My perfect aiming system, it exists!!

[adamw]

Allright, so what's the secret? ykhm.. the secret is that you can NOT play all shots with 1 system. Period. Not possible. Maybe a ghost ball but let's be serious.

So during my pool journey I think I've tried everything that is possible on the market regarding aiming systems. Long story short - I found the recipe for the perfect system: IT IS A MIXTURE OF MANY SYSTEMS!!

1. For easy/medium easy shots I am using... yeah.. CTE. It works the best for me. To be honest I no longer miss easy shots because of CTE. Stan Shuffett's version of it. CTE PRO ONE. Why is it that successfull? Simple. You need to ALWAYS follow all the steps: find perception, then step ball inside/outside and viola. Believe or not but I don't have to care if the shot has 0 degree of 5 degree. It is always 15 OUTSIDE. And it works like magic. Every time I face a easy/medium easy shot I use CTE and I pot all the balls. I mean balls that should be always potted by a decent player.

2. For rail shots CTE is freaking.. USELESS... It simply does not work. Stan is always telling that CTE is overcutting shots just a little bit to prevent a throw. And I agree 100%. So you can't shot rail shots just because of this fact.
For rail shots I always pot balls with a standard ghost ball method keeping in mind that I have to touch rail and object ball at the same time.

3. For long shots with some cut I use mostly feeling/contact point/ghostball - these shots are just tough and you need a little experience to pot them. You need a straight stroke and good technique. I try to improve my positional game so I don't have to pot hard shots every time.

4. For a blind pocket shots I use POOLOLOGY. By the way Poolology is one of the best thing that has happened to the aiming world. But using it on every freaking shot is so tough and draining... I love your work Brian, I watched every single video of yours and I bought your book long time ago but using it on every shot during race to 9 match? not possible..
But when I face a really hard shot or a blind pocket shot - I use it. And it works like magic. Blind pocket shot and 22/40? I just hit a little bit more than a half ball hit with a medium speed and a little bit of follow and it goes 99% times.

5. Bank shots/kick shots? I use simple methods, you can find tons of them and they work great.



When I am in stroke my mind shows be the best option, mainly it is just a proper align to the shot line and next ball is in the pocket.


So debating which aiming method is the best is kind of stupid. Everyone has its own preferences. I use everything what I know just to complete the task of potting the ball.

Don't be aiming system slave... Don't prove that they work. Just play the game!

Adam

 

[BC21]

Allright, so what's the secret? ykhm.. the secret is that you can NOT play all shots with 1 system. Period. Not possible. Maybe a ghost ball but let's be serious.

So during my pool journey I think I've tried everything that is possible on the market regarding aiming systems. Long story short - I found the recipe for the perfect system: IT IS A MIXTURE OF MANY SYSTEMS!!

1. For easy/medium easy shots I am using... yeah.. CTE. It works the best for me. To be honest I no longer miss easy shots because of CTE. Stan Shuffett's version of it. CTE PRO ONE. Why is it that successfull? Simple. You need to ALWAYS follow all the steps: find perception, then step ball inside/outside and viola. Believe or not but I don't have to care if the shot has 0 degree of 5 degree. It is always 15 OUTSIDE. And it works like magic. Every time I face a easy/medium easy shot I use CTE and I pot all the balls. I mean balls that should be always potted by a decent player.

2. For rail shots CTE is freaking.. USELESS... It simply does not work. Stan is always telling that CTE is overcutting shots just a little bit to prevent a throw. And I agree 100%. So you can't shot rail shots just because of this fact.
For rail shots I always pot balls with a standard ghost ball method keeping in mind that I have to touch rail and object ball at the same time.

3. For long shots with some cut I use mostly feeling/contact point/ghostball - these shots are just tough and you need a little experience to pot them. You need a straight stroke and good technique. I try to improve my positional game so I don't have to pot hard shots every time.

4. For a blind pocket shots I use POOLOLOGY. By the way Poolology is one of the best thing that has happened to the aiming world. But using it on every freaking shot is so tough and draining... I love your work Brian, I watched every single video of yours and I bought your book long time ago but using it on every shot during race to 9 match? not possible..
But when I face a really hard shot or a blind pocket shot - I use it. And it works like magic. Blind pocket shot and 22/40? I just hit a little bit more than a half ball hit with a medium speed and a little bit of follow and it goes 99% times.

5. Bank shots/kick shots? I use simple methods, you can find tons of them and they work great.



When I am in stroke my mind shows be the best option, mainly it is just a proper align to the shot line and next ball is in the pocket.


So debating which aiming method is the best is kind of stupid. Everyone has its own preferences. I use everything what I know just to complete the task of potting the ball.

Don't be aiming system slave... Don't prove that they work. Just play the game!

Adam

Good post. I believe the same thing. Whether players realize it or not, the recipe for solid and consistent aiming skills contains a mixture of several ingredients - everything we've learned through experience, practice, and repetition.

There is no single ingredient for aiming, though many people believe ghostball and contact point aiming are single-ingredient aiming methods. But they are each the result of a multi-faceted method going on behind the scenes, based on real visual references.

Ghostball requires more than just visualizing or imagining where the cb needs to be and sending it there. Contact point to contact point requires more than just a simple connection of the dots. These methods require spatial skills - looking at the ob, the pocket, the shot angle, etc... over and over, until the aim becomes known or recognized as soon as you see the shot.

Only through visual references (the physical things that we can see), ghostball aiming and contact point aiming become possible. What our eyes are actually seeing, directly or indirectly, is what helps develop ghostball and contact point aiming skills.

 

[DistinguishedBilliards]

I agree with you Adam.
My assessment from my growth and path is that. Aiming systems are great tools and they can work. I think though people may at times not understand what the system are for. I see them as a tool to teach your brain Automatic aiming after alot of work and practice. As I see it today Aiming is only a portion of the shot process. Meaning once you have used Experience or Aiming systems long enough eventually you just know when you look at it, then with more Experience you look at where you want to leave the cueball after making the shot if you see that and it too is automatic then it frees up more mental bandwidth to examine the adjustments. Ball friction. table/rail speed and then of course how well you are stroking the ball on that table or that day. apply all that together, visualize it until you have made the shot and then get down and do it. 'This was long winded but my thoughts on the fact that Aiming systems do work but they have limits of precession that at some point if you play enough go to the back of your mind in the process.

 

[Zerksies]

I've often said this peoples brains all process infomation differently. I've tried CTE and i just can't get it to work. I've also tried the ghost ball and i can only get it working with very thin shots. For more regular shots i use a variation of a ferrules edge method. I can aim accurately even with spin. But almost straight in shots it HAMB