Seeing the contact point on the object ball.

[straightline]

I don't understand how anyone can aim at the geometric contact point. It's not reality. The CB squirts and swerves and throws the OB.

Neither is GB. I use BHE and judicious speed no issues.

There's a whole forum for aiming topics. Maybe this thread will get moved there, but in the meantime....

Suppose you can keep the contact point in mind, say it happens to be a feature on the object ball. What do you then do with that point once you get over to shoot the cue ball?

You learn to visualize this:

Diagram is lopsided but you get it. Once it sinks in, you can just visualize this:

This depicts a different shot but who's counting. Three dots in a tilted line across the face of the ball; the highest one is the OB contact. You can connect the dots while standing to determine the stick line. I find that's usually all you need; some kind of line.



Portrait artists have to imagine a whole universe by comparison.

 

[iusedtoberich]

Well, it can be the basis for the ideal aim which is then modified according to the shot details. Beginners have to start somewhere.

Well besides that, it only lines up with the ghost ball, which is all imaginary and hard for a beginner (or a good player) to "see the center of in order to sent the center of the CB there"

 

[straightline]

Well besides that, it only lines up with the ghost ball, which is all imaginary and hard for a beginner (or a good player) to "see the center of in order to sent the center of the CB there"

Other components of geometric aiming give you the _base_ of the ghost ball...

 

[ShootingArts]

When I have to aim at a point I can't see I walk to where the point I need to hit the object ball is. Then I lock onto that spot with my eyes and walk back to where I am shooting from. Pool tables don't move and if I really feel the need I can slide a hand on the outside of the table. Might take a few tries at first to not lose your attention on the spot but without much practice it works.

Hu

 

[straightline]

When I have to aim at a point I can't see I walk to where the point I need to hit the object ball is. Then I lock onto that spot with my eyes and walk back to where I am shooting from. Pool tables don't move and if I really feel the need I can slide a hand on the outside of the table. Might take a few tries at first to not lose your attention on the spot but without much practice it works.

Hu

Often - at least on pool pockets, you can visualize the whole thing from where you stand. There are many imaging tricks not the least of which is the tangent line. You need to see the perpendicular relationship but that should be built into the way a player observes the table.

 

[straightline]

Here's a clearer depiction of the contact ellipse. Also apologies to @iusedtoberich who has some visual issues. If you need to know anything about the diagrams, please ask. If not it's all good.

The cool thing about this lick is you can take what you see on the OB and "paste" it on the CB. (blue line on the CB.)