Some observations about aiming

[Straightpool_99]

I have noticed some oddities about aiming throughout the years. Some of those observations I instantly forget until they come up in a game once again. Maybe these are all unique to me, but then again, maybe not?

1. Sometimes I undercut shots when there are balls close to the object ball that I will carom the cueball into if I make the shot. This is especially true when the balls I'm going to carom into are close to the rail (and the collision therefore will be uncontrolled). My brain simply refuses to let me aim the shot correctly and instead opts to aim the shot too thickly to avoid the obstacle balls. I am obviously not aware of this as it is happening, however, when I am aware of the phenomenon, can force myself to aim correctly.

2. Breakshots in 14.1 are often missed by players who do not miss any other shots (seemingly). I'm aware of the fact that some of the breakshots are rather thin and hit harder than other shots, but even accounting for this, a much larger percentage of these shots are being missed than should be expected. There is of course tremendous pressure on these and high demands on cueball accuracy, as well. However, you cannot do any more on these shots than on any other. Select your speed, tip position and aim standing up and shoot it like any other shot. Give yourself the best chance of making it. My percentage on these went up after I was taught to ignore the pack while shooting. My mentor told me to imagine making the 9 ball (with whatever spin was needed). Simple trick, but it works.

3. As a primarily ghost ball aimer, I realized that whenever I switched to a thicker shaft I tended to undercut the ball and the opposite with thinner shafts. It appears that I use the shaft as a reference when cutting the ball (probably the inside edge of the ferrule). I wasn't aware of this. Some things are picked up on by our subconscious and remain outside our awareness until they are pointed out or become blatantly obvious. Knowing this, it became much easier to play with unfamiliar cues.

4. I've noticed that many inexperienced players tend to undercut shots when they hit thick cuts hard with topspin. I have some theories about why that is, but they are basically guesses. Interestingly, when the cut is thin, the error goes the other way which is more in line with what one would predict.

 

[tonythetiger583]

When I'm shooting from near the corner pocket at a ball that's a thick almost straight in cut into the side. I tend to hit the ball thick and miss to the far horn of the pocket.
This mostly happens when the object ball is closer to the cueball than the pocket. For some reason my body just wants to hit it straight.

And 40 degree back cuts down the long rail. I usually way over cut it, or just miss the pocket and hit the short rail.

Also sometimes instead of throwing the ball with side draw to hold the cb, i'll just hit a dead stop shot, miss the pocket and my cb will just be spinning in place.

Also sometimes when lining up for lotsa inside, i'll line up to overcut the ball, but when i land i'm definitively much thicker. Like thicker than a center ball shot and pretty much i'd have to put outside on it to make the ball.

 

[duckie]

Being able to first visualize the shot in a dynamic way is the the key to aiming.

Example.......playing 8 ball yesterday, came upon a shot where the only option was a across the table two rails to side pocket.

I actually visualized that shot dynamically in my head before I even considered where to place the CB on the table to make the OB do what I saw in my mind.

I shot it, but with not enough speed to overcome some table roll and the OB came to rest on a point of the side pocket. With the proper speed....table roll would not have matter.....in would have dropped.

The point is.......visualizing the shot dynamically in your head first.

 

[rikdee]

Being able to first visualize the shot in a dynamic way is the the key to aiming.


The point is.......visualizing the shot dynamically in your head first.

Yes: visualize, commit, trust. Train your conscious mind to be a casual observer without it's desire to provide a running commentary about results. Make any corrections with 'mind pictures'. Allow your sub-conscious mind to be the performer it knows how to be; it knows how to aim. Learn to let it happen rather than always trying to make it happen. Strong visualizations can be a powerful addition to one's PSR.

 

[duckie]

I ride a motorcycle.........both street and track. Close to where I live are some real nice twistie roads I've ridden for years and know like the back of my hand.

Because of this, I can ride those roads a lot faster than someone who has never seen those road because those roads are ingrained into my mind.

I know what's ahead whereas the other person doesn't and has to wait to see what's ahead when I already know what's ahead. Because I know what's ahead, I'm ridding ahead......in my mind. I see what is in front of me and yet at the same time, visualize what's coming in my mind cause I know the road.

