Is it possible to play good pool with a tilted head - eyes not level?

Last year I had a lesson with Scott Lee who stressed that head tilt actually did not matter. I had a medium tilt and while he (constructively) picked apart my entire stroke and every element of it, he was peachy fine with my head tilt. So it seems the PBIA is ok with tilt.

(FWIW, my tilt is now a small tilt, but still there. Dead-straight does two things--it hurts my neck given the position the rest of my body needs to be in; and it makes me a worse player, since I have 25 years of experience looking at the table with a tilt. If I go straight up and down then I can't even see a shot sometimes until I tilt my head some. The minimum amount that allows me to confidently shoot a shot is now my tilt.)
 
Tilted Head: "In Poker, when a player is on tilt, he is in a state of severe mental and emotional frustration, which causes him to make aggressive and at times even reckless decisions. Generally, this will happen after a player has lost several consecutive hands in a row."

The thread title had me confused. Now I'm on tilt lol
 
ChrisinNC said:
I don’t think so, as I’ve never seen any good players do it. I’ve seen a number of good players, including Mosconi, turn their head slightly to where their left eye might be closer to the cue ball than their right eye, but their head always seems to remain straight up and down.

I often see beginner players in here have a terribly tilted head. It would be nice if, in trying to offer them some help, if I could present them with a fact based easily comprehendible reason as to why you shouldn’t play pool with a tilted head. - Thanks
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This guy seems to be a pretty good player, and that looks like a tilted head to me.
 
ChrisinNC said:
I’m not seeing a tilt - the angle of the photo is deceiving.
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I think readers need to differentiate angled head where the eyes are parrallel to the the table surface but the nose is not pointed along the cue shaft
and tilted where the eyes are not parallel to the table surface
i think this last description is what you are asking about
correct?
 
bbb said:
I think readers need to differentiate angled head where the eyes are parrallel to the the table surface but the nose is not pointed along the cue shaft
and tilted where the eyes are not parallel to the table surface
i think this last description is what you are asking about
correct?
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Yes exactly, level eyes, as stated in the thread title. Many pro players may have their head slightly turned to the target line, but the head / eyes are still level.
 
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I’m just an old Kentucky boy who grew up aiming pool cues and rifles and the basic principles are all the same. Head tilt, or no head tilt, it makes no difference. Head tilt is almost a must when firing a rifle, but just an option in pool.
 
Lawnboy77 said:
I’m just an old Kentucky boy who grew up aiming pool cues and rifles and the basic principles are all the same. Head tilt, or no head tilt, it makes no difference. Head tilt is almost a must when firing a rifle, but just an option in pool.
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Especially obvious for those of us who grew up looking through a peep or iron sight. Scopes were for big game in big country.
 
A critical place for a non-tilted, non-rotated head is when standing erect to consider the next cut angle before stepping into the stance. We were made to walk straight on toward targets, to seem them best.

A lot of amateurs would do better standing with their feet perpendicular to the upcoming shot to assess--instead, they often have one foot forward because they are rushing towards the final stance--their head is thus rotated and sometimes tilted so they see the contact point incorrectly.
 
BilliardsAbout said:
A critical place for a non-tilted, non-rotated head is when standing erect to consider the next cut angle before stepping into the stance. We were made to walk straight on toward targets, to seem them best.

A lot of amateurs would do better standing with their feet perpendicular to the upcoming shot to assess--instead, they often have one foot forward because they are rushing towards the final stance--their head is thus rotated and sometimes tilted so they see the contact point incorrectly.
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I have questioned the importance of a sqare body to asses the the shot line versus a square vision center
Meaning your body could be rotated but you your head is perpendicular to the shot line vwhile standing up
Your thoughts?
 
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ChrisinNC said:
I’m not seeing a tilt - the angle of the photo is deceiving.
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I've noticed his head position as being unusual before. I think you need the right angle to see that he does not have his head in the "standard" position.
 
bbb said:
I have questioned the importance of a sqare body to asses the the shot line versus a square vision center
Meaning your body could be rotated but you your head is perpendicular to the shot line vwhile standing up
Your thoughts?
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I've had the same question, yet:

* When we walk towards any object in space we walk nose on the line, not vision center on the line--we are created to be finders and pointers

* Watch pros--who disobey what I said and stand with a foot forward because they've hit a million shots--except when they face a tough cut next, and do exactly what I said and square to the line

* I have a lot of students whose games have gone way up as I force them to square to the target and pick a target before moving to the stance

* Vision center in the full stance includes a foot forward and therefore, a rotated torso and head--standing square to the line but with your vision center over the line is a parallax view to your completed stance anyway

If you're still not sure, try an entire playing session your way, then an entire session my way--note--be careful to stand perpendicular to the shortest line between the balls, not the rails, ignore the pockets and rails at address. Let me know your findings and I'll help you further if needed.

Thanks.
 
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