Is Touch Of Inside "the teacher"

CJ, Does TOI work well with any particular aiming system or is the aiming system irrelevant?
 
we must change the natural {shot} perception to play the game to our potential

Yes, it works with any aiming system that allows you to favor the inside of the pocket. The 'Touch of Inside' is about altering your visual relationship to the cue ball, thus altering your perception of how angles are created.

Pool's not like shooting a rifle where you can "aim" at the target directly (the cue ball's the primary target, the object ball's the secondary and the pocket is really your ultimate "target") and immediately see the accurate feedback. This is because there's something in between what you're physcially influening (the cue ball) and the desired response (making the ball in the pocket).

This is why we must change the natural {shot} perception to play the game at OUR highest potential.....this is done by creating a way to directly connect where you're hitting the cue ball to where you're connecting to the pocket.

Here's a FREE video to show you more about the '3 Part Pocket System' - click here



CJ, Does TOI work well with any particular aiming system or is the aiming system irrelevant?
 
A question

I've noticed that when the CB and OB are close to one another at angles of around 40 - 45 degrees and I'm shooting all the ways up-table, I have to apply very little TOI and the OB can easily go off course with too much TOI. Am I reading this situation correctly?

Thanks in advance.
 
May i ask kindly someone expalins to me what is "Touch of inside" exactly? Playing the ball with a touch of inside english or what?
 
Below are some free videos to explain more:

May i ask kindly someone expalins to me what is "Touch of inside" exactly? Playing the ball with a touch of inside english or what?

There's a 90 minute video dedicated to explaining TOI, and basically it's favoring the inside of the cue ball on each shot. This promotes more of a cut on the object ball so you can align to the inside of the pocket - this allows a player to see the "pocket zone" which is 'The 3 Part Pocket System' - Below are some free videos to explain more:

WHAT IS TOI AND HOW WILL IT BENEFIT MY GAME? - click here

WHAT IS THE 3 PART POCKET SYSTEM?

CAN YOU BEAT THE GHOST PLAYING ROTATION USING TOI?

HOW ABOUT ONE POCKET, CAN YOU RUN BALLS USING TOI?
 
CJ, I grew up shooting with larger diameter shafts, and now find myself uncomfortable shooting with anything smaller than 13mm, with my regular playing shaft being a 13.5mm. I've seen you mention a few things about this in the past, but in your opinion does shooting with a larger diameter shaft impede a player's ability at the higher levels?

For the record, I play on large tables whenever possible, but I do still get stuck shooting on a barbox from time to time.
 
CJ, I grew up shooting with larger diameter shafts, and now find myself uncomfortable shooting with anything smaller than 13mm, with my regular playing shaft being a 13.5mm. I've seen you mention a few things about this in the past, but in your opinion does shooting with a larger diameter shaft impede a player's ability at the higher levels?

For the record, I play on large tables whenever possible, but I do still get stuck shooting on a barbox from time to time.

The best money-player I ever saw used a 14mm shaft and he got me to switch to one too. The best pool I ever shot was with a 14mm shaft.

I used it on 7, 8, and 9-foot tables and even on snooker tables.
 
The best money-player I ever saw used a 14mm shaft and he got me to switch to one too. The best pool I ever shot was with a 14mm shaft.

I used it on 7, 8, and 9-foot tables and even on snooker tables.

I picked up the larger shaft habit from my dad, who also shot with a 14mm, and who was a very good shot in his day (100+ ball runs in straight pool.)

There does seem to be a trend with modern players toward smaller tip sizes in general though, which is what prompted my question.
 
Most of the players I've been around lately play with 11.75 - 12.5mm.

While it's possible play on a 9' table with a shaft larger than 13mm I certainly wouldn't recommend it. My "rule of thumb" is the bigger the table, the smaller the shaft diameter. I've found a smaller shaft produces very accurate "quick english" that's needed to get out of tough angles on a bigger table (9' and 10')......on a bar table this really isn't a factor.

You'll need to move the cue ball around more on a bigger table, and it's easier to do with a smaller shaft (with accuracy). Most of the players I've been around lately play with 11.75 - 12.5mm....I use around a 12mm (it started out 12.5 and I've sanded it down) and have played with as low as an 11mm (I believe that was too small and demanded my stroke to be almost perfect).

This area of the game is personal preference because it does matter what style of play you favor. If you use a lot of english you'll be better off with a smaller shaft for the most part. On a bar table you may want to stick with your present size, but don't be shy about experimenting with at least a 13mm to see the difference.



CJ, I grew up shooting with larger diameter shafts, and now find myself uncomfortable shooting with anything smaller than 13mm, with my regular playing shaft being a 13.5mm. I've seen you mention a few things about this in the past, but in your opinion does shooting with a larger diameter shaft impede a player's ability at the higher levels?

For the record, I play on large tables whenever possible, but I do still get stuck shooting on a barbox from time to time.
 