I enter the first turn in a series of turns with the thought of where I want to be as I exit the last turn of the series. Get the entry into a series of turns wrong, you will not be as fast and your exit out of the last turn in the series will be slower.

I spanked a guy on a 08 Honda CBR 1000 with upgraded suspension on my little Seca,600cc air cooled......50ish hp v 170hp of the 1000. All because I knew the road and it was his first time on it.

I did not have to think about what to do because I knew the road and what was coming where as he did not and had to think about what to do next as he saw what was coming. This little extra step of having to think and not knowing was the difference. The better you know the road, the less thinking is needed.

Every road, every track has a rhythm. If you watch motorcycle road racing, riders will talk about not being able to find their rhythm......hence poor performance.

That's all pool is.......learning the rhythm of the roads of the pool table. The more quality time you spend on the table, the more the roads of the table become ingrained into you.

The goal is to to know what's coming so thinking about what is coming is not needed.

No aiming system will let you know how the CB is gonna react, based on speed and spin, after contacting a OB.

Only by spending time on the table, learning all the different turns of the roads there are on the table, can one begin to think ahead. Getting down to the last ball requires a series of turns.......series of shots. The better you know the shots, the less thinking is needed.

 

[duckie]

The actual angle of a cut shot does not matter. Any system that requires one to guess what the angle is in order to aim is a waste of time.

Why........cause all shots are straight shots........when just considering placing the CB on the table where it needs to be to make the OB go where you desire.

And there is only one spot on the table for the CB to be that will make the OB go where you desire.

Angles are measured in degrees, minutes, seconds. You can no truly know if a cut angle is 30 degrees or maybe 28 degress, 38 minutes, 30 seconds and so on. It's a guess and one that is not needed to pocket balls so why brother with a system that requires a useless step to perform?

What is important to understand about cut angles is the amount of transfer of energy from CB to OB. The greater the angle, the less transfer of energy there is. Which is why on thin cuts, a lot of speed is needed for the CB to make the OB move.

There are only three lines needed to be considered in pool. The line from the OB to, say center pocket. The line from the CB to the spot on the table that makes the OB go center pocket. And the cue stick line to the CB.

The first two lines are set by ball position. It is the cue stick line that is the variable.

The only time the cue stick center line is on the CB line is with a hit on the CB somewhere on the vertical axis of the CB. The motion of the cue stick is in line with the motion of the CB as it rolls down the line to the spot picked.

With side spin, the cue stick center line motion is either gonna be across the CB line or parallel.

The next thing to stop is looking at the OB and to look where the the CB needs to be. That's where the cue stick motion is trying to put the CB and that spot is never the same spot as the OB so why look at it?

You can still see the OB even though you are not looking at it. You can still see the pocket, on most shots, even though you are not looking at it. All this visual references can be seen in your field of view when you do not look at one thing only like the OB.

In mototcycle riding and racing, there is this phrase........you go where you look, so look where you want to go. Target fixation is a common thing a new motorcycle rider experinces. Target fixation is just that....fixating your total vision on one thing......which is not good.

In racing, I've seen other racers follow someone off track and have had someone follow me off track when I blew a corner, because of target fixation.......just looking at the rider in front, and not past them. Racing requires looking past what's in front you.....down the track.....at nothing........this way, you see everything.

 

[JB Cases]

I ride a motorcycle.........both street and track. Close to where I live are some real nice twistie roads I've ridden for years and know like the back of my hand.

Because of this, I can ride those roads a lot faster than someone who has never seen those road because those roads are ingrained into my mind.

I know what's ahead whereas the other person doesn't and has to wait to see what's ahead when I already know what's ahead. Because I know what's ahead, I'm ridding ahead......in my mind. I see what is in front of me and yet at the same time, visualize what's coming in my mind cause I know the road.

I enter the first turn in a series of turns with the thought of where I want to be as I exit the last turn of the series. Get the entry into a series of turns wrong, you will not be as fast and your exit out of the last turn in the series will be slower.

