How to not forget about the ghost ball area

Seeing what is not there takes some deduction and practice.

It's not hard to visualize the ghost ball when standing on the object ball/pocket line, but you sometimes lose the visual as you move behind the cueball. It helps me if I stare at the spot on the table where the object ball sits, as I move into shooting position, while keeping the intended pocket, the cue ball, and at least one other pocket in my peripheral vision. Sort of seeing the table rotate around that spot. This helps to lock in the 'GPS' position of the object ball in relation to the pockets position and the 2 to 1 rectangle the table represents.

As I move behind the cue ball, while still focused on that spot under the object ball, and peripherally, those pockets, I will rock back and forth slightly, allowing a sort of visual 'fine tuning'.

When feel confident I have a 'fix' on the object ball's position, I look again for the ghost ball. I know it will be on a line that runs under the object ball to the pocket. I know it will contact the object ball at it's equator. I know its diameter is the same as the object ball it is touching. I know it's spot on the table will be one ball diameter behind the spot where the object ball sits. I know it's 'heart' will be 1/2 ball diameter above it's spot. While aligned on that 'ghost heart', I drop straight down behind center cue ball and stroke 'through' it.
 
Using ghost ball is not really about seeing a ghost ball. I have never tried to see a ghost ball, instead I see a space, area to fill, to put the CB.

When you throw a wadded piece of paper in the trash, do you use ghost wadded piece of paper? Meaning do try to see a ghost wadded peice of paper to aim at?

Or do you see a opening to put throw the peice of paper and from trail and error over years know what actions to take to put that wadded peice into?

Do pitchers see a ghost ball in the catchers mit, or do they do from years or trail and error , learn what actions to take to put the ball in the spot in the catchers mitt?

In other words, practice is what helps. There is no education better than practice, trail and error. Now there will be those that believe you must take lessons and they are useful to a point. But even the best lessons from the best instructor in the world is useless without practice.

Practice is where you learn what you were educated about.
 
Dragon21 said:
I use ghost ball aiming but when i shoot i tend to forget the area of the ghost ball. please help. educate me.
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visualize where the ghost ball is, then where the center of the ghost ball would be resting on the cloth.....you should now be visualizing a dot on the cloth, aim for that dot.
 
Dragon21 said:
I use ghost ball aiming but when i shoot i tend to forget the area of the ghost ball. please help. educate me.
Click to expand...

When you visualize the Ghost Ball, identify the exact point on the cloth where it sits.
Then roll the exact center of the CB over the exact center of the OB.
 
duckie said:
Using ghost ball is not really about seeing a ghost ball. I have never tried to see a ghost ball, instead I see a space, area to fill, to put the CB.

When you throw a wadded piece of paper in the trash, do you use ghost wadded piece of paper? Meaning do try to see a ghost wadded peice of paper to aim at?

Or do you see a opening to put throw the peice of paper and from trail and error over years know what actions to take to put that wadded peice into?

Do pitchers see a ghost ball in the catchers mit, or do they do from years or trail and error , learn what actions to take to put the ball in the spot in the catchers mitt?

In other words, practice is what helps. There is no education better than practice, trail and error. Now there will be those that believe you must take lessons and they are useful to a point. But even the best lessons from the best instructor in the world is useless without practice.

Practice is where you learn what you were educated about.
Click to expand...


Those were some great analogies Duckie!!! :)
 
Don't use the ghost ball or any aiming system for that matter. All the ghost ball is is a way to teach beginners about the basic concepts of pocketing balls. You should be able to look at the object ball and pocket and instinctively know where the cue ball needs to go. Aiming systems are a crutch that relies on the players vision which can be misleading based on many factors. If you can't look at a shot and know where the cue ball needs to be hit, you need to hit more and more balls until it's automatic. There's no substitute for practice. I'm not saying you will never miss a ball after this. You may still see the shot wrong and aim wrong or miss-hit the cue ball but you'll never excel to the next level until the game becomes more about instinct and feel.
 
Dragon21 said:
I use ghost ball aiming but when i shoot i tend to forget the area of the ghost ball. please help. educate me.
Click to expand...

After a while it's automatic, no need to actually look at the ghostball. Just line it up, then focus on the contact point of the two spheres on the object ball. Your arm will know what to do.

I see bad things happen to people that line up the shot too long with the ghost ball. They come up at the shot, stare at the shot for 30 seconds, put the tip down where the cueball center would be, walk around the shot again from different angles, then finally a minute later they shoot and miss by 6 inches.
 
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Place a golf tee on the center of the GB.
Use that as reference . Visualize that tee from all angles.
You'd be surprised how much that helps.
 
I feel that 'ghost ball', like all the other aiming systems, have value for a beginner.
When you have some experience, it's time to lose the training wheels.

A shot is so much more complicated than lining up....
...learning shots is like learning a language.
 
pt109 said:
I feel that 'ghost ball', like all the other aiming systems, have value for a beginner.
When you have some experience, it's time to lose the training wheels.
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An interesting statement, but I've looked at it differently.

When I first started, it was like being on a very tall unicycle.

Eventually that unicycle got shorter and shorter.

Pretty soon I learned some things and the unicycle turned into a bicycle.

I then learned a bit more and that put training wheels on my bicycle.

I spent a lot of time since then turning that bicycle into a Ferrari...maybe someday I'll have an F1 car.

People who say not to take lessons or not to learn or use aiming systems are shortsighted. I say learn every system you have time for. Take lessons from everyone...even beginners. Anybody who won't learn from every experience isn't really interested in playing well, they are interested in lubing-up their own ego and stroking it.
 
When practicing take a cube if chalk and place behind the object ball diagonally on the shot line. The diagonal measurement is very close to radius of a cue ball.

Remove it, repeat. Do it from different distances and different angles.

After a couple of weeks you will have trained your mind the distance. You will become unconscious competent.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
When practicing take a cube if chalk and place behind the object ball diagonally on the shot line. The diagonal measurement is very close to radius of a cue ball.

Remove it, repeat. Do it from different distances and different angles.

After a couple of weeks you will have trained your mind the distance. You will become unconscious competent.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Thanks

Thanks for the replies guys. I appreciate it. When alex p. Was here in town. We talked and showed me tricks but i was inconsistent. I've been playing for a year 1/2 and i can run 10 balls and the next rack i can only make 3 even if it's an easy rack. How do i fix my positioning play. I'm lazy to plan ahead.
 
Dragon21 said:
Thanks for the replies guys. I appreciate it. When alex p. Was here in town. We talked and showed me tricks but i was inconsistent. I've been playing for a year 1/2 and i can run 10 balls and the next rack i can only make 3 even if it's an easy rack. How do i fix my positioning play. I'm lazy to plan ahead.
Click to expand...

If you are lazy....there is no hope.
 
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