There is an APA 3 that plays in our ACS league. Nice lady, mid 50's, being play pool forever, loves the game, plays at least 3 times a week in various leagues.
She misses cut shots, any cut shot, about 50% of the time, maybe even more. I finally got sick of it, and showed her fractional aiming, so at least she has a reference. Her mind can't ever find the right spot in the past, because she missed so often.
She would aim with her cue on the 1/4 of the object ball, and then use her cue to line up the cb (the actual system is NOT the point, so lets not discuss that part)
She had a hard time even understanding the this simple aiming system. I showed her again the next week cause she was doing it wrong. And I showed her again the next week, and she was finally starting to understand.
Finally, she was making shots, a LOT more than 50%. Maybe 80% now, on routine, NOT length of table cut shots. And now she is not even using her cue to "aim" it up anymore because her mind now knows where to go instinctively.
Yeah, she will need to learn about throw, English, and develop a little better stroke to bring that 80% up to 95%, and that will be some increments at that point. But at least her brain now has a point of reference. For whatever reasons, not all persons learn the same, or will ever play the same.
Some folks have no natural ability and need to "devise" some of their own. Is it a crutch, yep. But crutches are fuggin GOLDEN when you are crippled. And for all intent and purposes, she was a crippled pool player that was never going to "see" where she had to hit the object ball.
Of course, not everyone is going to be this bad. But that guy out there that is only hitting 80% wants to get to 95% one day, and a reference for his brain is not going to hurt him. It may or may not help him. who really knows. But when all else fails and hitting a million balls badly is not working, you got to try something else.
It's just a guide, to help folks "train" their brain, to learn how to sight the object ball, to learn that when things look "wrong" they might actually be right, and to trust you judgment and not make corrections once you are down on the shot.
Bottom line, is for many folks, they need it and badly. How more millions of balls is this mid 50's lady got left in her before she can actually starting winning a few games? For me, it was time. She needed to do something different, because whatever she had been doing for the last 15 years simple was not working, and was never going to work, no matter how much she played.
Remember, most league players are not shortstops, and most aiming systems are developed for these league players. The majority of the pool playing public. And they want to get better without hitting a million balls, and for those that hit a million and still can't pot a ball to save their life.
Insanity is doing something over and over, but expecting different results.