I spanked a guy on a 08 Honda CBR 1000 with upgraded suspension on my little Seca,600cc air cooled......50ish hp v 170hp of the 1000. All because I knew the road and it was his first time on it.

I did not have to think about what to do because I knew the road and what was coming where as he did not and had to think about what to do next as he saw what was coming. This little extra step of having to think and not knowing was the difference. The better you know the road, the less thinking is needed.

Every road, every track has a rhythm. If you watch motorcycle road racing, riders will talk about not being able to find their rhythm......hence poor performance.

That's all pool is.......learning the rhythm of the roads of the pool table. The more quality time you spend on the table, the more the roads of the table become ingrained into you.

The goal is to to know what's coming so thinking about what is coming is not needed.

No aiming system will let you know how the CB is gonna react, based on speed and spin, after contacting a OB.

Only by spending time on the table, learning all the different turns of the roads there are on the table, can one begin to think ahead. Getting down to the last ball requires a series of turns.......series of shots. The better you know the shots, the less thinking is needed.

gosh where to begin......

You "spanked a guy" - sounds like a freudian slip but continuing on - who had a better bike than you because you knew a stretch of road better than he did..... and this is relevant how?

Everyone beats someone else at something at some point in their lives because of nothing MORE than the disparity in experience or knowledge. The accomplishment is when both opponents are equally experienced, equally knowledgeable and one prevails because of having better nerves on that day.

Which, if we use the guy's superior bike as a metaphor for an aiming system, and the road as the metaphor for the table, that guy will BLOW YOU AWAY EVERY TIME once he learns how to handle his bike to a higher degree so that he can go to any road and adapt to it really quickly.

You didn't spank him because you were visualizing the road....you did it because you already KNEW the road through experience and I am 100% sure that you didn't run that the road as quickly the first time you ever did it.

Ok, now to the second part...."No aiming system will let you know how the CB is gonna react, based on speed and spin, after contacting a OB. "

Really? Did you figure this out on your own? Yes AIMING and EXECUTION are not the same. Aiming does not TAKE THE SHOT. The shot is taken AFTER the aiming is done. But even at that you are wrong. Because one can USE certain ways to aim SPECIFICALLY for certain ways to execute. For example I can deliberately aim wrong because I want to "gear" the object ball to get more action from the cueball instead of hitting it with no sidespin....or I can aim at the rail instead of the pocket and use "pocket speed" so that I can get the angle I need for position. In both of those cases the aiming goes hand in hand with the type of execution, the aim is chosen SPECIFICALLY because of the execution and IN FACT the aiming "let's you know what the reaction will be" because you already know that you need that type of aim to make that type of shot. But then this is the type of shot which I would beat you with because I know how to do it and you don't. So when the situations arise where it's the right shot you give up the table and I don't.

 

[duckie]

In my efforts to determine where to put the CB, never have I considered what the actual angle of the cut is or what the amount of "ball hit".

Since I work on the principle of CB ball placement and not hitting the OB with the CB those two concepts aren't needed and just adds a extra,unneeded step.

What's the difference in thinking in terms of CB placement v hitting the OB with the CB?

 

[duckie]

How many aiming systems are needed to be learned to play pool?

Referring to the pic below, something from the real 3d world, provide a drawing showing how to use ball overlap aiming, or ball to ball contact point aiming or fraction of hit on the OB when the CB goes rail first, in this case CB rail first to the 8 ball into the corner.

See in my little pool play world, rail first is a valuable shot to learn. Also, in my little pool playing world, combos, banks, kicks, caroms are shots that come in handy to know.

So, just referring to the rail first shot........how can ball overlap or ball to ball contact points be used?

Or does another system need to be learned for this shot?

Or is it possible there is one system that handles this and all other shots that do exist in the pool playing world......even tho you may not experience those shots?

 

[Neil]

How many aiming systems are needed to be learned to play pool?

Referring to the pic below, something from the real 3d world, provide a drawing showing how to use ball overlap aiming, or ball to ball contact point aiming or fraction of hit on the OB when the CB goes rail first, in this case CB rail first to the 8 ball into the corner.

See in my little pool play world, rail first is a valuable shot to learn. Also, in my little pool playing world, combos, banks, kicks, caroms are shots that come in handy to know.

