Trouble Seeing The Shot

S

schypda

Registered
I have been struggling to see the shots correctly lately. Lately, when I get down on a shot I am having difficulty keeping my fixed eyes on the aiming point. My eyes are all over the place. I used to get down on a shot, look at the aiming point, get it in focus, and fire away. Now, I get down on a shot, see the aiming point momentarily, but loose it before I have a chance to stroke. I can’t seem to fix my eyes on it again before I shoot. Most of the time I end up shooting anyway without ever getting the aiming point to stabilize because I am trying to maintain my pre-shot routine and stay in rhythm. This is even happening during practice. This used to be a natural process that happened subconsciously. Now I can't get it no matter how hard I try to focus.

I know this is wreaking havok on my game. It is very hard to maintain any level of consistency when you are not hitting the target. I know the problem is with my eyes, or vision. I just can’t seem to keep focused on a specific point. It is as if I have to strain to keep them focused on the target. I think my vision is as good as it used to be. It is not blurry, just not stable. I feel like my eyeballs are having a seizure right before every stroke. What the hell is going on? This has really hurt my performance, and thus my confidence. This erratic vision only occurs when I shoot pool, so I am fairly sure it is not a medical problem.

I used to be able to clear a few tables in a row. Lately, I am struggling to run four balls. I am a better than average league player (maybe B+ to A-) and have decent fundamentals. I have a good stance, a solid bridge, a straight stroke, and a good all around understanding of the game. I am not a novice, and don’t need help with the basics, just refinement, so spare me the Pool 101. My problem is with my eyes. I understand that this is probably a mental problem, but I can’t seem to find a reason why this began happening, or a way to stop it. Does anybody out there know what I am talking about? Somebody please help! I need some sage advice.:confused:
 
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What I do ...

I look at the contact point on the object ball
before I get down in stance, and then I mentally
draw a line from the cue ball to the object ball.
When I go into my stance, I have already aimed
and am just bringing it to a different level (down
position instead of up position). It is like I am
just lowering onto my aim line. Sometimes a slight
adjustment is needed, but not often. I have bad eyes,
and this allows my brain to help make up for what
my eyes can not see.

I would get your eyes checked though, because there
are many eye problems that can develop, and not particularly
just with your vision acuity. Macular Degeneration for one.
You could have blood vessels in your eye with more pressure
than normal which prevents you from focusing at times.
 
more sleep is right ..get your eyes checked too..depending on your age there are certain problems in life that will befall you as you get older..you may very well need glasses or stronger ones..also if you do alot of computer related work/reading your eyes can suffer from fatigue...good luck and best of health to you .keep us posted...
 
schypda said:
I have been struggling to see the shots correctly lately. Lately, when I get down on a shot I am having difficulty keeping my fixed eyes on the aiming point. My eyes are all over the place. I used to get down on a shot, look at the aiming point, get it,,,,,,,,,,,, Does anybody out there know what I am talking about? Somebody please help! I need some sage advice.:confused:
Click to expand...

can you see the shot before you get down on it?
 
At the point when I get into my stance, I already know what direction I want the cue ball to go. From there all my concentration goes into delivering an accurate stroke. I'll only worry about my aim at that point if something doesn't "feel right" (you all know the feeling), which means I stand up and do it all over again. Aiming while in your stance is a recipe for missing, IMO...
 
bruin70 said:
can you see the shot before you get down on it?
Click to expand...

I am able to visualize the imaginary line that runs through the contact point to the center of the pocket mometarily, but I can't hang on to it. In the past I took general aim before I addressed the ball, and then fine tuned once I was down on the shot. Now, I try to do the same thing, but once down on the shot I seem to loose the reference point. Everybody takes there eyes of the target for an instance when addressing the cue ball I think. My trouble is that when I do this I am back to square one and I have to start all over.
 
schypda said:
I am able to visualize the imaginary line that runs through the contact point to the center of the pocket mometarily, but I can't hang on to it. In the past I took general aim before I addressed the ball, and then fine tuned once I was down on the shot. Now, I try to do the same thing, but once down on the shot I seem to loose the reference point. Everybody takes there eyes of the target for an instance when addressing the cue ball I think. My trouble is that when I do this I am back to square one and I have to start all over.
Click to expand...

