Nose above cue or dominant eye when aiming?

I think that you don't worry about it- you just keep playing and ude whatever makes you see the goal properly.

My very unscientific theory is:

Each person has 2 brain sides. The way these 2 sides interact determine much about a person, quick examples: math vs literature/ practical vs: romantic, including things like spatial organization/ interpretation.

How far off center you are indicates an orientation (predetermined preference) toward one side or the other.

I don't recall which side is which, so I can't help you with your self-evaluation, but that's my theory.

Check out Neils and Earl- those guys are out there (uh, with their cue placement)! It's always gotta be about Earl!

-pige
 
Earl is hugely prefferencial to his dominate eye. This is not something that is "right or wrong". How much you cater to one eye or the other depends on the way your brain works. Try pointing at something with your arm outstretched. Now close one eye without moving your arm or head, now open your eyes and close the other. Now you know which of your eyes is dominate and by how much. That will affect how you aim.
 
Billy_Bob said:
Should your nose be above your cue when aiming or your dominant eye?

Nose Aiming Picture...
http://www.azbilliards.com/gallery/showpicture.cfm?eventnum=55&photographernum=1&picnum=3259
Click to expand...


Who said that it has to be either one and who said that it has to be constant for all shots? I don't think you should be hung up on this at all. To test yourself for optimum head placement, set up a right cut shot along the short rail into the corner pocket. Hit the shot repeatedly with your dominant eye or nose directly above the cue. Then move your dominant eye or nose further to the RIGHT of the cue and see what happens. I've found that most will get a better perspective of the shot and make it more frequently when they move their eye over to the right of the cue. If you go too far, you'll overcut it. If you're too far inside or LEFT of the cue, you'll undercut it.

Now set it up for a left cut shot. You'll have to reverse it. Move your eye more to the LEFT of the cue for a better perspective. Too far left and you'll overcut...too far right and you'll undercut. Just keep working with it to see where it works best for YOU, because that's all that matters.
 
Here's how I do it.

First of all, there's a parallax problem, at least for me, since there are two eyes focusing and by my tests, what both my eyes see as center is actually to the right of true center. And as distances change, the amount that that center is off changes too.

I found out that the 100% sure, no mistake way to find the center of the cue ball and the center of the object ball or whereever you want to aim at is definitely located when closing my left eye. Before I get down to shoot, I'll figure out what I want to do with the cue ball regarding playing position, and then start my aiming process with my left eye shut, and my right eye centered over the shaft. In my periferal vision I make sure I'm stroking straight, my focusing goes back and forth between the point in the pocket I want the object ball to hit, draw a laser line from that point through the object ball, line up the cue ball to strike the lazer point of light, stroke, focus, set, and let it fly. This absolutely eliminates left-right parallax.

Kind of like shooting a rifle, through a scope or though a peep sight. No way for the left eye to mess things up.... Obviously if you're not shooting center ball, adjustments need to be made.

But for cinching the ball nothing really compares with this method as far as I can tell...

Since I switched over to shooting ilke this a few weeks ago my pots have climbed... Good luck with it! :D
 
FLEX said:
Before I get down to shoot, I'll figure out what I want to do with the cue ball regarding playing position, and then start my aiming process with my left eye shut, and my right eye centered over the shaft.
Click to expand...

I love to see players closing one eye, especially when they want to gamble with me!

Closing one eye does eliminate parallax, but that's because parallax is defined as the perceived difference between two viewpoints. Closing one eye eliminates one of those viewpoints, yes, but it also eliminates depth perception, which is the reason we have two eyes in the first place.

-djb
 
piglit said:
I think that you don't worry about it- you just keep playing and ude whatever makes you see the goal properly. ...
Click to expand...
I agree with this, but there is a problem. Many players don't see the shot accurately and are unaware of the problem. They develop a compensating swerve in their stroke to correct their faulty perception of the line of the stick. The symptoms of this kind of problem are fairly obvious, once you know what to look for.
 
I thought Bob Fancher said that the dominant eye theory is proven wrong. ??? I don't have the book with me, so I can't look it up right now. "pleasures of small motions"

As a side note: Google search for "pleasures of small motions" yields some very interesting hits. Ha ha ha.

cheers,
jer9ball
 
When i'm missing long shots or tough cuts it is because I'm lining up under my nose. I've got a tape of me lining up both ways and my play is 100 percent better when I line up under my right eye. Btw though I can see out of it (some people think I can't) my left is lazy, real lazy! But as a rule when I start missing this is the first thing I check, then head movement,then grip, then..... :D
 
jer9ball said:
I thought Bob Fancher said that the dominant eye theory is proven wrong. ??? I don't have the book with me, so I can't look it up right now. "pleasures of small motions"
cheers,
jer9ball
Click to expand...