So, just referring to the rail first shot........how can ball overlap or ball to ball contact points be used?

Or does another system need to be learned for this shot?

Or is it possible there is one system that handles this and all other shots that do exist in the pool playing world......even tho you may not experience those shots?

One would think that after all your years on here you would know the answer to your questions above about that shot. Yet, you are just as clueless now as you were when you first got here.

But, since you seem to think that ghost ball is the be-all-end-all for pool, why don't you describe how you go about knowing exactly where to place the ghost ball on the rail for the kick shot you have shown? Or are you all about tearing down others, and not building up anyone?

 

[fathomblue]

I ride a motorcycle.........both street and track. Close to where I live are some real nice twistie roads I've ridden for years and know like the back of my hand.

Because of this, I can ride those roads a lot faster than someone who has never seen those road because those roads are ingrained into my mind.

I know what's ahead whereas the other person doesn't and has to wait to see what's ahead when I already know what's ahead. Because I know what's ahead, I'm ridding ahead......in my mind. I see what is in front of me and yet at the same time, visualize what's coming in my mind cause I know the road.

I enter the first turn in a series of turns with the thought of where I want to be as I exit the last turn of the series. Get the entry into a series of turns wrong, you will not be as fast and your exit out of the last turn in the series will be slower.

I spanked a guy on a 08 Honda CBR 1000 with upgraded suspension on my little Seca,600cc air cooled......50ish hp v 170hp of the 1000. All because I knew the road and it was his first time on it.

I did not have to think about what to do because I knew the road and what was coming where as he did not and had to think about what to do next as he saw what was coming. This little extra step of having to think and not knowing was the difference. The better you know the road, the less thinking is needed.

Every road, every track has a rhythm. If you watch motorcycle road racing, riders will talk about not being able to find their rhythm......hence poor performance.

That's all pool is.......learning the rhythm of the roads of the pool table. The more quality time you spend on the table, the more the roads of the table become ingrained into you.

The goal is to to know what's coming so thinking about what is coming is not needed.

No aiming system will let you know how the CB is gonna react, based on speed and spin, after contacting a OB.

Only by spending time on the table, learning all the different turns of the roads there are on the table, can one begin to think ahead. Getting down to the last ball requires a series of turns.......series of shots. The better you know the shots, the less thinking is needed.

One of the best posts I've ever read on this forum. Kudos.

 

[tonythetiger583]

I ride a motorcycle.........both street and track. Close to where I live are some real nice twistie roads I've ridden for years and know like the back of my hand.

Because of this, I can ride those roads a lot faster than someone who has never seen those road because those roads are ingrained into my mind.

I know what's ahead whereas the other person doesn't and has to wait to see what's ahead when I already know what's ahead. Because I know what's ahead, I'm ridding ahead......in my mind. I see what is in front of me and yet at the same time, visualize what's coming in my mind cause I know the road.

I enter the first turn in a series of turns with the thought of where I want to be as I exit the last turn of the series. Get the entry into a series of turns wrong, you will not be as fast and your exit out of the last turn in the series will be slower.

I spanked a guy on a 08 Honda CBR 1000 with upgraded suspension on my little Seca,600cc air cooled......50ish hp v 170hp of the 1000. All because I knew the road and it was his first time on it.

I did not have to think about what to do because I knew the road and what was coming where as he did not and had to think about what to do next as he saw what was coming. This little extra step of having to think and not knowing was the difference. The better you know the road, the less thinking is needed.

Every road, every track has a rhythm. If you watch motorcycle road racing, riders will talk about not being able to find their rhythm......hence poor performance.

That's all pool is.......learning the rhythm of the roads of the pool table. The more quality time you spend on the table, the more the roads of the table become ingrained into you.

The goal is to to know what's coming so thinking about what is coming is not needed.

No aiming system will let you know how the CB is gonna react, based on speed and spin, after contacting a OB.

Only by spending time on the table, learning all the different turns of the roads there are on the table, can one begin to think ahead. Getting down to the last ball requires a series of turns.......series of shots. The better you know the shots, the less thinking is needed.

