I have a weak side on cut shots

[Gregg]

I seem to constantly over cut shots when shooting to the right. I'm left handed, and feel that some may have the same issue, but to the left, if you will. The same mirror image to the opposite side seems easy, I can see it feel it, but my weak side at times makes me feel like I'm shooting to a blind pocket, so to speak.

The issue I have is that I will line up the cut shot, and see it, feel it, let the cue ball go, and Blam! again, over cut.

I don't want to start to compensate, if you will; I want to be able to see the shot.

I hope my issue is clear, if not, I can elaborate. Any ideas on how to fix this, have similar stories to share?

 

[CocoboloCowboy]

I seem to constantly over cut shots when shooting to the right. I'm left handed, and feel that some may have the same issue, but to the left, if you will. The same mirror image to the opposite side seems easy, I can see it feel it, but my weak side at times makes me feel like I'm shooting to a blind pocket, so to speak.

The issue I have is that I will line up the cut shot, and see it, feel it, let the cue ball go, and Blam! again, over cut.

I don't want to start to compensate, if you will; I want to be able to see the shot.

I hope my issue is clear, if not, I can elaborate. Any ideas on how to fix this, have similar stories to share?

I personally am LEFT HANDED, RIGHT EYE DOMINANT.

That said it makes for fun could you be the same? LEFT HANDED, RIGHT EYE DOMINANT?

Cutting the the Left, requires a different point of Aim, than cutting to the Right. Have you factored in THROW properly??

 

[fan-tum]

I seem to constantly over cut shots when shooting to the right. I'm left handed, and feel that some may have the same issue, but to the left, if you will. The same mirror image to the opposite side seems easy, I can see it feel it, but my weak side at times makes me feel like I'm shooting to a blind pocket, so to speak.

The issue I have is that I will line up the cut shot, and see it, feel it, let the cue ball go, and Blam! again, over cut.

I don't want to start to compensate, if you will; I want to be able to see the shot.

I hope my issue is clear, if not, I can elaborate. Any ideas on how to fix this, have similar stories to share?

I'm the same. Try this--aim normally, then rotate your head a little to the right. Seems to help me.

 

[okinawa77]

First thing...make sure you are not putting unwanted side english on the shot. Once you have established dead center cue ball aim, try the 2 cut shots again. If you're still overcutting, then you have a sighting problem. This means you are hitting the object ball in the wrong place. It can be corrected by using english, but that is not the right way to deal with it. You need to be able to make both shots equally as consistent using dead center cue ball stroke. English should only be considered for getting shape on your next shot.

I shoot with both hands. Primarily right handed, but sometimes I shoot better left handed. I use both my eyes when aiming. So, I don't have to adjust my sighting when changing hands.

 

[BRKNRUN]

One word....Parallax

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallax

(Enjoy)

 

[Gregg]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallax

(Enjoy)

Damn, I knew it;

No, really, I do feel like I'm "on target", lined up, straight, etc. I really would like to be able to determine if I'm putting spin on the cue ball, or if I am having sighting problems. Again, I really don't feel comfortable cutting to the right on a lot of shots.

I am left handed, left eye dominate, and my right eye is a lazy eye, with poor, uncorrectable vision. I've been told I have perception problems, and find the red/blue 3D movies don't really work for me.

I don't mind putting in the hard work to correct this issue, but I want to get to the bottom of it so I am not spinning my wheels.

Thanks for the replies so far.

 

[stikapos]

Wade Crane used to talk about being a right handed or left handed shooter. Absolutely.

tim

 

[Purdman]

I seem to constantly over cut shots when shooting to the right. I'm left handed, and feel that some may have the same issue, but to the left, if you will. The same mirror image to the opposite side seems easy, I can see it feel it, but my weak side at times makes me feel like I'm shooting to a blind pocket, so to speak.

The issue I have is that I will line up the cut shot, and see it, feel it, let the cue ball go, and Blam! again, over cut.

I don't want to start to compensate, if you will; I want to be able to see the shot.

I hope my issue is clear, if not, I can elaborate. Any ideas on how to fix this, have similar stories to share?

There are 3 things you have to do. Practice, Practice and practice. Do it 20 times and write down your percentage of misses. Now do it again and record. Do it one more time today and record. tomorrow, do the same thing and the next day and the next! Do it for a week. Tell me what your percentages of misses is then! On that particular shot.
You are lucky, you know what to work on, and it does take work. Good Luck!
Purdman

I will be waiting for that post on 1/24/08 if you really want to fix the problem.

 

[Dead Money]

I have the same issue on tough cuts and in the spot shot drill I do. I can bang 'em in really good to the left, but miss more shooting them to the right.

 

[leehayes]

I seem to constantly over cut shots when shooting to the right. I'm left handed, and feel that some may have the same issue, but to the left, if you will. The same mirror image to the opposite side seems easy, I can see it feel it, but my weak side at times makes me feel like I'm shooting to a blind pocket, so to speak.

The issue I have is that I will line up the cut shot, and see it, feel it, let the cue ball go, and Blam! again, over cut.

I don't want to start to compensate, if you will; I want to be able to see the shot.

