I've had several people inquire via PM about how Stevie helped me in our lesson yesterday with CTE/Pro One. I talked to Stevie and he gave his okay to post the things related to aiming we covered.
I already had some of the practice shots from the DVD set up, Stevie set up a couple more. One of the first things he instructed me to do was to stroke with top, really focus on CCB and stroke easy (lag speed). He wanted to take stroke variables out of the equation and build confidence. He said to pay attention to the CB path to make sure no side spin is being exerted. He also saw that a few times, I wasn't totally focused on the CB and was trying to steer the cue to what I thought would be the right path rather than trusting the system. Another tip that really helped was watching the cue tip hit the CB and proceed straight through staying focused on that only until I heard the CB drop in the pocket.
My struggles have been going from finding the visuals (correctly) and then moving into my stance to stroke the ball. We started with CTE. While I was standing more upright and back from the ball (also more facing the shot line), Stevie got me more sidewise to the aim line initially. He pointed out that while I may not know the exact aim line, I should know it close enough to get a more "preliminary" alignment. The concept, as we continued, was to get me to a position where there would be minimal movement from visual to down in final shooting position. On DVD 1 from Stan, Stevie stood back and then moved into the ball. He said he now has much less movement and does a lot more of how Stan and Landon do it.
Once I got into a more parallel/sidewise alignment, Stevie got me bending over from the waist so that I was looking more straight into the visuals versus looking down from above if I were standing erect. One thing that really, really helped was for me to take my shooting position as if I were going to shoot by feel or ghost ball, then keep my feet in that position. Now bend over from the waist. Stevie had me starting at CCB to Center OB and then rotating out to find CTE and A, B or C. This really helped a lot. Actually, more than a lot. After working on this for a relatively brief time, I felt very comfortable with all my shots from that point forward in terms of being in a good shooting position. Never felt like I was corkscrewed up like a pretzel once I'd moved into my stance and made a pivot.
As we worked on CTE, Stevie cleared up a misconception on my part about how important the aim line was (A, B or C). I was focusing almost totally on CTE and trying to move in for the manual pivot based on that line. Wrong. It is the perception of the combination of CTE and the aim line that you must move in on. He also saw that was tending to move in with my bridge hand pretty much center and was essentially pivoting back to that center line instead of moving in a half tip left or right and then pivoting into CCB. It took awhile for me to quit screwing this up totally but once I did, I started pocketing balls rather consistently. Let me add that Stevie was incredibly patient.
We got to the 19.5 - 21 position which is the 1/2 ball hit on the DVD. It is the one Landon states it is one of his favorite CTE/Pro One practice positions. After doing it for awhile, I said let me try this with Pro One using some of the things Stevie taught me. Sank the first one. I was surprised at how small the Pro One move was right or left. We worked quite a bit at this position, I hit 6 in a row from one side, 4 or 5 from the other. More importantly, according to Stevie, was the path my CB was taking and the fact that all of my misses were now within the edge of pocket or better (our lesson was on a 9' Diamond Pro). Again, he really emphasized CCB, staying focused on a straight, lag speed stroke straight through the CB.
Another very important aspect Stevie emphasized, while practicing, was to 100% focus on the CB one the visual is established. He was right. Every freaking time I moved into my shot while looking at or even glancing at the OB, I missed. Once I started focusing totally on CCB, I started consistently pocketing balls. Another thing I was doing wrong was not having my cue prepared. Stevie got me getting the cue to my left (I'm right handed) with my bridge hand in the right position for my desired bridge length. I had a tendency to come down then slide just my biridge hand and cue into line. Stevie got me focusing on moving everything as one piece.
I hope I was able to put what Stevie taught me into words so it helps some other people who are working on this system and perhaps having some of the same struggles I am. A couple of other things I'll pass along. There is no doubt the system works 100% as advertised. There may be some questions in my mind if my skill set or even commitment will be up to the task of adopting it but there is absolutely no question the system is as sound as Stan says it is (as does a host of others here). Stevie kept emphasizing that it takes PRECISION movements. Clearly, you can't be sloppy with moving from visuals into shooting position. With Pro One, you're essentially making a 1/2 tip pivot. It doesn't take much sidewise or crooked movement at all to take you off the correct aim line. Finally, as I knew already, CTE/Pro One is not a silver bullet. It is arguably the most sound of aiming systems but it won't work without a VERY strong commitment to practicing it. We played a number of games of 9 ball with Stevie explaining his pattern plan and subsequent visuals for each shot, shot by shot. Let's just say that there was one way for me to beat Stevie, that was breakn'run. LOL Easy to see why Stevie is a top professional.
Ask any questions you wish, I'll try to clarify what Stevie taught me and I'm confident he and Stan will jump in and help as well. If you're really interested in CTE/Pro One, I highly recommend a lesson with Stan or Stevie. Or the best of both worlds, get a lesson from both of these Gentlemen. If you love the game of pool, just spending a day with either of these guys is worth way more than what they charge. What they teach you about pool, which I guarantee will be considerable, is all bonus.
