Is an aiming system accurate?

txplshrk said:
Your absolutely right about the cue ball. I wasn't talking about contact points on the cue ball though. I was talking about 6 contact points on the object ball. Once you know the 6 contact points, you can adjust anything else you need to, english, stroke speed, etc. If you know the 6 contact points then it is a lot easier to figure out what comes next.


I think you might need to explain it in greater detail. Do you mean there are 6 hit points on the OB that will cause it to go to the pocket assuming overlaps are not considered?
 
My buddy Einstein

Cornerman said:
I doubt Albert Einstein came up with anything so mundane as how to pocket pool balls.

Fred

Einstein used billiards and billiard balls all the time in the explanation of time, space and quantum physics...as far as the six shot business...I doubt it. Sounds like good marketing.

Nick
 
Overlaps

Well like I said you don't have to believe there are only 6 points of contact on an OB. I just know there are the only 6 points that you need to consern yourself with.

As far as overlaps what are you talking about? I am not sure I understand what your asking.
 
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txplshrk said:
Well like I said you don't have to believe there are only 6 points of contact on an OB. I just know they are the only 6 points that you need to consern yourself with.

As far as overlaps what are you talking about? I am not sure I understand what your asking.


This is why I need a more detailed explaination. I'm not quite sure what you mean.

Are you saying that there are only 6 possible points to hit the OB to pocket it?
 
Ob

There are only 6 points on the OB that you need to consern yourself with to pocket balls. Yes that is exactly what I am saying. When I get back home tonight I will post pics, cause obviously people want to see what I am talking about.
 
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txplshrk said:
Hey guys, I used to believe that aiming came all from experience, and the amount of time you spent playing.

Now that I have been to a billiards school, and got taught by one of the best instructors around, I feel a little different about aiming.

The aiming method they use is S.A.M. it is called that because it is a supplimental aiming method. Or that is what it was originally designed for.

Now, don't get me wrong because it only works for about 90% of the shots out there. Things like jumping, kicking, and such don't work really well with it.

However, things like banks, combinations, regular shots, etc. this system is the best I have seen.

It goes off a principle that Albert Einstine came up with. There is only 6 points of contact on the object ball that you need to consern yourself with. If you get those six points down, and can contact those six points, then you can make about 90% of the shots in pool.

The cool thing is that about 70% of the shots in pool all fall on one contact point. So needless to say if you can hit that contact point you can make about 70% of the shots in pool.

Now, I won't lie, I was skeptical at first. But after using this system since early June, my pool game has dramatically increased. I will say about 90% of the shots I make in a game will hit the heart of the pocket.

Granted like everything out there you have to practice to make this system work for you. But it is the easiest most acurate way of aiming that I have ever seen.

If you all would like to know more about it, there is a guy on here called randyg. He is a BCA instructor and owns a pool school up in Dallas, TX. He could tell you all about this aiming system.

I won't trade this aiming system in for anything, cause already in about 2 months time I am starting to whoop some butt in my pool league.

S.A.M. IS A RIPOFF OF HAL HOULE'S SYSTEMS THAT HE TAUGHT RANDY G. IT'S UNETHICAL NOT TO ACKNOWLEDGE HAL. WE SHOULD GIVE CREDIT WHERE IT'S DUE. :(

Brian
 
pete lafond said:
It seems that many talk about aiming systems. Is the purpose to get the general point of where to hit the OB? Are aiming systems pinpoint accurate?

I've read and players have told me about the aiming system they use. Just thinking back after playing 10 ball today; There were several shots that required not only pinpoint accuracy due to partially blocked pocket, but also consideration for CB movement, throw and English. Conditions were - High humidity. Looking back it seems that there would be no way a system could compensate for so much. To me experience of play and locking in on the OB spot just before pulling the trigger seems to be the best system.

So are these systems to help those who have difficulty in pocketing balls? or are they to help you find the spot on the OB?

