JLW said:
I'm not really looking to start another aiming argument thread here or to initiate another flame war. I've done my share of arguing. And, to be honest, I'm pretty much argued out on this subject. So I thought there might be some useful information regarding aim that we could all get from the pros who contribute to this forum. So, to all you pros:
I would really be interested in hearing how YOU aim. What method do you use? I'm not looking to debate you. I would just like to know how you aim. Do you play by "the feels" as Keith McCready puts it? Or do you use some system, such as Hal Houle's? If so, do you use it on every shot? Or just as a double check on difficult shots? Have you spoken with other pros about their methods of aim? If so, can you share how they aim? Any info you would care to share would be greatly appreciated.
I don’t claim to be a top professional but I do play at and have competed at professional levels with and without an aiming system or should I say for DMs sake, 2 different systems.
The difference between me and most pros is that I didn’t start when I was a kid. I played some in the Army bars when I was 18 and 19 but didn’t really take up the game till I was about 21, 25 seriously. The reason I state this is that I think learning at a young age greatly improves your overall pool perception, all parts of it, especially aim and those years can’t be replaced or simulated.
So anyways I taught myself to play and made it to that Camel pro tour without ever having used a technical aiming system. Always played by feel and played pretty good and I attribute that to being very confident, a good student of the game, a too young to know better attitude and a strong mental game. (and Accu Stat videos).
At that time (96-2000) I definitely had certain shots that I disliked, was inconsistent at and that is what lead me to go back and improve upon the contact point to contact point method. (I was inconsistent at blind pocket or backward cut shots.)
First I learned from Jimmy Reid that contact points were always equal but opposite, then I learned that Mosconi use to match up the contact point on the front of the cue ball with the object balls contact point (consciously) before he got down to shoot.
THEN I FIGURED OUT WHY I WAS NATURALLY BAD AT BACKWARD CUTS.
I could easily see the intended contact point on the object ball, as 99.9% of us can. Why couldn’t I hit it consistently or ever feel confident while shooting them? Even when I made them it was more of a relief than a feeling of I knew it was in (as I felt on other shots).
Aiming is mental as well as physical and my brain or subconscious didn’t have the naturally correct ability to hit the object balls contact point with the correct part of the cue ball and as soon as I realized this I started to see my brain was naturally picking out the wrong spot on the front of the cue ball to send at the intended object balls contact point, which caused all these horrible feelings as well as many last second stroke corrections. (steering)
It was always (subconsciously) picking out a spot that would cause too full of a hit (so I previously always had to tell myself aim thinner than it looks Joe, which is a sucky way to shoot pressure shots). Once I realized how it was picking out the wrong spot naturally I started to physically identify the correct spot on the cue ball before I got down to shoot and my confidence started to grow because I was no longer hoping or guessing,(even though it looked wrong to me or my subconscious) I was connecting (and making more straight pool break shots). I knew the answer before I shot and had those 2 spots to connect, a more specific task for my brain to perform.
Since that time I can honestly say I’ve become a much more consistent and confident player. I play a lot lot less but play at a higher level due to this conscious method of aim.
I also believe I can now teach other players to aim as good as anyone can and I can tell them why it works, how to improve their perception of it and how to use this new knowledge or improved perception of contact points in all facets of their game
(position play, safeties kicks, banks etc). And it’s not all about physically seeing those tiny spots as much as it about knowing where they are and visualizing them, visualizing and improving your perception of the curve and shape of the balls and knowing the answers that are based on facts.
I’m one of the few players that has been somewhat successful using both feel and a more conscious method of aim. Most professionals just developed a natural feel from a young age but that is hard to teach someone that is either past that age or someone that naturally aims slightly wrong. The feel method calls for me to have to play more to stay in peak stroke, the contact point method I use makes taking time off much easier for many reason but most importantly is that when I come back to the table I don’t have to hit thousands of balls and wait for that feeling to come back. The contact points are answers, I tell myself to aim this spot at that spot and that’s that.
I still lose the feel for speed and spin (like right now) but that seems to comes back faster also as I’m not agonizing over my aim as I would be just shooting by feel. The numbered contact points I use are also a great way to compensate for the other variables such as deflection and throw.
Sorry to go on and on but this is a beautiful game and its part of me and I could actually talk about the inner workings for days with people that have the same feelings.
Have a great day and go check if your subconscious is picking out the correct spots.