I already had some of the practice shots from the DVD set up, Stevie set up a couple more. One of the first things he instructed me to do was to stroke with top, really focus on CCB and stroke easy (lag speed). He wanted to take stroke variables out of the equation and build confidence. He said to pay attention to the CB path to make sure no side spin is being exerted. He also saw that a few times, I wasn't totally focused on the CB and was trying to steer the cue to what I thought would be the right path rather than trusting the system. Another tip that really helped was watching the cue tip hit the CB and proceed straight through staying focused on that only until I heard the CB drop in the pocket.
My struggles have been going from finding the visuals (correctly) and then moving into my stance to stroke the ball. We started with CTE. While I was standing more upright and back from the ball (also more facing the shot line), Stevie got me more sidewise to the aim line initially. He pointed out that while I may not know the exact aim line, I should know it close enough to get a more "preliminary" alignment. The concept, as we continued, was to get me to a position where there would be minimal movement from visual to down in final shooting position. On DVD 1 from Stan, Stevie stood back and then moved into the ball. He said he now has much less movement and does a lot more of how Stan and Landon do it.
Once I got into a more parallel/sidewise alignment, Stevie got me bending over from the waist so that I was looking more straight into the visuals versus looking down from above if I were standing erect. One thing that really, really helped was for me to take my shooting position as if I were going to shoot by feel or ghost ball, then keep my feet in that position. Now bend over from the waist. Stevie had me starting at CCB to Center OB and then rotating out to find CTE and A, B or C. This really helped a lot. Actually, more than a lot. After working on this for a relatively brief time, I felt very comfortable with all my shots from that point forward in terms of being in a good shooting position. Never felt like I was corkscrewed up like a pretzel once I'd moved into my stance and made a pivot.
As we worked on CTE, Stevie cleared up a misconception on my part about how important the aim line was (A, B or C). I was focusing almost totally on CTE and trying to move in for the manual pivot based on that line. Wrong. It is the perception of the combination of CTE and the aim line that you must move in on. He also saw that was tending to move in with my bridge hand pretty much center and was essentially pivoting back to that center line instead of moving in a half tip left or right and then pivoting into CCB. It took awhile for me to quit screwing this up totally but once I did, I started pocketing balls rather consistently. Let me add that Stevie was incredibly patient.
We got to the 19.5 - 21 position which is the 1/2 ball hit on the DVD. It is the one Landon states it is one of his favorite CTE/Pro One practice positions. After doing it for awhile, I said let me try this with Pro One using some of the things Stevie taught me. Sank the first one. I was surprised at how small the Pro One move was right or left. We worked quite a bit at this position, I hit 6 in a row from one side, 4 or 5 from the other. More importantly, according to Stevie, was the path my CB was taking and the fact that all of my misses were now within the edge of pocket or better (our lesson was on a 9' Diamond Pro). Again, he really emphasized CCB, staying focused on a straight, lag speed stroke straight through the CB.
Another very important aspect Stevie emphasized, while practicing, was to 100% focus on the CB one the visual is established. He was right. Every freaking time I moved into my shot while looking at or even glancing at the OB, I missed. Once I started focusing totally on CCB, I started consistently pocketing balls. Another thing I was doing wrong was not having my cue prepared. Stevie got me getting the cue to my left (I'm right handed) with my bridge hand in the right position for my desired bridge length. I had a tendency to come down then slide just my biridge hand and cue into line. Stevie got me focusing on moving everything as one piece.
I hope I was able to put what Stevie taught me into words so it helps some other people who are working on this system and perhaps having some of the same struggles I am. A couple of other things I'll pass along. There is no doubt the system works 100% as advertised. There may be some questions in my mind if my skill set or even commitment will be up to the task of adopting it but there is absolutely no question the system is as sound as Stan says it is (as does a host of others here). Stevie kept emphasizing that it takes PRECISION movements. Clearly, you can't be sloppy with moving from visuals into shooting position. With Pro One, you're essentially making a 1/2 tip pivot. It doesn't take much sidewise or crooked movement at all to take you off the correct aim line. Finally, as I knew already, CTE/Pro One is not a silver bullet. It is arguably the most sound of aiming systems but it won't work without a VERY strong commitment to practicing it. We played a number of games of 9 ball with Stevie explaining his pattern plan and subsequent visuals for each shot, shot by shot. Let's just say that there was one way for me to beat Stevie, that was breakn'run. LOL Easy to see why Stevie is a top professional.
Ask any questions you wish, I'll try to clarify what Stevie taught me and I'm confident he and Stan will jump in and help as well. If you're really interested in CTE/Pro One, I highly recommend a lesson with Stan or Stevie. Or the best of both worlds, get a lesson from both of these Gentlemen. If you love the game of pool, just spending a day with either of these guys is worth way more than what they charge. What they teach you about pool, which I guarantee will be considerable, is all bonus.
