Here are some of the more notable comments John and Corey made about aiming:
- Aiming systems are not factoring in swerve, squirt and deflection. JS
Well in fact some aiming systems do factor those things in. CTE does not as it brings the shooter to a centerball shot line. From there the shooter's experience ought to kick in for any adjustments if needed. That's where hitting balls until your hands bleed is the proper course.
- Aiming is adorable but you still have to deliver (execute). JS
Which is exactly the same thing that aiming system proponents have always said.
- If those aiming systems worked there would be like 4 million people who play like Corey. JS
Assuming that those people could also have Corey's stroke, nerves and knoweldge. Mr. Schmidt says above that execution follows aiming and then he equates aiming with execution in this statement. Seems to me that he just chose to rant without a lot of thought behind it given the inconsistencies in statements.
- These aiming systems are over-rated, that they are a way to sell videos and books and they're a way for people to pontificate about their own greatness." JS
Hal Houle never once sold a single lesson. He gave away his knowledge for free and never spoke of his own playing ability. Stan Shuffet does sell his knoweldge of Hal's methods and the refined version he calls ProOne in DVD form. There is not any way under the sun that Mr. Shuffett developed ProOne as a way to sell DVDs. What he calls ProOne is simply an adaptation of Mr. Houle's methods that he offered as part of his lessons. No one was forced to buy them. To my knowledge Mr. Shuffet has never once shilled this forum since I have been a member trying to sell his services. He only created a DVD after being labeled a snake-oil salesman in order to prove that he could teach the exact steps to the method in a video format. And lastly Mr. Shuffet has never bragged about his greatness. He has been humble and straightforward, letting his results and the results of his students speak for themselves.
- Believe me, if those aiming systems worked those people would be out there winning tournaments but they're not. JS
Yes, they are. Admitted system users have won tournaments. But again it's not solely because of the system as Mr. Schmidt admits to. Again I feel as if he is ranting without any real thought as to what he is saying. Because on one hand he says that it takes more than a system and on the other he says IF the system worked then it would be enough to win tournaments. No system proponent has ever claimed that the use of an aiming system by itself is the magic key to playing great pool and winning events.
- Stevie Moore, you could put a bag over his head and he'd run out. He's already a great player who's playing great in spite of his aiming system not because of it. He could aim at the wall and still make the ball. It's a way of giving him comfort and confidence. JS
So Mr. Schmidt knows more about Mr. Moore than Mr. Moore knows about himself? But let's say that CTE really does just give Mr. Moore comfort and confidence. What's wrong with that? Isn't that what players want? Lets assume that Mr. Schmidt is right and CTE is of no real physical use but it only increases a player's confidence and comfort dramatically. What's so bad about that?
- I think that the reason people have problems with aiming is they don't aim with the cue ball, they aim the cue stick. I aim the cue ball at the spot I'm trying to hit. I think that a lot of amateurs aim with the cue stick. CD
This is where Mr. Duell was trying to explain his aiming system and was rudely interupted. But for that matter CTE and most of Hal Houle's systems are in fact ball to ball aiming methods. Mr. Van Boeing said that he thinks that the problem is that most amateurs aim with the cue ball and not the cue stick. Who's right? Mr. Duell or Mr. Van Boeing?
- If they would go hit more balls, they would become a better player. There's no shortcut to this. The guy who goes to the driving range till his hands bleed, that's the good golfer. JS
Then we can do away with golf coaches? Just send people to the driving range until their hands bleed? There is a certain range of motion that every good golfer has to adhere to in order to play golf. Same for pool and every sport. No matter what the sport there are techniques that are state of the art for the time. Every so often someone figures out a better way and then that becomes the state of the art after the rest of the field adopts that method. There is not a thousand ways to play pool or a thousand ways to golf. Even Mr. Schmidt knows that putting a rank beginner on the range until his hands bleed won't make that person a good golfer. That person needs instruction and guidance to know what techniques he must perfect with his bloody hands. Again Mr. Schmidt is ranting in my opinion without deeper thought behind it. Because with some deeper thought he might come to the conclusion that IF an method of aiming were ok then that coupled with shooing until your hands bleed might result in a really consistent player.
- Deflection and swerve is what makes this game so tough. JS
It's part of it. And nerves, and knoweldge, and nerves, and a good stroke, good touch, speed control, the whole enchilada as they say. The question I have for Mr. Schmidt is HOW do you determine deflection and swerve? Well you can take your cue and hit a million balls until you feel really tuned into how much it delects and swerves under different conditions which you should do of course. Then you have a pretty good educated guess every time you step to a shot. Or you can figure out some way to get a baseline dead center ball shot line and adjust from there. If you are already totally in tune with your cue and you have a dead nuts accurate way to get the shot line then how much better are you going to be in judging the deflection and swerve? I submit that you can be way better than by simply going on feel alone.