Are you referring to the system of sending contact point at contact point? If so, that's not what's described in the original post.Very good, I use this off and on and it works. Thanks for sharing. I thought I was crazy when I first figured it out
Simple aiming system
- Thread starter Mensabum
- Start date
I do what Mensabum describes. Basically contact points. Very little thinking, just look and line up. I am sure subconscious comes into it, but I don't know about that
hence the name, subconscious.What Bob is saying is that only the object ball point is identified and the cue ball point is the wrong one and will not make contact. I see what you're saying though. I use strict contact geometry but if I step up the pace I might make a few quick gestures and get down and just pull the trigger.I do what Mensabum describes. Basically contact points. Very little thinking, just look and line up. I am sure subconscious comes into it, but I don't know about that
I would describe my method as contact point to contact point. My practice practice practice makes it almost sub conscious. When I go to the Snooker table and the balls are smaller it takes a while to make the adjustment in my aiming. The old days with the oversized cueball presented a similar adjustment in the opposite direction.
First I estimate the contact points then I calculate the offset from center ball and aim cue tip through centerball.
First I estimate the contact points then I calculate the offset from center ball and aim cue tip through centerball.
it ends up all feel anyway. systems help the beginner get a feel for where to hit.
before and after you get down on the cueball you can see where the spot on the object ball you need to hit is. and where the spot on the cueball needs to contact that point is. that is what the ghost ball shows you.
then you have to adjust where you hit the original contact point on the object ball with any english you use.
and know where that new contact point is depending on the english you use.
and also the speed of the shot as the cue ball may swerve or have deflection.
so no system will work on its own even remotely so.
before and after you get down on the cueball you can see where the spot on the object ball you need to hit is. and where the spot on the cueball needs to contact that point is. that is what the ghost ball shows you.
then you have to adjust where you hit the original contact point on the object ball with any english you use.
and know where that new contact point is depending on the english you use.
and also the speed of the shot as the cue ball may swerve or have deflection.
so no system will work on its own even remotely so.
SeniorTom
Well-known member
I think the best aiming system exists in the past. All the 1000 times I pocket balls is remembered in my subconscious to the point where it just happens without much thinking. When I think of systems I start to become distracted and will miss more often. I think the word 'rote' comes to mind when describing my thoughts.
That hella flush is gay?
Jaden
p.s. I was joking, I wasn't accusing you of hella flushing anything...
I couldn't tell if that was contempt or mocking the wrench in my suspension conversation. FWIW I ain't flush and If I were, I'd go off at Amazon. You can get a 40, 50% return there.
Roll laughing thing...
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But he does not describe contact point to contact point. The point he takes on the cueball is not the contact point. @Jaden made the same mistake you made in reading the original post. It's easy to make that mistake because his system sounds so similar to the contact point system.I do what Mensabum describes. Basically contact points. Very little thinking, just look and line up. I am sure subconscious comes into it, but I don't know about that
To me it seems like the easiest thing to do is look at where the cue ball needs to be to pocket the ball then put it there.
I'm a wrench myself.I couldn't tell if that was contempt or mocking the wrench in my suspension conversation. FWIW I ain't flush and If I were, I'd go off at Amazon. You can get a 40, 50% return there.
Roll laughing thing...
++
It was funny, I had a youtube channel for a bit and I was doing a vr6 12v turbo jetta project. I had to replace the tranny and had posted a video showing that.
I was playing in a local tourney and one of my pool playing aquantances said "I didn't know you were a mechanic". lol.
Jaden
First, from standing behind the object ball to the pocket, I pick the object ball contact point. Second, I stand behind the cue ball on the basic shot line and imagine a line from the center of the cue ball to the pocket. Where that line leaves the cue ball, I know what part of the cue ball to aim/shoot at the object ball contact point. Works at all angles for me. May not be perfect geometry, but it works for me better than more complicated systems. Good Luck !!
Talking cars, I had the sway bar locking up on my dirt car, ... sometimes! Somebitch frustrated me so much I would make a couple laps in practice, come in and kick a tire twice and go back out. I had already tried everything I knew to do. When I found out what was wrong I took off the sway bar and ran like a three legged dog the rest of the season. I had a ten dollar used tire on the left front just to hold it up.
Back to pool! I think equal opposites might describe my method best. Contact points sounds good until you realize you can't actually see one of them most of the time. I spent months of nightly effort building the back side of the cue ball in my mind so I knew where the contact point really was. It didn't come easy! I eventually completed the invisible part of the circle.
Hu
You guys better hope Mensabum isn't a pro, and that he doesn't now disappear, because if he does you will all be in big trouble. Big big trouble.
I see what you're saying. If you listen to what we're describing though, your estimation will be much more accurate. Instead of looking through center ball to the pocket, look center line on a line going parallel to the object ball line to the pocket. The point on the cb closest to the pocket is the cp for the cb that needs to meet the cp on the OB.
Jaden
If he had shown it to somebody they might have explained to him (and maybe even you) how it really works. The correct "parallel lines" geometry was already well known by 1975.
pj
chgo
I understand parallel line aiming and have used it, I get what you are saying. I find Mensabum's method easier and more accurate. We all see differently. Use whichever wins games.
If you read up on this, you'll learn an incremental improvement to your approach.
Willie Mosconi's aiming system
Here are the illustrations from Willie Mosconi's "Winning Pocket Billiards". If you are interested in the full text, you should get the book which is available for under $5 delivered to your house from biblio.com: Here are all of the illustrations about aiming:
forums.azbilliards.com
Basically an accurate alignment, you'd draw that line through the cueball on an angle parallel to the line the object ball takes.
Your approach is lining up an object ball contact point based on a line to the pocket. That contact point will be closer to the center of the cueball than what you'd get with a parallel line. So your approach will hit balls fatter that what would be geometrically correct by a small amount. On longer shots, bigger tables, and/or sharper cuts that'll come in to play quite a bit as a miss unless you're unconsciously adjusting. But on a small Valley table with wide pockets and shorter shots, it probably will work very often for you. But it could be a little better.
For a previous thread on this subject, see
And here is a diagram that illustrates the problem with what I call the "nearest to farthest" system. For both shots, the same "nearest" point on the cue ball is used. It is perfect for the straight-in one ball. For the two ball, it causes much too full a hit.
Nearest to farthest -- how bad is it?
Here is an aiming system. Like all aiming systems, it is not perfect. My question is: How bad is it? In particular what is the worst error you will have on common shots? What situations really cause it to break down? The system is this: There is a spot on the object ball that is the farthest...
forums.azbilliards.com
And here is a diagram that illustrates the problem with what I call the "nearest to farthest" system. For both shots, the same "nearest" point on the cue ball is used. It is perfect for the straight-in one ball. For the two ball, it causes much too full a hit.