how to practice aiming with english?

ajie

ajie

Registered
hi there.. i'm new in this forum, and desperately need help..

i played pool for almost a year now, and i need help in aiming with english. i was doing great in hitting object ball to the hole, but when it comes to english it is a whole different story

so please someone give me sort of a method or lesson how to practice my aiming with english. i'm using players SP-6 with HXT shaft

thanks in advance.
 
ajie said:
hi there.. i'm new in this forum, and desperately need help..

i played pool for almost a year now, and i need help in aiming with english. i was doing great in hitting object ball to the hole, but when it comes to english it is a whole different story

so please someone give me sort of a method or lesson how to practice my aiming with english. i'm using players SP-6 with HXT shaft

thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
The first thing is to find a shot where you need english to get the cue ball where you need to (for "position") for a problem you have actually encountered on the table. Do you have a specific shot you have had trouble with?
 
Don't look at it as a goal separate from pocketing a ball.

ajie said:
hi there.. i'm new in this forum, and desperately need help..

i played pool for almost a year now, and i need help in aiming with english. i was doing great in hitting object ball to the hole, but when it comes to english it is a whole different story

so please someone give me sort of a method or lesson how to practice my aiming with english. i'm using players SP-6 with HXT shaft

thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

Sounds like your basic problem might be that you're separating making the OB and controlling the CB into two separate undertakings. This has been discussed in recent posts, and recently by Ewa and me in P & B magn articles. Proper instruction will allow you to overcome this "separation" complex.

But beyond that, applying english is not a simple propostion. There are at least four basic ways to apply left or right spin to the CB. It's difficult to explain them adequately in words. As always, a pic is worth a thousand words. There are a number of excellent videos out there that address this topic very well, such as those by Dr. Dave. But the best way to learn this stuff is still with an instructor, at a pool table, in person.

Donny L
PBIA/ACS Instructor
 
ajie said:
i played pool for almost a year now, and i need help in aiming with english.
Click to expand...

OMG!!! Do yourself a favor and stop now!!! Ok that was joking. Ok you are SO new it's almost scary to me. 1st let me say that as soon as you incorporate english you complicate the shot by leaps & bounds. Especially if you are new to the game (people with less than 5 years of tournament/league experience would fall into the "new to the game" category by my definition.) you should be staying with the vertical axis as much as humanly possible for the 1st couple of years.

Unless you're living in the pool hall use english very very sparingly, get yourself trained to be able to eye-up where the center of the ball is and stick with follow(top-spin) and draw(back-spin) and even then only about a tips worth at most. Others may disagree with me here but aiming close to the core of the ball is IMHO something that should be developed 1st.



ajie said:
i was doing great in hitting object ball to the hole, but when it comes to english it is a whole different story
Click to expand...

And this will probably be true for at least the next couple of years.

ajie said:
so please someone give me sort of a method or lesson how to practice my aiming with english. i'm using players SP-6 with HXT shaft

thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

The biggest problem in answering your question is this, note: please watch the video links within the article; that will get you the flavor of what I am trying to say.

http://billiards.colostate.edu/bd_articles/2008/april08.pdf

There are boatloads of aiming systems, it is far more important that you begin to learn the "physics of the game", this is a good place to start.

http://billiards.colostate.edu/normal_videos/index.html

Watch every video with the word "english" in it. How to make adjustments to how you do anything is far easier if you understand the underlying physics.

If you are one of those "I need it now" people here is something that may help you start making balls with english, Note: this idea is for cut shots, just like you probably use the center of the tip of your stick to aim balls that are center ball (or there abouts) use the side of your tip to aim when you shoot off center.

Step 1: decide what english you are going to put on the CB(cue ball) so if you are cutting to the left. You will use the left side of the tip aimed at the OB(object ball)
Step 2: aim the left edge of your tip at the contact point(the place on the OB(object ball) directly opposite the target pocket). If you are cutting to the right use the right edge of your tip. This is sometimes called "the ultimate aiming system".

Does it work? Well yes & no; will it make the ball every time? Of course not, but if you are "disoriented" when you use english this may help you to have a rough "point of reference". Good luck and welcome to the board.
 
As a new player, BHE and FHE has worked well for me. FHE for LD shafts and BHE for standard shafts. It has lessened the guess work, although I still have to remember to limit the amount of english to use and keep the cue level.
 
Ajie, you don't need a Ph.D. to learn how to use english but it's not as worthwhile as you may think. It should be used sparingly on shots.

You can practice shooting cue balls into the pockets. You can use striped balls to see the action better, remember to clean them after play so they don't accumulate stray chalk marks that can become trouble spots at ball impact when you return them to the rack for normal play.

What is the difference between those cue balls shot with english slowly and those shot at fast speeds, when you aim across the table at the center of a distant corner pocket?

What is the difference in cue ball path when you use english with a near-level cue at slow speed and with an elevated cue stick at slow speed?

Answer those two questions for yourself in practice and report the results here to show you understand how to minimize english effects on the cue ball. Then we can talk about the effects of english on the object ball and etc.

You can also share which of the many methods for applying english you're attempting to use.

Thanks.
 
Bob Jewett, Donny Mitz, PGH Teacher, Billiardsabout

reading your comments it feels like entering a room full of candies..lol

before this, i kept practicing by myself without knowing jack what is right or wrong, and the results was sometime it's right and sometime it's wrong :D

there are not many players here who easily share their knowledge.

i'm gonna read it again carefully now, and perhaps will ask some questions again later..

thanks for the enlightenment..
 
Donny Mitz?

ajie said:
Bob Jewett, Donny Mitz, PGH Teacher, Billiardsabout

reading your comments it feels like entering a room full of candies..lol

before this, i kept practicing by myself without knowing jack what is right or wrong, and the results was sometime it's right and sometime it's wrong :D

there are not many players here who easily share their knowledge.

i'm gonna read it again carefully now, and perhaps will ask some questions again later..

thanks for the enlightenment..
Click to expand...

The name is Donny Lutz, but thanks for the comment!
 
A pleasure. Do those two comparisons I mentioned then write again to let us know "how" you apply english and we'll all chat.
 
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