How do you guys aim while jumping?

CreeDo

CreeDo

Fargo Rating 597
Silver Member
I can clear a ball just fine and get a good hit while jumping.
But damned if I can aim and make a cut shot.
I can knock in a hanger and that's about it.

What do you guys do to aim?

Some players seem to be adjusting their aim while
standing up and fully elevated. To me that feels impossible.
If I'm not down low over the cue, I can barely tell you which side of the ball
I'm going to hit, much less fine-tune my aim.

Have they just hit the ball from that stance 10,000 times
and know exactly what direction the cue ball's going?

Do you just start out aiming from your usual low position,
and then stand up really really carefully?

Do you use the trick where you aim at a spot a little in front of the CB?
 
I sometimes look past the object ball to a spot on the rail...then aim my shot at that point on the rail.

I don't normally have high expectations of pocketing a jump shot with a thin cut...but I pull one off every now and then.

Maniac
 
I dont use the dart technique for jumping. I get down on the shot with the jump cue similar to a normal shot and site the shot through the blocking ball. I then just raise up in the position I am in for a jump shot and aim for the spot on the blocking ball that the line went though. The blocking ball ends up being much easier to see then the object ball when jacked up.

Works well for me.
 
CreeDo said:
I can clear a ball just fine and get a good hit while jumping.
But damned if I can aim and make a cut shot.
I can knock in a hanger and that's about it.

What do you guys do to aim?

Some players seem to be adjusting their aim while
standing up and fully elevated. To me that feels impossible.
If I'm not down low over the cue, I can barely tell you which side of the ball
I'm going to hit, much less fine-tune my aim.

Have they just hit the ball from that stance 10,000 times
and know exactly what direction the cue ball's going?

Do you just start out aiming from your usual low position,
and then stand up really really carefully?

Do you use the trick where you aim at a spot a little in front of the CB?
Click to expand...

Once I'm thru my PSR I'm standing on the right line so it's more of getting my tip placement correct and looking back at the OB and pulling the trigger. If the balls are close I will look at the CB during delivery
 
Get down on the shot as if it were a normal shot with my player. Then make sure I elevate perfectly straight. Any wobbles and your shot will no longer be aligned. The RAT jump cue, I picked up, has an extension with a weight bolt. This allows me to use a regular stroke with my jump shots. For dart stroke shots, it's more of a guess and hope I make it.

The number one flaw, I see, in most jump shots is unwanted side spin. This causes the ball to curve before it gets to the OB, resulting in an overcut or undercut shot.
 
i try to aim before i shoot
i only jump when i think i missed

once i jump or raise my head i don't remember that much about aiming

it usually only happens when i am playing high
 
I aim much the same as I do in golf, I look at the shot line from behind the shot and pick a spot on the table (scuff mark, lint, chalk mark, etc) that is in between the CB and OB that is within my field of vision while in position to jump. If you use an aiming system liked Pro One, use it the same as you would on a normal shot....
 
CreeDo said:
I can clear a ball just fine and get a good hit while jumping.
But damned if I can aim and make a cut shot.
I can knock in a hanger and that's about it.

What do you guys do to aim?

Some players seem to be adjusting their aim while
standing up and fully elevated. To me that feels impossible.
If I'm not down low over the cue, I can barely tell you which side of the ball
I'm going to hit, much less fine-tune my aim.

Have they just hit the ball from that stance 10,000 times
and know exactly what direction the cue ball's going?

Do you just start out aiming from your usual low position,
and then stand up really really carefully?

Do you use the trick where you aim at a spot a little in front of the CB?
Click to expand...

Disclaimer: I don't actually jump well, because I haven't practiced the shot enough.

I approach the shot like a level-cue shot, but make my bridge high and close the the CB so I'm ready to strike down on it. As such, my practice strokes go over the top of the CB rather than toward it. Once I have my bridge-hand fingertips planted such that I can stroke straight over the center of the CB toward the contact point on the OB, then I elevate. Not having to move my bridge hand while I elevate makes it easier to stay aligned, I think.

-Andrew
 
Aiming jumps shots

CreeDo said:
I can clear a ball just fine and get a good hit while jumping.
But damned if I can aim and make a cut shot.
I can knock in a hanger and that's about it.

What do you guys do to aim?

Some players seem to be adjusting their aim while
standing up and fully elevated. To me that feels impossible.
If I'm not down low over the cue, I can barely tell you which side of the ball
I'm going to hit, much less fine-tune my aim.

Have they just hit the ball from that stance 10,000 times
and know exactly what direction the cue ball's going?

Do you just start out aiming from your usual low position,
and then stand up really really carefully?

Do you use the trick where you aim at a spot a little in front of the CB?
Click to expand...

