really, I've got more problems doing straight in shots on a pooltable than on a snooker table. I even use my regular cue playing snooker.
 
Fatboy said:
thats 100% the easiest shot in pool, there is only one way to hit it straight, pure and simple, if you cant make it, you cant shoot straight.


that shot will keep you honest and true to your self. I have shot it 10's of thousands of times for over 20 years, I was told by a good player that is the shot that you must master before you move foward, so I did. The guy who told me that was a champion i was a C- player, best advice I ever got from anyone. He continued "If you cant shoot straight how do you expect to judge any of your ather shots?" tough advice but he is right. And no I still cant beat him,
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Point taken. I'm gonna start practicing them more.
Jeff
 
Aim as best you can with whatever method you use and trust your stroke.. that's my advice after overcoming a similar problem.

I had no problems aiming a straight in shot but trusting myself to stroke it straight in would cause distraction and ultimately a miss. Being concerned about this type of shot could possibly cause me depending on the situation to either (1) jab at the cb or (2) hit it too hard. (2) can result in a miss many times if the cb is hit slightly off-center so concentrating on using a medium speed stroke and of course making them over and over building confidence is what helped me.
 
crappoolguy said:
This is my favorite shot in the game. It's the one shot that if I see it I know I can always make it. Even if I'm playing terrible I'll still make it 99 times out of 100.
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i might have to bet u on that...:-)
 
Here's my guess...

If you miss the straight in shot consistently...you're probably hitting it too hard.

And don't forget the best advice - practice, practice, practice...

Mike
 
First thing to do is look at your tip and make sure that it is not skewed. Sometimes a tip will get out of shape and will cause you to put a little unwanted english on the CB.

All the advice I have read so far are very good.

What I do to take it one step further is to practice some of the straight in shots with a unchalked tip. Just shoot at the center of the CB. If you are not hitting the center you will miscue. This will then let you know that your stroke is off and you are not hitting where you think you are.
 
TheBook said:
What I do to take it one step further is to practice some of the straight in shots with a unchalked tip. Just shoot at the center of the CB. If you are not hitting the center you will miscue. This will then let you know that your stroke is off and you are not hitting where you think you are.
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I used to do this to get used to hitting center ball with all shots and seeing layouts and learning shapes from a center ball hit perspective.

Jeff
 
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