.
Determining/playing path/position tells you the ghost ball, shot line, cue tip/cue ball contact point, stroke acceleration/speed, release point, etc. Determining/playing path/position puts the shot to rest: only execution remains. You only have to get down to business. No more questions or doubts. Pure focus. This focus includes minor adjustments for contact (translational)/english (rotational) throw, perhaps effective throw at object ball contact due to translational/rotational cue ball speed, transfer of energy from cue ball to object ball from effects such as humidity or filthy balls, etc. Speaking of which, just merely intending to make the object ball in a pocket only suggests poking around trying to find a hole. Which approach would you recommend to someone just taking up the sport on day one, knowing it will be the foundation of their game for life? Or will you just say, "That's it. Just swing your arm back and forth. Yeah. You're getting it. I think you could become a very good pool player."
We all process and think differently. I really like your post.
For me
focus doesn't really start until I'm in shot execution mode. While I walk around looking, I think... I weigh possibilities, speed, spin, leave, 2-way shots, zones, correct sides, if I could carom an early 9, etc. I'm seeing an
"accidental"
OB into a billiard 2 rail bank into the side pocket.
Those fun "close to wired" trick shots that I might try...
nah better just not get greedy...
Ah screw it the OB is so dead that something good could happen to the ball you used to carom off of...
Once I'm done with the laurel and hardy bit in my own head I make a decision. All of that required no focus, only rote habit and having a good self-BS detector.
That thinking/analyzing stage isn't what I think of as focus. The table analysis stage is letting your mind run wild... kind of like daydreaming. We might as well be playing hopscotch or skipping stones. I think better while not laser focused, To me, focus means clearing your head and getting in that zen state where it's just you and the cloth.
Let's levitate that pretty rock across the worsted meadow... Concentrate on the analysis step for sure, but focus? Save that for something special, like the execution stage.
When I first started playing pool at 15, I literally asked myself, "Self, should I focus on making the balls or playing position?
That was pretty smart of me to ask this question at 15. Should have known better. I chose "making the balls."
I'm not saying you are doing so, but don't beat yourself up for decisions you made as a beginner. You weren't necessarily lazy though you might have been. You didn't know what you didn't know. Why would you waste time with figuring stuff out when your shotmaking could take care of whatever you gave it? I know at 15 I thought I was invincible, there wasn't a shot I didn't think I couldn't make! When I found one I missed a few times, I'd practice that until I was at least 75% on it. Stubbornness to not see anything wrong with that (or in my case ignorance).
I think it's kind of a natural progression. I'd wager that many of the pros from today or yesteryear were shotmakers before they were strategists. It's probably better to learn shape and strategy at the beginning. But without a coach or becoming some old timer at the hall's disciple, there's a slim chance a beginner would know this. That info has always held an almost priceless premium in this game. You might help someone out for "cheap sets" an hourly lesson fee, or maybe for free if you were to see promise in a youngster. The shotmaking is of the utmost importance but at some point it becomes trivial and anyone who takes pool serious will probably naturally progress to focusing more on leave and other strategy.
I hate this fact but it's absolutely right. 