Help.. I am about to give up on pool.

Sbrogdon

Sbrogdon

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Over the years I quit playing regularly. I am trying to get back into playing and have figured out I am cross eye dominant. I know this is beating a dead horse, but I have tried everything and I just cannot get consistent with my stroke. The way my eyes are seeing things, If I am in a stance with a smooth stroke, I am out of alignment. If I am in alignment, my stroke swerves at the backswing. If I lengthen my bridge it seems to help sometimes, then all of a sudden its back to missing 4-5 in a row.

Please help guys. I love pool but I am getting so frustrated that I literally cannot shoot at all sometimes because I get so mad. I will run out a rack on one game and miss 4-5 shots in a row on the next...........
 
Not sure what to tell ya on this one..., just don't give up, you'll find a way, good luck.
 
I also have a friend that has this same eye problem but he seems to be able to adjust so I have faith that you can too. Sometimes moving your head to the left or right side of the cue (whichever eye is dominate) can help. I am right eye dominate so sometimes I will have my head on the right side of the cue to adjust my aiming and it actually has worked perfectly for me. Closing the distance between your bridge hand and the CB can help a lot with aiming simply because if you do swerve on your stroke then the tip of the cue won't move practically at all. Try only keeping maybe 3-5 inches between your bridge and the cue ball. PM if you have any questions at all. Hang in there practice makes perfect, and pool is such a mental game too, try just relaxing more and have fun. Cheers and best of luck
 
Pm

Sbrogdon said:
Over the years I quit playing regularly. I am trying to get back into playing and have figured out I am cross eye dominant. I know this is beating a dead horse, but I have tried everything and I just cannot get consistent with my stroke. The way my eyes are seeing things, If I am in a stance with a smooth stroke, I am out of alignment. If I am in alignment, my stroke swerves at the backswing. If I lengthen my bridge it seems to help sometimes, then all of a sudden its back to missing 4-5 in a row.

Please help guys. I love pool but I am getting so frustrated that I literally cannot shoot at all sometimes because I get so mad. I will run out a rack on one game and miss 4-5 shots in a row on the next...........
Click to expand...

I sent you a message. Im left eye dominant and it definitely something you can cope with.
 
Sbrogdon said:
Over the years I quit playing regularly. I am trying to get back into playing and have figured out I am cross eye dominant. I know this is beating a dead horse, but I have tried everything and I just cannot get consistent with my stroke. The way my eyes are seeing things, If I am in a stance with a smooth stroke, I am out of alignment. If I am in alignment, my stroke swerves at the backswing. If I lengthen my bridge it seems to help sometimes, then all of a sudden its back to missing 4-5 in a row.

Please help guys. I love pool but I am getting so frustrated that I literally cannot shoot at all sometimes because I get so mad. I will run out a rack on one game and miss 4-5 shots in a row on the next...........
Click to expand...

Sbrogden, you should contact Gene Albrecht (genomachino here on AZ). His Perfect Aim lessons specialize in this exact thing.. :thumbup:
 
I recommend enlisting the help of a qualified pool instructor. It is amazing how tiny changes in mechanics and routine can generate vastly different results. The fact that you can run some racks tells me that your problem is probably not the components you are grinding away at... most likely it is small variations in your process that you aren't even looking at that are causing the problems. Areas to consider would be your shoulder alignment (how much you lower your front shoulder effects how much your stroking shoulder pivots behind your head), your tip distance from the cue ball when landing down in your stance (which will effect where in your stroke you will contact the cue ball), WRIST MECHANICS (my personal elusive gremlin) and eyes patterns.

Filming yourself can help you notice what changes when you drop out of 1st gear... but a qualified instructor is your best bet. When you do find yourself in stroke, think about how all the pieces FEEL.. without necessarily describing them with words. Many people first identify what FEELS RIGHT before they can describe it verbally. I find that eye patterns tend to break down when things start to head south.. So concentrate on this when all else fails and KISS. (Keep it simple stupid) Don't give up. You will find what you are changing.. If performance anxiety is a component I recommend reading Pleasure in Small Motions. Otherwise.. Keep searching. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about any of what I just said.

It's like when you are looking for your keys.. If you can't find them.. Stop looking in the same places and start looking where you haven't yet.
 
Sbrogdon said:
Over the years I quit playing regularly. I am trying to get back into playing and have figured out I am cross eye dominant. I know this is beating a dead horse, but I have tried everything and I just cannot get consistent with my stroke. The way my eyes are seeing things, If I am in a stance with a smooth stroke, I am out of alignment. If I am in alignment, my stroke swerves at the backswing. If I lengthen my bridge it seems to help sometimes, then all of a sudden its back to missing 4-5 in a row.

