Right handed but with left master eye
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There have a been a bunch of great players with this setup. Just tilt your head over and forget about it. It won't make two bits of difference.
I'm right handed, left eye dominant, and shoot pool left handed. Also, shoot a rifle left handed. Play golf right handed.
We are EXACTLY alike!
I have a condition that causes me to see double all the time. The only way I can narrow it down to 1 image is for me to tilt my head to the side (which looks awkward) or to close one eye.
I'm naturally right-handed, but first picked up a pool cue and a gun and shot left-handed.
So, playing pool, I have to close my right eye (to get it down to seeing 1 image) and then I shoot with my left hand and use only my left eye.
The thing is......I don't put my left eye directly over the cue. There's simply no comfortable way for me to do this. To do that, it feels like I'm about to break my neck.
Can this cause problems? Again I'm only using 1 eye, hence only one source of "information".
While shooting does feel comfy this way.......my stroke isn't nearly as good as I'd like it to be. :frown:
Any suggestions at all? I've tried using an eye patch over my left eye and putting my right eye over the cue (which would be the non-dominant one), but that almost makes me feel nauseaus. Like I'm standing on my side. I get dizzy pretty quickly. It's strange.
I've also tried switching to shooting right-handed. I don't have to close either eye. I only see one image, since my head is at a natural tilt which causes my eyes to focus correctly. I can actually get my chin down on the cue. The only problem is that it feels like it's the first time I've ever stroked a cue. Very clumsy.
Anyone? Sorry to hijack the thread.
I'm right handed, left eye dominant, and shoot pool left handed. Also, shoot a rifle left handed. Play golf right handed.
Im the same way. If it has to do with power I do it right handed and finesse I do it left handed.
Well, I don't doubt what you believe in, but these things were written about in Billiard Digest, and I gotta believe somebody here besides me remembers this article.
That's me too. It only means you are using both sides of your brain and are a genius. :smile:
Problems? Yes, Mensa keeps calling. How annoying!
Wow. Maybe we have the same eye problems.
May I ask what your speed is? How successful have you been able to overcome this?
Do you close one eye when you shoot?
I'm rated a 5 in the APPA (Arkansas Pool Players Association). That being said, I run very even or better than a 6, but haven't been moved up yet, since it's my first year in the league. I do have a long way to go. I can't run more than 1 rack at a time. And I only put one together maybe 5% of the time. So, it happens, but very sporadically. I'm trying to focus more on my defensive play at the moment.
Anyway, curious on your experiences and thoughts.
I try to not drink tequila when I play.
I am A or pro level, you see I have 14k posts, right?
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This is what I wanted to say:
Do you guys have trouble seeing and opening door knobs? Alright, that was harsh but I just don't understand all the fuss about eye dominance. Pick a comfortable position for your head where you are able to pot long straight in shots and then stick with that head position.
But then I read a bit on the different snooker forums:
I figured since snooker aiming is much more crucial than is aiming in pool I was curious what they would have to say about eye dominance. I was a bit surprised to find out that it is a bit of a controversial subject. I thought that they would all just say to put your chin over the cue and leave it alone. Many of them don't say that.:scratchhead:
So:
I guess I'm back on the fence about the eye dominance thing. But I definitely still lean toward it being much to do about nothing.
I think this snooker coach whom I don't have any clue who he is said it best. I've heard instructors on this forum say very similiar things. The entire thread can be found here: http://www.thesnookergym.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-531.html.
terrydavidson04-03-2010, 01:03 PM
stricki:
...
FURTHERMORE...I believe 99.9% of shots (barring kicks) are missed due to not delivering the cue straight along the intended line of aim. I also believe most players (99.5%) given a little experience and a little practice can choose the correct line of aim 100% of the time but too many players can't deliver the cue along that line of aim accurately.
My recommendation...don't fret about aiming at snooker, your brain will take care of that. Practice my 4 (or 5) absolute MUSTS on snooker technique and do them all faithfully on EVERY shot and you WILL improve
Terry
__________________
Originally posted at Http://thesnookerforum.com/board
Do you guys have trouble seeing and opening door knobs? Alright, that was harsh but I just don't understand all the fuss about eye dominance. Pick a comfortable position for your head where you are able to pot long straight in shots and then stick with that head position.
But then I read a bit on the different snooker forums:
I figured since snooker aiming is much more crucial than is aiming in pool I was curious what they would have to say about eye dominance. I was a bit surprised to find out that it is a bit of a controversial subject. I thought that they would all just say to put your chin over the cue and leave it alone. Many of them don't say that.:scratchhead:
So:
I guess I'm back on the fence about the eye dominance thing. But I definitely still lean toward it being much to do about nothing.
I think this snooker coach whom I don't have any clue who he is said it best. I've heard instructors on this forum say very similiar things. The entire thread can be found here: http://www.thesnookergym.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-531.html.
terrydavidson04-03-2010, 01:03 PM
stricki:
...