Well, I sugest once you have the line move your eyes "slowly" from o/b to c/b. Slow eye movment enables one to focus more easly than quick eye movment. You may be getting quick and are not aware its happening.

Personally I've never seen a contact point in my life, so I can't help you there. It may help just to vision the angle (ball overlap) only rather than specific points. I'm not trying to make this an aiming thread, no reason to really. But what does a contact point look like? And how do you see that point on the back of the c/b and o/b? Any others that see contact points are welcome to chime in. If there is one thing I agree with from Hal Houle's statements, There are no contact points in pool.

As someone mentioned seeing an eye doctor may be a good idea as well.

Rod
 
schypda said:
I am able to visualize the imaginary line that runs through the contact point to the center of the pocket mometarily, but I can't hang on to it. In the past I took general aim before I addressed the ball, and then fine tuned once I was down on the shot. Now, I try to do the same thing, but once down on the shot I seem to loose the reference point. Everybody takes there eyes of the target for an instance when addressing the cue ball I think. My trouble is that when I do this I am back to square one and I have to start all over.
Click to expand...

Actually, I have watched video of top players and also watched top players in my area...and they DON'T take thier eyes off the OB as they are getting into the shot..

As they are standing up behind the CB they determin the shot. As they step into the shot thier eyes never leave the OB...once they are down on the shot the eyes may shift once or twice, but there is no head or body movement during this process...

I think you problem may lie in that your body is not in a good postition to step into the shot on-line...thus you need to move your head and perhaps body once you are down on the shot...and you lose your bearings on the shot.

You should be able (and probably should practice) being able to drop into the shot perfectly alinged while not taking your eyes off the OB...

Also...the other part of having your eyes in "transition" while you start your actual stroke can be cured by practicing shooting the actual shot with your eyes closed........This will help cure body movement, head movement, etc. but mainly what it does is force you to look at you contact point (last right before you close your eyes)....This way you are shooting based on the "image" that is in your brain which is the last thing you looked at which is hopefully the contact point of the OB......When you return to shooting with your eyes open for the whole shot, you will be more focused on the OB contact point.

Focus (for any length of time) is the second biggest separation in my opinion from B to A and A to A+...the first biggest is CB control.
 
cuejoey said:
more sleep is right ..get your eyes checked too..depending on your age there are certain problems in life that will befall you as you get older..you may very well need glasses or stronger ones..also if you do alot of computer related work/reading your eyes can suffer from fatigue...good luck and best of health to you .keep us posted...
Click to expand...

I have to agree with cuejoey. I know where schypda is coming from; some days I'm unable to hold my aim on the object ball while I'm in my stance. If I switch my eyes from the cueball to the object ball, I cannot switch back to the object ball and maintain focus. I've learned that this usually occurs after a long and stressful work day (I work in front of a computer all day). This also happens after not getting enough sleep or having a restless/fitful sleep. I combat this problem by keeping my eyes on the object ball as I'm getting down into my stance, check my tip placement on the cue ball only once, and then force myself to keep my eyes planted on the object ball until my stroke is complete. Sometimes it's a real struggle but I soon shoot my way out of it once I realize what's going on.
 
nibrobus said:
I have to agree with cuejoey. I know where schypda is coming from; some days I'm unable to hold my aim on the object ball while I'm in my stance. If I switch my eyes from the cueball to the object ball, I cannot switch back to the object ball and maintain focus. I've learned that this usually occurs after a long and stressful work day (I work in front of a computer all day). This also happens after not getting enough sleep or having a restless/fitful sleep. I combat this problem by keeping my eyes on the object ball as I'm getting down into my stance, check my tip placement on the cue ball only once, and then force myself to keep my eyes planted on the object ball until my stroke is complete. Sometimes it's a real struggle but I soon shoot my way out of it once I realize what's going on.
Click to expand...


Interesting....I have actually played better being dog tired rather than wide awake...I think for me it may be that I have no energy to do anything but shoot and thus I don't get all worked up over the end results.

I can definatley agree with the computer screen wreaking havoc on your focus....especially after a "busy" or "stressful" day...I usually can't make three balls in a row...
 
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