is this an aiming issue? do i need an instructor?

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el_h3fe

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
there will be alot to this one so i apologize in advance lol. ive played pool for about 4 years and right now im an 8 in 9ball and a 7 in 8 ball (to give you an idea where i am in my abilities) and taught myself how to play. im sure i learned all the wrong ways but i did the best i could. about 2 and a half years in, i hit a slump and started missing balls. all of a sudden i was missing easy shots. 3 months into my slump i picked back up and atarted shooting lights out again and now about 3 months or more ago it hit me again.

i have tried everything to get it back... i dont know what the issue is.... some ppl say its mechanics, some say its all in the head etc... i basically started analyzing everything and changing things up to fix it. so much that i dont even remember what normal is for me anymore. i changed everything from my stance to my footing, how high above or lose to the table my head is, held the cue butt tight, held it loose, changed where i held the butt, changed my wrist holding it stRandy ight up and down, hold my wrist in, hold it out, changed how loose or tight i hold the shaft, elevated the shaft, held the shaft closer to the felt, had my shaft hand close to the cue all, had it further back... EVERYTHING.

I also noticed that i kinda do a thing with my pinky when im holding the butt loose. kinda like i flixk my pinky or use my pinky finger to create a bit of a roll when i shoot. i dunno, its hard to explain. i dont know what to do anymore. i dunno if i need an instructor or if i need to just find someone very knoledgable about this stuff and just make a video or me shooting a few racks.

anyone got anything at all? any input suggestions or recommendations? plz not the old its in your head routine. im sure it is now but it wasnt when i was shooting good. what happened that started the whole getting in my head thing? anyway... help please. im desperate lol. i need my stroke back.

thanks alot guys.
 
You have messed with so many things, the best thing now is to go to a good instructor.
 
I'm not sure... but I would take a guess & say that when you were playing well you did something that you thought would make it better. Going for perfection so to speak. Whatever it was it started the ball rolling downhill & it snowballed.

I once injured my elbow & could not play golf for nearly a year. It was at a time that I was somewhat obsessed with the game so I was rather upset. Even though I could not play, my mind was on the game & my swing & I was reading everything I could find about the swing just as I had been doing when I could & was playing.

The thing is that I had almost no improvement when I was playing. But, when I came back from the nearly one year off, my game had improved by about 10 strokes. That's a lot.

I think part of the reason was that since I could not play, I did not get any negative feedback from any of the changes that I made mentally. So, when I actually did get back to playing it was all with a positive outlook & expectations.

I would suggest that you forget all of what you've done & maybe take some significant time off. Then when you go to play, do just that...PLAY.

Forget stroke mechanics & everything else other than just playing the game. Focus on playing the game & ALLOW your former good stroke to come back.

Just a thought & what might be an easy fix.

Good Luck & All the Best 2 You,
Rick

PS IF you miss, don't analyse why. Give it some time & ALLOW your subconscious to figure it out. In other words, stay out of your own way.
 
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What you have is "analysis paralysis"!

Something started going wrong and you began changing everything to figure out where the problem was.

More often than not it all goes back to the fundamentals.

Based on what you've written and all the unorthodox attempts to correct the problem, I suspect that you may not have a firm grasp of the fundamentals.

It may be time to find someone who does.
 
i was half asleep when i was typing this last night but meant to include this too... exactly what you said, dtl. i think i got so comfortable that im not placing the right focus on the shot, causing me to be off when i shoot. it happened to me in highschool with baseball when i was batting... basically what happened is i got extremely good in a short period of time and then all at once i couldnt hit the ball. i got so relaxed that i didnt have that heightened sense of awareness and lost the "edge" so to speak that made me sharp. i think this could have happened as a result of playing too much pool. i play six times a week for league and practice on weekends.

all in all im basically playing e ery single day. for all i know, i could take a week off and come back shooting lights out but pool doesnt wait for me to get my stroke back, lol. i am trying to see what i can do tostill play all the time but get it back. i played several years straight with no issues.

an interesting side note is that every two weeks or so, mybold self shines througb and i start running racks and playing flawlessly as i did prior to the start of this. people say "its all in your head just go back to the basics and play through it. youre just in a slump." i just disagree that this is a simple slump because when this happens its for months at a time. the last time it happened and i came out of it, i shot good for like two months and it happened again.

rrick35, it may seem as if i dont know the fundamentals of the game, but i do. i know what i am SUPPOSED to do but i was willing to make extremely unorthodox changed that i knew werent accurate in terms of proper fundamentals but i didnt care as im willing to try anything to help me find my stroke. i was convinced that the issue (and still believe that alot of the issue could be) all in holding the butt of the cue. i used to deathgrip and be ame suc essful but then loosened up a bit and on top of that i recently cant help but incorporate my pinky into it causing my pinky to sometimes act as a base to hold the cue up or somegimes cause a roll of the cue or a "snap/flick" of the cue.

at this point, i believe i am going to consider an instructor but in the mean time i may just see if anyone feels like critiquing me posting a video of me shooting a few racks at the bar. im wure even regular players can give me some valuable feedback. does anyone know of good instructors in my area? im in haverstown, md and can travel as baltimore md, winchester va, chambersburg pa, or martinsburg wv. these are all surrounding areas within an hour and a half of me. theres a guy named mark powell who i was told is a pretty good instructor out of Charlies pro shop in baltimore and also karen korr does lessons out of champions in frederick but i dont think she is what im looking for. any other recommendations?

i know these are long posts but i appreciate you guys taking the time to read over this and share your opinions, tips and techniques.
 
If you are going to go the instructor route, which I think you may not need, I would recommend Fran Crimi in New York. She has incites that many do not as she was a Professional Player before becoming a Master Instructor. Perhaps she can meet you somewhere in between.

Good Luck & Best 2 You & All,
Rick
 
ENGLISH! said:
If you are going to go the instructor route, which I think you may not need, I would recommend Fran Crimi in New York. She has incites that many do not as she was a Professional Player before becoming a Master Instructor. Perhaps she can meet you somewhere in between.

Good Luck & Best 2 You & All,
Rick
Click to expand...

Yes, I agree, Fran is the best one for your particular needs.
 
Instead of shooting pool try some simple exercises.

Try shooting the object ball the ball into the pocket with no cue ball and.
Make sure you use your pre shot routine for every shot.

Place the 3 ball and 6 ball about 4 1/2 inches apart on center of the foot rail.
Then place a cue ball on the head spot.
Using your PSR, try to shoot the cue ball at the center of the foot rail and get it to come back over the head spot.

If you get tired of this, set up a straight in shot and and practice making it with stop, follow and draw.
 
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