From the cue ball you can estimate where the contact point on the object is located. Holding that spot visually as you move into place looking along the object ball to pocket line you can see how accurate your perception was. Note any differences from the original estimate. Now focus on the pocket line and bring your attention back to the cue ball. A line parallel to the object ball line drawn through the cue ball exits the cue ball front and is the cue ball contact point. Once you are sensing that exit point with your tip hover, pivot from that point to the fine tuned perception of the object ball contact point. With the cue pointing from contact point to contact point a parallel shift of the cue to cue ball center gives you the ghost ball line. That is a reference line. You need to learn to adjust from there to pocket balls and get position. Starting from the same reference point, shot after shot, allows a library of adjustments and effects to be learned, a skill set.
I've reread this a couple of times, and man it seems complicated... That said, you're most likely just writting down what I take for granted....lol
Risking a conversation I'm going to pull a few items out of context and compare to my own practices.
1:
-"From the cue ball you can estimate where the contact point on the object is located. Holding that spot visually as you move into place looking along the object ball to pocket line you can see how accurate your perception was."
I don't do this... If I have determined that a shot requires that I take the time to assess it from the "pocket line". Then I discount the original 'estimate' from the CB point of view. For me it's just noise in the equation.
2:
-"Now focus on the pocket line and bring your attention back to the cue ball. A line parallel to the object ball line drawn through the cue ball exits the cue ball front and is the cue ball contact point. Once you are sensing that exit point with your tip hover, pivot from that point to the fine tuned perception of the object ball contact point. With the cue pointing from contact point to contact point a parallel shift of the cue to cue ball center gives you the ghost ball line. That is a reference line."
You lose me at the second sentence, and head starts spinning as I read the third...lol. Why is there two lines from the CB to the OB...? ...and how can they be parallel...? The CB center is a pivot point to any line the CB may follow. I think we're agreeing on that part. Maybe there's an aiming system at play here that I'm unaware of...?
My approach uses the '
pocket line', and a ghost ball preception of CB/OB contact to follow that '
pocket line'. Once I know where the CB needs to strike the OB, I create the '
ghost ball line'. I then perform my PSR to address that '
ghost ball line'. That's 90% of what's going on.
3:
-"That is a reference line. You need to learn to adjust from there to pocket balls and get position. Starting from the same reference point, shot after shot, allows a library of adjustments and effects to be learned, a skill set."
I duplicated the 'reference line' comment purposely, because I think it relative to both the individual quotes...
You perform some kind of parallel shift from the '
ghost ball line' to this '
reference line'. For me there are one and the same. At least I believe they are. Once I have my '
ghost ball line' I'll fine tune for all the fun stuff that makes this game more complicated then it should be. Applied spin, cut induced throw... etc.
Please don't take the above efforts as criticism or something cynical. I'm just trying to understand your approach to the game, and how it compares to mine.
It seems to me, like we arrive at the same point eventually, with your '
reference line'. Even though I consider it something different (your '
ghost line') and you seem to have some additional steps in reaching that point that I'm having a hard time following. Again, maybe I'm doing this parallel shift thing subconsciously, but I'm pretty deliberate in developing my shots and PSR, so if I have been doing this parallel shift I've always been 100% oblivious to it...lol