Latest Lesson with Stan - An "Eye Opener"

nobcitypool

nobcitypool

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I had to go to Birmingham last week for the tournament we were having at the bar I own there so I arranged to stop in and see Stan for 4 hours on Wednesday. Arrived at 11:00 AM and promptly got to it.

I told Stan I was really playing well but seemed to run into one ball every rack or two that I just wasn't seeing right. I told him for whatever reason, I generally didn't get a really clear perception and it seemed like when I would sweep into the shot, about half way down it seemed like a video where there is a "glitch" for a frame or two.

Stan immediately diagnosed the problem as not understanding which eye was picking up the perceptions. He explained there are category 1 players who perceive only (or primarily) with their left eye, category 2 who perceive only/primarily with their right eye and category 3 that perceive with both eyes. I'm a category 3. He then showed me how to adjust to pick up the perception with the left eye only, right eye only and with both eyes and discussed some of the advantages of each. What an "eye opener" that was!

I found this made a huge difference for 45 and 60 degree perceptions. Using my left eye to pick up the perceptions for thin right cuts and my right eye for thin left cuts really made these perceptions much easier.

I haven't had time to work with this extensively but what I'm finding is I can now pick up most any perception with any of the 3 categories. I've already found using a specific category can make certain shots easier for a number of reasons. In some cases, it alters your alignment to where sweeping into that shot is more comfortable and leaves you with a fundamentally better set up. I mentioned the thin cuts. I think what's of greatest importance is I can now clearly determine which eye(s) is picking up the perception which follows through by maintaining that eye's focus through the sweep. I'm sure what was happening before, when I felt like I was seeing a "glitch" in the sight picture was I was picking up the perception with one eye and it was switching on me on the way down through the sweep.

As usual, Stan had plenty of other great things to show me. I felt like I had been there about 2 and 1/2 hours, looked at my watch and it was in fact 3:10 PM. 4 hours and 10 minutes had gone by without a break! Time truly does fly when you're having a good time.

Thanks Stan for the great lesson and another step forward for me with CTE/Pro One!
 
Stan would be one of the instructors who is just so far ahead and on another level.
I've only ever had instruction if you call it that, from good players in the pool hall, and they were all over the place with just do this and that,
Cheers:smile::smile::smile:
 
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I'm sure that I am category 3 as well but haven't been able to identify what eye is picking it up other than when I sweep halfway down it looks wrong. Then I have to stand up and restart and then if I miss I have no idea what was the problem.

I have gone nuts some days bc I'm trying to force everything from one eye but have no clue how to do it.
 
Couple easy methods to determine your dominant eye, point your finger at a distant object with both eyes open. First close one eye and then the other. Your finger will remain lined up with the object when your dominant eye is open.

You can also make small triangle with both of your hands extended in front of you and then focus on an object and slowly bring your hands up to your face while keeping the object centered in the triangle. By the time your hands get to your face they will already be naturally going toward your dominant eye (if you have one).

Most right-handed people are right-eye dominant. Most left-handed people are left-eye dominant. Some people are cross-dominant. They are right-handed, but left-eye dominant.

I personally am cross-dominant as I am right-handed but have a left dominant eye so when I am in a tight aiming situation I will actually close my right eye to make sure I have it before taking my final practice stroke and shooting.
 
Perhaps you could tell me what this has to do with this thread? It once again shows how you are completely clueless when it comes to CTE/Pro One.

Skippy27 said:
Couple easy methods to determine your dominant eye, point your finger at a distant object with both eyes open. First close one eye and then the other. Your finger will remain lined up with the object when your dominant eye is open.

You can also make small triangle with both of your hands extended in front of you and then focus on an object and slowly bring your hands up to your face while keeping the object centered in the triangle. By the time your hands get to your face they will already be naturally going toward your dominant eye (if you have one).

Most right-handed people are right-eye dominant. Most left-handed people are left-eye dominant. Some people are cross-dominant. They are right-handed, but left-eye dominant.

I personally am cross-dominant as I am right-handed but have a left dominant eye so when I am in a tight aiming situation I will actually close my right eye to make sure I have it before taking my final practice stroke and shooting.
Click to expand...
 
Skippy27 said:
Couple easy methods to determine your dominant eye, point your finger at a distant object with both eyes open. First close one eye and then the other. Your finger will remain lined up with the object when your dominant eye is open.

You can also make small triangle with both of your hands extended in front of you and then focus on an object and slowly bring your hands up to your face while keeping the object centered in the triangle. By the time your hands get to your face they will already be naturally going toward your dominant eye (if you have one).

Most right-handed people are right-eye dominant. Most left-handed people are left-eye dominant. Some people are cross-dominant. They are right-handed, but left-eye dominant.

I personally am cross-dominant as I am right-handed but have a left dominant eye so when I am in a tight aiming situation I will actually close my right eye to make sure I have it before taking my final practice stroke and shooting.
Click to expand...

Not sure I agree with the bolded part above. Where do you get your data? Actually, I think the cross-dominance is more common than you think. I'd venture to say if you even have eye dominance (this is a controversial topic to begin with, because other than eye injury / vision impairment, it's "all in the head"), it'd be 50/50 -- either left or right eye, no matter if you're right- or left-handed.

I myself don't have a dominant eye. I play with a snooker stance, face squared to the shot, chin on the cue, and nose aligned over the center of the shaft. My eyes are not exactly the same, either. When reading fine print, I favor my left eye. (My left eye has sharper focus on fine print, and this same fine print appears fuzzy to my right eye.) When trying to focus on things at long distances, however, I favor my right eye. My eyes, therefore, have different focal lengths. But the only way I get a field of vision with the cue centered in it (i.e. coming up from the bottom of the view at exactly 6:00 o'clock) is if the cue is centered between my eyes. If I move the cue either left or right of center -- even a little bit -- my field of vision shows the cue coming from the bottom-left or bottom-right respectively. When I do the classic "diamond" dominance test with the hands (the one you describe above), when I pull the diamond in towards my face, I favor keeping the bridge of my nose centered in the diamond until the object totally disappears from view (i.e. the diamond is too close for both eyes to look through it) and then I stop there. I'm not comfortable pulling that diamond all the way to my face so that I can "favor" just a single eye looking through it (I get that weird, "hey, who's covering one of my eyes?" uncomfortable feeling).

I would think cross-dominance would be more common among right-handed pool players, and indeed, the 45-degree-to-the-shot-line alignment that the pool stance offers, gives a natural slightly-turned-to-the-right alignment of the face, where the left eye leads a bit over the cue. When you look at right-handed pro pool players, the only obvious right-eye (same eye) dominant players are Earl Strickland, and Niels Feijen. I'm not sure about Earl, but Niels' same-eye dominance is due to the fact that he has significant vision impairment in his left eye. The rest are either centered, or cross-dominant (e.g. Ralf Souquet).

If you've data that conflicts with this, please share. I'd sure like to see it.

-Sean
 
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