Looking through three balls and a taped-down shaft, laser-aligned in a perfectly straight line, this is what I see from the shooting position, without exaggeration:
The middle ball is clearly off to the right. The shaft is always at a severe angle at the CB, and curved if I look down on it.
The shaft is positioned slightly to the right of my nose here, at my supposed "vision center", but my brain seems to be combining the eyes differently at different distances. I've probably arrived at that particular "center" using long stop shots, which is why the far ball looks in line. If I change head position to make the end of the shaft vertical at the CB, the far ball is way off center, and I do miss it entirely if I shoot like that. There just is no other single "vision center" that aligns the whole picture.
Playing, I try not to pay any attention to the angled shaft, and rely on proprioception alone, imagining my back hand pulling a string away from my aim point, but it's a handicap to have to ignore all visual feedback. The only way I can accurately aim visually is with one eye closed, but that kills my depth perception and I often foul on practice strokes, get eye strain, headaches, etc. I've tried aiming with one eye first, and then trying not to move anything else, shifting my head sideways until CB-OB align two-eyed (which does end up different for different distances), though that's not great either, because again with a distorted shaft after shifting, I can't correct any potential drift while stroking.
Any tips or experiences dealing with something like this would be appreciated immensely.
The middle ball is clearly off to the right. The shaft is always at a severe angle at the CB, and curved if I look down on it.
The shaft is positioned slightly to the right of my nose here, at my supposed "vision center", but my brain seems to be combining the eyes differently at different distances. I've probably arrived at that particular "center" using long stop shots, which is why the far ball looks in line. If I change head position to make the end of the shaft vertical at the CB, the far ball is way off center, and I do miss it entirely if I shoot like that. There just is no other single "vision center" that aligns the whole picture.
Playing, I try not to pay any attention to the angled shaft, and rely on proprioception alone, imagining my back hand pulling a string away from my aim point, but it's a handicap to have to ignore all visual feedback. The only way I can accurately aim visually is with one eye closed, but that kills my depth perception and I often foul on practice strokes, get eye strain, headaches, etc. I've tried aiming with one eye first, and then trying not to move anything else, shifting my head sideways until CB-OB align two-eyed (which does end up different for different distances), though that's not great either, because again with a distorted shaft after shifting, I can't correct any potential drift while stroking.
Any tips or experiences dealing with something like this would be appreciated immensely.