I actually really like this post. Great post!

 

[tonythetiger583]

One of the best posts I've ever read on this forum. Kudos.

I completely agree.

 

[Neil]

One of the best posts I've ever read on this forum. Kudos.

You and Tony must not read very many posts if you really think that was one of the best.
That, or you didn't understand what you read. the only reason I am making this post is because it really saddens me when anyone holds up a post full of misinformation as a great post, when there are so many thousands of truly great posts on this forum to learn from.

First off, his analogy doesn't even apply to pool unless you are playing speed pool. There is plenty of time to think, and you will always see the best players doing just that, studying the table. Only the amateurs that don't know what they are doing anyways just get up there and start shooting thinking they know it all all the time.

Second, he is making another failed attempt at disparaging aiming systems because they don't tell you how to play position. That is just beyond ignorant. Aiming systems are about aiming. Not about stroking, position play, ect. Yet, he does this while implying the wrongful statement that ghost ball does do all that. It doesn't.

And, finally, he shows he doesn't understand what rhythm applied to pool is even about. But, I assure you, it is not about how a table plays.

 

[BC21]

One of the best posts I've ever read on this forum. Kudos.

Actually, I have an aiming method that allows a player to have it all, to learn the winding road without having to travel it a thousand times.

http://www.lulu.com/shop/brian-cris...art-of-aiming/paperback/product-23069892.html

 

[tonythetiger583]

You and Tony must not read very many posts if you really think that was one of the best.
That, or you didn't understand what you read. the only reason I am making this post is because it really saddens me when anyone holds up a post full of misinformation as a great post, when there are so many thousands of truly great posts on this forum to learn from.

First off, his analogy doesn't even apply to pool unless you are playing speed pool. There is plenty of time to think, and you will always see the best players doing just that, studying the table. Only the amateurs that don't know what they are doing anyways just get up there and start shooting thinking they know it all all the time.

Second, he is making another failed attempt at disparaging aiming systems because they don't tell you how to play position. That is just beyond ignorant. Aiming systems are about aiming. Not about stroking, position play, ect. Yet, he does this while implying the wrongful statement that ghost ball does do all that. It doesn't.

And, finally, he shows he doesn't understand what rhythm applied to pool is even about. But, I assure you, it is not about how a table plays.

Meh, I try to keep an open mind about stuff, and I guess what I took away was just different.

I don't think he means speed in racing directly translates into wanting to go faster on a pool table, but I can totally dig the rhythm concept. But it's not even literally speed rhythm.

In driving, i think a lot of it has to do with making sure you don't fall behind with your steering. If you're constantly reacting to things reflexively, you'll quickly lose control. I think getting out of line in pool is the same way. If you don't stay on the correct side with the correct angle, little by little, things will quickly get out of hand.

Also he talks about knowledge and awareness always giving the edge over someone less experienced and familiar with playing pool, concepts I can totally get behind.

You can still be deliberate and methodical, but, trusting your mechanics, is a big part of that. You need to be focused on what you want to do, instead of being focused on making your body do it. Back to driving, like looking where you want to go, instead of say staring back and forth from your windshield to your steering wheel.

Also I think rhythm and timing permeate pretty much every facet of pool. It's usually not enough to hit a ball with say stun, or draw or follow. It's more about having the ball have the right amount of stun or draw or follow by the time it contacts the ob. And to get a sense of that you have to take into account the full path of the cb from start to finish. The idea that stun and draw and follow aren't static amounts but measured on a gradient.

Or say a pendulum stroke. You aren't just getting the cue up to the right speed and then holding it there, you time it out, so you contact the ball at the right speed and the right point of your arc.

Anyways, what I got from it, was the idea of taking the whole "track" into account instead of trying to execute every "turn" individually, will result in a much more natural and optimal result.

You use rhythm, and timing, and experience and it allows you to execute the same number of steps as part of one unit, instead of individual pieces.

I wouldn't just apply it to any singular part of pool, but it's definitely a nice way of approaching many of the things that pool requires.

Again, I don't think trying to play super fast without any thought to what you're doing only on tables you know, was the writer's intention. And even if it was, it's not the lesson I got from it.

