the feel is after the hit so means nothing except for the mental aspect of it. and if that affects your game then it is important to get that part right.
same with a golf putter. unless something is wrong with it. as can be proven by the diversity of putters used by the top pros. its mostly all mental.
but if changing because of that helps, do it.
Again, we seem to be on opposite sides of the fence on this point. Indeed, the feel of the hit means nothing except for the mental aspect and I concur with you. Once the hit occurs,the cue ball is moving and the shot either goes in or not or the cue ball reaches its intended destination, i.e., position. So really, there is nothing that can be done after the hit except evaluate what happened and how it felt. Was you head in the right position, was my stance low enough, did I move while stroking or LUFU…..a golf acronym……how did my stroke feel, was my wrist straight, my grip too tight, what about my bridge length and of course, stroke speed and how hard I hit the cue ball which imparts a certain tactile feel to my fingers and palm. Absolutely, everything after the hit is absolutely mental. Sure, it can become a distraction.
However, like most things in life, there’s a flip side to a coin and mental does not need to be a distraction. Quite the contrary, it is what distinguishes the best players, athletes, competitors because they use it to their advantage. The
great players learn from what just happened and if they liked the outcome they want to repeat it. If the outcome wasn’t
to their satisfaction, they figure out how to change it. In baseball, the player learns to lay off certain pitches. In Golf, a player learns not to try and squeeze another 10-12 yards from swinging a club that resulted in an errant shot instead of choosing a different club. Pool is no different and if you do not learn anything from the shot you just pocketed, even if
it’s only the feel of the shot, you are limiting your potential to improve. In other words, you are limiting your potential.
If you swing and hit a home run and barrel the baseball, you don’t feel it through the throat of the barrel or the handle.
It is like you swung and it seemed easy. The same happens in golf where you center hit the iron, wood or driver. The
longest drives you’ll ever hit feel like you didn’t swing hard. The vibration is miniscule because you hit dead center on
the face. Swinging a hockey stick, tennis request, baseball bat, golf club translate into a sense of tactile feel and a pool cue is not very different but some players have cues and strikes that interfere with appreciating it or just think this is all
a bunch of hooey. Okay, not much you can do with that mental outlook but having an open mind might be a lot more
beneficial in the long run.
The feel of the shot or stroke provides feedback which is both a physical sensation as well as how you assess or judge it, i.e., mental. An athlete chill makes changes in their swing based on their swing achieved and how it felt. A pool player is no different. Maybe I need to scuff my tip, refresh its shape, pay more attention to my grip position, did I rush my stroke at the end and it did not feel smoothly delivered, did I stroke too hard or soft? The hit of a cue can and does
communicate with a pool player because they know what they intended & have a dirty of experience hitting pool balls.
A pool player gets to know when he hits a terrific shot and the cue ball energy results in ideal position. That shot had a feel to it. It can be the length of the backstroke, speed of follow thru, how much tip contact happened if horizontal English was used which feels different than vertical hits like follow thru or stop/stun shots. Yes, pool is a game on mental concentration and physical skills but I submit that mental awareness and paying closer attention to the tactile
aspect of stroking a pool ball reveals helpful, useful information for becoming a better pool player. Pro athlete rely on this approach to excel in their professions so why shouldn’t amateurs emulate that approach?
Just make the ball.
When you know that you're gonna make the ball you can take what the table gives you.
Obladi Oblada works for some pool players but I am cut from a different fabric. Predictability, consistency & success
are my 3 goals when I play pool and accepting the outcome of your shot is undeniable since there there are no mulligans or do overs. But learning from every shot you attempt is the ultimate key to becoming the best you can be.