(Our tables are shimmed a little so we do not have the luxury of buckets.)
Age, type, wear and cleanliness of the cloth and the dirty clean or polished state of the balls are the biggest factors in how the table plays, and they are affected drastically by humidity, the dirtier the more dramatic the effect.

Practicing on old cloth and then playing in pro tournaments with brand new equipment used to drive me crazy. That's why and how I came up with the system I use now and described in another thread. I finally realized it's the lack of curve on the new cloth that is so confusing and hard to deal with. My aiming system does not vary from one shot to the next or from one cloth/table to the next. The stroke on one table for one shot may need to be 5 times as hard on a different table to deliver the cueball without curve, so you may need to choose a different type of shot. The good thing is that the more sticky it is, the more you can use english to move the ball, so instead of powering through the same shot, you can use a different shot with far less speed and spin the cueball around the table.

My aiming is for the point the stick goes to in relation to the ghost ball. You account for throw by placement of the ghost ball. The aim is to get the cueball to that point. It's still and always will be impossible to shoot the cueball at the contact point of the object ball and make it unless it's straight in. So to me, that's the one place no one should be looking.

You are right, no aiming system can adjust to those differing conditions. My stroke and shot selection, and placement behind the cueball are adjusted. For side english on newer cloth I'll be more behind the cueball (fewer tips), older cloth less behind (more tips), but still aiming to the same spot downtable. The stroke may vary considerably, but the deflection and aim are as close to the same as possible. The aim and stroke are actually across the line of the cueball, crossing more on new cloth, less on old.

I have all 4" pockets (sides included), and this system is deadly accurate once I play into it and simplify to speed and direction of the cuestick. It still takes me awhile to stop looking at the object ball and rely on my aim and stroke, but once you fully commit to it, you can tell when your stroke was bad (not hard or soft or long enough) or your aim was incorrect for the english used and quickly adjust.

So I don't use my system to find the point on the object ball, I use it to help find the correct stroke much quicker for that particular table. Then I keep using it constantly because it's the only way I want to play and makes the game simpler and easier.

unknownpro
 
APA7 said:
S.A.M. IS A RIPOFF OF HAL HOULE'S SYSTEMS THAT HE TAUGHT RANDY G. IT'S UNETHICAL NOT TO ACKNOWLEDGE HAL. WE SHOULD GIVE CREDIT WHERE IT'S DUE. :(

Brian


Dude, I never said it wasn't Hal Houle's system. I said I learned it from randyg. Don't tell me I am unethical by not acknowleging Hal. I never met Hal, and I didn't learn it from Hal. Sorry if I stepped on Hal's toes, but obviously randyg got permission from Hal to teach it. I simply stated that I learned it from randyg at his pool school. So don't get so bent out of shape. It is an awesome system. I just simply told the guys in here that it is a system that works. If you want to get mad at randyg, then so be it, but I am greatful that I learned it up there cause it is a great system.
 
I have said this before but I believe that it's worth mentioning again..... If you want to improve your aim do this practice routine: Scatter all 15 balls out on the table keeping them at least 4" from the rails, place the cue anywhere on the table, then shoot them all in without hitting a rail.

This will force you to put all of your concentration on the cue ball position. Like magic, your shots go EXACTLY where you planned. It's freaky....
 
txplshrk said:
Well Fred, you don't have to believe me but Albert Einstein was a very avid pool player. His pool playing buddy was Mark Twain.

[...]

Mark twain died in 1910 at about 75 years old. He spent most of the last part of his life in Hartford, CT.

Einstein first visited the US 11 years later in in 1921 and then moved here in 1933 or so.

mike page
fargo
 
txplshrk said:
Well Fred, you don't have to believe me but Albert Einstein was a very avid pool player. His pool playing buddy was Mark Twain.
If these are your facts, then you aren't going to get many believers in anything else you say.

If you don't believe it, then don't use it. If you believe it, or want to try it out, then more power to you.
The delivery of your belief can either draw people in or push them away. Right now, you're pushing them away.