I also don't get why you would have a problem with him claiming that ghost ball does all that. Isn't that pretty much the main benefit of cte? I enjoy cte, because it takes a lot of the guesswork out. You know the perception, you never have to walk over and check the pocket, and you've reduced all these shots into one of a few categories. You're actually probably doing less thinking than a ghostballer in a way.

I apologize, but when I said it was a great post, I often have trouble separating what I read, from what I learned. I probably glaze over stuff and elaborate on stuff without noticing that it's not actually on the screen.

 

[duckie]

Actually, I have an aiming method that allows a player to have it all, to learn the winding road without having to travel it a thousand times.

http://www.lulu.com/shop/brian-cris...art-of-aiming/paperback/product-23063409.html

As a equal opportunity naysayer, I'm calling bullshit. Just more marketing nonsense like one sees on shopping channels.

See you look at pool as a road, it is not. It is a journey requiring one to chose many different roads to get where one is headed.

Running a rack in 14.1 requires the use of many different types of roads and not all players will use the same type of road where headed......the break ball.

There are drawings that show what is happening in the real world and there are drawings what to do in the real world.

Any drawing for aiming is a nothing more than a geometric way to describe ball to ball contact from different points of view. The most two used being overhead and from 1/2 ball above the playing surface. What is shown in these drawing do not apply very well to real world shots. I have never been able to get my eyes 1/2 ball above the playing surface.

Drawings for what to do would be something like construction drawing. What is shown in the drawings can be applied to the real world.

In Zen, it is realized that words can not explain the meaning of Zen. Thats why when people ask what Zen is, they get answer like

Did you have breakfast?
Yes...
Then clean your bowl.

Same with trying to describe how to aim or rather as I do, describe how I determine where to place the CB.

Words can not express this nor can any drawing. There are drawings representing a pool shot on different aspects and points of view, but they can never express the thought process used to aim.

Its the application that is the issue. Trying to apply what is represented geometrically for a shot in a drawing to the real world, which is 3D, by use of a human interface.......a person.

Point is....... anyone that claims a drawing represents "how to aim" is bullshit.

 

[Neil]

Meh, I try to keep an open mind about stuff, and I guess what I took away was just different.

I don't think he means speed in racing directly translates into wanting to go faster on a pool table, but I can totally dig the rhythm concept. But it's not even literally speed rhythm.

In driving, i think a lot of it has to do with making sure you don't fall behind with your steering. If you're constantly reacting to things reflexively, you'll quickly lose control. I think getting out of line in pool is the same way. If you don't stay on the correct side with the correct angle, little by little, things will quickly get out of hand.

Also he talks about knowledge and awareness always giving the edge over someone less experienced and familiar with playing pool, concepts I can totally get behind.

You can still be deliberate and methodical, but, trusting your mechanics, is a big part of that. You need to be focused on what you want to do, instead of being focused on making your body do it. Back to driving, like looking where you want to go, instead of say staring back and forth from your windshield to your steering wheel.

Also I think rhythm and timing permeate pretty much every facet of pool. It's usually not enough to hit a ball with say stun, or draw or follow. It's more about having the ball have the right amount of stun or draw or follow by the time it contacts the ob. And to get a sense of that you have to take into account the full path of the cb from start to finish. The idea that stun and draw and follow aren't static amounts but measured on a gradient.

Or say a pendulum stroke. You aren't just getting the cue up to the right speed and then holding it there, you time it out, so you contact the ball at the right speed and the right point of your arc.

Anyways, what I got from it, was the idea of taking the whole "track" into account instead of trying to execute every "turn" individually, will result in a much more natural and optimal result.

You use rhythm, and timing, and experience and it allows you to execute the same number of steps as part of one unit, instead of individual pieces.

I wouldn't just apply it to any singular part of pool, but it's definitely a nice way of approaching many of the things that pool requires.

Again, I don't think trying to play super fast without any thought to what you're doing only on tables you know, was the writer's intention. And even if it was, it's not the lesson I got from it.

