Stroking While Shifting?

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DrCue'sProtege

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
tonight when i was practicing i just happened to notice something. there has been alot of talk, debate, disagreement, etc, over whether to look at the Cue ball or Object ball last as you shoot.

anyway, tonight when i was working on a shot and had just missed it, i kinda stood up, began to ponder that shot, and just happened to think "Did I Look At Either Last?" or were my eyes in the middle of "Shifting Back And Forth" when i stroked the shot?

the more i thought, the more i realized i didnt know. it dawned on me that i was probably "Stroking While Shifting My Eyes Between The Cue Ball and Object Ball", and not concentrating on either. from that point i began to focus on my preference of this debate, and things began to click, and fall in place. and balls started to fall too. just practiced some shots tonight, didnt break any racks. might give that a try tomorrow night.

anybody else ever experience what i am talking about? or is my predicament one of those that falls somewhere between Williebetmore's Basement, Leftfield, and the Twilight Zone?

DCP

p.s. my preference is to look at the cue ball last.
 
I'm rarely in stroke these days

I am rarely in stroke these days but I was the other day and I noticed the answer to your question, neither! Just like you aren't focused on any one thing driving down the highway, when I had the balls dropping nicely I wasn't looking at the cue ball or object ball after I lined up the shot. I was simply aware of the table.

I have been unable to remember if I focused on the cue ball or object ball when I played my best pool and maybe this is the reason why, I wasn't focusing on either one. My pool sessions are few and far between right now and I haven't worked on that again, and this may be the catch. I was mostly banging balls around with my brother that plays very little when this happened so I was playing the opposite of normal most of the time, just banging balls around instead of working at it.

Maybe the secret to success is to quit trying? Now I have a headache! :confused:

Hu


DrCue'sProtege said:
tonight when i was practicing i just happened to notice something. there has been alot of talk, debate, disagreement, etc, over whether to look at the Cue ball or Object ball last as you shoot.

anyway, tonight when i was working on a shot and had just missed it, i kinda stood up, began to ponder that shot, and just happened to think "Did I Look At Either Last?" or were my eyes in the middle of "Shifting Back And Forth" when i stroked the shot?

the more i thought, the more i realized i didnt know. it dawned on me that i was probably "Stroking While Shifting My Eyes Between The Cue Ball and Object Ball", and not concentrating on either. from that point i began to focus on my preference of this debate, and things began to click, and fall in place. and balls started to fall too. just practiced some shots tonight, didnt break any racks. might give that a try tomorrow night.

anybody else ever experience what i am talking about? or is my predicament one of those that falls somewhere between Williebetmore's Basement, Leftfield, and the Twilight Zone?

DCP

p.s. my preference is to look at the cue ball last.
Click to expand...
 
Ive noticed some players over the years whos concentration is on the stroking before shot. The preshot stroking in my opinion is to loosen and relax the arm, assuring yourself it is in its groove. As far as aiming..... I have always made pauses in my preshot routine to check the aim. Some folks will tell you to have a set number of warm up strokes, others say alot, and other say just a few. Find what works for you, but it has to be a subconsious act. If you are thinking about how the number of warm up strokes you are taking as opposed to aiming and checking your alignment your mind has drifted from what it should be thinking about.
Have a routine you follow such as....
-line up your body to the shot
-bend down to the shot and bridge the cue
-check your aim
-warm up the stroke a few times
-recheck your aim taking into account where on the cue ball you want to hit
-practice stroke again
-pause
-nice smooth backswing
-stroke and follow through
-stay down on the shot
Sounds like alot, but practice it until you are not thinking about it.... to where your body takes over and accomplishes the preshot routine like second nature.
And as far as cue ball or object ball last...... there are very good players who do it both ways, so you will have to find what is most natural and works best for you.
Chuck
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it definitely matters.........i like to lok at both really quickly to get my aiming done......then ill look at my cueball while i take a few strokes......then i look up at the object ball and shoot
 
this is my routine of eye shifting, i get down and look at the aim point on the objectball, stroke keeping my eyes on that point. Now i look at the cueball stroke a couple times looking there then i pause at the cueball, shift my eyes back to the objectball and stroke but when i pull back and shift my eyes back to the cueball, pause stroke looking at the cueball but while i pull back i then shift my eyes back to the objectball and finish my stroke pausing back at the cueball but keeping my eyes on the objectball. from there i keep my eyes on the objectball maybe two more strokes then fire, the last two strokes my eyes stay focus on the object ball. I tend to due as much strokes on the same ball, if did two practice strokes on the cueball then i do two stroke on the objectball, if i stroke looking at the cueball then pause looking at the objectball i do the same thing for the other ball vice versa, This way i am repeatable on each shot, and i don't rush anything. But i know it has nothing to do with my eyes switching back and forth and stroking the same way, as i have a buddy who takes no practice strokes at all, but looks back and forth and he is deadly, good ball pocketer. I couldn't for one not take practice strokes though LOL.
 
