9 ball said:
I am seriously thinking of giving up the game for good and its all because of 1 little thing: the stop shot, now you may be wondering why would I give up the game all because of 1 shot and thats because for the last 3 years I have been practicing 5 hours a week on every aspect of my game but when it comes to using power shot or a spin shot all I seem to be able to do is a stop shot, and it dosen't matter how low or high I hit the cb it still produces a stop shot.
Its gotten to the point I am not enjoying the game as much and I can't even put any of joe tuckers lessons in guaranteed improvement to the test because they call for different types of spin shots.
I am at my wits end, if anyone can help I would be greatful but if not I might have to consider giving up the the game.
I once took a lesson from Jan McWhorter, a WPBA pro. She noticed on one particular shot (snooker people call it a blind shot cutting back to a pocket) that my stance changed and I wasn't "seeing" the shot the same way, I was "definitely missing" some critical information and feedback from that shot (not to mention repeatedly missing similar shots).
I bet you are moving on the shot, i.e., your body is moving and your head is coming up, possibly you are closing your eyes as you shoot. I say this because you are missing lots of visual information and feedback on what is actually happening in front of you on every shot. PAY ATTENTION, and store the good information. The devil is in the details. If you aren't seeing (or believing!) what is actually happening in front of you, how can you learn, anticipate what will happen next, then take that information and play with it to _MOVE_ the rock where you want it to go? I suggest you FREEZE YOUR HEAD and really watch what is going on in real time, every shot. If you are on drugs or cannot process real-time information, try high-speed video playback or give up sports and move to checkers.
Take a striped ball, place it in the center, aim your cue at that ball in dead center towards any corner pocket. Do your damnedest to hit that ball with chalked cue dead center on the numbers. Observe closely. Once struck with "the proper speed" the ball should slide about 2 diamonds with no appreciable roll, then start rolling forward. Watch for it, pay attention. Key to moving whitey around the table is knowing exactly what it is doing AT THE MOMENT OF CONTACT with the object ball, and what it should do next. Pick up that ball and see if the chalk mark on the ball corresponds with where you think you aimed it, because: you might have screwed up.
Meaning poor stroke, back to fundamentals of delivering your cue on dead line exactly where you aimed it. Don't quit practicing till you have it nailed, and can deliver whitey as best you can where you mean it to hit. Uhm, 85% or whatever your standards are.
The first rule is: Whitey (cueball) doesn't lie. He does what he does because we hit him this way, this is physics, not a freak show of outrageous luck, or otherwise we give up the 500 year old game as total luck. It is not, it is skill, you are the fudging factor, get over it and get to work making it better or just give it up and find something else to do more fun with less work. The rest of us here prefer the billiards path towards excellence. Or so we say, despite *****ing along the way.
If you aim low but whitey arrives dead ball you may have aimed low but did not actually hit low, or hit too slow allowing whitey to rotate back, slide, then hit. WATCH THE FRICKIN ball and see if it rotates backwards all the way to the ball and comes back. You have eyeballs, friends, or a camera. Face facts squarely. If you have no friends, give up billiards and read "How to Make Friends and Influence Strangers" by Dale Carnegie.
Frankly, take a cellphone or video camera and record 10 shots, post it on YouTube and the link here, pretty soon if your local instructors don't pan out we here at AZB might find some pointers to help more.
You may be thrilled to know that many of us here consider the stop shot the most important shot in pool, and critical because it lets us know where the cue ball is moving next, it is only a matter of speed from there. If you have this shot nailed, you are on your way to great enjoyment in your billiards future.
?? 
