success with practicing in low light...try it and reply how it goes

[poolguppy]

so this started about 2 weeks ago. It came up because the pool table is in my living room, and sometimes at night when im walking past the table going to the kitchen, i see some balls left out, and being too lazy to turn on the light i just pick up the cue and make a shot or two while passing, doing this many times and never giving a second thought about it, but recently realized i almost ALWAYS make my shots when doing this, and then a power outage happened late one night, so i brought a single candle into the room and shot great still in the very low light, so i started practicing with the kitchen light on, but not light on in the room, its light enough that i can vaguely make out the outline of the balls and most of the colors, and i was making way more shots than i expected this way, maybe even better than normal practice. then after a week or two of this i went out for some competitive games, and was one fire all night, won 14/16 games and was thrilled with my shooting. Im not yet saying this has actually improved my game, but i do honestly feel im more comfortable on the table, maybe because its turning cutting into more of a gut feeling aiming-wise, instead of looking at a single point? not sure, but try it, i find it new and interesting and ive been having good success in game ever since

 

[Lumocolor]

Funny but interesting topic for sure.

A couple of months ago me and a friend were playing in the back of the local room and the power went out, we figured it wouldn't be out for long and just decided to keep playing with nothing but an emergency light on a wall. It was pitch dark except for that light on the wall that wasn't pointing towards the table and we could barely tell the difference between the solids and stripes but wouldn't you know it, we both played extremely well (better than we both had been before the power went out) for 3-4 racks before the power returned.

I'm no expert, but i'd assume that we just concentrated a little more on each shot because of the difficulty seeing.

 

[boogeyman]

I would think many players have played in a similar position (little- to low-light conditions) before—I know I have. Certainly playing pool in less than ideal conditions could compel one to concentrate more so as to compensate. I have done just that when playing with a warped cue, uneven table, really loud (pool) room, and "inferior" light conditions.

However, I have to surmise that the only way these less than favorable situations could actually help one's game is if one were to approach each turn at the table the same way (pre-shot routine for one) as when conditions are more "ideal."

Otherwise, bad habits could indeed rear their ugly head.

 

[MitchAlsup]

When I put my pool table in my house, it was a couple of months before I had a proper pool table light above it. There was a single light right above one corner pocket.

Playing on the table lit like this makes one have to look for the edges of the balls themselves and not the reflections of the light on the balls.

To this day, I still dont use th reflections on the balls to define their position, I look for the actual edge/shape of the ball.

 

[CreeDo]

I never bought into any reflection/shadow based systems.
But I can't imagine having less visual information is better unless that information is really distracting
(like too-bright lights or loud cloth). If this improvement is psychological you gotta figure out how to tap
into that with the lights on. Not gonna find too many no-light tournaments to win.

I saw two guys renting an unlit table, one guy was giving lessons to another and requested
the table light stay off. Few balls were struck but lots of gesturing towards contact points etc.
I was baffled, anyone see this as a 'training aid' before?

 

[poolguppy]

so im back to this. i decided to keep trying it an see what happens. i disagree that the lack of light makes you try harder. I think it makes you look at your shots differently, i have been doing this a couple weeks since this post and guess what....Ive done two nights straight at the local bar now with no losses. I realized when i dont even look at my targeted pocket, i shoot better. Before i used to aim for one spot on the ball, now i see the ball, in relation to the pocket, and with the whole outline of the ball(as you would see in the dark) i naturally find a place to aim because im familiar enough with the table to know exactly where the pocket is in relation to my ball, so why look at the pocket? i approach the table, look only at my target ball as a whole, and make my shot. last couple weeks ive been averaging 5-6 ball runs every game, before it was 3-4. not saying this will work for you, but its changed the way i see the shot, and when i catch myself going back to old habits, its in games im not shooting as well, switch back to ignoring the pocket, and my game gets back on track

 

[Pidge]

It could be something as simple as you steering the cue because you know the pocket is visable. When you can see the pocket you trust your initial alignment and stroke straight without steering. If its working for you then keep up the good work. I haven't played in low light since I was a kid on the snooker tables. it was 20p for 30 minutes of light back then so if we didn't have 20p to put in the machine we would carry the game on regardless. I always played shocking with low light. Hard enough seeing a ball 11ft away in high light.

As far as aiming without looking at the pocket; I don't look at the pocket either, it doesn't concern me when I'm lining up. If you are experienced you know where the pocket is just by where the CB is in relation to the rails. To closer to the rail it is the easier I find it to know where the pocket is. I hardly give any attention to the OB either. I use it to find my line of aim and once I've found that I'm looking at the white when I get down and doing my 2 practice strokes. At the end of the backswing I pause, and my sight switches from CB to OB during the pause and I hit the CB.