Need advise

[jokrswylde]

I had a come to Jesus with myself and realize that I am not working hard enough on my weakness which is consistency with my stroke. I thought I was working hard because I was making baby steps with my position play, but it does me no good if I cannot repeat a perfect stroke over and over.
I am making a commitment to only do straight in follow shots, stop shots and draw for the next three weeks. Perfectly straight. I am going to log my practice (I made X out of 20 shots) and watch my progress to see if I can truly nail my preshot routine and straight in shot.
You guys just became my accountability partners...
- Leigh

You've gotten some pretty strong advice here. I was in a very similar spot as you about 2 years ago. My only contribution would be: don't be so hard on yourself. You will NEVER have a perfect stroke or flawless mechanics. NEVER. You likely will never look at a table the way a pro does and just "see" the correct pattern and shot selection.

For me, I started pursuing that perfection with a fierceness that I used to use in football and wrestling. Hours of practice. Cursing myself over missed shots and/or missed positions. Literally practicing until my feet and back hurt and I was so tired and blindingly, furiously frustrated. It wasn't long until I started DREADING evenings when it was time to practice. I would literally look at my pool table and my mood would plummet.

For me, once I stopped pursuing that perfection and stopped drilling and practicing like pool was putting food on my table, and stopped keeping track of every missed ball and missed position, pool started being fun again...AND my progress sped up!

Bottom line: Don't make pool a job unless it is how you put food on the table. Don't burn yourself out.

 

[FranCrimi]

You've gotten some pretty strong advice here. I was in a very similar spot as you about 2 years ago. My only contribution would be: don't be so hard on yourself. You will NEVER have a perfect stroke or flawless mechanics. NEVER. You likely will never look at a table the way a pro does and just "see" the correct pattern and shot selection.

For me, I started pursuing that perfection with a fierceness that I used to use in football and wrestling. Hours of practice. Cursing myself over missed shots and/or missed positions. Literally practicing until my feet and back hurt and I was so tired and blindingly, furiously frustrated. It wasn't long until I started DREADING evenings when it was time to practice. I would literally look at my pool table and my mood would plummet.

For me, once I stopped pursuing that perfection and stopped drilling and practicing like pool was putting food on my table, and stopped keeping track of every missed ball and missed position, pool started being fun again...AND my progress sped up!

Bottom line: Don't make pool a job unless it is how you put food on the table. Don't burn yourself out.

Excellent advice here. The process has to be enjoyable. When it stops being enjoyable, then it's time to take a step back. When it happens to me, I usually take a short break switch to another sport for awhile, just to clear my head. When I return, I find that I'm much more relaxed and enjoying the process again.

 

[Leigh]

What do you mean "consistency with your stroke"? Because you can help groove your stroke without using balls or even a table.

First, thanks to everyone for your input. I live with people who do not understand my frustration/ obsession with pool, so it is nice to have a place to go to vent my frustration and ask questions.
By consistency, I mean that I am not consistently delivering a perfectly straight stroke. When I set up a long-ish straight in follow shot, the CB is not always following the OB into the pocket. I am working on this.
MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH: When doing these straight in shots I made a big discovery in why I wasn't seeing the straight in shot: I am right-handed and I place the cue to the left of my chin as this is where I perceive the shot as straight. I was tending to have my head tilted on the vertical axis to the right, so more of the left side of my face is facing the cue, if that makes sense. (I was reading one of Fran's old posts that said to watch for a head tilt favoring the dominant side. I don't tilt my head like that, but like I said, I do swivel on the vertical axis. Thank you Fran!) When I correct this, I see the straight shots as actually dead on straight - still with the cue closer to my left eye.
For those of you that are going to tell me that keeping my head dead centered over the cue - I completely understand your logic, but I will never ever make a straight shot like this. When I place my cue correctly for me with no head tilt, DAMN! I am on FIRE.
Also, Fran is right, I have some negative triggers when I try and run out. Working on this, too.

 

[Leigh]

You've gotten some pretty strong advice here. I was in a very similar spot as you about 2 years ago. My only contribution would be: don't be so hard on yourself. You will NEVER have a perfect stroke or flawless mechanics. NEVER. You likely will never look at a table the way a pro does and just "see" the correct pattern and shot selection.

For me, I started pursuing that perfection with a fierceness that I used to use in football and wrestling. Hours of practice. Cursing myself over missed shots and/or missed positions. Literally practicing until my feet and back hurt and I was so tired and blindingly, furiously frustrated. It wasn't long until I started DREADING evenings when it was time to practice. I would literally look at my pool table and my mood would plummet.

For me, once I stopped pursuing that perfection and stopped drilling and practicing like pool was putting food on my table, and stopped keeping track of every missed ball and missed position, pool started being fun again...AND my progress sped up!

Bottom line: Don't make pool a job unless it is how you put food on the table. Don't burn yourself out.

I am a perfectionist... and I know that I am expecting that my rate of improvement to be the same that it has been for the first two years, and that's unreasonable... but I can't help it. I want that stroke to be PERFECT. It's so simple, yet so damn hard. Thank you for the encouragement, I will keep in mind. (My kids also say that I am too hard on myself.)

 

[Leigh]

One more thing, please forgive the misspelling of advice. I use the talk to text feature and it likes to make “corrections” and I didn’t catch it in time.

