I think the problem with this is that most aiming systems are so convoluted (because there isn’t really a simple answer to finding the exact contact point other than ghost ball) that they distract from learning and enjoying the basics of the game.
I played snooker for about 20 years before playing pool, and I had never really heard serious discussion of aiming systems until I started playing pool. I recently, just for interest, tried using CTE, and seriously, it did my head in. I can’t imagine explaining it to a beginner and expecting them to get anything productive out of it while trying learn and enjoy pool.
The ghost ball is a solid concept to explain aiming, and I think beyond that, I agree with the OP; it’s repetition. And I don’t think learning approximate potting angles takes all that long, at least to the point where your brain understands whats going on. I think playing 20 full ball, quarter ball, half ball, and three quarter ball shots with a ghost ball would be enough to get most people in line with how aiming relates to the movement of the object ball.
In my opinion, cuesports are difficult enough, offering enough to think about, without introducing aiming systems that have as many exceptions and qualifications as English grammar (a system which some people fail to implement correctly even after 60 years of using it everyday). I think they are also an entry point to the rabbit hole of cuesports insanity, that place that sucks in those too willing to obsess over the search for a magic bullet that will solve all their pool playing woes.
Excellent points. Many aiming systems are too convoluted to process naturally. I do agree that using ghostball, along with a solid fractional reference, would be a great way of developing aiming skills and learning cb-ob relationships/interactions, much more effective than using ghostball alone without referencing any solid point of aim directly on or just outside the edge of the ob.
It may not be the way most of us learned the game, but in my opinion aiming for something you can actually see is better than aiming for an estimated imaginary ghostball location.
Sorry, Lou, I know the thread wasn't meant to drift into an aiming discussion. Your point was geared more toward required table time, putting in the many hours needed to program your brain through shot repetition, trial and error. Unfortunately this programming process typically involves a ton of failed shots before pocketing balls becomes consistent enough to benefit from the process of shot repetition. We learn good and bad the same way -- by repeating the same good or bad over and over. So if we can reduce or eliminate the bad, we find ourselves repeating more good than bad, streamlining the learning process so that it doesn't require as much time.
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