Here is a link to that, its right here on AZ under his columns.

Dominant myth?

I read this a while back. I know a guy that uses an eye patch when he plays. I tried to tell him about this link but he got very angry with me. In the end I guess if you think you play better by doing something then you will.
 
I'm able to shoot with both eyes open; I just have to make more adjustments, and as for depth perception, I make those judgments before getting down on the shot.

Played a fellow this afternoon, 9 ball... Says he: "You sure don't miss on the money ball, do you?"... That's where I really bear down and focus on potting the ball, close my left eye, and cinch the shot...

Try it, you might just like it...
 
I was aiming for a long shot today with my right eye over my cue as I usually do, then tried moving my nose over the cue to see what that would be like...

Well the whole works - cue ball, object ball, cue stick, my line of aim, etc. moved dramatically!

It seems to me that just a little head movement (left/right) or mis-alignment could really mess up my aiming!

It also seems that to aim really accurately, I would need some method of lining up my head over the cue stick and aiming line precisely. Each time, every time.

Perhaps touching my chin to the cue stick in the same spot every time or something? Comments? Suggestions?
 
On long shots or tough clutch shots i'll have my chin so low that the cue will rub it. If you watch Allison Fisher she does the same thing, probably because of her snooker background.
 
This is the way I always understood it. By using both eyes you get better depth perception through triangulation. Im defininatly not going to go and tell Efren he is wrong or anything. Humans by nature are preditors. Thats why our eyes are positioned the way they are, in front, to focus on one object. Unlike say a fish or a squirell whose eyes are on the sides, to see a more panoramic view. Our mind tries to use them both one way or another.

I heard all that hocus pocus from somebody else, dont quote me on it.
 
DawgAndy said:
On long shots or tough clutch shots i'll have my chin so low that the cue will rub it. If you watch Allison Fisher she does the same thing, probably because of her snooker background.
Click to expand...

This type of stance, along with an open bridge on the majority of shots has really worked well for me. At least for me it has improved my shot-making accuracy and cue-ball control a great deal.
 
maximillion said:
This is the way I always understood it. By using both eyes you get better depth perception through triangulation. Im defininatly not going to go and tell Efren he is wrong or anything. Humans by nature are preditors. Thats why our eyes are positioned the way they are, in front, to focus on one object. Unlike say a fish or a squirell whose eyes are on the sides, to see a more panoramic view. Our mind tries to use them both one way or another.

I heard all that hocus pocus from somebody else, dont quote me on it.
Click to expand...


I have a good story about this. I'm playing a sort of rough looking dude in a bar for a very small bet. A round or something, not enough to get anyone fighting over, as often happens in the bar pool realm. (I was young and dumb then and didn't mind the lousy bar atmosphere.) He looked like a guy who was decent at one time, but was having his struggles aiming. So I approach the table for my shot and notice what I think is the spot coming up. You know how the spot halfway peels up sometimes and you can stick it back down? So I started to, but fortunately before touching it I realized IT WAS A FRICKING HUMAN EYE. EEEEEEEEWWWWW.

Dude I'm playing lost an eye and now has a glass eye and he took it out of his head and put it on the table to shark me. I won anyway and collected my beer and the guy said he had no depth perception after losing his eye. Good enough proof for for me. :D
 
JPB said:
I have a good story about this. I'm playing a sort of rough looking dude in a bar for a very small bet. A round or something, not enough to get anyone fighting over, as often happens in the bar pool realm. (I was young and dumb then and didn't mind the lousy bar atmosphere.) He looked like a guy who was decent at one time, but was having his struggles aiming. So I approach the table for my shot and notice what I think is the spot coming up. You know how the spot halfway peels up sometimes and you can stick it back down? So I started to, but fortunately before touching it I realized IT WAS A FRICKING HUMAN EYE. EEEEEEEEWWWWW.

Dude I'm playing lost an eye and now has a glass eye and he took it out of his head and put it on the table to shark me. I won anyway and collected my beer and the guy said he had no depth perception after losing his eye. Good enough proof for for me. :D
Click to expand...


Holy Hell....what a story!! I guess if anyone could prove it true or not regarding one eye would be Kim Davenport. Here you had a world class/Mosconi cup/top money player for years prior to his accident and he hasn't been able to get it all the way back since. What does that say?
 
my nose is over my dominant eye, I think it has something to do with that nuclear power plant I used to live beside.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top