Try this. You seem to play enough that your probably walking up to the shot the same every time which is Good and what you want....if not then you need to fix this first. If your cutting a ball to the right, and your consistently over or undercutting the ball, that's a good thing and fixable, Same goes for a left hand cut. Just walk up to the shot a 'little' more left or right before your down on the shot with your hand on table. It won't seem or feel right, but try it....it works. When I shoot a break shot I just walk up and alls good, but if I cut a shot down the rail to the right, I have to walk up to the shot more left and vise versa. Your body as it comes from the upright position then down to the play surface to cut a ball contorts differently for each person, and moreso with taller people (not always). By watching your makes and misses 100% of the time, your answers will be addressed. Now if your at a play level where your not totally understanding ball collisions, you've got more work to do.
On your next visit to the optometrist ask them to check for prism correction (it's not part of the standard exam; you have to ask for it).
Prism correction is when one of your eyes (or both, but just one is enough to screw things up) isn't looking straight ahead. In your case it sounds like one eye might be looking slightly to the left. It creates a double image that you can't really discern, but it's enough to throw things off.
I've lived with it all my life, but never realized I had it until I took up pool 18 months ago. I played high school and college football, pretty serious tennis, etc., all without ever knowing I was seeing double. But billiards is the most exacting thing I've ever asked my eyes to do...and that's when it became apparent.
The bad part is that it can only be corrected with glasses; contacts or lasik surgery can't correct it.
Have you tried the drills and procedures on the vision center resource page?
They might be helpful.
Good luck,
Dave
Learn the TOI and you will be gtg! always at center cue ball lol![]()
How firm were you hitting the cue ball to do this drill? I would suggest hitting it so the cue ball would go 3 table lengths (27ft) in speed.
I may have not understood, it just sounds like you're "slow rolling" the stroke, which is almost setting yourself up to de accelerate, and that's not desirable imo.
The Break Rak is the best practice devise to "fine tune" your stoke, and it's "not just for breaking anymore". 'The Game is the Teacher'
ChopStick:
Sounds like you have an alignment perception error (i.e. head/eye alignment over the cue, in relation to a dominant eye). Like you, I once had this issue where I was just ever-so-slightly hitting the cue ball off-center, and, for me, it had to do with the fact that I seemed to be favoring the left eye due to the natural 45-degree alignment to the shot line that the normal pool stance puts the player in. (That is, for a right-hander, the 45-degree alignment naturally puts the head at a slight diagonal alignment over the cue such that the left eye slightly "leads" over the cue. If you're a right-hander and left-eye-dominant, this is alignment nirvana. Good examples are Willie Mosconi and Ralf Souquet.) But for me, it wasn't nirvana, and I would consistently hit the cue ball just slightly to the right of center. I adapted my aiming / potting accordingly, but I never figured out why I couldn't "find" center ball, especially on the "lag the cue ball up the length of the table and back to the tip" drill.
Fast forward a couple years, when I was completely wowed by a snooker professional thwacking the back of the pockets on a 12-foot snooker table at long distances, and I was inspired to throw away my pool stance and adopt snooker fundamentals. Snooker fundamentals force you to adopt a square stance over the cue, and for the first time, my face was squared over the cue and I could "find" center ball on that lagging drill every time. Again, though, I was still at a loss why I couldn't achieve the same thing with the pool stance. This was an open, nagging question to me for the longest time.
Fast forward another couple of years, when I accidentally discovered the publication "Answers to a Pool Player's Prayers" by Richard Kranicki, and the answer hit me right square in the forehead. I discovered, through the drills, examples, and drawings/photos in this publication, that I was 100% "equal-eyed" binocular -- meaning, no eye dominance. The pool stance, through the natural 45-degree angle that it "wants" put your head/eye alignment in (i.e. making my left eye "lead" over the cue slightly), was discriminating against my right eye, and my mind, being used to equal-eye perception, was pulling the cue slightly to the right to compensate. I had no idea, but thanks to the very descriptive drawings in this publication, it was clear as day to me from then on. All I had to do during my pool stance days, was just crane my neck a bit (just a bit) to turn my head slightly to the left to square my face over the cue. However, the snooker fundamentals solved this problem -- inadvertently and unbeknownst to me at the time -- permanently, so this is the way I play now.
This book, to me, is worth its weight in gold. Here's a quick link to its entry on Amazon, if you're interested:
http://amazon.com/Answers-Players-Prayers-Richard-Kranicki/dp/1588204456
I hope this is helpful!
-Sean
Hi there and i feel your frustration with your alignment.
If you can call me for the free phone lesson I do with Perfect Aim I will help you figure this out.
No gadgets or fancy this or that. I will just teach you what I have been teaching for 4 years now with great success with about 99% amazement.
Just be by a table and call me.
Stance, stroke and shot alignment will get real easy in a quick hurry.
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I have been aware for some time that I have a visual error. I see the center of the cue ball as being slightly to the right of where is actually is. I discovered this using Joe Tuckers pitchfork looking thing. I forget what it is called. I have also used Joes laser trainer which showed me the same thing. That is easy enough to deal with because I know it is there.
Yesterday, I got serious about accuracy in cue ball contact. I spent three hours doing the drill where you shoot the cue ball down the table, hold your tip in the finish position and have the cue ball come back and hit your tip. I was using a measle ball so I could see any spin I put on it. The problem is that when I do this, the cue ball comes back to the right of my shaft every time. It is not by much. The left edge of the cue ball comes down the right edge of my shaft. It happens so consistently I began to wonder if the table was not level. I tried this on different tables and the result is the same and by the same amount. Different speeds also produce the same result. Always to the right. Never, not one time did it go left.
Well, I started changing my stance, head position, stroke position bending myself around like a pretzel and maybe once in thirty tries I get the right result but I cannot repeat it for more than two or three times. Then it goes back to the right. The only good news is that when I do it right, however that is happening, the center of the cue ball comes right back to the center of my tip. I saw my own chalk mark right above the center of my tip once.
I am shooting these shots diamond to diamond. I tried moving the tip to the left but I can see left hand spin on the cue ball as it is leaving and it still comes back to the right. The only thing I can think of is that I am missing the diamond. It all ties back to how I am lining up to the shot. Something is wrong and I just can't find it.
i got a similar problem, i can get the rock back to the tip on a 9' table doing that drill, when i think i'm hitting center ball the CB comes back 4" to the right(shooting the same speed each shot) 90% of the time, when i am center ball I feel like i'm off to the left. its a problem and i been working on it the past few months, its not a good thing. i noticed too if i play more often then i do seem to get to the center of the rock, but take a few days off-im off.
this is exactly why i say champions are born, not built. they still got to pay their dues, but i dont think they got problems like this built in, Earl hits the ball straight from day one IMO.