Please help guys. I love pool but I am getting so frustrated that I literally cannot shoot at all sometimes because I get so mad. I will run out a rack on one game and miss 4-5 shots in a row on the next...........
Click to expand...

Left eye dominant and right handed causes some clearance issues which can cause the stroke swerve... Learn to set your right hip clearance to your right hand and your body angle will fall into line to get your left eye in place... I usually hook my thumb in my right pocket if I start having stroke problems and they sort them selves out pretty quickly....

Some people think you need a ton of clearance but if the stroke is straight as long as the hand can clear the hip you have plenty... If you hit your hip after setting up in the clear then you didn't stroke straight and no amount of clearance would have saved you....


Chris
 
I have the same problem, but was able to find a solution. The cure? When I retired, I started shooting pool for two hours a day, six or seven days a week. Now, three years and four months later, I've resolved the relationship between a straight stroke and effective aiming. I still spend a fourth of my practice time shooting nothing by straight in, length of the table, corner to corner shots.

Shoot Safe.

John
 
I would agree with a previous poster that instruction might be very helpful. It sounds like to me your fundamentals are not very good from all the different problems you are describing. There is no "magic bullet" to this game. One lession, one suggestion is not going to cure all your problems.

I have taken instruction several times from instructors and pros (pros that could teach) and every time I came away with something that improved my game. Approach each shot exactly the same. Have a preshot routine that never varies. If you start questioning yourself or thinking when down on the shot, get up and start all over. These are some basic things that will help.

One thing for sure, if you are "thinking" when down on the shot, it is a HUGE problem. The thinking part of the brain cannot play this game, as a matter of fact, the thinking part of the brain will screw everything up. You do the thinking part when you are walking and chalking. Once down on the shot, you have decided how hard to hit the shot, where the cue ball is going to end up, what english you are going to put on the cue ball......and so forth. If you are thinking about any of this, or thinking about your eye alignment, stroke, bridge lenght and such, your chances of success are slim. You will find any kind of consistency very hard to obtain.
 
I have to reiterate what someone else here posted. Contact Gene Albrecht. I'm left hand right eye dominant and over the course of a year of coming back to pool i learned to shoot every shot to miss using my non-dominant eye to aim. After doing a phone lesson with Gene I'm back to aiming where the shot should go and after a few months my game is just getting better and better. I'm sure he will fix you in no time flat.:thumbup:
 
I dont know why this is supposed to be bad, in fact, many years ago there was an article in billiards digest that said cross dominance puts your dominant eye leading the shot when standing at a 45 degree angle, and that was an advantage.

I think this is more important. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JNLGgfrNavg
 
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Sbrogdon said:
Over the years I quit playing regularly. I am trying to get back into playing and have figured out I am cross eye dominant. I know this is beating a dead horse, but I have tried everything and I just cannot get consistent with my stroke. The way my eyes are seeing things, If I am in a stance with a smooth stroke, I am out of alignment. If I am in alignment, my stroke swerves at the backswing. If I lengthen my bridge it seems to help sometimes, then all of a sudden its back to missing 4-5 in a row.

Please help guys. I love pool but I am getting so frustrated that I literally cannot shoot at all sometimes because I get so mad. I will run out a rack on one game and miss 4-5 shots in a row on the next...........
Click to expand...

"Please help guys. I love pool..."
ALL U NEED IS LOVE :thumbup:
 
Sbrogdon said:
Over the years I quit playing regularly. I am trying to get back into playing and have figured out I am cross eye dominant. I know this is beating a dead horse, but I have tried everything and I just cannot get consistent with my stroke. The way my eyes are seeing things, If I am in a stance with a smooth stroke, I am out of alignment. If I am in alignment, my stroke swerves at the backswing. If I lengthen my bridge it seems to help sometimes, then all of a sudden its back to missing 4-5 in a row.

Please help guys. I love pool but I am getting so frustrated that I literally cannot shoot at all sometimes because I get so mad. I will run out a rack on one game and miss 4-5 shots in a row on the next...........
Click to expand...

Start playing 3 cushion...don't have to pocket anything!!
 