For everyone else, the S.A.M. method of aiming is the Pool School (Cuetech Pool School's) version of the fractional aiming methods that have been around for a long time. Those instructors have been very open with the fact that it was their discussions with Hal Houle and his various relational aiming systems that led them (Pool School) to develop what they now have incorporated in their teaching. What Hal teaches, however, are systems well beyond what S.A.M. teaches and may not necessarily resemble S.A.M.


That being said, these instructors represent every pool player who has scoffed at the idea of aiming systems, and relational aiming systems in specific. Yet, even after decades of teaching, they have been open to the non-standard methods, learned from them, and now embrace them. Others should take that for whatever it's worth.

Fred
 
pete lafond said:
It seems that many talk about aiming systems. Is the purpose to get the general point of where to hit the OB? Are aiming systems pinpoint accurate?
[...]

Here's my view on aiming systems.

My wife used to work as a hospital nurse giving out medications. They had to get the right medications in the right doses from the pharmacy and administer them at the right time to the right patients. There were a number of controls in place designed to insure they did it right.

Occasionally, some old lady would say, "I don't usually get a red pill."

Even though the patient's oversight isn't part of the official approach to getting it right, a nurse would be a fool not to heed this warning and double check.

If one of these aiming systems suggests doing something notably different than the aim based on your normal approach, then consider that a rogue red pill and reevaluate, imo.

mike page
fargo
 
mikepage said:
Here's my view on aiming systems.

....If one of these aiming systems suggests doing something notably different than the aim based on your normal approach, then consider that a rogue red pill and reevaluate, imo.

mike page
fargo

I can't argue with that lol.... I think that these aiming "systems" are hokey as Hell. What ya'll need to work on is feeling the game and trusting your aim. Feel the game and trust your aim. Feel the game and trust your aim. Feel the game and trust your aim. ...

There, now you got it. I take check, paypal or money order....:D
 
txplshrk said:
Well like I said you don't have to believe there are only 6 points of contact on an OB. I just know there are the only 6 points that you need to consern yourself with.

As far as overlaps what are you talking about? I am not sure I understand what your asking.
Is each point about 15 degrees wide?
 
Adding to what Colin said about Aiming and Alingment.

They are not the same thing no. but you can not be consistant unless you have both.

How do you know your "Aim" is correct unless your "Aligned" correctly. And how do you know your "Alingment" is correct unless your "Aim" is correct?

Everyone is different, everyones body is different so how can your stance be the same. (It can't and won't) ... Everyone can however have a consistent and repeatable stance that promotes good cue alignment for thier body type that will lead to better "Aim".

Then again....now that I just came back from the eye doctor....How do you know what your looking at is really where the object is????
 
An earlier poster was correct in that it seems there are different understanding of the terms. I use the term stance to explain how I stand/address the table, where as alignment is bringing head and body into alignment to the shot line, which I do before I go down into my stance.

You can stand on one foot and be aligned, but not natural. Everyone may have a little different stance, but you must be aligned with the direction in which you are going to shoot. Elsewise, as the last poster suggested, you are going to be seeing the ball incorrectly.

Joe Tucker, I think, goes over it in one of his books/DVDs. Basically your eyes trick you into thinking your hitting the center of the cue ball, and your applying english instead. We've all done it at one time or another. Realignment or adaptation is required. Interesting article by Joe.
 
Pics

Ok, I sent pics to all the people that were interested in this aiming method. If you guys on here don't care about S.A.M. or don't like S.A.M. then that is cool. I was just simply sharing information, or sharing the wealth as some people call it.

Just because you don't believe in an aiming system doesn't mean you have to bash someone else's. There are many aiming systems out there that I don't agree with, but some people love them.

I like this aiming system because it is easy to use, and it works!! If you don't think it works it is because your not doing it correctly, but I guess that could be said about most aiming systems.

Anyway, if you all change your mind and want the pics, and to learn more about S.A.M., then all you have to do is ask me.
 
Joey A

Hey JoeyA, your inbox is full I can't send you the pics until you have some free space.
 
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