I hope my issue is clear, if not, I can elaborate. Any ideas on how to fix this, have similar stories to share?

That's interesting...I am left handed and yet I shoot to the right better. It was only something I've noticed recently doing drills. Cutting to the right is easier for me but I have found that if I take my time to double check my spots and set up then I don't miss them often anyway.

 

[leehayes]

Damn, I knew it;

No, really, I do feel like I'm "on target", lined up, straight, etc. I really would like to be able to determine if I'm putting spin on the cue ball, or if I am having sighting problems. Again, I really don't feel comfortable cutting to the right on a lot of shots.

I am left handed, left eye dominate, and my right eye is a lazy eye, with poor, uncorrectable vision. I've been told I have perception problems, and find the red/blue 3D movies don't really work for me.

Question for you Gregg....do you find that there are times when you miss shots that you feel completely lined up for and prepared for that you could make 7 out of 10 times?

 

[Gregg]

There are 3 things you have to do. Practice, Practice and practice. Do it 20 times and write down your percentage of misses. Now do it again and record. Do it one more time today and record. tomorrow, do the same thing and the next day and the next! Do it for a week. Tell me what your percentages of misses is then! On that particular shot.
You are lucky, you know what to work on, and it does take work. Good Luck!
Purdman

I will be waiting for that post on 1/24/08 if you really want to fix the problem.

Right!

In the end, I know this is going to be my solution.

I just wanted some incite before I get ahead of myself. Not that I would be smart enough to do anything with it anyways.

Oh, well, back to banging my head off the wall until I get it correct!

 

[BRKNRUN]

Damn, I knew it;

No, really, I do feel like I'm "on target", lined up, straight, etc. I really would like to be able to determine if I'm putting spin on the cue ball, or if I am having sighting problems. Again, I really don't feel comfortable cutting to the right on a lot of shots.

I am left handed, left eye dominate, and my right eye is a lazy eye, with poor, uncorrectable vision. I've been told I have perception problems, and find the red/blue 3D movies don't really work for me.

I don't mind putting in the hard work to correct this issue, but I want to get to the bottom of it so I am not spinning my wheels.

Thanks for the replies so far.

Wow!!! That is spot on me...My glasses prescription has a prizim in the right eye to help correct the lazy eye (double vision)...Of course they don't make contacts that have a prism correction.

I have different astigmatisms in both eys...(in the lens of my eye) so no lasik for me...I can't even find contacts that correct my astigmatism (that I can actually keep in without pain or it moving off my eye.

Anyway...I do wear some basic disposable contacts (only for pool) that do correct my vision to some degree (but do nothing for the astigmatism and lazy eye)

I found a way to kind of beat it...I am like you left handed (at pool anyway) and left eye dominant.

What I practice from time to time is take 2 peices of chalk and set them along line where the cushion meets the rail... I then set up for the shot...What I found initially was when I set up and "thought" I was in line I looked down and noticed the cue was crooked (not in line with the line on the rail)

I practiced setting up with a straight cue along the line and then setting my stance to the cue. What I found (for me) is that when I am set up correctly (with a straight cue) if I close my weak eye and look down, I will not be able to see the line on the rail. (of course with both eyes open I see the line with my right eye)

The cue is positioned (for me) directly under my left eye. If I attempt to put the cue under my chin, I end up with a crooked cue every time...and struggle to even make contact with the CB...mnuch less make the shot.

I even went so far as to practice shooting with my right eye closed. I now "mentally" turn off my right eye (even though it is open) and aim with my left eye only....If I take a break from pool for any length of time...I need to spend some time to re-learn this process. If I look with both eyes at the shot I tend to miss (very badly) just out of the blue

What spurred all this for me was a local instructor that said he saw something about my game that he really liked and wanted to help me develope.

He told me the key "for me" was to "aim" not "look" at each shot...He said it was going to be (again for me) like learning to look through a single view microscope with both eyes open....at first most people have a hard time acutally seeing anything but black with both eyes open, but after a little practice they can look right into a microsope by (aiming) thier dominant eye...

(Ok....it was a few more than just one word...)

...Even the wink guy is left eye dominante...

 

[ndakotan]

Get good advise

I know there are a lot of smart pool players on this site, but some of the advise people get would have me beating my head against the wall. You can tell someone to practice 40 hours a week, but if they are not practicing the right things and learning from the practice, it can do more harm than good.

As a player that has recently gone through most skills issues lately (since I started 5 years ago, I can tell you some specific things to look for.

1. Diagnosing problems in pool technique requires elimination of issues until you find one that looks wrong. Start with the cue ball on the spot and shoot it up table, lag-speed, straight at the middle diamond on the short rail (assumes spot is placed correctly). Hold your finish position until the cue ball comes back. If you have no english and aim correctly, it should come back to your tip. Also, you should be able to see your cue over the spot (look for twisting errors).

2. Shoot straight in shots of any distance (more than half table) and note your performance in making the ob into a corner pocket and keeping the c.b. on the same line. If you follow the ob to the pocket, you are shooting straight with minimal english.