This is certainly one way to look at the game.
The other way is to make the game and layout do what YOU want .... to shoot the shot YOU want to every time, instead of {being told} by the table situation.
If I know what side of the cue ball I'm going to hit, the speed I'm going to shoot and the way to consistently create angles every time......don't I have much less to think about?
Over a long period of time the player that uses less variables and has to make LESS decisions will dominate the contest.
"The beginner will see many ways to go about playing each shot, the master will see only one". This all starts with the willingness to change your own perception....to "real eyes" that there may be another way.....a better, more effective way. 'The TOI Game is the Teacher'
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Your Touch of Inside procedure is very very good and certainly reduces the number of decisions a player tries to make at the table. The video has upped my game considerably and I am an old man too, of 75. I am the typical pool room $20.00 bettor. I still wear no glasses, except some #1.5 reading glasses I buy at the dollar store for two bucks. I do 5 flights of stairs, three times a day and dance with young girls for hours in the evenings. Quit smoking when Lucky Strikes were 27 cents a pack and only have 2-3 drinks of Crown Royal with water each day. Trying to stay healthy WILL improve somebody's game...I don't care who they are
Something interesting: When I was a kid learning to play, Danny Jones was the top gun around Atlanta. He had a line drawn on the ferrule of his stick and he said he lined the line up straight at the point of contact on the OB and then he rotated the line (not a pivot) slightly in his shooting hand before pulling the trigger....this gave him a touch of inside english automatically He swore he'd gotten it from Wimpy...they were all a few years older than me but I used and still use that line to produce that TOI you advocate. "It gives me less to worry about at the table...I want to simplify as much as I can", Danny said. Also he had only two bridges...open handed on all shots except when he had to draw the cue ball or break hard..then he used a closed bridge.
You can probably see that Danny Jones was my boyhood pool room "hero". Funny how things that worked 60 years ago will work now...back then with communications no where like they are today, nobody even paid much attention to these discoveries.
Your information is well worth the money, attention, and effort required. Those who snicker and giggle remind me of those well known "pool room detectives" who wouldn't bet a nickel they were even alive....yet they can tell you exactly how to run every rack, (as railbirds), that is.
Keep on keeping on.....Regards,
Flash
 
Would this be a good system if let's say I already unintentionally favor one side of the cue, it seems to me that there is something of about my stroke that I tend to hit right just a tiny tiny bit by accident and if I want to hit dead center I have to aim to hit left of center, I know its probably a bad way to do it but it's alot more consistent for me then trying to hit center or I guess what my eyes are telling me is center..
 
it's always enlightening for me to hear from players like yourself

Your Touch of Inside procedure is very very good and certainly reduces the number of decisions a player tries to make at the table.

The video has upped my game considerably and I am an old man too, of 75. I am the typical pool room $20.00 bettor. I still wear no glasses, except some #1.5 reading glasses I buy at the dollar store for two bucks.

I do 5 flights of stairs, three times a day and dance with young girls for hours in the evenings. Quit smoking when Lucky Strikes were 27 cents a pack and only have 2-3 drinks of Crown Royal with water each day. Trying to stay healthy WILL improve somebody's game...I don't care who they are

Something interesting: When I was a kid learning to play, Danny Jones was the top gun around Atlanta. He had a line drawn on the ferrule of his stick and he said he lined the line up straight at the point of contact on the OB and then he rotated the line (not a pivot) slightly in his shooting hand before pulling the trigger....this gave him a touch of inside english automatically

He swore he'd gotten it from Wimpy...they were all a few years older than me but I used and still use that line to produce that TOI you advocate. "It gives me less to worry about at the table...I want to simplify as much as I can", Danny said. Also he had only two bridges...open handed on all shots except when he had to draw the cue ball or break hard..then he used a closed bridge.

You can probably see that Danny Jones was my boyhood pool room "hero". Funny how things that worked 60 years ago will work now...back then with communications no where like they are today, nobody even paid much attention to these discoveries.
Your information is well worth the money, attention, and effort required.

Those who snicker and giggle remind me of those well known "pool room detectives" who wouldn't bet a nickel they were even alive....yet they can tell you exactly how to run every rack, (as railbirds), that is.
Keep on keeping on.....Regards,
Flash

Thank you very much for sharing your insights and experience with TOI. Luther Lassiter is who I've been compared to most by players like Wade Crane, Weldon Rogers, and others who saw both of us play. I also knew Danny, but he was pretty advanced in age when I saw him play.

The TOI is an interesting system, and certainly not for everyone. If a player is unwilling to change their current thoughts, ideas and attitudes about how pool is played they will probably not be able to commit the 3 hours necessary to experience the 'Touch of Inside'.......3 hours doesn't seem like much of a commitment, but it is a commitment and that's what makes it so very, very difficult for some, and easy for others.

Best Regards, my friend, it's always enlightening for me to hear from players like yourself....you have several decades of experience, and understand pool at a very deep level............play well, the game is our teacher.
 
Does anyone know if the top snooker players use also TOI or not?
 
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you can develop your feel and touch using TOI for the rest of your life

When you start to understand {and apply} the deeper levels of TOI it's apparent that favoring the inside of the cue ball will do 3 useful things for your game:

1) Give you more "margin of visual error" - it's easier to find one side of center

2) Give you more "margin of physical error" - if you miss your exact "cue target" with your tip it will cause you to either hit center (no deflection), or further to that one side (which will deflect the object ball into the outside of the pocket).