FURTHERMORE...I believe 99.9% of shots (barring kicks) are missed due to not delivering the cue straight along the intended line of aim. I also believe most players (99.5%) given a little experience and a little practice can choose the correct line of aim 100% of the time but too many players can't deliver the cue along that line of aim accurately.
My recommendation...don't fret about aiming at snooker, your brain will take care of that. Practice my 4 (or 5) absolute MUSTS on snooker technique and do them all faithfully on EVERY shot and you WILL improve
Terry
__________________
Originally posted at Http://thesnookerforum.com/board
I personally think this is a bunch of hooey. Sorry.
It is easy to develop an accurate and consistent stroke. This can easily be taught and ingrained through practice. Finding the right aiming line requires visualization skills which are not as easily taught or learned. That's one reason pool is so challenging and fun. Aiming also involves compensation for squirt, swerve, and throw (or just throw if no sidespin is used), which requires lots of knowledge/intuition and feel.
Regards,
Dave
Interesting...
So do you think it's harder to aim at the balls than it is to develop an accurate and consistent stroke? I think we make aiming much more difficult than we need to. Nether of my young children (ages 5 & 7) have much trouble knowing where to aim at the balls. It appears to me that stoke development is much more important for them. When they first started playing I printed off one of those ghost ball training templates and I put that on the table for a couple of shots and my son just looked at me and said "Dad - I don't need that. I know where to hit it." Of course, I've noticed that at times they aim too thick or too thin but it's pretty obvious they are on the path to figuring it out without needing a particular system to do so.
I agree (not having read the article), but it depends on how you align. The way my stroke alignment works, it would be easier to be cross-dominant. For others, that could be different.
My opinion is the key is to get a consistent mental picture of the shot. A very common difficulty many players have is slightly different head positions depending on the shot. Not just head position, but equally importantly head angle.
It can be very hard to pickup on because the head position and angle differences can be very slight yet still have a huge impact. This applies to routine shots just as much as it does for stretch shots, shooting close to the rail, etc. You might be surprised to find you shoot at 45 degree cut with your head at 1 angle and a 80 degree cut with it in another. For instance a tendency on a 80 degree cut might be to subconsciously look over the cue at a slight angle to see a fuller ball.
Again, just opinion..I think the brain is good at adjusting, but when there are too many parameters, it takes longer. So in a nutshell, try to keep head position and angle constant and let your brain do the rest.
It is very easy to know approximately where to aim for most shots. Knowing exactly where to aim for every shot is the challenge.
It also helps to have a consistent and accurate stroke. I can see how the stroke part might be difficult for a novice or very young player, but I don't think this is true for most mature and experienced pool players.
Regards,
Dave
I guess that's where the fork in the road is: When aiming, once I get to the approximate location - I allow my subconscious to do the rest. If you are trying to really, really pinpoint the exact location where you need to aim to pocket the ball I can see how aiming would be a difficult task.
I know we (as in AZ) have been through this a million (if not billion) times but I really don't think there are many top level pool or snooker players that spend much time on aiming. They use it to get a pretty good estimate of the proper shot line and then they let their subconscious mind get them home. Honestly, there truly are an infinite number of cut angles (I know you know WAAAYYYY more about that than I do). How could anyone expect to be able to consciously aim at all of these?
Now we're getting into semantics. Aiming involves both conscious visualization and subconscious adjustment. It is all part of what I am calling "aiming." It is really difficult to aim accurately and consistently. It isn't nearly as difficult to stroke the cue straight.
Regards,
Dave
It depends on the stroke. There are A players that poke at balls all day. They get that speed tag because they do other things that make them hard to beat, like concentrating their brain into a boil. They would still make me look like I don't know what I'm doing, but it doesn't mean they stroke straighter.
i am the opposite. left handed and right eye dominant. I'll tell you one thing i've learned .....if i think about which eye is dominant and try to line it up etc then I will miss every ball ....
you brain will work out what it needs to work out ...if you try to break it down then you trying to outsmart your own brain which never works.
lets face it this isn't archery and you keep both eyes open during a shot ....so I say use them both let your brain do the work.
you brain will work out what it needs to work out ...if you try to break it down then you trying to outsmart your own brain which never works.
lets face it this isn't archery and you keep both eyes open during a shot ....so I say use them both let your brain do the work.
It's good to see other folks have the same issue. When I first picked up a pool cue, I got over the shot left handed. My brother thought I had lost my mind. But it always felt right. Same with a rifle and a bow. Switch hitter in baseball but primarily right handed. Right handed only in golf.
Strange...
Speaking of, try this exercise. Lift your right foot and move it in a circle clockwise. At the same time, try tracing out the letter 6 in front of you with your right hand. Pretty tough...
The brain is a mysterious thing...