One particular night with TOI.....

Letter to a Golfer that is very close to mastering the TOI Technique

For the time being stop thinking about "aiming" like you're aiming a rifle (shooting pool is more like shooting a pistol from your hip)....the more visual you are the less your mind can be focused on what's important in ball pocketing.....your touch/feel.

I am just "aware" of the object ball's presence when I'm playing (I don't want to get too attached, it will be gone soon), and don't focus on it until the LAST stroke of the cue ball where my attention completely shifts towards the object all to watch it go in the pocket. I would think it's like your golf shot, it may go where you want, however, it's a RESULT of proper alignment and precise/accurate striking of the golf ball......not because you "aimed" really well.

One thing I notice players doing that may be a problem is going back and forth with the eyes while going down on the shot.....cue ball to object ball...cue ball to object ball......this is not a good habit because the eyes can't focus and re focus this quickly and it keeps a player from deeply connecting to the target.....the cue ball is the target. Here is a drill I do that really locks me in and connects me to the target - the CueBall.

I go down like this on the shot (make it take 5 seconds)...This is after I've aligned to my Center/Center or Center/Edge above the shot....as I go down my eyes are focused on .....CUE BALL, CUE BALL, CUE BALL, Precise part of the CUE BALL, seeing the tip almost touch the CUE BALL >>>>> (5 seconds are up) > THEN I shift to the OBJECT BALL (to make sure it's still there) then right back to the CUE BALL (to make sure the tip is still exactly at the spot I'm "aiming" at)........> then on the last stroke I convert my total focus to the object ball and watch the OBJECT BALL go in the hole....the cue ball at this point goes where it will.....where IT wants to and if it doesn't go where I wanted, it goes somewhere better (you can't control it at this point, so don't try in other words). ;-)

I think there may be a few things you can pick up on in this message.....it's like when we turn off the lights our feeling becomes more amplified....the same goes with "aiming".....you don't need to aim at anything other than the cue ball. 'The Game is the Teacher'
 
It's like the "Forward Press" in golf and it's done from the FEET UP.

The players that contact me having trouble with the Touch of Inside have a common problem and it's the moving the TIP to the TOI position, instead of the back hand. It's like the "Forward Press" in golf and it's done from the FEET UP.

You must initiate the TOI movement with your back hand, with a slight body "press" to the TOI position. This also moves your vision slightly inside as well, the more TOI the more your vision shifts....this creates more angle. You may want to feel this press from your feet and roll the body slightly to the TOI position.

You know how important footwork is in golf, it's equally important in pool for balance AND to make slight changes to your upper body/cue...I don't like moving my upper body independent of my feet....this causes a slight disconnection, which will lead to inconsistency.

Experiment with this a bit, maybe when going TOI Left, put slightly more weight on your left foot, and TOI Right, put slightly more on your right foot.....ROLL it with balance, it's just a very slight movement as you can imagine.

These are just suggestions, I think it will help you though, it appeared that you were just moving your cue....the whole body moves ever so slightly.....like a forward press in golf. www.thegameistheteacher.com
 
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