I get down to line up the shot as if there were no object ball in the way, then I look at the ball to be jumped, see where my cue is lined up on that ball, and use that as my target.
 
I also usually use a reference point that's in my field of view while jacked up, usually the blocking ball. As for making shots that aren't hangers, I find it helps if you can confidently jump just enough to clear the obstacle. The less you have to elevate, the more accurate your shot will be. Also, if you just have to clear an edge and can do it with a full length cue, it will probably be more accurate.
 
Line up while down on the shot like normal.

If the the OB is going to be out of view when in position, I often pick and intermediate target to maintain alignment.
 
I usually line it up like a standard shot to get my aim down. After that, I adjust to hit a little more full, since the cb will probably overcut if its bouncing. As Matt mentioned, jumping with a full cue feels more accurate for me, though it could be because it doesn't get as much air.
 
Aiming

I am a very good jumper, practice a lot on my home tabke...this is what I know.

Shoot dart style. It allows you many advantages. You can sight down the shaft lik we do on regular shots, you can jack up much higher to clear nearby jumps, you can reach out into the field of play to reach, i can jump from 90% of the table.

I aim down to.the OB contact point, using the jump cue to line up and then visuslize where that line passes through the obstructing ball. When I shoot and the obstructing ball as within a foot or 2, that spot is my aim point. If further out I use a spot on the cloth if its marked up or just visualize one. When I shoot I am able to look at the tip contact with tge CB with my periperheral vision , to ger the intended english. If I am jumping to a kick and the obstructor is more than 6 inches out from CB I just look and aim to the rail contact since on kicks I am hitting the CB above my center for running english to keep tge CB going multiple rails. The runninglish hit is just a little higher than usual jump contact and eady to master, could show someone in 5 minutes.

Jumping dart style(overhand) is the way to go, much better aiming accuracy and ability to reach CB on the table. Also allows you to easily put follow and draw on CB to make shots and kicks with position...a real game changer.
 
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Andrew Manning said:
Disclaimer: I don't actually jump well, because I haven't practiced the shot enough.

I approach the shot like a level-cue shot, but make my bridge high and close the the CB so I'm ready to strike down on it. As such, my practice strokes go over the top of the CB rather than toward it. Once I have my bridge-hand fingertips planted such that I can stroke straight over the center of the CB toward the contact point on the OB, then I elevate. Not having to move my bridge hand while I elevate makes it easier to stay aligned, I think.

-Andrew
Click to expand...

Matt,
Andrew is close to what I do. Before I address the cue ball I practice the angle of stroke that I feel I need to do. Then I address the cue ball, but prior to jacking up I am visualizing the line using the cue. During the visualizing I get my bridge finger at the same angle as the line. Then when I jack up I use my finger as my line aim to stroke at that angle. It works for me.
 
When I line up to make any shot, I visualize the shot line in my head and position my stance/body accordingly. After that it makes little difference if its a jump shot, masse shot or a regular shot. The only difference would be my grip and arm position.
 
It depends on how far away the object ball is. Mid-range is the toughest.

You need to take into account where the cue ball will be making contact with the object ball. Cue ball bouncing upward into the object ball? Changes the angle. Bouncing down? Changes the angle. Same with speed, but you know these things already.
 
I agree with takeitdown on the using the dart stroke. If you use a more "normal" stroke for jumping, you need to approach it correctly. You want to try and keep the same plane with your upper arm and upper body as you do on regular shots. To do that, you lean more into the shot than you normally would. You are standing much closer to the cb than normal. That way, when you bend over, you will find that your "plane" is pretty much the same, but you are now angled down into the cb instead of close to level with the cb. Then, if you can raise your head enough to aim, (I can't) you do that. If you can't raise your head enough, you should already know exactly where you are coming across the ball you want to jump, and you aim to that spot.

Look at 3 sec, and 2:55 on this video below of Robin to see what I meant by the angle of the body.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpiBD7K64OE
 
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I can only offer my opinion on this... but as you well know Creedo... my jump game is pretty strong.

The only way to get "good" at jumping and feeling consistent about where you are going to hit the OB is to DO IT ALOT.

I use a pretty easy drill to accomplish this:

set a bridge stick or a cheap cue or whatever... across the head string over the rails
line up a row of balls inside the kitchen
one at a time just jump the balls over the stick and into the corner pocket down table.
after 100 or so of these shots, you will notice minor stroke adjustments equate to where the ball ends up in relation to center pocket. It gets to where you can aim for "sides" of the pocket. Once you get there it becomes second nature when aiming contact points on OB's
 
I step into the shot as normal (psr). make sure my cue is on the right line. shift my eyes back and forth from the cb and ob. then focus 100% on the spot of the cue ball! then shoot.
 
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