Just last night, Hillbilly and I were playing 8-ball here at home and this topic came up after I missed a ball. He asked if I look at my CB or OB last. I thought for a second and realized I didn't even know. After some attention to that detail of my shooting style, it became apparent that I'm a cue ball last looker. We set up some straight-in shots and he suggested looking at the OB last and I found it very difficult to do. This has become a new thing I'm going to work on. He likes to look at the OB when he strokes, as he contends it is generally easier to execute a shot that way. Very interesting.
 
you should be looking only at the object ball by your last practice stroke

DrCue'sProtege said:
tonight when i was practicing i just happened to notice something. there has been alot of talk, debate, disagreement, etc, over whether to look at the Cue ball or Object ball last as you shoot.

anyway, tonight when i was working on a shot and had just missed it, i kinda stood up, began to ponder that shot, and just happened to think "Did I Look At Either Last?" or were my eyes in the middle of "Shifting Back And Forth" when i stroked the shot?

the more i thought, the more i realized i didnt know. it dawned on me that i was probably "Stroking While Shifting My Eyes Between The Cue Ball and Object Ball", and not concentrating on either. from that point i began to focus on my preference of this debate, and things began to click, and fall in place. and balls started to fall too. just practiced some shots tonight, didnt break any racks. might give that a try tomorrow night.

anybody else ever experience what i am talking about? or is my predicament one of those that falls somewhere between Williebetmore's Basement, Leftfield, and the Twilight Zone?

DCP

p.s. my preference is to look at the cue ball last.
Click to expand...
 
I find that if I am shift my eyes back and forth too much or find myself trying to get sense of my stroke - I play at my lowest level. When I am stroking well and pocketing balls effortlessly with sound position I am focusing all my attention ahead, to the OB spot.

IMO it seems that there exists a priority of focus and concentration. IE it is more important to look ahead to the point we are driving our car than to worry about the steering wheel, gas pedal, fuel gage,... These things do exists and we do give attention to them but as they get attention our minds know that we should be paying attention to the road ahead or we do not drive within the lines. So the primary focus is ahead.

I think our stroke is the same. If we pay too much attention and do not put our priorities in order, we miss shots and miss position. I often make the statement to players about drawing the straightest line between two points. If we focus on our pencil, how straight our line is becoming, we shift our eyes from the first dot to the second dot,.. our line looks awful. If we focus all our attention on the point ahead and trust everything else our line is much smoother.

I think the most frustrating thing is when we miss a shot and start to over evaluate what we are doing wrong, stroke, feel,.. In fact the real problem many times is that we think we are seeing the OB's spot but we are just not seeing the spot from the OB to the pocket correctly. Again these are my opinions, but I do find that if I work harder at seeing the spot and remain focused on it I am better apt to make the ball no matter if my stance and stroke are bad.

As I tell my son, just stay down and look the OB to the pocket, find the spot that gets the OB there. Once you have it you can actually see the spot and fine tune without looking at the pocket. I tell hem to stroke his cue tip through that point of the OB. Some players can just stroke right though using intuitive sight and others use the CB or the tip as their site to that point of the OB. In all cases the entire focus is the straight line to that 2nd point, OB's spot.

IMO if we prioritize focus to the spot ahead and stroke through it, our stance, stroke,.. automatically self aligns. This is why I believe that so many strong players have so many different stances and strokes. They spent more time pocketing balls correctly and the rest of their body and vision simply adapted according to their make up.

In pool, golf,.. many times we hear someone make the statement about the perfect stroke or swing. I believe this just translates to "It just looks nice" It is better understood today that proper mechanics coexists within different forms. The reality is that even though pool has not reached the instructor knowledge level as golf, the feeling in golf is to pay attention to the individual players motions rather than rely on "everyone must do it the same way"
 
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