 

[bbb]

where does your nose point in relation to the shaft when you see the shot correctly as straight??
just curious

 

[Leigh]

My nose isn’t lined up with a shot but it is dead parallel to the queue about a half an inch to the right. I’m working really hard at not swiveling my head.

 

[bbb]

having your eyes perpendicular to the shaft has some advantages

 

[Patrick Johnson]

My nose isn’t lined up with a shot but it is dead parallel to the queue about a half an inch to the right. I’m working really hard at not swiveling my head.

If things look a little off to me, it's often because I've gotten lazy about facing the shot correctly. Typically I need to face the shot more squarely, but I imagine it's different for everybody. It might be something to experiment with to confirm you're doing it the best way for you.

pj
chgo

 

[BilliardsAbout]

I disagree with this, Leigh. You should always practice on a pool table. When players can't get to a pool table, they can learn other things until they can, like watching videos of matches and studying players. Leave the physical stuff for when you have access to the equipment.

However, I know you agree with eliminating variables, and have recommend doing so to focus. The OP wants a straighter stroke and can do head positioning tests (as they've described) without balls or even a table.

 

[FranCrimi]

However, I know you agree with eliminating variables, and have recommend doing so to focus. The OP wants a straighter stroke and can do head positioning tests (as they've described) without balls or even a table.

I see. So you're trying to say that I probably haven't thought of what all the off-table options are because I disagree with your comment? You're going to teach me now?

 

[Leigh]

If things look a little off to me, it's often because I've gotten lazy about facing the shot correctly. Typically I need to face the shot more squarely, but I imagine it's different for everybody. It might be something to experiment with to confirm you're doing it the best way

Now that I have found exactly where my head needs to go (FINALLY!), I need to build my stance around it. So, this leads me to body position. From my experiments I have two ways to get my eyes/head lined up in perfect position: I can either stand more square to the shot, open my shoulders, and keep the cue under my body a little more OR I can stand more sideways to the shot. Keeping my hips and shoulders open as opposed to just having my shoulders open. Think Albin Oushan's stance versus Wu Jia-qing's (not that my name should even be in the same sentence as theirs). I am not trying to imitate someone else's stance, those are just examples of what seems to work for me to get my left eye slightly over the cue.

 

[Leigh]

I

 

[Patrick Johnson]

Now that I have found exactly where my head needs to go (FINALLY!), I need to build my stance around it. So, this leads me to body position. From my experiments I have two ways to get my eyes/head lined up in perfect position: I can either stand more square to the shot, open my shoulders, and keep the cue under my body a little more OR I can stand more sideways to the shot. Keeping my hips and shoulders open as opposed to just having my shoulders open. Think Albin Oushan's stance versus Wu Jia-qing's (not that my name should even be in the same sentence as theirs). I am not trying to imitate someone else's stance, those are just examples of what seems to work for me to get my left eye slightly over the cue.

One or the other might be better for naturally placing your stroke dead on line with straight repeatable action. That will probably mean specific things for your grip, elbow, shoulders, torso, hips, feet - all essential parts of the whole. Welcome to pool stance whack-a-mole.

pj
chgo

 

[Leigh]

YES!!! It is whack a mole. I don’t want to mess with too many variables at once so I am just taking one thing at a time.

 

[DrCue'sProtege]

Leigh,
I have been at this hobby for over 20 years. I still struggle with straight in shots. I think straight-in shots are something that alot of people struggle with. So if you arent a world beater when it comes to straight in shots, well, all I can say is Join The Club.

r/DCP

 

[FranCrimi]

Leigh,
I have been at this hobby for over 20 years. I still struggle with straight in shots. I think straight-in shots are something that alot of people struggle with. So if you arent a world beater when it comes to straight in shots, well, all I can say is Join The Club.

r/DCP

Was that before or after you ran those 5 racks?

 

[DrCue'sProtege]

Was that before or after you ran those 5 racks?

I dont recall if I had any longer straight-in shots when I ran those 5, darn near 6, consecutive racks. And I never said I never make longer, straight-in shots. I am just inconsistent with them. I dont know if its my alignment/stance, my aim, or stroke. I suspect the latter.

r/DCP

 

[BilliardsAbout]

I see. So you're trying to say that I probably haven't thought of what all the off-table options are because I disagree with your comment? You're going to teach me now?

No, you made a comment that disagreed with what I wrote and I wanted to point to a fact.

I'd love to teach you some things about pool to add to your immense knowledge, but you resist learning from me. Yet I learn from you.

 

[FranCrimi]

No, you made a comment that disagreed with what I wrote and I wanted to point to a fact.

I'd love to teach you some things about pool to add to your immense knowledge, but you resist learning from me. Yet I learn from you.

You claim to post respectfully but you don't. Here's another way you could have responded when I wrote that I didn't agree with your statement: Instead of telling me something as if I didn't know it, you could have asked, what about such and such? Don't you think that it's helpful to do that even without a table? If not, then why not? But no, that's never how you respond to anyone. You are always lecturing us, so yes, you will get reactions like mine every time.

I see that your latest go-to response is that you are a Christian and we're bullies.

Patrick and I have disagreed on some things, yet how come it never escalates to the level that yours does? In fact, none of us agree 100% with everything each other says, yet we 'bullies' are able to keep it civil with each other. Is it because bullies are respectful to fellow bullies but not nice towards Christians? Is that how it works in your world, Matt?