I've just started learning the CTE aiming system, and I feel like it's helping with my cross-eye dominant issue. I just found that every time I relaxed and tried to just naturally aim in a shot, my shot would always be slightly off. I've put in the practice hours and no matter how much I focus on putting my right eye over the cue, the second I try to get into any sort of rhythm, I miss. At least with CTE, it feels a lot better just trying to make sure the cue is in the center of the the CB
 
Eyes

Two years ago I could run out from about any where fairly consistent, one night I couldn't hardly run 3 balls long story short I was diagnosed with optic nerve drusen. It took about two years and two to five hours a day of nothing but consistently playing and I'm finally getting close to where I was. If I can do it with less than two fully functioning eyes I know if you hang tough that you can do it as well. If you want some of the exercises I did you can PM me.
 
Change your stance.

I had the SAME ISSUE and wanted to quit a LOT recently.

Try everything. Try snooker forums even.

I switched to a popular method in a book everyone on here is using from what Lee Brett taught me and it RUINED my game for 3 months.

I then said F it and started watching all of the snooker videos I could and went over my notes from Lee.


I'm actually GLAD I went through it because I had to relearn what Lee taught me and it actually helped me realize what does work, what doesn't work, AND what I was doing wrong before with my old stance and setup.


So now I'm back to using what Lee taught me, but a little more traditional.

I tried 3 different snooker stances and ended up with a boxer stance.


To me the balls still don't look straight but the biggest issue I'm having right now is trusting myself.

When I get down on the line in my stance and trust myself when it doesn't look right and shoot, the balls just go right in.

When I adjust from it not looking right, I miss.


Well, you may face the same problem I am with that.

I've been shooting the balls wrong so long and haven't been shooting actually straight and center, what's actually straight doesn't look straight.


Gotta re-learn what it all is.



NOW I'm playing probably better than ever.


And you will too if you stick with it and try to learn something every day.

I stopped playing for a few weeks to just figure out what the hell I'm doing and really look at my stroke, stance, and alignment.

Break it down and change one thing at a time to see what helps and what doesn't.


Drills and exercises right now will help you more than anything.



DON'T GIVE UP. If you've come as far as being able to break and run every so often, even if its only once a week, that's way above a TON of players.

Why throw all the work away?



edit


ALSO something I found out about myself by making my own "stroke trainer" at home on a kitchen table was that my bridge wasn't in line with where I thought straight was.


I think this is a HUGE issue people have sometimes and don't realize it.

Everything else could be aligned right but you may need to move your bridge a few mm over.
 
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Learning to play, I've pretty much just used a calibration method.. if I'm off to the left, hit more to the right, etc. It's a matter of perception. Some people just learn differently, too. I'm also cross-eye dominant, I think.. normally right-handed, shoot pool lefty.
 
Thank you all for the replies. A lot of what has been mentioned in this thread I am already doing or knew about. Still, the problem lies from shot to shot, game to game, one minute I am pocketing balls like they have eyes then the next game I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn.

Very frustrating.... Me just venting I guess...
 
Sbrogdon said:
Thank you all for the replies. A lot of what has been mentioned in this thread I am already doing or knew about. Still, the problem lies from shot to shot, game to game, one minute I am pocketing balls like they have eyes then the next game I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn.

Very frustrating.... Me just venting I guess...
Click to expand...

Set something up at your house.

What I did was I set up my stroke training device on an end of the table in a straight line.

I make sure everything is in line and then I taped pennies on the floor around my ideal stance.

I make a habit out of just getting into my proper set up every morning multiple times and every night.

I also use my stroke trainer with a bottle to stroke into or I set up a cue ball centered just to make sure to visually get used to what actual center looks like.



To me it sounds like you're lacking consistency.


This would help you a lot.
 
Just give me a call, I'll get you on track.........

Sbrogdon said:
Over the years I quit playing regularly. I am trying to get back into playing and have figured out I am cross eye dominant. I know this is beating a dead horse, but I have tried everything and I just cannot get consistent with my stroke. The way my eyes are seeing things, If I am in a stance with a smooth stroke, I am out of alignment. If I am in alignment, my stroke swerves at the backswing. If I lengthen my bridge it seems to help sometimes, then all of a sudden its back to missing 4-5 in a row.

Please help guys. I love pool but I am getting so frustrated that I literally cannot shoot at all sometimes because I get so mad. I will run out a rack on one game and miss 4-5 shots in a row on the next...........
Click to expand...

I'm just sitting here in Eau Claire Wi right now waiting to have neck surgery.

I teach what is Perfect Aim and it will get your body aligned, stroke, stance and your eyes.

Right now what you are seems kind of helpless but I guarantee in about 1/2 hour on the phone with you at a pool table you will know what the problem is and how to fix it.

I have a video called Perfect Aim but you don't have to buy a thing.

Just give me a call and I will have you on track to shooting the best pool of your life.

715-563-8712 My name is Gene. The Perfect aim guy.........
 
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