My method for finding the tangent line

chefjeff

chefjeff

If not now...
Silver Member
I'd appreciate any comments about this.

Here how I find the tangent line of any shot...

I hold my pool cue level (using two hands, one on the butt and one on the shaft) above the line of ob travel, with the joint directly above the contact point and the tip/shaft at the ob's target (e.g. the center of the pocket).

I then bend my knees and crouch to get my eyes level with the pool cue. My chin is about level with the rails. I close one eye and look at the joint line and then beyond it towards the rack or rail or ball(s). This provides me with the exact line that the front of the cue ball will start down.

It's like drawing a line in my vision, except it is really there via the straight line formed by the cue's joint when I'm in the crouched position.

Sense?

Jeff Livingston
 
I tried it with limited success several months ago for break shots. I picked it up from a fellow straight pool player and he may have been taught it by the house pro? It works for him and the few other players who seem to have mastered it. I even posted it on another forum on 7/8/08. I may have to give it another chance.
 
When I really took up this game in May, I used this and I was making a higher percentage of break shots than I ever had before.

I think it is because my mind is absolutely sure where the cb is going---no indecision--so it can put full focus on potting the ball. Maybe.

Anyway, thanks for the feedback.

Jeff Livingston
 
I think there's an intimate relationship between visualizing the tangent line and making shots. If I can see the tangent line clearly, it helps me to aim.
 
bluepepper said:
I think there's an intimate relationship between visualizing the tangent line and making shots. If I can see the tangent line clearly, it helps me to aim.
Click to expand...

cool.....pool porn! :D

Seriously, though, I also use this for when the cb and ob are close together where I use the parallel aiming method. Instead of crouching, I look directly down on the shot and use the pool cue for the parallel lines and the joint for the contact points. Not quite as visual as finding the tangent, but good anyway.

Jeff Livingston
 
I was practicing last night and used this technique another way and thought I'd throw it in this thread...

When two obs are touching, I hold the pool cue above them as before, with the joint at their contact point and the shaft along their line of centers. Again, just crouch down and see the tangent line exactly. This is great for carom shots, as the exact line is seen and you can adjust with high/low to take one ob off that line with ease and confidence.

It's saved a run or two for me over the years.

fwiw,

Jeff Livingston
 
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