When we talk about CTE we're really talking about a type of aiming technique that I'll call "grid aiming". The key feature of grid aiming is a "grid" of CB/OB alignments that divides the 0-90 degree range of cuts into smaller pieces to aid in estimating the CB/OB alignment needed to make the shot.
The grid aiming technique was popularized by Hal Houle with his "3-angle" or "fractions" technique - current versions such as CTE and others are close copies of that old version.
Grid aiming techniques, past and present, tend to obscure (and even deny) the fact that some estimation is always needed to go from the rough alignments of the grid to the accurate aim alignments needed for shotmaking. CTE, for instance, introduces pseudo-mechanical steps ("getting the visuals" and "pivoting") to accomplish the final aim refinement without any acknowledgment that estimation is involved.
Grid aiming is most useful for players who cannot consistently and accurately visualize the OB contact point for every shot. Those who can visualize the OB contact point are most likely to adopt an aiming technique that uses it directly rather than the indirect grid references.
Grid aiming has the advantage of putting and keeping CB/OB alignment in the forefront of the shooter's mind. CTE in particular emphasizes aligning the eyes and body in reference to the CB/OB alignment for each shot, an excellent practice and what I like most about CTE. Unfortunately, CTE's pseudo-mechanical stick movement (the "pivot") tends to disconnect the stick from this alignment, a less-than-ideal practice.
Dr. Dave has called CTE a "preshot routine", and I agree with him that promoting the important discipline of consciously aligning your eyes and body to the shot is CTE's most universal positive feature. However, it isn't necessary to use grid aiming (the version called CTE or any other version) in order to get this preshot routine discipline. For instance, I do it every time I aim, simply by aligning my eyes, body and stick consciously in relation to the CB-to-OB contact point line. This is more direct (and, I believe, more inherently accurate) than aligning myself with a gridline that's somewhere near the CB-to-OB contact point line - but I have the luxury of being able to see the OB contact point and not everybody can, so to each his own.
I teach "conscious" grid aiming techniques to beginning pool students as one of the alternate ways they can approach learning to aim. I also teach them techniques that use the CB-to-OB contact point line and the CB-to-Ghostball centers line (and others such as double overlap and parallel lines). However, I make it clear to them that none of these are aiming "formulas" but techniques to assist the process of learning to aim by experience and "feel".
pj
chgo
P.S. This is the post I said I'd make as "PART II" of my CTE review (what I like about CTE), but a little more general than I had originally planned.
The grid aiming technique was popularized by Hal Houle with his "3-angle" or "fractions" technique - current versions such as CTE and others are close copies of that old version.
Grid aiming techniques, past and present, tend to obscure (and even deny) the fact that some estimation is always needed to go from the rough alignments of the grid to the accurate aim alignments needed for shotmaking. CTE, for instance, introduces pseudo-mechanical steps ("getting the visuals" and "pivoting") to accomplish the final aim refinement without any acknowledgment that estimation is involved.
Grid aiming is most useful for players who cannot consistently and accurately visualize the OB contact point for every shot. Those who can visualize the OB contact point are most likely to adopt an aiming technique that uses it directly rather than the indirect grid references.
Grid aiming has the advantage of putting and keeping CB/OB alignment in the forefront of the shooter's mind. CTE in particular emphasizes aligning the eyes and body in reference to the CB/OB alignment for each shot, an excellent practice and what I like most about CTE. Unfortunately, CTE's pseudo-mechanical stick movement (the "pivot") tends to disconnect the stick from this alignment, a less-than-ideal practice.
Dr. Dave has called CTE a "preshot routine", and I agree with him that promoting the important discipline of consciously aligning your eyes and body to the shot is CTE's most universal positive feature. However, it isn't necessary to use grid aiming (the version called CTE or any other version) in order to get this preshot routine discipline. For instance, I do it every time I aim, simply by aligning my eyes, body and stick consciously in relation to the CB-to-OB contact point line. This is more direct (and, I believe, more inherently accurate) than aligning myself with a gridline that's somewhere near the CB-to-OB contact point line - but I have the luxury of being able to see the OB contact point and not everybody can, so to each his own.
I teach "conscious" grid aiming techniques to beginning pool students as one of the alternate ways they can approach learning to aim. I also teach them techniques that use the CB-to-OB contact point line and the CB-to-Ghostball centers line (and others such as double overlap and parallel lines). However, I make it clear to them that none of these are aiming "formulas" but techniques to assist the process of learning to aim by experience and "feel".
pj
chgo
P.S. This is the post I said I'd make as "PART II" of my CTE review (what I like about CTE), but a little more general than I had originally planned.
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