I do not know Gene.
I have never talked to or communicated with Gene (except for the few public posts that have occurred in a couple of these threads).
I have never seen his DVD.
I have never talked to anyone who has watched his DVD or taken a lesson from him.
With that said, I will say there are two things I do know: pool and eyes.
I have played pool for over 50 years and I have played at an above-A level since I was a kid.
I have had eye surgeries on both of my eyes (one, that consisted of three different procedures all done at the same time, just a couple months back).
From the time I was a kid, I always said, “if I can see the ball, I can make it.” By that, I did not mean see it in the sense of having perfect 20/20 vision, but, of course, that helps and I had perfect vision for most of my life.
What I meant was there is a certain way that you can position yourself (head, eyes, cue, alignment, etc.) that allows you to “see” the shot. It is not something that is easily explained through text or by watching a DVD. It is something that you will realize immediately once you discover it. It is not magic. It is something anybody should be able to do, I would think. However, you have to have some actual pool fundamentals to be able to execute what you “see”.
I try to keep my body aligned to the table the same way on all shots if I can. I try to stay the same distance from the table if I can. I try to play position that will allow me to do that on the majority of my shots. This allows me to keep my same stance, same bridge and grip lengths, and the same eye distance and angle of elevation of my eyes looking down at the cue ball and out into the object ball or target. This helps me ”see” most of my shots in the same perspective.
If your head is low one time with your arms outstretched and then your head is up high the next time with your arms bunched up, you are not going to “see” the same thing all the time. All of the perspectives will change from shot to shot.
Keeping your body, head and eyes in the “correct” position is KEY to “seeing” the shot.
I am not affiliated with Gene.
This is not an endorsement for him or his product.
This is just something I have learned through years of playing.
If I had me (now) around to coach me (as a kid when I first started), I would have learned way faster and I would have played a lot better at a younger age. I didn’t do to bad without me...I was playing at an A-level before I was 16.
When I was growing up and learning, there were not many books to be had and most good players would not offer advice or instruction. You had to watch them and play them and that was usually only done through money games.
There are things that can be learned online, but time at the table is the only way to test, evaluate, and adapt to what you have learned.