3) Give you more "margin of mental error" - when you have taken the pressure off your self to find "exact center" and hit the ball "exactly straight" to pocket balls it will give you a sense of mental relief - this translates into more confidence and enjoyment.

You don't have to have "perfect eyesight" to utilize the "Touch of Inside" effectively, as a matter some of the greatest players didn't have above average vision - what they did have is a great feel and touch for the pocket/game.....which is much more valuable to play at your peak performance. You can't do much about poor vision other than corrective, but you can develop your feel and touch using TOI for the rest of your life. 'The TOI Game is the Teacher'


Would this be a good system if let's say I already unintentionally favor one side of the cue, it seems to me that there is something of about my stroke that I tend to hit right just a tiny tiny bit by accident and if I want to hit dead center I have to aim to hit left of center, I know its probably a bad way to do it but it's alot more consistent for me then trying to hit center or I guess what my eyes are telling me is center..
 
Drat it all!

Any time I set a shot up for TOI I can shoot with confidence knowing it'll pot through the center of the pocket. I ran 59 balls yesterday and missed because of a miscue while trying a draw shot where I lunged at the ball. I guess it's time to practice drawing the CB again. :o
 
TOI allows much more "mental horsepower" to be applied to playing the game

Any time I set a shot up for TOI I can shoot with confidence knowing it'll pot through the center of the pocket. I ran 59 balls yesterday and missed because of a miscue while trying a draw shot where I lunged at the ball. I guess it's time to practice drawing the CB again. :o

Yes, once the player starts to adapt to the TOI, it allows much more "mental horsepower" to be applied to playing the game (rather than deciding which side of the ball to hit, the shot speed, angle creation, etc).

Our subconscious is like a giant "mega-computer," that can make any shot and run out virtually every time. The issue is ourselves.....we start "thinking" about everything and it keeps us from utilizing this mental "weapon" that we both have. It takes a LOT of potential "mental horsepower" to make adjustments for flawed fundamentals using the conventional methods.

Committing to the "Touch of Inside" technique (for 3 hours) will show a player clearly when they have flawed fundamentals......then, they are directed to a different path, one that helps them establish a precise way to hit the TOI, because hitting the cue ball accurately, and precisely is the key to playing at a high level, not matter what kind of "system" you choose.

Using the Touch of Inside Technique may feel like an entirely different "pool experience," but remember "If it feels right {in pool}, it's probably wrong".....it's a paradox, like many other things in life. 'The Game is the Teacher'
 
some days you'll play well, and on other days it may seem like you've forgotten......

I use TOI on a bunch of shots and it works great. It just takes some practice to get used to it.

I like teaching the TOI to players because, for the first time in their lives, their subconscious will have enough information to develop their own style. If you go through life just using one side of the cue ball you are limiting yourself in three different ways:

1) You will see many options when there may be only one (most effective) or two.

2) You won't see options where there may one or two.

3) Your mind will only have 50 - 70% of the information available to play the game, therefore your style will be fragmented.....some days you'll play well, and on other days it may seem like you've forgotten how to play. This is when that extra 30% would really be noticeable and turn a "bad" day into another fulfilling and enjoyable day of competing.
 
When Learning to Play Your Best "If it Feels Right, it's Probably Wrong"

I was taking a couple of extra classes at one time also. Part of that included the teaching, learning roles of
seeing, hearing and kinesthetically. It made me realize what areas that I was best suited for in order to learn.

I guess that this is attributed to Ben Franklin. One shop that I worked in had this on the wall.

Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.

Pool teaches the answers are usually opposite of what is considered "logical".......life is full of paradoxes as well.....the classic example is "it's better to give than to receive".....it's absolutely true, yet still takes many people a lifetime to "real eyes" ...such is life - The Game is the Teacher
 
I just recovered last night from a 3 day slump. Boy... It was bad! I was embarrassed even though I was alone. I got out of as fast as the snap of a finger. Boy... did I get out of it! I tried something I'd done before in this situation.

I usually use a stroke similiarly to one that C.J refers to as a "pin" stroke, although I'm not trying to drive the ball into the cloth. I am; however, trying to hit the ball like I'm slicing through butter. As in the past, I thought maybe I was getting loose and lazy with it. Basically; It was getting stale. A drastic change was needed.

So I started hitting the ball with my "Thud" stroke. What's that? Well; it's the exact opposite of hitting the ball like I'm trying to slice through butter. It's blunt, with less of a follow through. It feels like if I do it 5 times my tip is going to mushroom. It sounds like a THUD!

I'm sure my "THUD" stroke will eventually get stale and I'll have to start moving back to to my quasi- pin stroke, but my "Thud" stroke sure is working now.

I'm highly cognizant that many of my posts make no sense to almost anyone but me. I'm also highly cognizant that the reason for this may be that I lack any sense whatsoever; but, magnanimous and courageous guy I am, I'll endure the slings and arrows if it helps just one other senseless guy like me.
 
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