I also don't get why you would have a problem with him claiming that ghost ball does all that. Isn't that pretty much the main benefit of cte? I enjoy cte, because it takes a lot of the guesswork out. You know the perception, you never have to walk over and check the pocket, and you've reduced all these shots into one of a few categories. You're actually probably doing less thinking than a ghostballer in a way.

I apologize, but when I said it was a great post, I often have trouble separating what I read, from what I learned. I probably glaze over stuff and elaborate on stuff without noticing that it's not actually on the screen.

You are on the right track, but as you stated at the end, you added a LOT that wasn't there, and then gave him credit for what you actually wrote.

As far as ghost ball, read it again...he claims that ghost ball shows one how to play position. It doesn't. And, CTE is an aiming method, period. That is all aiming systems do, they show you where to aim.

 

[BC21]

As a equal opportunity naysayer, I'm calling bullshit. Just more marketing nonsense like one sees on shopping channels.

Point is....... anyone that claims a drawing represents "how to aim" is bullshit.

Sorry, but 30 years ago, before I spent thousands of hours developing a feel for aiming, and who knows how much money on so-called "instructional" books, I wish a book like mine would've been available.

I apologise if it seems like I posted an infomercial. I'm just excited to finally be able to offer real improvement to other pool players, improvement that doesn't require years of time or a shit load of money. Learning to pocket balls shouldn't cost that much, and it shouldn't be clouded up with magical systems.

Ralph Kamden's illustrations are dead on. My material simply shows how to determine which fractional aim point to use without guessing or approximating. It's not magic. But I have a lot time involved in it, so it's also not free.

Over the last 30 years I've spent $39.99 on dvds, $49.99 on books, etc....only to be disappointed with most. A few years back I was asked, "How do you aim?", and I didn't have a good answer. All the time and money I spent, and I couldn't tell this kid a damn thing. Well, now I can, and I'm excited about it. Sorry if it seems too pushy or too opportunistic.

 

[tonythetiger583]

I ride a motorcycle.........both street and track. Close to where I live are some real nice twistie roads I've ridden for years and know like the back of my hand.

Because of this, I can ride those roads a lot faster than someone who has never seen those road because those roads are ingrained into my mind.

I know what's ahead whereas the other person doesn't and has to wait to see what's ahead when I already know what's ahead. Because I know what's ahead, I'm ridding ahead......in my mind. I see what is in front of me and yet at the same time, visualize what's coming in my mind cause I know the road.

I enter the first turn in a series of turns with the thought of where I want to be as I exit the last turn of the series. Get the entry into a series of turns wrong, you will not be as fast and your exit out of the last turn in the series will be slower.

I spanked a guy on a 08 Honda CBR 1000 with upgraded suspension on my little Seca,600cc air cooled......50ish hp v 170hp of the 1000. All because I knew the road and it was his first time on it.

I did not have to think about what to do because I knew the road and what was coming where as he did not and had to think about what to do next as he saw what was coming. This little extra step of having to think and not knowing was the difference. The better you know the road, the less thinking is needed.

Every road, every track has a rhythm. If you watch motorcycle road racing, riders will talk about not being able to find their rhythm......hence poor performance.

That's all pool is.......learning the rhythm of the roads of the pool table. The more quality time you spend on the table, the more the roads of the table become ingrained into you.

The goal is to to know what's coming so thinking about what is coming is not needed.

No aiming system will let you know how the CB is gonna react, based on speed and spin, after contacting a OB.

Only by spending time on the table, learning all the different turns of the roads there are on the table, can one begin to think ahead. Getting down to the last ball requires a series of turns.......series of shots. The better you know the shots, the less thinking is needed.

You are on the right track, but as you stated at the end, you added a LOT that wasn't there, and then gave him credit for what you actually wrote.

As far as ghost ball, read it again...he claims that ghost ball shows one how to play position. It doesn't. And, CTE is an aiming method, period. That is all aiming systems do, they show you where to aim.

I can't find that any where?, again, I might have just missed it. I can't even find any mention of ghost ball. If you're talking about his other posts, I might be ignoring the ones I can't relate too, which is a lot of them. If it doesn't catch my eye, or doesn't speak to me, I don't bother. I probably miss out on a lot of what JB says too.