3. Use binder hole reinforcements to ensure exact placement of cb and ob on a cut shot. Repeatedly shoot shot and notice whether you overcut or undercut (which you seem to be doing). Mirror the shot so that you are shooting into the opposite pocket and note the same results. (Use no english)

4. If you miss more often in one direction, set up back cuts (ob further from long rail than cb) and cut balls into the corner. Note whether cuts to the right or left have similar results to part 3 above.

5. I use a trigger cue to see if I am aiming correctly (they are hard to find). I line the cue up and pull the trigger and it shoots the ball). Theoretically I should not miss a non-english shot with this cue. It is a little harder to aim with my trigger cue because I need to stroke to know if I am on line.

6. My cue errors have resulted from: pulling my elbow out away from my body on the final stroke due to tight grip, incorrect arm/elbow/cue alignment, failure to sight down the cue the same way I am used to, raising cue butt unnecessarily, incorrect aim (center of cb to ob contact point versus cb contact point to ob contact point), incorrect accounting for throw and or skid, and not hitting the vertical axis of the cb.

7. I have been told that slight cuts near the long rail may be deceiving due to the long rail affecting how our eyes see the cut and that cutting towards the rail may look like a different cut as the same angle cut away from the rail. I do not have a good feel for this yet, I think it could be a factor in some of my misses.

I tend to miss back cuts more than regular cuts, so I believe it is an aim issue in how I see the contact points on the balls. I can now tell when I am not stroking straight or my elbow pulls out due to a tight grip.

What I am saying is that I eliminate specific aspects of my game as being a problem on certain shots and work on the rest of my game. You don't know if your aim is correct if your stroke is out of line, etc.

 

[Gerry]

Dude!...I'm in the same boat as you. I'm left handed/left eye dominant...I overcut balls to the right, and undercut to the left. Just so we are on the same page, if you are standing at the ball return and shooting a ball in the upper left corner pocket, I would over cut it when I'm not "in line" so to speak.

What do I do about it?....when warming up I cut balls up the long rail and see where I'm naturally hitting them that day. Sometimes I need no adjustment, sometimes I just tell myself to over/under cut shots til I get back in line, which takes about 1/2 an hour.

I have tried abajillion things to compensate for this stigma, but nothing worked til I just told myself to over/under cut. Works like magic.

If your into it, just search my back posts for his same topic under alignment, or over under cutting? something like that. MANY of the great teachers here gave me some VERY solid advise! Thanks guys!

 

[Boro Nut]

I'm not saying it's the answer, but this is the classic sign off hitting off centre in combination with faulty alignment. Cutting one way they can cancel each other out and you don't notice the problem. Cutting the other way they compound each other and you miss badly.

Can you pot a ball in the centre of the table from one corner into the opposite corner? Can you follow it in with the white? This will tell you if you're aligning correctly and hitting the ball on the centreline.

Boro Nut

 

[9baller]

I use the joe tucker stroke trainer and it helps to use only center ball. also the joe tucker laser trainer helps me to see the correct angle on any cut shot. This might be something that could correct your problem seeing the shot incorrectly. I am just a satisfied customer. check out joetucker.net Charles

 

[Bob Jewett]

... The issue I have is that I will line up the cut shot, and see it, feel it, let the cue ball go, and Blam! again, over cut. ...

I have two suggested practice shots. The first is to play straight-ins with follow to scratch in the same pocket as mentioned above, but use a stripe as your cue ball. (Make the stripe roll without wobble.) Second is to shoot spot shots (half ball hit) on each side. That will give you a definite target to aim at with a known angle that's the same on each side. A half-ball spot shot has your stick partly over the corner pocket. A spot shot, for those who have never played anything but ball-in-hand-anywhere is where a ball is placed on the foot spot and the cue ball is in hand behind the headstring.

I wonder if there is such a thing as a sports ophthalmologist.

 

[Travis Bickle]

I've had the same problem, as a right-hander overcutting to the left, particularly on cross-table shots where I'd set up at an angle to the long rail.

For myself, I cured it (I think!) by double-checking my alignment and making sure my eyes (and in my case, especially my dominant left eye) and head were looking straight down the shaft. Believe I might have been pulling in a little toward the center of the table, which would give you a view ACROSS the angle, slightly, and would cause you to mistake the contact area, sending the cb farther to the right, hence overcutting.

 

[Jerry]

I would do what Bob says plus I would shoot it straight in the corner with OB near side pocket and CB a couple of diamonds back, drawing to tip of cue. I'm shooting at half a pocket, so I have to be dead on. (I'm drawing back ~two diamonds to my tip at first; pretty good is drawing back to rail and bouncing back 2 or 3 diamonds). If I'm hitting the same spot over and over, I probably have an alignment and not a stroke problem. It's possible I am clinching (will put left english on CB if you're left-handed) or jumping up. Believe me, I can't focus too hard on the shot; I focus on the OB contact point on the final stroke and watch it to the pocket. I would move the balls further from each other as I got better. I'd get someone to watch me. A mirror is useless to me. Whatever the case, I can correct it or maybe I need to make the adjustment. If I make the adjustment, it will look right after a while. There's no easy solution. This will take lots of work. My 2 cents.